I realized that a certain section of my code consists of groups of methods that look similar (like I have multiple trios: a helper function that gets called by two other functions meant for the programmer). I'm trying to write a macro that will define these three functions for me so that all I need to do is call the macro. But my attempt results in defuns and function calls that have quoted strings instead of the generated names as new symbols. What am I doing wrong?
Example (incorrect code)
(defmacro def-trio (base-name)
(let
((helper-name (format nil "helper-~a" base-name))
(method-1 (format nil "~a-1" base-name))
(method-2 (format nil "~a-2" base-name)))
`(progn
(defun ,helper-name () 'helper-called)
(defun ,method-1 () (,helper-name) '1-called)
(defun ,method-2 () (,helper-name) '2-called))))
Now the following happens:
(def-trio my-trio)
==>
(PROGN (DEFUN "helper-MY-TRIO" () 'HELPER-CALLED)
(DEFUN "MY-TRIO-1" () ("helper-MY-TRIO") '1-CALLED)
(DEFUN "MY-TRIO-2" () ("helper-MY-TRIO") '2-CALLED))
Also, after I learn how to get this working, are there any extra gotcha's if I had this macro define other macros instead of other functions? I read How do I write a macro-defining macro in common lisp but I think my question is a little different because I'm asking about programmatically generated symbols/names. I'm open to being corrected though :) Thanks!