My program is supposed to convert a given temperature from Fahrenheit to Centigrade or the other way around. It takes in a list containing a number and a letter. The letter is the temperature and the letter is the unit we are in. Then I call the appropriate function either F-to-C or C-to-F. How do I call the functions with the given list that was first checked in my temperature-conversion function. Here is my code.
(defun temperature-conversion (lst)
(cond
((member 'F lst) (F-to-C))
((member 'C lst) (C-to-F))
(t (print "You didn't enter a valid unit for conversion"))
)
)
(defun F-to-C ()
;;(print "hello")
(print (temperature-conversion(lst)))
)
(defun C-to-F ()
(print "goodbye"))
;;(print (temperature-conversion '(900 f)))
(setf data1 '(900 f))
You have infinite recursion: temperature-conversion calls F-to-C which calls temperature-conversion again.
I would do this:
(defun c2f (c) (+ 32 (/ (* 9 c) 5)))
(defun f2c (f) (/ (* 5 (- f 32)) 9))
(defun temperature-conversion (spec)
(ecase (second spec)
(C (c2f (first spec)))
(F (f2c (first spec)))))
(temperature-conversion '(32 f))
==> 0
(temperature-conversion '(100 c))
==> 212
(temperature-conversion '(100))
*** - The value of (SECOND SPEC) must be one of C, F
The value is: NIL
The following restarts are available:
ABORT :R1 Abort main loop
I think this example is generally used to demonstrate how functions are first-class values.
With a little modification to sds's answer, you can have an ECASE statement that selects the appropriate function, which is then used by a surrounding FUNCALL.
(defun temperature-conversion (spec)
(destructuring-bind (temperature unit) spec
(funcall
(ecase unit (C #'c2f) (F #'f2c))
temperature)))
I added a DESTRUCTURING-BIND in case you don't know yet what it is.
