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NAME

       sofs - Functions for manipulating sets of sets.

DESCRIPTION

       This  module  provides  operations  on  finite  sets  and  relations  represented as sets.
       Intuitively, a set is a collection of elements; every element belongs to the set, and  the
       set contains every element.

       Given  a set A and a sentence S(x), where x is a free variable, a new set B whose elements
       are exactly those elements of A for which S(x) holds can be formed, this is denoted B = {x
       in  A  :  S(x)}. Sentences are expressed using the logical operators "for some" (or "there
       exists"), "for all", "and", "or", "not". If the existence of  a  set  containing  all  the
       specified elements is known (as is always the case in this module), this is denoted B = {x
       : S(x)}.

         * The unordered set containing the elements a, b, and c  is  denoted  {a,  b,  c}.  This
           notation is not to be confused with tuples.

           The  ordered  pair  of  a  and  b, with first coordinate a and second coordinate b, is
           denoted (a, b). An ordered pair is an ordered set of two  elements.  In  this  module,
           ordered  sets  can  contain  one,  two,  or more elements, and parentheses are used to
           enclose the elements.

           Unordered sets and ordered sets are orthogonal, again in  this  module;  there  is  no
           unordered set equal to any ordered set.

         * The empty set contains no elements.

           Set A is equal to set B if they contain the same elements, which is denoted A = B. Two
           ordered sets are equal if they contain the same number  of  elements  and  have  equal
           elements at each coordinate.

           Set B is a subset of set A if A contains all elements that B contains.

           The  union of two sets A and B is the smallest set that contains all elements of A and
           all elements of B.

           The intersection of two sets A and B is the set that contains all elements of  A  that
           belong to B.

           Two sets are disjoint if their intersection is the empty set.

           The  difference of two sets A and B is the set that contains all elements of A that do
           not belong to B.

           The symmetric difference of two sets is the  set  that  contains  those  element  that
           belong to either of the two sets, but not both.

           The  union  of a collection of sets is the smallest set that contains all the elements
           that belong to at least one set of the collection.

           The intersection of a non-empty collection of  sets  is  the  set  that  contains  all
           elements that belong to every set of the collection.

         * The  Cartesian  product of two sets X and Y, denoted X x Y, is the set {a : a = (x, y)
           for some x in X and for some y in Y}.

           A relation is a subset of X x Y. Let R be a relation. The fact that (x, y) belongs  to
           R  is  written  as  x  R  y.  As  relations are sets, the definitions of the last item
           (subset, union, and so on) apply to relations as well.

           The domain of R is the set {x : x R y for some y in Y}.

           The range of R is the set {y : x R y for some x in X}.

           The converse of R is the set {a : a = (y, x) for some (x, y) in R}.

           If A is a subset of X, the image of A under R is the set {y : x R y for some x in  A}.
           If B is a subset of Y, the inverse image of B is the set {x : x R y for some y in B}.

           If  R is a relation from X to Y, and S is a relation from Y to Z, the relative product
           of R and S is the relation T from X to Z defined so that x T z if and  only  if  there
           exists an element y in Y such that x R y and y S z.

           The  restriction  of  R  to  A is the set S defined so that x S y if and only if there
           exists an element x in A such that x R y.

           If S is a restriction of R to A, then R is an extension of S to X.

           If X = Y, then R is called a relation in X.

           The field of a relation R in X is the union of the domain of R and the range of R.

           If R is a relation in X, and if S is defined so that x S y if x R y and  not  x  =  y,
           then S is the strict relation corresponding to R. Conversely, if S is a relation in X,
           and if R is defined so that x R y if x S y or x = y,  then  R  is  the  weak  relation
           corresponding to S.

           A relation R in X is reflexive if x R x for every element x of X, it is symmetric if x
           R y implies that y R x, and it is transitive if x R y and y R z imply that x R z.

         * A function F is a relation, a subset of X x Y, such that the domain of F is equal to X
           and  such that for every x in X there is a unique element y in Y with (x, y) in F. The
           latter condition can be formulated as follows: if x F y and x F z, then y = z. In this
           module,  it  is  not  required that the domain of F is equal to X for a relation to be
           considered a function.

           Instead of writing (x, y) in F or x F y, we write F(x) = y when F is a  function,  and
           say that F maps x onto y, or that the value of F at x is y.

           As  functions  are  relations, the definitions of the last item (domain, range, and so
           on) apply to functions as well.

           If the converse of a function F is a function F', then F' is called the inverse of F.

           The relative product of two functions F1 and F2 is called the composite of F1  and  F2
           if the range of F1 is a subset of the domain of F2.

         * Sometimes,  when  the  range of a function is more important than the function itself,
           the function is called a family.

           The domain of a family is called the index set, and the range is  called  the  indexed
           set.

           If  x is a family from I to X, then x[i] denotes the value of the function at index i.
           The notation "a family in X" is used for such a family.

           When the indexed set is a set of subsets of a set X, we call x a family of subsets  of
           X.

           If  x  is a family of subsets of X, the union of the range of x is called the union of
           the family x.

           If x is non-empty (the index set is non-empty), the intersection of the  family  x  is
           the intersection of the range of x.

           In  this module, the only families that are considered are families of subsets of some
           set X; in the following, the word "family" is used for such families of subsets.

         * A partition of a set X is a collection S of non-empty subsets of X whose  union  is  X
           and whose elements are pairwise disjoint.

           A  relation  in  a  set  is an equivalence relation if it is reflexive, symmetric, and
           transitive.

           If R is an equivalence relation in X, and x is an element of X, the equivalence  class
           of  x with respect to R is the set of all those elements y of X for which x R y holds.
           The equivalence classes constitute  a  partitioning  of  X.  Conversely,  if  C  is  a
           partition  of  X,  the relation that holds for any two elements of X if they belong to
           the same equivalence class, is an equivalence relation induced by the partition C.

           If R is an equivalence relation in X, the canonical map  is  the  function  that  maps
           every element of X onto its equivalence class.

         * Relations  as  defined above (as sets of ordered pairs) are from now on referred to as
           binary relations.

           We call a set of ordered sets (x[1], ..., x[n]) an (n-ary) relation, and say that  the
           relation  is  a  subset  of  the Cartesian product X[1] x ... x X[n], where x[i] is an
           element of X[i], 1 <= i <= n.

           The projection of an n-ary relation R onto coordinate i is the set {x[i] : (x[1], ...,
           x[i],  ...,  x[n])  in  R  for  some  x[j]  in  X[j],  1 <= j <= n and not i = j}. The
           projections of a binary relation R onto the  first  and  second  coordinates  are  the
           domain and the range of R, respectively.

           The  relative  product  of  binary  relations can be generalized to n-ary relations as
           follows. Let TR be an ordered set (R[1], ..., R[n]) of binary relations from X to Y[i]
           and  S a binary relation from (Y[1] x ... x Y[n]) to Z. The relative product of TR and
           S is the binary relation T from X to Z defined so that x T z  if  and  only  if  there
           exists  an  element y[i] in Y[i] for each 1 <= i <= n such that x R[i] y[i] and (y[1],
           ..., y[n]) S z. Now let TR be a an ordered set (R[1], ..., R[n]) of  binary  relations
           from  X[i]  to Y[i] and S a subset of X[1] x ... x X[n]. The multiple relative product
           of TR and S is defined to be the set {z : z = ((x[1], ..., x[n]), (y[1],...,y[n])) for
           some (x[1], ..., x[n]) in S and for some (x[i], y[i]) in R[i], 1 <= i <= n}.

           The  natural join of an n-ary relation R and an m-ary relation S on coordinate i and j
           is defined to be the set {z : z = (x[1], ..., x[n], y[1], ...,  y[j-1],  y[j+1],  ...,
           y[m])  for  some  (x[1], ..., x[n]) in R and for some (y[1], ..., y[m]) in S such that
           x[i] = y[j]}.

         * The sets recognized by this module are represented by elements of the  relation  Sets,
           which is defined as the smallest set such that:

           * For  every  atom T, except '_', and for every term X, (T, X) belongs to Sets (atomic
             sets).

           * (['_'], []) belongs to Sets (the untyped empty set).

           * For every tuple T = {T[1], ..., T[n]} and for every tuple X = {X[1], ..., X[n]},  if
             (T[i],  X[i])  belongs  to  Sets  for every 1 <= i <= n, then (T, X) belongs to Sets
             (ordered sets).

           * For every term T, if X is the empty list or a  non-empty  sorted  list  [X[1],  ...,
             X[n]]  without duplicates such that (T, X[i]) belongs to Sets for every 1 <= i <= n,
             then ([T], X) belongs to Sets (typed unordered sets).

           An external set is an element of the range of Sets.

           A type is an element of the domain of Sets.

           If S is an element (T, X) of Sets, then T is a valid type of X, T is the  type  of  S,
           and  X  is  the external set of S. from_term/2 creates a set from a type and an Erlang
           term turned into an external set.

           The sets represented by Sets are the elements of the range of function Set  from  Sets
           to Erlang terms and sets of Erlang terms:

           * Set(T,Term) = Term, where T is an atom

           * Set({T[1], ..., T[n]}, {X[1], ..., X[n]}) = (Set(T[1], X[1]), ..., Set(T[n], X[n]))

           * Set([T], [X[1], ..., X[n]]) = {Set(T, X[1]), ..., Set(T, X[n])}

           * Set([T], []) = {}

           When there is no risk of confusion, elements of Sets are identified with the sets they
           represent. For example, if U is the result of  calling  union/2  with  S1  and  S2  as
           arguments,  then U is said to be the union of S1 and S2. A more precise formulation is
           that Set(U) is the union of Set(S1) and Set(S2).

       The types are used to implement the various conditions  that  sets  must  fulfill.  As  an
       example,  consider  the relative product of two sets R and S, and recall that the relative
       product of R and S is defined if R is a binary relation to Y and S is  a  binary  relation
       from Y. The function that implements the relative product, relative_product/2, checks that
       the arguments represent binary relations by matching [{A,B}] against the type of the first
       argument  (Arg1  say), and [{C,D}] against the type of the second argument (Arg2 say). The
       fact that [{A,B}] matches the type of Arg1 is to be interpreted  as  Arg1  representing  a
       binary  relation  from X to Y, where X is defined as all sets Set(x) for some element x in
       Sets the type of which is A, and similarly for Y. In the same way Arg2 is  interpreted  as
       representing  a binary relation from W to Z. Finally it is checked that B matches C, which
       is sufficient to ensure that W is equal to Y. The untyped empty set is handled separately:
       its type, ['_'], matches the type of any unordered set.

       A   few  functions  of  this  module  (drestriction/3,  family_projection/2,  partition/2,
       partition_family/2, projection/2, restriction/3, substitution/2) accept an Erlang function
       as a means to modify each element of a given unordered set. Such a function, called SetFun
       in the following, can be specified as a functional object (fun), a tuple {external,  Fun},
       or an integer:

         * If  SetFun  is specified as a fun, the fun is applied to each element of the given set
           and the return value is assumed to be a set.

         * If SetFun is specified as a tuple {external, Fun}, Fun is applied to the external  set
           of  each  element  of  the given set and the return value is assumed to be an external
           set. Selecting the elements of an unordered set as external sets and assembling a  new
           unordered  set  from  a  list  of  external sets is in the present implementation more
           efficient than modifying each element as a set. However, this optimization can only be
           used  when  the elements of the unordered set are atomic or ordered sets. It must also
           be the case that the type of the elements matches some clause of Fun (the type of  the
           created  set is the result of applying Fun to the type of the given set), and that Fun
           does nothing but selecting, duplicating, or rearranging parts of the elements.

         * Specifying a SetFun as an integer I is equivalent to specifying {external,  fun(X)  ->
           element(I,  X)  end},  but  is to be preferred, as it makes it possible to handle this
           case even more efficiently.

       Examples of SetFuns:

       fun sofs:union/1
       fun(S) -> sofs:partition(1, S) end
       {external, fun(A) -> A end}
       {external, fun({A,_,C}) -> {C,A} end}
       {external, fun({_,{_,C}}) -> C end}
       {external, fun({_,{_,{_,E}=C}}) -> {E,{E,C}} end}
       2

       The order in which a SetFun is applied  to  the  elements  of  an  unordered  set  is  not
       specified, and can change in future versions of this module.

       The  execution  time  of the functions of this module is dominated by the time it takes to
       sort lists. When  no  sorting  is  needed,  the  execution  time  is  in  the  worst  case
       proportional  to the sum of the sizes of the input arguments and the returned value. A few
       functions  execute  in   constant   time:   from_external/2,   is_empty_set/1,   is_set/1,
       is_sofs_set/1, to_external/1 type/1.

       The   functions  of  this  module  exit  the  process  with  a  badarg,  bad_function,  or
       type_mismatch message when given badly formed arguments or sets the types of which are not
       compatible.

       When comparing external sets, operator ==/2 is used.

DATA TYPES

       anyset() = ordset() | a_set()

              Any kind of set (also included are the atomic sets).

       binary_relation() = relation()

              A binary relation.

       external_set() = term()

              An external set.

       family() = a_function()

              A family (of subsets).

       a_function() = relation()

              A function.

       ordset()

              An ordered set.

       relation() = a_set()

              An n-ary relation.

       a_set()

              An unordered set.

       set_of_sets() = a_set()

              An unordered set of unordered sets.

       set_fun() =
           integer() >= 1 |
           {external, fun((external_set()) -> external_set())} |
           fun((anyset()) -> anyset())

              A SetFun.

       spec_fun() =
           {external, fun((external_set()) -> boolean())} |
           fun((anyset()) -> boolean())

       type() = term()

              A type.

       tuple_of(T)

              A tuple where the elements are of type T.

EXPORTS

       a_function(Tuples) -> Function

       a_function(Tuples, Type) -> Function

              Types:

                 Function = a_function()
                 Tuples = [tuple()]
                 Type = type()

              Creates a function. a_function(F, T) is equivalent to from_term(F, T) if the result
              is a function. If no type is explicitly specified, [{atom, atom}] is  used  as  the
              function type.

       canonical_relation(SetOfSets) -> BinRel

              Types:

                 BinRel = binary_relation()
                 SetOfSets = set_of_sets()

              Returns  the binary relation containing the elements (E, Set) such that Set belongs
              to SetOfSets and E belongs to Set. If SetOfSets is a partition of a set X and R  is
              the  equivalence  relation in X induced by SetOfSets, then the returned relation is
              the canonical map from X onto the equivalence classes with respect to R.

              1> Ss = sofs:from_term([[a,b],[b,c]]),
              CR = sofs:canonical_relation(Ss),
              sofs:to_external(CR).
              [{a,[a,b]},{b,[a,b]},{b,[b,c]},{c,[b,c]}]

       composite(Function1, Function2) -> Function3

              Types:

                 Function1 = Function2 = Function3 = a_function()

              Returns the composite of the functions Function1 and Function2.

              1> F1 = sofs:a_function([{a,1},{b,2},{c,2}]),
              F2 = sofs:a_function([{1,x},{2,y},{3,z}]),
              F = sofs:composite(F1, F2),
              sofs:to_external(F).
              [{a,x},{b,y},{c,y}]

       constant_function(Set, AnySet) -> Function

              Types:

                 AnySet = anyset()
                 Function = a_function()
                 Set = a_set()

              Creates the function that maps each element of set Set onto AnySet.

              1> S = sofs:set([a,b]),
              E = sofs:from_term(1),
              R = sofs:constant_function(S, E),
              sofs:to_external(R).
              [{a,1},{b,1}]

       converse(BinRel1) -> BinRel2

              Types:

                 BinRel1 = BinRel2 = binary_relation()

              Returns the converse of the binary relation BinRel1.

              1> R1 = sofs:relation([{1,a},{2,b},{3,a}]),
              R2 = sofs:converse(R1),
              sofs:to_external(R2).
              [{a,1},{a,3},{b,2}]

       difference(Set1, Set2) -> Set3

              Types:

                 Set1 = Set2 = Set3 = a_set()

              Returns the difference of the sets Set1 and Set2.

       digraph_to_family(Graph) -> Family

       digraph_to_family(Graph, Type) -> Family

              Types:

                 Graph = digraph:graph()
                 Family = family()
                 Type = type()

              Creates a family from  the  directed  graph  Graph.  Each  vertex  a  of  Graph  is
              represented  by  a  pair  (a,  {b[1],  ...,  b[n]}),  where the b[i]:s are the out-
              neighbors of a. If no type is explicitly specified, [{atom,  [atom]}]  is  used  as
              type  of the family. It is assumed that Type is a valid type of the external set of
              the family.

              If G is a directed graph, it holds that the vertices and edges of G are the same as
              the vertices and edges of family_to_digraph(digraph_to_family(G)).

       domain(BinRel) -> Set

              Types:

                 BinRel = binary_relation()
                 Set = a_set()

              Returns the domain of the binary relation BinRel.

              1> R = sofs:relation([{1,a},{1,b},{2,b},{2,c}]),
              S = sofs:domain(R),
              sofs:to_external(S).
              [1,2]

       drestriction(BinRel1, Set) -> BinRel2

              Types:

                 BinRel1 = BinRel2 = binary_relation()
                 Set = a_set()

              Returns  the  difference between the binary relation BinRel1 and the restriction of
              BinRel1 to Set.

              1> R1 = sofs:relation([{1,a},{2,b},{3,c}]),
              S = sofs:set([2,4,6]),
              R2 = sofs:drestriction(R1, S),
              sofs:to_external(R2).
              [{1,a},{3,c}]

              drestriction(R, S) is equivalent to difference(R, restriction(R, S)).

       drestriction(SetFun, Set1, Set2) -> Set3

              Types:

                 SetFun = set_fun()
                 Set1 = Set2 = Set3 = a_set()

              Returns a subset of Set1 containing those elements that do not give an  element  in
              Set2 as the result of applying SetFun.

              1> SetFun = {external, fun({_A,B,C}) -> {B,C} end},
              R1 = sofs:relation([{a,aa,1},{b,bb,2},{c,cc,3}]),
              R2 = sofs:relation([{bb,2},{cc,3},{dd,4}]),
              R3 = sofs:drestriction(SetFun, R1, R2),
              sofs:to_external(R3).
              [{a,aa,1}]

              drestriction(F, S1, S2) is equivalent to difference(S1, restriction(F, S1, S2)).

       empty_set() -> Set

              Types:

                 Set = a_set()

              Returns the untyped empty set. empty_set() is equivalent to from_term([], ['_']).

       extension(BinRel1, Set, AnySet) -> BinRel2

              Types:

                 AnySet = anyset()
                 BinRel1 = BinRel2 = binary_relation()
                 Set = a_set()

              Returns  the extension of BinRel1 such that for each element E in Set that does not
              belong to the domain of BinRel1, BinRel2 contains the pair (E, AnySet).

              1> S = sofs:set([b,c]),
              A = sofs:empty_set(),
              R = sofs:family([{a,[1,2]},{b,[3]}]),
              X = sofs:extension(R, S, A),
              sofs:to_external(X).
              [{a,[1,2]},{b,[3]},{c,[]}]

       family(Tuples) -> Family

       family(Tuples, Type) -> Family

              Types:

                 Family = family()
                 Tuples = [tuple()]
                 Type = type()

              Creates a family of subsets. family(F, T) is equivalent to from_term(F, T)  if  the
              result is a family. If no type is explicitly specified, [{atom, [atom]}] is used as
              the family type.

       family_difference(Family1, Family2) -> Family3

              Types:

                 Family1 = Family2 = Family3 = family()

              If Family1 and Family2 are families, then Family3 is the family such that the index
              set  is equal to the index set of Family1, and Family3[i] is the difference between
              Family1[i] and Family2[i] if Family2 maps i, otherwise Family1[i].

              1> F1 = sofs:family([{a,[1,2]},{b,[3,4]}]),
              F2 = sofs:family([{b,[4,5]},{c,[6,7]}]),
              F3 = sofs:family_difference(F1, F2),
              sofs:to_external(F3).
              [{a,[1,2]},{b,[3]}]

       family_domain(Family1) -> Family2

              Types:

                 Family1 = Family2 = family()

              If Family1 is a family and Family1[i] is a binary relation for every i in the index
              set  of Family1, then Family2 is the family with the same index set as Family1 such
              that Family2[i] is the domain of Family1[i].

              1> FR = sofs:from_term([{a,[{1,a},{2,b},{3,c}]},{b,[]},{c,[{4,d},{5,e}]}]),
              F = sofs:family_domain(FR),
              sofs:to_external(F).
              [{a,[1,2,3]},{b,[]},{c,[4,5]}]

       family_field(Family1) -> Family2

              Types:

                 Family1 = Family2 = family()

              If Family1 is a family and Family1[i] is a binary relation for every i in the index
              set  of Family1, then Family2 is the family with the same index set as Family1 such
              that Family2[i] is the field of Family1[i].

              1> FR = sofs:from_term([{a,[{1,a},{2,b},{3,c}]},{b,[]},{c,[{4,d},{5,e}]}]),
              F = sofs:family_field(FR),
              sofs:to_external(F).
              [{a,[1,2,3,a,b,c]},{b,[]},{c,[4,5,d,e]}]

              family_field(Family1)   is   equivalent   to   family_union(family_domain(Family1),
              family_range(Family1)).

       family_intersection(Family1) -> Family2

              Types:

                 Family1 = Family2 = family()

              If Family1 is a family and Family1[i] is a set of sets for every i in the index set
              of Family1, then Family2 is the family with the same index set as Family1 such that
              Family2[i] is the intersection of Family1[i].

              If Family1[i] is an empty set for some i, the process exits with a badarg message.

              1> F1 = sofs:from_term([{a,[[1,2,3],[2,3,4]]},{b,[[x,y,z],[x,y]]}]),
              F2 = sofs:family_intersection(F1),
              sofs:to_external(F2).
              [{a,[2,3]},{b,[x,y]}]

       family_intersection(Family1, Family2) -> Family3

              Types:

                 Family1 = Family2 = Family3 = family()

              If Family1 and Family2 are families, then Family3 is the family such that the index
              set is the intersection of Family1:s and Family2:s index sets,  and  Family3[i]  is
              the intersection of Family1[i] and Family2[i].

              1> F1 = sofs:family([{a,[1,2]},{b,[3,4]},{c,[5,6]}]),
              F2 = sofs:family([{b,[4,5]},{c,[7,8]},{d,[9,10]}]),
              F3 = sofs:family_intersection(F1, F2),
              sofs:to_external(F3).
              [{b,[4]},{c,[]}]

       family_projection(SetFun, Family1) -> Family2

              Types:

                 SetFun = set_fun()
                 Family1 = Family2 = family()

              If  Family1  is  a  family,  then  Family2 is the family with the same index set as
              Family1 such that Family2[i] is the result of calling  SetFun  with  Family1[i]  as
              argument.

              1> F1 = sofs:from_term([{a,[[1,2],[2,3]]},{b,[[]]}]),
              F2 = sofs:family_projection(fun sofs:union/1, F1),
              sofs:to_external(F2).
              [{a,[1,2,3]},{b,[]}]

       family_range(Family1) -> Family2

              Types:

                 Family1 = Family2 = family()

              If Family1 is a family and Family1[i] is a binary relation for every i in the index
              set of Family1, then Family2 is the family with the same index set as Family1  such
              that Family2[i] is the range of Family1[i].

              1> FR = sofs:from_term([{a,[{1,a},{2,b},{3,c}]},{b,[]},{c,[{4,d},{5,e}]}]),
              F = sofs:family_range(FR),
              sofs:to_external(F).
              [{a,[a,b,c]},{b,[]},{c,[d,e]}]

       family_specification(Fun, Family1) -> Family2

              Types:

                 Fun = spec_fun()
                 Family1 = Family2 = family()

              If  Family1  is  a  family,  then  Family2  is  the restriction of Family1 to those
              elements i of the index set for which Fun applied to Family1[i]  returns  true.  If
              Fun  is  a  tuple  {external,  Fun2},  then  Fun2 is applied to the external set of
              Family1[i], otherwise Fun is applied to Family1[i].

              1> F1 = sofs:family([{a,[1,2,3]},{b,[1,2]},{c,[1]}]),
              SpecFun = fun(S) -> sofs:no_elements(S) =:= 2 end,
              F2 = sofs:family_specification(SpecFun, F1),
              sofs:to_external(F2).
              [{b,[1,2]}]

       family_to_digraph(Family) -> Graph

       family_to_digraph(Family, GraphType) -> Graph

              Types:

                 Graph = digraph:graph()
                 Family = family()
                 GraphType = [digraph:d_type()]

              Creates a directed graph from family Family. For each pair (a, {b[1],  ...,  b[n]})
              of  Family,  vertex  a and the edges (a, b[i]) for 1 <= i <= n are added to a newly
              created directed graph.

              If no graph type is specified, digraph:new/0 is  used  for  creating  the  directed
              graph,   otherwise   argument   GraphType  is  passed  on  as  second  argument  to
              digraph:new/1.

              It   F    is    a    family,    it    holds    that    F    is    a    subset    of
              digraph_to_family(family_to_digraph(F),     type(F)).     Equality     holds     if
              union_of_family(F) is a subset of domain(F).

              Creating a cycle in an acyclic graph exits the process with a cyclic message.

       family_to_relation(Family) -> BinRel

              Types:

                 Family = family()
                 BinRel = binary_relation()

              If Family is a family, then BinRel is the binary relation containing all pairs  (i,
              x) such that i belongs to the index set of Family and x belongs to Family[i].

              1> F = sofs:family([{a,[]}, {b,[1]}, {c,[2,3]}]),
              R = sofs:family_to_relation(F),
              sofs:to_external(R).
              [{b,1},{c,2},{c,3}]

       family_union(Family1) -> Family2

              Types:

                 Family1 = Family2 = family()

              If  Family1 is a family and Family1[i] is a set of sets for each i in the index set
              of Family1, then Family2 is the family with the same index set as Family1 such that
              Family2[i] is the union of Family1[i].

              1> F1 = sofs:from_term([{a,[[1,2],[2,3]]},{b,[[]]}]),
              F2 = sofs:family_union(F1),
              sofs:to_external(F2).
              [{a,[1,2,3]},{b,[]}]

              family_union(F) is equivalent to family_projection(fun sofs:union/1, F).

       family_union(Family1, Family2) -> Family3

              Types:

                 Family1 = Family2 = Family3 = family()

              If Family1 and Family2 are families, then Family3 is the family such that the index
              set is the union of Family1:s and Family2:s index sets, and Family3[i] is the union
              of Family1[i] and Family2[i] if both map i, otherwise Family1[i] or Family2[i].

              1> F1 = sofs:family([{a,[1,2]},{b,[3,4]},{c,[5,6]}]),
              F2 = sofs:family([{b,[4,5]},{c,[7,8]},{d,[9,10]}]),
              F3 = sofs:family_union(F1, F2),
              sofs:to_external(F3).
              [{a,[1,2]},{b,[3,4,5]},{c,[5,6,7,8]},{d,[9,10]}]

       field(BinRel) -> Set

              Types:

                 BinRel = binary_relation()
                 Set = a_set()

              Returns the field of the binary relation BinRel.

              1> R = sofs:relation([{1,a},{1,b},{2,b},{2,c}]),
              S = sofs:field(R),
              sofs:to_external(S).
              [1,2,a,b,c]

              field(R) is equivalent to union(domain(R), range(R)).

       from_external(ExternalSet, Type) -> AnySet

              Types:

                 ExternalSet = external_set()
                 AnySet = anyset()
                 Type = type()

              Creates  a  set  from the external set ExternalSet and the type Type. It is assumed
              that Type is a valid type of ExternalSet.

       from_sets(ListOfSets) -> Set

              Types:

                 Set = a_set()
                 ListOfSets = [anyset()]

              Returns the unordered set containing the sets of list ListOfSets.

              1> S1 = sofs:relation([{a,1},{b,2}]),
              S2 = sofs:relation([{x,3},{y,4}]),
              S = sofs:from_sets([S1,S2]),
              sofs:to_external(S).
              [[{a,1},{b,2}],[{x,3},{y,4}]]

       from_sets(TupleOfSets) -> Ordset

              Types:

                 Ordset = ordset()
                 TupleOfSets = tuple_of(anyset())

              Returns the ordered set containing the sets of the non-empty tuple TupleOfSets.

       from_term(Term) -> AnySet

       from_term(Term, Type) -> AnySet

              Types:

                 AnySet = anyset()
                 Term = term()
                 Type = type()

              Creates an element of  Sets  by  traversing  term  Term,  sorting  lists,  removing
              duplicates,  and  deriving  or  verifying a valid type for the so obtained external
              set. An explicitly specified type Type can be  used  to  limit  the  depth  of  the
              traversal;  an  atomic  type stops the traversal, as shown by the following example
              where "foo" and {"foo"} are left unmodified:

              1> S = sofs:from_term([{{"foo"},[1,1]},{"foo",[2,2]}], [{atom,[atom]}]),
              sofs:to_external(S).
              [{{"foo"},[1]},{"foo",[2]}]

              from_term can be used for creating atomic or ordered sets. The only purpose of such
              a  set  is  that  of later building unordered sets, as all functions in this module
              that do anything  operate  on  unordered  sets.  Creating  unordered  sets  from  a
              collection of ordered sets can be the way to go if the ordered sets are big and one
              does not want to waste heap by rebuilding the elements of the  unordered  set.  The
              following example shows that a set can be built "layer by layer":

              1> A = sofs:from_term(a),
              S = sofs:set([1,2,3]),
              P1 = sofs:from_sets({A,S}),
              P2 = sofs:from_term({b,[6,5,4]}),
              Ss = sofs:from_sets([P1,P2]),
              sofs:to_external(Ss).
              [{a,[1,2,3]},{b,[4,5,6]}]

              Other functions that create sets are from_external/2 and from_sets/1. Special cases
              of from_term/2  are  a_function/1,2,  empty_set/0,  family/1,2,  relation/1,2,  and
              set/1,2.

       image(BinRel, Set1) -> Set2

              Types:

                 BinRel = binary_relation()
                 Set1 = Set2 = a_set()

              Returns the image of set Set1 under the binary relation BinRel.

              1> R = sofs:relation([{1,a},{2,b},{2,c},{3,d}]),
              S1 = sofs:set([1,2]),
              S2 = sofs:image(R, S1),
              sofs:to_external(S2).
              [a,b,c]

       intersection(SetOfSets) -> Set

              Types:

                 Set = a_set()
                 SetOfSets = set_of_sets()

              Returns the intersection of the set of sets SetOfSets.

              Intersecting an empty set of sets exits the process with a badarg message.

       intersection(Set1, Set2) -> Set3

              Types:

                 Set1 = Set2 = Set3 = a_set()

              Returns the intersection of Set1 and Set2.

       intersection_of_family(Family) -> Set

              Types:

                 Family = family()
                 Set = a_set()

              Returns the intersection of family Family.

              Intersecting an empty family exits the process with a badarg message.

              1> F = sofs:family([{a,[0,2,4]},{b,[0,1,2]},{c,[2,3]}]),
              S = sofs:intersection_of_family(F),
              sofs:to_external(S).
              [2]

       inverse(Function1) -> Function2

              Types:

                 Function1 = Function2 = a_function()

              Returns the inverse of function Function1.

              1> R1 = sofs:relation([{1,a},{2,b},{3,c}]),
              R2 = sofs:inverse(R1),
              sofs:to_external(R2).
              [{a,1},{b,2},{c,3}]

       inverse_image(BinRel, Set1) -> Set2

              Types:

                 BinRel = binary_relation()
                 Set1 = Set2 = a_set()

              Returns the inverse image of Set1 under the binary relation BinRel.

              1> R = sofs:relation([{1,a},{2,b},{2,c},{3,d}]),
              S1 = sofs:set([c,d,e]),
              S2 = sofs:inverse_image(R, S1),
              sofs:to_external(S2).
              [2,3]

       is_a_function(BinRel) -> Bool

              Types:

                 Bool = boolean()
                 BinRel = binary_relation()

              Returns  true if the binary relation BinRel is a function or the untyped empty set,
              otherwise false.

       is_disjoint(Set1, Set2) -> Bool

              Types:

                 Bool = boolean()
                 Set1 = Set2 = a_set()

              Returns true if Set1 and Set2 are disjoint, otherwise false.

       is_empty_set(AnySet) -> Bool

              Types:

                 AnySet = anyset()
                 Bool = boolean()

              Returns true if AnySet is an empty unordered set, otherwise false.

       is_equal(AnySet1, AnySet2) -> Bool

              Types:

                 AnySet1 = AnySet2 = anyset()
                 Bool = boolean()

              Returns true if AnySet1 and AnySet2  are  equal,  otherwise  false.  The  following
              example shows that ==/2 is used when comparing sets for equality:

              1> S1 = sofs:set([1.0]),
              S2 = sofs:set([1]),
              sofs:is_equal(S1, S2).
              true

       is_set(AnySet) -> Bool

              Types:

                 AnySet = anyset()
                 Bool = boolean()

              Returns  true  if AnySet is an unordered set, and false if AnySet is an ordered set
              or an atomic set.

       is_sofs_set(Term) -> Bool

              Types:

                 Bool = boolean()
                 Term = term()

              Returns true if Term is an unordered  set,  an  ordered  set,  or  an  atomic  set,
              otherwise false.

       is_subset(Set1, Set2) -> Bool

              Types:

                 Bool = boolean()
                 Set1 = Set2 = a_set()

              Returns true if Set1 is a subset of Set2, otherwise false.

       is_type(Term) -> Bool

              Types:

                 Bool = boolean()
                 Term = term()

              Returns true if term Term is a type.

       join(Relation1, I, Relation2, J) -> Relation3

              Types:

                 Relation1 = Relation2 = Relation3 = relation()
                 I = J = integer() >= 1

              Returns  the natural join of the relations Relation1 and Relation2 on coordinates I
              and J.

              1> R1 = sofs:relation([{a,x,1},{b,y,2}]),
              R2 = sofs:relation([{1,f,g},{1,h,i},{2,3,4}]),
              J = sofs:join(R1, 3, R2, 1),
              sofs:to_external(J).
              [{a,x,1,f,g},{a,x,1,h,i},{b,y,2,3,4}]

       multiple_relative_product(TupleOfBinRels, BinRel1) -> BinRel2

              Types:

                 TupleOfBinRels = tuple_of(BinRel)
                 BinRel = BinRel1 = BinRel2 = binary_relation()

              If TupleOfBinRels is a non-empty tuple {R[1], ..., R[n]} of  binary  relations  and
              BinRel1  is a binary relation, then BinRel2 is the multiple relative product of the
              ordered set (R[i], ..., R[n]) and BinRel1.

              1> Ri = sofs:relation([{a,1},{b,2},{c,3}]),
              R = sofs:relation([{a,b},{b,c},{c,a}]),
              MP = sofs:multiple_relative_product({Ri, Ri}, R),
              sofs:to_external(sofs:range(MP)).
              [{1,2},{2,3},{3,1}]

       no_elements(ASet) -> NoElements

              Types:

                 ASet = a_set() | ordset()
                 NoElements = integer() >= 0

              Returns the number of elements of the ordered or unordered set ASet.

       partition(SetOfSets) -> Partition

              Types:

                 SetOfSets = set_of_sets()
                 Partition = a_set()

              Returns the partition of the union of the set  of  sets  SetOfSets  such  that  two
              elements are considered equal if they belong to the same elements of SetOfSets.

              1> Sets1 = sofs:from_term([[a,b,c],[d,e,f],[g,h,i]]),
              Sets2 = sofs:from_term([[b,c,d],[e,f,g],[h,i,j]]),
              P = sofs:partition(sofs:union(Sets1, Sets2)),
              sofs:to_external(P).
              [[a],[b,c],[d],[e,f],[g],[h,i],[j]]

       partition(SetFun, Set) -> Partition

              Types:

                 SetFun = set_fun()
                 Partition = Set = a_set()

              Returns  the  partition  of  Set such that two elements are considered equal if the
              results of applying SetFun are equal.

              1> Ss = sofs:from_term([[a],[b],[c,d],[e,f]]),
              SetFun = fun(S) -> sofs:from_term(sofs:no_elements(S)) end,
              P = sofs:partition(SetFun, Ss),
              sofs:to_external(P).
              [[[a],[b]],[[c,d],[e,f]]]

       partition(SetFun, Set1, Set2) -> {Set3, Set4}

              Types:

                 SetFun = set_fun()
                 Set1 = Set2 = Set3 = Set4 = a_set()

              Returns a pair of sets that, regarded as constituting a set, forms a  partition  of
              Set1.  If  the  result of applying SetFun to an element of Set1 gives an element in
              Set2, the element belongs to Set3, otherwise the element belongs to Set4.

              1> R1 = sofs:relation([{1,a},{2,b},{3,c}]),
              S = sofs:set([2,4,6]),
              {R2,R3} = sofs:partition(1, R1, S),
              {sofs:to_external(R2),sofs:to_external(R3)}.
              {[{2,b}],[{1,a},{3,c}]}

              partition(F, S1, S2) is equivalent to {restriction(F, S1, S2), drestriction(F,  S1,
              S2)}.

       partition_family(SetFun, Set) -> Family

              Types:

                 Family = family()
                 SetFun = set_fun()
                 Set = a_set()

              Returns  family  Family  where  the indexed set is a partition of Set such that two
              elements are considered equal if the results of applying SetFun are the same  value
              i. This i is the index that Family maps onto the equivalence class.

              1> S = sofs:relation([{a,a,a,a},{a,a,b,b},{a,b,b,b}]),
              SetFun = {external, fun({A,_,C,_}) -> {A,C} end},
              F = sofs:partition_family(SetFun, S),
              sofs:to_external(F).
              [{{a,a},[{a,a,a,a}]},{{a,b},[{a,a,b,b},{a,b,b,b}]}]

       product(TupleOfSets) -> Relation

              Types:

                 Relation = relation()
                 TupleOfSets = tuple_of(a_set())

              Returns the Cartesian product of the non-empty tuple of sets TupleOfSets. If (x[1],
              ..., x[n]) is an element of the n-ary relation Relation, then x[i]  is  drawn  from
              element i of TupleOfSets.

              1> S1 = sofs:set([a,b]),
              S2 = sofs:set([1,2]),
              S3 = sofs:set([x,y]),
              P3 = sofs:product({S1,S2,S3}),
              sofs:to_external(P3).
              [{a,1,x},{a,1,y},{a,2,x},{a,2,y},{b,1,x},{b,1,y},{b,2,x},{b,2,y}]

       product(Set1, Set2) -> BinRel

              Types:

                 BinRel = binary_relation()
                 Set1 = Set2 = a_set()

              Returns the Cartesian product of Set1 and Set2.

              1> S1 = sofs:set([1,2]),
              S2 = sofs:set([a,b]),
              R = sofs:product(S1, S2),
              sofs:to_external(R).
              [{1,a},{1,b},{2,a},{2,b}]

              product(S1, S2) is equivalent to product({S1, S2}).

       projection(SetFun, Set1) -> Set2

              Types:

                 SetFun = set_fun()
                 Set1 = Set2 = a_set()

              Returns  the  set  created  by  substituting  each element of Set1 by the result of
              applying SetFun to the element.

              If SetFun is a number i >= 1 and Set1 is a relation, then the returned set  is  the
              projection of Set1 onto coordinate i.

              1> S1 = sofs:from_term([{1,a},{2,b},{3,a}]),
              S2 = sofs:projection(2, S1),
              sofs:to_external(S2).
              [a,b]

       range(BinRel) -> Set

              Types:

                 BinRel = binary_relation()
                 Set = a_set()

              Returns the range of the binary relation BinRel.

              1> R = sofs:relation([{1,a},{1,b},{2,b},{2,c}]),
              S = sofs:range(R),
              sofs:to_external(S).
              [a,b,c]

       relation(Tuples) -> Relation

       relation(Tuples, Type) -> Relation

              Types:

                 N = integer()
                 Type = N | type()
                 Relation = relation()
                 Tuples = [tuple()]

              Creates a relation. relation(R, T) is equivalent to from_term(R, T), if T is a type
              and the result is a relation. If Type is an integer N, then [{atom,  ...,  atom}]),
              where  the  tuple  size  is  N,  is  used  as  type  of the relation. If no type is
              explicitly specified, the size of the first tuple of Tuples is  used  if  there  is
              such a tuple. relation([]) is equivalent to relation([], 2).

       relation_to_family(BinRel) -> Family

              Types:

                 Family = family()
                 BinRel = binary_relation()

              Returns  family Family such that the index set is equal to the domain of the binary
              relation BinRel, and Family[i] is the image of the set of i under BinRel.

              1> R = sofs:relation([{b,1},{c,2},{c,3}]),
              F = sofs:relation_to_family(R),
              sofs:to_external(F).
              [{b,[1]},{c,[2,3]}]

       relative_product(ListOfBinRels) -> BinRel2

       relative_product(ListOfBinRels, BinRel1) -> BinRel2

              Types:

                 ListOfBinRels = [BinRel, ...]
                 BinRel = BinRel1 = BinRel2 = binary_relation()

              If ListOfBinRels is a non-empty list [R[1], ...,  R[n]]  of  binary  relations  and
              BinRel1  is  a binary relation, then BinRel2 is the relative product of the ordered
              set (R[i], ..., R[n]) and BinRel1.

              If BinRel1 is omitted, the  relation  of  equality  between  the  elements  of  the
              Cartesian  product  of  the  ranges of R[i], range R[1] x ... x range R[n], is used
              instead (intuitively, nothing is "lost").

              1> TR = sofs:relation([{1,a},{1,aa},{2,b}]),
              R1 = sofs:relation([{1,u},{2,v},{3,c}]),
              R2 = sofs:relative_product([TR, R1]),
              sofs:to_external(R2).
              [{1,{a,u}},{1,{aa,u}},{2,{b,v}}]

              Notice that relative_product([R1], R2) is different from relative_product(R1,  R2);
              the list of one element is not identified with the element itself.

       relative_product(BinRel1, BinRel2) -> BinRel3

              Types:

                 BinRel1 = BinRel2 = BinRel3 = binary_relation()

              Returns the relative product of the binary relations BinRel1 and BinRel2.

       relative_product1(BinRel1, BinRel2) -> BinRel3

              Types:

                 BinRel1 = BinRel2 = BinRel3 = binary_relation()

              Returns the relative product of the converse of the binary relation BinRel1 and the
              binary relation BinRel2.

              1> R1 = sofs:relation([{1,a},{1,aa},{2,b}]),
              R2 = sofs:relation([{1,u},{2,v},{3,c}]),
              R3 = sofs:relative_product1(R1, R2),
              sofs:to_external(R3).
              [{a,u},{aa,u},{b,v}]

              relative_product1(R1, R2) is equivalent to relative_product(converse(R1), R2).

       restriction(BinRel1, Set) -> BinRel2

              Types:

                 BinRel1 = BinRel2 = binary_relation()
                 Set = a_set()

              Returns the restriction of the binary relation BinRel1 to Set.

              1> R1 = sofs:relation([{1,a},{2,b},{3,c}]),
              S = sofs:set([1,2,4]),
              R2 = sofs:restriction(R1, S),
              sofs:to_external(R2).
              [{1,a},{2,b}]

       restriction(SetFun, Set1, Set2) -> Set3

              Types:

                 SetFun = set_fun()
                 Set1 = Set2 = Set3 = a_set()

              Returns a subset of Set1 containing those elements that gives an element in Set2 as
              the result of applying SetFun.

              1> S1 = sofs:relation([{1,a},{2,b},{3,c}]),
              S2 = sofs:set([b,c,d]),
              S3 = sofs:restriction(2, S1, S2),
              sofs:to_external(S3).
              [{2,b},{3,c}]

       set(Terms) -> Set

       set(Terms, Type) -> Set

              Types:

                 Set = a_set()
                 Terms = [term()]
                 Type = type()

              Creates an unordered set. set(L, T) is equivalent to from_term(L, T), if the result
              is an unordered set. If no type is explicitly specified, [atom] is used as the  set
              type.

       specification(Fun, Set1) -> Set2

              Types:

                 Fun = spec_fun()
                 Set1 = Set2 = a_set()

              Returns the set containing every element of Set1 for which Fun returns true. If Fun
              is a tuple {external, Fun2}, Fun2 is applied to the external set of  each  element,
              otherwise Fun is applied to each element.

              1> R1 = sofs:relation([{a,1},{b,2}]),
              R2 = sofs:relation([{x,1},{x,2},{y,3}]),
              S1 = sofs:from_sets([R1,R2]),
              S2 = sofs:specification(fun sofs:is_a_function/1, S1),
              sofs:to_external(S2).
              [[{a,1},{b,2}]]

       strict_relation(BinRel1) -> BinRel2

              Types:

                 BinRel1 = BinRel2 = binary_relation()

              Returns the strict relation corresponding to the binary relation BinRel1.

              1> R1 = sofs:relation([{1,1},{1,2},{2,1},{2,2}]),
              R2 = sofs:strict_relation(R1),
              sofs:to_external(R2).
              [{1,2},{2,1}]

       substitution(SetFun, Set1) -> Set2

              Types:

                 SetFun = set_fun()
                 Set1 = Set2 = a_set()

              Returns  a  function,  the  domain of which is Set1. The value of an element of the
              domain is the result of applying SetFun to the element.

              1> L = [{a,1},{b,2}].
              [{a,1},{b,2}]
              2> sofs:to_external(sofs:projection(1,sofs:relation(L))).
              [a,b]
              3> sofs:to_external(sofs:substitution(1,sofs:relation(L))).
              [{{a,1},a},{{b,2},b}]
              4> SetFun = {external, fun({A,_}=E) -> {E,A} end},
              sofs:to_external(sofs:projection(SetFun,sofs:relation(L))).
              [{{a,1},a},{{b,2},b}]

              The relation of equality between the elements of {a,b,c}:

              1> I = sofs:substitution(fun(A) -> A end, sofs:set([a,b,c])),
              sofs:to_external(I).
              [{a,a},{b,b},{c,c}]

              Let SetOfSets be a set of sets and BinRel a binary relation. The function that maps
              each element Set of SetOfSets onto the image of Set under BinRel is returned by the
              following function:

              images(SetOfSets, BinRel) ->
                 Fun = fun(Set) -> sofs:image(BinRel, Set) end,
                 sofs:substitution(Fun, SetOfSets).

              External unordered sets are represented as sorted lists. So, creating the image  of
              a  set under a relation R can traverse all elements of R (to that comes the sorting
              of results, the image). In image/2, BinRel is traversed once for  each  element  of
              SetOfSets,  which  can  take too long. The following efficient function can be used
              instead under the assumption that the image of  each  element  of  SetOfSets  under
              BinRel is non-empty:

              images2(SetOfSets, BinRel) ->
                 CR = sofs:canonical_relation(SetOfSets),
                 R = sofs:relative_product1(CR, BinRel),
                 sofs:relation_to_family(R).

       symdiff(Set1, Set2) -> Set3

              Types:

                 Set1 = Set2 = Set3 = a_set()

              Returns the symmetric difference (or the Boolean sum) of Set1 and Set2.

              1> S1 = sofs:set([1,2,3]),
              S2 = sofs:set([2,3,4]),
              P = sofs:symdiff(S1, S2),
              sofs:to_external(P).
              [1,4]

       symmetric_partition(Set1, Set2) -> {Set3, Set4, Set5}

              Types:

                 Set1 = Set2 = Set3 = Set4 = Set5 = a_set()

              Returns a triple of sets:

                * Set3 contains the elements of Set1 that do not belong to Set2.

                * Set4 contains the elements of Set1 that belong to Set2.

                * Set5 contains the elements of Set2 that do not belong to Set1.

       to_external(AnySet) -> ExternalSet

              Types:

                 ExternalSet = external_set()
                 AnySet = anyset()

              Returns the external set of an atomic, ordered, or unordered set.

       to_sets(ASet) -> Sets

              Types:

                 ASet = a_set() | ordset()
                 Sets = tuple_of(AnySet) | [AnySet]
                 AnySet = anyset()

              Returns  the  elements of the ordered set ASet as a tuple of sets, and the elements
              of the unordered set ASet as a sorted list of sets without duplicates.

       type(AnySet) -> Type

              Types:

                 AnySet = anyset()
                 Type = type()

              Returns the type of an atomic, ordered, or unordered set.

       union(SetOfSets) -> Set

              Types:

                 Set = a_set()
                 SetOfSets = set_of_sets()

              Returns the union of the set of sets SetOfSets.

       union(Set1, Set2) -> Set3

              Types:

                 Set1 = Set2 = Set3 = a_set()

              Returns the union of Set1 and Set2.

       union_of_family(Family) -> Set

              Types:

                 Family = family()
                 Set = a_set()

              Returns the union of family Family.

              1> F = sofs:family([{a,[0,2,4]},{b,[0,1,2]},{c,[2,3]}]),
              S = sofs:union_of_family(F),
              sofs:to_external(S).
              [0,1,2,3,4]

       weak_relation(BinRel1) -> BinRel2

              Types:

                 BinRel1 = BinRel2 = binary_relation()

              Returns a subset S of the weak relation W  corresponding  to  the  binary  relation
              BinRel1.  Let F be the field of BinRel1. The subset S is defined so that x S y if x
              W y for some x in F and for some y in F.

              1> R1 = sofs:relation([{1,1},{1,2},{3,1}]),
              R2 = sofs:weak_relation(R1),
              sofs:to_external(R2).
              [{1,1},{1,2},{2,2},{3,1},{3,3}]

SEE ALSO

       dict(3erl), digraph(3erl), orddict(3erl), ordsets(3erl), sets(3erl)