[Haskell-cafe] Polymorphic algebraic type constructors

[Graham Klyne]

If I have a polymorphic algebraic type (T a) with several type 
constructors, only one of which actually references the type parameter, is 
there any way to express type conversion for the type-parameter-independent 
constructors without actually mentioning all the constructors?

Here's a simple example based on Either:

[[
data A = A String deriving (Show, Eq)
data B = B String deriving (Show, Eq)

f :: (a->b) -> Either String a -> Either String b
f g (Right a) = (Right $ g a)
f g (Left  s) = (Left s)
-- f g (s) = (s) -- doesn't work

a2b (A s) = (B s)

t1 = f a2b (Left "x")
t2 = f a2b (Right (A "y"))
]]

The second case for 'f' throws a type error when the constructor 'Left' is 
omitted, because the type of 's' is fixed to be Either String A when the 
required result (in this case, because of a2b) is Either String B.

#g


------------
Graham Klyne
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