Semiring.h

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/**
 * @file semiring/Semiring.h
 * @brief Abstract semiring interface for provenance evaluation.
 *
 * ProvSQL evaluates provenance circuits over arbitrary (m-)semirings.
 * This header defines the abstract base class @c semiring::Semiring<V>
 * that every concrete semiring must implement.
 *
 * A **semiring** @f$(S, \oplus, \otimes, \mathbb{0}, \mathbb{1})@f$
 * consists of:
 * - A carrier set @f$S@f$ (the @c value_type).
 * - An additive operation @f$\oplus@f$ with identity @f$\mathbb{0}@f$.
 * - A multiplicative operation @f$\otimes@f$ with identity @f$\mathbb{1}@f$.
 *
 * An **m-semiring** additionally provides:
 * - A monus operation @f$\ominus@f$ used for set-difference queries.
 * - A @f$\delta@f$ operator.
 *
 * Optional operations (comparison, semimodule scalar multiplication,
 * aggregation, and value literals) are provided by subclasses that
 * support them; the base class throws @c SemiringException for all of
 * these.
 *
 * Concrete implementations live in the same @c semiring/ directory:
 * @c Boolean.h, @c Counting.h, @c Formula.h, @c Why.h, @c BoolExpr.h.
 */
#ifndef SEMIRING_H
#define SEMIRING_H
 
#include <vector>
#include <string>
 
#include "../Aggregation.h"
 
namespace semiring {
 
/**
 * @brief Exception thrown when a semiring operation is not supported.
 *
 * Raised by the default implementations of optional operations
 * (@c cmp, @c semimod, @c agg, @c value) when a subclass does not
 * override them.
 */
class SemiringException : public std::exception
{
std::string message; ///< Human-readable description of the error
 
public:
/**
 * @brief Construct with a descriptive error message.
 * @param m  Error message.
 */
SemiringException(const std::string &m) : message(m) {
}
/**
 * @brief Return the error message as a C-string.
 * @return Null-terminated error description.
 */
virtual char const * what() const noexcept {
  return message.c_str();
}
};
 
/**
 * @brief Abstract base class for (m-)semirings.
 *
 * @tparam V  The carrier type (e.g. @c bool, @c unsigned, @c std::string).
 *
 * ### Required operations
 * All pure-virtual methods must be implemented by concrete subclasses.
 *
 * ### Optional operations
 * @c cmp(), @c semimod(), @c agg(), and @c value() have default
 * implementations that throw @c SemiringException.  Override them in
 * subclasses that support these circuit gate types.
 *
 * ### Absorptive semirings
 * A semiring is *absorptive* (i.e., @f$a \oplus a = a@f$ for all @f$a@f$)
 * iff @c absorptive() returns @c true.  This allows the circuit evaluator
 * to deduplicate children of @c plus gates for efficiency.
 */
template<typename V>
class Semiring
{
public:
/** @brief The carrier type of this semiring. */
typedef V value_type;
 
/**
 * @brief Return the additive identity @f$\mathbb{0}@f$.
 * @return The zero element of the semiring.
 */
virtual value_type zero() const = 0;
 
/**
 * @brief Return the multiplicative identity @f$\mathbb{1}@f$.
 * @return The one element of the semiring.
 */
virtual value_type one() const = 0;
 
/**
 * @brief Apply the additive operation to a list of values.
 *
 * @param v  Ordered list of operands (empty list should return @c zero()).
 * @return   @f$v_0 \oplus v_1 \oplus \cdots@f$.
 */
virtual value_type plus(const std::vector<value_type> &v) const = 0;
 
/**
 * @brief Apply the multiplicative operation to a list of values.
 *
 * @param v  Ordered list of operands (empty list should return @c one()).
 * @return   @f$v_0 \otimes v_1 \otimes \cdots@f$.
 */
virtual value_type times(const std::vector<value_type> &v) const = 0;
 
/**
 * @brief Apply the monus (m-semiring difference) operation.
 *
 * @param x  Minuend.
 * @param y  Subtrahend.
 * @return   @f$x \ominus y@f$.
 */
virtual value_type monus(value_type x, value_type y) const = 0;
 
/**
 * @brief Apply the @f$\delta@f$ operator.
 *
 * @param x  Input value.
 * @return   @f$\delta(x)@f$.
 */
virtual value_type delta(value_type x) const = 0;
 
/**
 * @brief Evaluate a comparison gate.
 *
 * @param s1  Left operand.
 * @param op  Comparison operator.
 * @param s2  Right operand.
 * @return    Result of the comparison in this semiring.
 * @throws SemiringException if not overridden.
 */
virtual value_type cmp(value_type s1, ComparisonOperator op, value_type s2) const {
  throw SemiringException("This semiring does not support cmp gates.");
}
 
/**
 * @brief Apply a semimodule scalar multiplication.
 *
 * @param x  Provenance value.
 * @param s  Scalar value.
 * @return   @f$x * s@f$ in the semimodule.
 * @throws SemiringException if not overridden.
 */
virtual value_type semimod(value_type x, value_type s) const {
  throw SemiringException("This semiring does not support semimod gates.");
}
 
/**
 * @brief Evaluate an aggregation gate.
 *
 * @param op  The aggregation function (COUNT, SUM, MIN, …).
 * @param s   List of child semiring values to aggregate.
 * @return    The aggregated value.
 * @throws SemiringException if not overridden.
 */
virtual value_type agg(AggregationOperator op, const std::vector<value_type> &s) {
  throw SemiringException("This semiring does not support agg gates.");
}
 
/**
 * @brief Interpret a literal string as a semiring value.
 *
 * Used for @c gate_value gates whose payload is a string.
 *
 * @param s  Literal string.
 * @return   The corresponding semiring value.
 * @throws SemiringException if not overridden.
 */
virtual value_type value(const std::string &s) const {
  throw SemiringException("This semiring does not support value gates.");
}
 
virtual ~Semiring() = default;
 
/**
 * @brief Return @c true if this semiring is absorptive (@f$a \oplus a = a@f$).
 *
 * When @c true, the circuit evaluator may deduplicate the children of
 * @c plus gates, which can improve performance significantly for
 * semirings such as Boolean and Why-provenance.
 *
 * @return @c false by default; override to return @c true.
 */
virtual bool absorptive() const {
  return false;
}
};
 
 
}
 
#endif /* SEMIRING_H */