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NAME

       dict - Key-Value Dictionary

DESCRIPTION

       Dict  implements  a  Key  -  Value  dictionary.  The representation of a dictionary is not
       defined.

       This module provides exactly the same interface as the module orddict. One  difference  is
       that while this module considers two keys as different if they do not match (=:=), orddict
       considers two keys as different if and only if they do not compare equal (==).

DATA TYPES

       dict()

              Dictionary as returned by new/0.

EXPORTS

       append(Key, Value, Dict1) -> Dict2

              Types:

                 Key = Value = term()
                 Dict1 = Dict2 = dict()

              This function appends a new Value to the current list  of  values  associated  with
              Key.

       append_list(Key, ValList, Dict1) -> Dict2

              Types:

                 Key = term()
                 ValList = [Value :: term()]
                 Dict1 = Dict2 = dict()

              This  function  appends  a  list  of  values  ValList to the current list of values
              associated with Key. An exception is generated if the initial value associated with
              Key is not a list of values.

       erase(Key, Dict1) -> Dict2

              Types:

                 Key = term()
                 Dict1 = Dict2 = dict()

              This function erases all items with a given key from a dictionary.

       fetch(Key, Dict) -> Value

              Types:

                 Key = term()
                 Dict = dict()
                 Value = term()

              This  function  returns the value associated with Key in the dictionary Dict. fetch
              assumes that the Key is present in the dictionary and an exception is generated  if
              Key is not in the dictionary.

       fetch_keys(Dict) -> Keys

              Types:

                 Dict = dict()
                 Keys = [term()]

              This function returns a list of all keys in the dictionary.

       filter(Pred, Dict1) -> Dict2

              Types:

                 Pred = fun((Key :: term(), Value :: term()) -> boolean())
                 Dict1 = Dict2 = dict()

              Dict2 is a dictionary of all keys and values in Dict1 for which Pred(Key, Value) is
              true.

       find(Key, Dict) -> {ok, Value} | error

              Types:

                 Key = term()
                 Dict = dict()
                 Value = term()

              This function searches for a key in a dictionary. Returns {ok, Value}  where  Value
              is  the  value  associated  with  Key,  or  error  if the key is not present in the
              dictionary.

       fold(Fun, Acc0, Dict) -> Acc1

              Types:

                 Fun = fun((Key, Value, AccIn) -> AccOut)
                 Key = Value = Acc0 = Acc1 = AccIn = AccOut = term()
                 Dict = dict()

              Calls Fun on successive keys and values of Dict together with an extra argument Acc
              (short  for  accumulator). Fun must return a new accumulator which is passed to the
              next call. Acc0 is  returned  if  the  list  is  empty.  The  evaluation  order  is
              undefined.

       from_list(List) -> Dict

              Types:

                 List = [{Key :: term(), Value :: term()}]
                 Dict = dict()

              This function converts the Key - Value list List to a dictionary.

       is_key(Key, Dict) -> boolean()

              Types:

                 Key = term()
                 Dict = dict()

              This function tests if Key is contained in the dictionary Dict.

       map(Fun, Dict1) -> Dict2

              Types:

                 Fun =
                     fun((Key :: term(), Value1 :: term()) -> Value2 :: term())
                 Dict1 = Dict2 = dict()

              map calls Fun on successive keys and values of Dict1 to return a new value for each
              key. The evaluation order is undefined.

       merge(Fun, Dict1, Dict2) -> Dict3

              Types:

                 Fun =
                     fun((Key :: term(), Value1 :: term(), Value2 :: term()) ->
                             Value :: term())
                 Dict1 = Dict2 = Dict3 = dict()

              merge merges two dictionaries, Dict1 and Dict2, to create a new dictionary. All the
              Key  -  Value pairs from both dictionaries are included in the new dictionary. If a
              key occurs in both dictionaries then Fun is called with the key and both values  to
              return a new value. merge could be defined as:

              merge(Fun, D1, D2) ->
                  fold(fun (K, V1, D) ->
                               update(K, fun (V2) -> Fun(K, V1, V2) end, V1, D)
                       end, D2, D1).

              but is faster.

       new() -> dict()

              This function creates a new dictionary.

       size(Dict) -> integer() >= 0

              Types:

                 Dict = dict()

              Returns the number of elements in a Dict.

       store(Key, Value, Dict1) -> Dict2

              Types:

                 Key = Value = term()
                 Dict1 = Dict2 = dict()

              This  function stores a Key - Value pair in a dictionary. If the Key already exists
              in Dict1, the associated value is replaced by Value.

       to_list(Dict) -> List

              Types:

                 Dict = dict()
                 List = [{Key :: term(), Value :: term()}]

              This function converts the dictionary to a list representation.

       update(Key, Fun, Dict1) -> Dict2

              Types:

                 Key = term()
                 Fun = fun((Value1 :: term()) -> Value2 :: term())
                 Dict1 = Dict2 = dict()

              Update a value in a dictionary by calling Fun on the value to get a new  value.  An
              exception is generated if Key is not present in the dictionary.

       update(Key, Fun, Initial, Dict1) -> Dict2

              Types:

                 Key = Initial = term()
                 Fun = fun((Value1 :: term()) -> Value2 :: term())
                 Dict1 = Dict2 = dict()

              Update  a  value in a dictionary by calling Fun on the value to get a new value. If
              Key is not present in the dictionary then Initial  will  be  stored  as  the  first
              value. For example append/3 could be defined as:

              append(Key, Val, D) ->
                  update(Key, fun (Old) -> Old ++ [Val] end, [Val], D).

       update_counter(Key, Increment, Dict1) -> Dict2

              Types:

                 Key = term()
                 Increment = number()
                 Dict1 = Dict2 = dict()

              Add  Increment to the value associated with Key and store this value. If Key is not
              present in the dictionary then Increment will be stored as the first value.

              This could be defined as:

              update_counter(Key, Incr, D) ->
                  update(Key, fun (Old) -> Old + Incr end, Incr, D).

              but is faster.

NOTES

       The functions append and append_list are included so we can store keyed values in  a  list
       accumulator. For example:

       > D0 = dict:new(),
         D1 = dict:store(files, [], D0),
         D2 = dict:append(files, f1, D1),
         D3 = dict:append(files, f2, D2),
         D4 = dict:append(files, f3, D3),
         dict:fetch(files, D4).
       [f1,f2,f3]

       This  saves the trouble of first fetching a keyed value, appending a new value to the list
       of stored values, and storing the result.

       The function fetch should be used if the key is known to be in the  dictionary,  otherwise
       find.

SEE ALSO

       gb_trees(3erl), orddict(3erl)