Abstract Types and Subprograms
Author: JTC1/SC22/WG9/ARG, by Randall Brukardt, ARG Editor

Ada Reference Manual — Legal Information

# 3.9.3 Abstract Types and Subprograms

1/2
An abstract type is a tagged type intended for use as an ancestor of other types, but which is not allowed to have objects of its own. An abstract subprogram is a subprogram that has no body, but is intended to be overridden at some point when inherited. Because objects of an abstract type cannot be created, a dispatching call to an abstract subprogram always dispatches to some overriding body.

#### Syntax

1.1/3
abstract_subprogram_declaration ::=
[overriding_indicator]
subprogram_specification is abstract
[aspect_specification];

#### Static Semantics

1.2/2
Interface types (see 3.9.4) are abstract types. In addition, a tagged type that has the reserved word abstract in its declaration is an abstract type. The class-wide type (see 3.4.1) rooted at an abstract type is not itself an abstract type.

#### Legality Rules

2/2
Only a tagged type shall have the reserved word abstract in its declaration.
3/2
A subprogram declared by an abstract_subprogram_declaration or a formal_abstract_subprogram_declaration (see 12.6) is an abstract subprogram. If it is a primitive subprogram of a tagged type, then the tagged type shall be abstract.
4/3
If a type has an implicitly declared primitive subprogram that is inherited or is a predefined operator, and the corresponding primitive subprogram of the parent or ancestor type is abstract or is a function with a controlling access result, or if a type other than a nonabstract null extension inherits a function with a controlling result, then:
5/2
If the type is abstract or untagged, the implicitly declared subprogram is abstract.
6/2
Otherwise, the subprogram shall be overridden with a nonabstract subprogram or, in the case of a private extension inheriting a function with a controlling result, have a full type that is a null extension; for a type declared in the visible part of a package, the overriding may be either in the visible or the private part. Such a subprogram is said to require overriding. However, if the type is a generic formal type, the subprogram need not be overridden for the formal type itself; a nonabstract version will necessarily be provided by the actual type.
7
A call on an abstract subprogram shall be a dispatching call; nondispatching calls to an abstract subprogram are not allowed.
8/3
The type of an aggregate, or of an object created by an object_declaration or an allocator, or a generic formal object of mode in, shall not be abstract. The type of the target of an assignment operation (see 5.2) shall not be abstract. The type of a component shall not be abstract. If the result type of a function is abstract, then the function shall be abstract. If a function has an access result type designating an abstract type, then the function shall be abstract. The type denoted by a return_subtype_indication (see 6.5) shall not be abstract. A generic function shall not have an abstract result type or an access result type designating an abstract type.
9
If a partial view is not abstract, the corresponding full view shall not be abstract. If a generic formal type is abstract, then for each primitive subprogram of the formal that is not abstract, the corresponding primitive subprogram of the actual shall not be abstract.
10/3
For an abstract type declared in a visible part, an abstract primitive subprogram shall not be declared in the private part, unless it is overriding an abstract subprogram implicitly declared in the visible part. For a tagged type declared in a visible part, a primitive function with a controlling result or a controlling access result shall not be declared in the private part, unless it is overriding a function implicitly declared in the visible part.
11/2
A generic actual subprogram shall not be an abstract subprogram unless the generic formal subprogram is declared by a formal_abstract_subprogram_declaration. The prefix of an attribute_reference for the Access, Unchecked_Access, or Address attributes shall not denote an abstract subprogram.

#### Dynamic Semantics

11.1/2
The elaboration of an abstract_subprogram_declaration has no effect.
NOTES
12
79 Abstractness is not inherited; to declare an abstract type, the reserved word abstract has to be used in the declaration of the type extension.
13
80 A class-wide type is never abstract. Even if a class is rooted at an abstract type, the class-wide type for the class is not abstract, and an object of the class-wide type can be created; the tag of such an object will identify some nonabstract type in the class.

#### Examples

14
Example of an abstract type representing a set of natural numbers:
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package Sets is
subtype Element_Type is Natural;
type Set is abstract tagged null record;
function Empty return Set is abstract;
function Union(Left, Right : Set) return Set is abstract;
function Intersection(Left, Right : Set) return Set is abstract;
function Unit_Set(Element : Element_Type) return Set is abstract;
procedure Take(Element : out Element_Type;
From : in out Set) is abstract;
end Sets;
NOTES
16
81 Notes on the example: Given the above abstract type, one could then derive various (nonabstract) extensions of the type, representing alternative implementations of a set. One might use a bit vector, but impose an upper bound on the largest element representable, while another might use a hash table, trading off space for flexibility.

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