Copyright (C) 2000-2012 |
GNU Info (elisp)Examples of CatchExamples of `catch' and `throw' ------------------------------- One way to use `catch' and `throw' is to exit from a doubly nested loop. (In most languages, this would be done with a "go to".) Here we compute `(foo I J)' for I and J varying from 0 to 9: (defun search-foo () (catch 'loop (let ((i 0)) (while (< i 10) (let ((j 0)) (while (< j 10) (if (foo i j) (throw 'loop (list i j))) (setq j (1+ j)))) (setq i (1+ i)))))) If `foo' ever returns non-`nil', we stop immediately and return a list of I and J. If `foo' always returns `nil', the `catch' returns normally, and the value is `nil', since that is the result of the `while'. Here are two tricky examples, slightly different, showing two return points at once. First, two return points with the same tag, `hack': (defun catch2 (tag) (catch tag (throw 'hack 'yes))) => catch2 (catch 'hack (print (catch2 'hack)) 'no) -| yes => no Since both return points have tags that match the `throw', it goes to the inner one, the one established in `catch2'. Therefore, `catch2' returns normally with value `yes', and this value is printed. Finally the second body form in the outer `catch', which is `'no', is evaluated and returned from the outer `catch'. Now let's change the argument given to `catch2': (catch 'hack (print (catch2 'quux)) 'no) => yes We still have two return points, but this time only the outer one has the tag `hack'; the inner one has the tag `quux' instead. Therefore, `throw' makes the outer `catch' return the value `yes'. The function `print' is never called, and the body-form `'no' is never evaluated. |