lh-l4v/docs/find-consts.md

Using find_consts effectively

The find_consts command searches for constants matching the given criteria. It is similar to find_theorems, searching using type patterns instead of term patterns.

The basic search criteria are:

syntax	find ...
"type"	constants containing this type
strict: "type"	constants matching this type
name: "string"	constant with string in name
- <criterion>	constants that do not match <criterion>

Generally, the strict criterion is most useful, followed by name, while a plain type pattern can be used to refine other queries.

Suppose we are searching for a function that extracts the left side of a sum:

"_ + _ ⇒ _"

Unfortunately (depending on how deep you are in l4v) this is liable to print many irrelevant constants whose types merely contain "_ + _ ⇒ _" somewhere. The pattern is good if you want to cast the search net wide, but l4v tends to be too big for that. We can use a strict query instead:

strict: "_ + _ ⇒ _"

We can also use schematic variables instead of dummy types to make a precise query:

strict: "?'a + _ ⇒ ?'a"

Analogously to find_theorems, use

"_ ⇒ foo"

to search for functions that return a given type, or

"foo ⇒ _"

for functions that take a given type.

As in find_theorems you can use name and -name to restrict to specific theories or exclude theories

 "_ => _ list" -name: "List."

will find all constants that produce list, but exclude the basic List library.