Some way to validate proc refs

ID:2819846
 
Sep 13 2022, 10:52 am (Edited on Sep 13 2022, 12:16 pm)
Applies to:DM Language
Status: Open
Issue hasn't been assigned a status value.
I keep farting around and trying to make libraries for byond that nobody will ever use, and one of the ones I keep going back to is a delegate (function as object) wrapper. Among the many problems with this is the fact that although proc refs are a compiler type, there are no procs to validate that that is what they are.

/client/proc/test()
    return "haha wheee"
/client/verb/validate_test_proc()
    src << "ispath(test): [ispath(/client/proc/test)]"
    src << "ispath(test,/client): [ispath(/client/proc/test,/client)]"
    src << "ispath(test,/client/proc): [ispath(/client/proc/test,/client/proc)]"
    src << "istype(test,/client): [ispath(/client/proc/test,/client)]"
    src << "istype(test,/client/proc): [ispath(/client/proc/test,/client/proc)]"
    src << "hascall(type,test): [hascall(/client,/client/proc/test)]"
    src << "hascall(type,full procref as string): [hascall(/client,"/client/proc/test")]"
    src << "hascall(src,test): [hascall(src,/client/proc/test)]"
    src << "hascall(src,full procref as string): [hascall(src,"/client/proc/test")]"
    src << "Actually calling it: [call(src,/client/proc/test)()]"

Produces:
ispath(test): 0
ispath(test,/client): 0
ispath(test,/client/proc): 0
istype(test,/client): 0
istype(test,/client/proc): 0
hascall(type,test): 0
hascall(type,full procref as string): 0
hascall(src,test): 0
hascall(src,full procref as string): 0
Actually calling it: haha wheee

I'd just like to know before I store an ambiguous untyped variable whether or not it's the correct type or going to crash later on when I actually use it.

So far I've just been kind of assuming that I would never pass anything but a proc ref to delegates, but the closer I get to actually relying on proc refs for something important, the more I realize that the complete lack of type safety is terrifying.

For my purposes, I don't care if isproc() also works like istype() or even hascall(), though hascall() working with proc refs would be nice. I know that the calling convention on the back is loose, so that you can :procname() or call("procname"). I just want to know that the type of the variable is a proc ref, so that when variables are being passed back and forth and stuck behind the couch or in weird boxes I know what I have in my hands.
Sep 13 2022, 1:04 pm
A workaround for this does exist but it's so incredibly stupid I don't want to actually say it out of fear this will be closed as redundant
Sep 13 2022, 2:37 pm
hascall() always works with proc names, not proc references. So you would need hascall(client,"test") for that to work.

I do see a point in having an isproc() built-in. The reason it fails ispath() is because it isn't a type path as such, as in it isn't actually an object prototype.
Sep 13 2022, 2:46 pm
Well, if you see the point of a built-in one, I guess I don't have to worry about posting the stupid workaround. Courtesy of DamianQ:
#define isproc(thing) (copytext(ref(thing),4,6) == "26")