Delta Aggregates
Note
Delta aggregates are supported by
GNAT Community Edition 2019
GCC 9
Sometimes you need to create a copy of an object, but with a few modifications. Before Ada 2022, doing this involves a dummy object declaration or an aggregate with associations for each property. The dummy object approach doesn't work in contract aspects or when there are limited components. On the other hand, re-listing properties in an large aggregate can be very tedious and error-prone. So, in Ada 2022, you can use a delta aggregate instead.
Delta aggregate for records
The delta aggregate for a record type looks like this:
type Vector is record
X, Y, Z : Float;
end record;
Point_1 : constant Vector := (X => 1.0, Y => 2.0, Z => 3.0);
Projection_1 : constant Vector := (Point_1 with delta Z => 0.0);
The more components you have, the more you will like the delta aggregate.
Delta aggregate for arrays
You can also use delta aggregates for arrays to change elements, but not bounds. Moreover, it only works for one-dimensional arrays of non-limited components.
type Vector_3D is array (1 .. 3) of Float;
Point_2 : constant Vector_3D := [1.0, 2.0, 3.0];
Projection_2 : constant Vector_3D := [Point_2 with delta 3 => 0.0];
You can use parentheses for array aggregates, but you can't use square brackets for record aggregates.
Here is the complete code snippet:
pragma Ada_2022;
with Ada.Text_IO;
procedure Main is
type Vector is record
X, Y, Z : Float;
end record;
Point_1 : constant Vector := (X => 1.0, Y => 2.0, Z => 3.0);
Projection_1 : constant Vector := (Point_1 with delta Z => 0.0);
type Vector_3D is array (1 .. 3) of Float;
Point_2 : constant Vector_3D := [1.0, 2.0, 3.0];
Projection_2 : constant Vector_3D := [Point_2 with delta 3 => 0.0];
begin
Ada.Text_IO.Put (Float'Image (Projection_1.X));
Ada.Text_IO.Put (Float'Image (Projection_1.Y));
Ada.Text_IO.Put (Float'Image (Projection_1.Z));
Ada.Text_IO.New_Line;
Ada.Text_IO.Put (Float'Image (Projection_2 (1)));
Ada.Text_IO.Put (Float'Image (Projection_2 (2)));
Ada.Text_IO.Put (Float'Image (Projection_2 (3)));
Ada.Text_IO.New_Line;
end Main;