<section xmlns="http://docbook.org/ns/docbook"
xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">
<title>Built-in functions</title>
<para>This section lists the functions and constants built into the
Nix expression evaluator. (The built-in function
<function>derivation</function> is discussed above.) Some built-ins,
such as <function>derivation</function>, are always in scope of every
Nix expression; you can just access them right away. But to prevent
polluting the namespace too much, most built-ins are not in scope.
Instead, you can access them through the <varname>builtins</varname>
built-in value, which is an attribute set that contains all built-in
functions and values. For instance, <function>derivation</function>
is also available as <function>builtins.derivation</function>.</para>
<variablelist >
<varlistentry><term><function>abort</function> <replaceable>s</replaceable></term>
<listitem><para>Abort Nix expression evaluation, print error
message <replaceable>s</replaceable>.</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry><term><function>builtins.add</function>
<replaceable>e1</replaceable> <replaceable>e2</replaceable></term>
<listitem><para>Return the sum of the integers
<replaceable>e1</replaceable> and
<replaceable>e2</replaceable>.</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry><term><function>builtins.attrNames</function>
<replaceable>attrs</replaceable></term>
<listitem><para>Return the names of the attributes in the
attribute set <replaceable>attrs</replaceable> in a sorted list.
For instance, <literal>builtins.attrNames {y = 1; x =
"foo";}</literal> evaluates to <literal>["x" "y"]</literal>.
There is no built-in function <function>attrValues</function>, but
you can easily define it yourself:
<programlisting>
attrValues = attrs: map (name: builtins.getAttr name attrs) (builtins.attrNames attrs);</programlisting>
</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry><term><function>baseNameOf</function> <replaceable>s</replaceable></term>
<listitem><para>Return the <emphasis>base name</emphasis> of the
string <replaceable>s</replaceable>, that is, everything following
the final slash in the string. This is similar to the GNU
<command>basename</command> command.</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry><term><varname>builtins</varname></term>
<listitem><para>The attribute set <varname>builtins</varname>
contains all the built-in functions and values. You can use
<varname>builtins</varname> to test for the availability of
features in the Nix installation, e.g.,
<programlisting>
if builtins ? getEnv then builtins.getEnv "PATH" else ""</programlisting>
This allows a Nix expression to fall back gracefully on older Nix
installations that don’t have the desired built-in function.
However, in that case you should not write
<programlisting>
if builtins ? getEnv then __getEnv "PATH" else ""</programlisting>
This Nix expression will trigger an “undefined variable” error on
older Nix versions since <function>__getEnv</function> doesn’t
exist. <literal>builtins.getEnv</literal>, on the other hand, is
safe since <literal>builtins</literal> always exists and attribute
selection is lazy, so it’s only performed if the test
succeeds.</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry
xml:id='builtin-currentSystem'><term><varname>builtins.currentSystem</varname></term>
<listitem><para>The built-in value <varname>currentSystem</varname>
evaluates to the Nix platform identifier for the Nix installation
on which the expression is being evaluated, such as
<literal>"i686-linux"</literal> or
<literal>"powerpc-darwin"</literal>.</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
<!--
<varlistentry><term><function>currentTime</function></term>
<listitem><para>The built-in value <varname>currentTime</varname>
returns the current system time in seconds since 00:00:00 1/1/1970
UTC. Due to the evaluation model of Nix expressions
(<emphasis>maximal laziness</emphasis>), it always yields the same
value within an execution of Nix.</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
-->
<!--
<varlistentry><term><function>dependencyClosure</function></term>
<listitem><para>TODO</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
-->
<varlistentry><term><function>derivation</function>
<replaceable>attrs</replaceable></term>
<listitem><para><function>derivation</function> is described in
<xref linkend='ssec-derivation' />.</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry><term><function>dirOf</function> <replaceable>s</replaceable></term>
<listitem><para>Return the directory part of the string
<replaceable>s</replaceable>, that is, everything before the final
slash in the string. This is similar to the GNU
<command>dirname</command> command.</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry><term><function>builtins.getAttr</function>
<replaceable>s</replaceable> <replaceable>attrs</replaceable></term>
<listitem><para><function>getAttr</function> returns the attribute
named <replaceable>s</replaceable> from the attribute set
<replaceable>attrs</replaceable>. Evaluation aborts if the
attribute doesn’t exist. This is a dynamic version of the
<literal>.</literal> operator, since <replaceable>s</replaceable>
is an expression rather than an identifier.</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry><term><function>builtins.getEnv</function>
<replaceable>s</replaceable></term>
<listitem><para><function>getEnv</function> returns the value of
the environment variable <replaceable>s</replaceable>, or an empty
string if the variable doesn’t exist. This function should be
used with care, as it can introduce all sorts of nasty environment
dependencies in your Nix expression.</para>
<para><function>getEnv</function> is used in Nix Packages to
locate the file <filename>~/.nixpkgs/config.nix</filename>, which
contains user-local settings for Nix Packages. (That is, it does
a <literal>getEnv "HOME"</literal> to locate the user’s home
directory.)</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry><term><function>builtins.hasAttr</function>
<replaceable>s</replaceable> <replaceable>attrs</replaceable></term>
<listitem><para><function>hasAttr</function> returns
<literal>true</literal> if the attribute set
<replaceable>attrs</replaceable> has an attribute named
<replaceable>s</replaceable>, and <literal>false</literal>
otherwise. This is a dynamic version of the <literal>?</literal>
operator, since <replaceable>s</replaceable> is an expression
rather than an identifier.</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry><term><function>builtins.head</function>
<replaceable>list</replaceable></term>
<listitem><para>Return the first element of a list; abort
evaluation if the argument isn’t a list or is an empty list. You
can test whether a list is empty by comparing it with
<literal>[]</literal>.</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry><term><function>import</function>
<replaceable>path</replaceable></term>
<listitem><para>Load, parse and return the Nix expression in the
file <replaceable>path</replaceable>. Evaluation aborts if the
file doesn’t exist or contains an incorrect Nix
expression. <function>import</function> implements Nix’s module
system: you can put any Nix expression (such as an attribute set
or a function) in a separate file, and use it from Nix expressions
in other files.</para>
<para>A Nix expression loaded by <function>import</function> must
not contain any <emphasis>free variables</emphasis> (identifiers
that are not defined in the Nix expression itself and are not
built-in). Therefore, it cannot refer to variables that are in
scope at the call site. For instance, if you have a calling
expression
<programlisting>
rec {
x = 123;
y = import ./foo.nix;
}</programlisting>
then the following <filename>foo.nix</filename> will give an
error:
<programlisting>
x + 456</programlisting>
since <varname>x</varname> is not in scope in
<filename>foo.nix</filename>. If you want <varname>x</varname>
to be available in <filename>foo.nix</filename>, you should pass
it as a function argument:
<programlisting>
rec {
x = 123;
y = import ./foo.nix x;
}</programlisting>
and
<programlisting>
x: x + 456</programlisting>
(The function argument doesn’t have to be called
<varname>x</varname> in <filename>foo.nix</filename>; any name
would work.)</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry><term><function>builtins.isList</function>
<replaceable>e</replaceable></term>
<listitem><para>Return <literal>true</literal> if
<replaceable>e</replaceable> evaluates to a list, and
<literal>false</literal> otherwise.</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry><term><function>isNull</function>
<replaceable>e</replaceable></term>
<listitem><para>Return <literal>true</literal> if
<replaceable>e</replaceable> evaluates to <literal>null</literal>,
and <literal>false</literal> otherwise.</para>
<warning><para>This function is <emphasis>deprecated</emphasis>;
just write <literal>e == null</literal> instead.</para></warning>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry><term><function>builtins.lessThan</function>
<replaceable>e1</replaceable> <replaceable>e2</replaceable></term>
<listitem><para>Return <literal>true</literal> if the integer
<replaceable>e1</replaceable> is less than the integer
<replaceable>e2</replaceable>, and <literal>false</literal>
otherwise. Evaluation aborts if either
<replaceable>e1</replaceable> or <replaceable>e2</replaceable>
does not evaluate to an integer.</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry><term><function>map</function>
<replaceable>f</replaceable> <replaceable>list</replaceable></term>
<listitem><para>Apply the function <replaceable>f</replaceable> to
each element in the list <replaceable>list</replaceable>. For
example,
<programlisting>
map (x: "foo" + x) ["bar" "bla" "abc"]</programlisting>
evaluates to <literal>["foobar" "foobla"
"fooabc"]</literal>.</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry><term><function>builtins.pathExists</function>
<replaceable>path</replaceable></term>
<listitem><para>Return <literal>true</literal> if the path
<replaceable>path</replaceable> exists, and
<literal>false</literal> otherwise. One application of this
function is to conditionally include a Nix expression containing
user configuration:
<programlisting>
let
fileName = builtins.getEnv "CONFIG_FILE";
config =
if fileName != "" && builtins.pathExists (builtins.toPath fileName)
then import (builtins.toPath fileName)
else { someSetting = false; }; <lineannotation># default configuration</lineannotation>
in config.someSetting</programlisting>
(Note that <envar>CONFIG_FILE</envar> must be an absolute path for
this to work.)</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
<!--
<varlistentry><term><function>relativise</function></term>
<listitem><para>TODO</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
-->
<varlistentry><term><function>removeAttrs</function>
<replaceable>attrs</replaceable> <replaceable>list</replaceable></term>
<listitem><para>Remove the attributes listed in
<replaceable>list</replaceable> from the attribute set
<replaceable>attrs</replaceable>. The attributes don’t have to
exist in <replaceable>attrs</replaceable>. For instance,
<screen>
removeAttrs { x = 1; y = 2; z = 3; } ["a" "x" "z"]</screen>
evaluates to <literal>{y = 2;}</literal>.</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry><term><function>builtins.tail</function>
<replaceable>list</replaceable></term>
<listitem><para>Return the second to last elements of a list;
abort evaluation if the argument isn’t a list or is an empty
list.</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry
xml:id='builtin-toFile'><term><function>builtins.toFile</function>
<replaceable>name</replaceable> <replaceable>s</replaceable></term>
<listitem><para>Store the string <replaceable>s</replaceable> in a
file in the Nix store and return its path. The file has suffix
<replaceable>name</replaceable>. This file can be used as an
input to derivations. One application is to write builders
“inline”. For instance, the following Nix expression combines
<xref linkend='ex-hello-nix' /> and <xref
linkend='ex-hello-builder' /> into one file:
<programlisting>
{stdenv, fetchurl, perl}:
stdenv.mkDerivation {
name = "hello-2.1.1";
builder = builtins.toFile "builder.sh" "
source $stdenv/setup
PATH=$perl/bin:$PATH
tar xvfz $src
cd hello-*
./configure --prefix=$out
make
make install
";
src = fetchurl {
url = http://nix.cs.uu.nl/dist/tarballs/hello-2.1.1.tar.gz;
md5 = "70c9ccf9fac07f762c24f2df2290784d";
};
inherit perl;
}</programlisting>
</para>
<para>It is even possible for one file to refer to another, e.g.,
<programlisting>
builder = let
configFile = builtins.toFile "foo.conf" "
# This is some dummy configuration file.
<replaceable>...</replaceable>
";
in builtins.toFile "builder.sh" "
source $stdenv/setup
<replaceable>...</replaceable>
cp ${configFile} $out/etc/foo.conf
";</programlisting>
Note that <literal>${configFile}</literal> is an antiquotation
(see <xref linkend='ssec-values' />), so the result of the
expression <literal>configFile</literal> (i.e., a path like
<filename>/nix/store/m7p7jfny445k...-foo.conf</filename>) will be
spliced into the resulting string.</para>
<para>It is however <emphasis>not</emphasis> allowed to have files
mutually referring to each other, like so:
<programlisting>
let
foo = builtins.toFile "foo" "...${bar}...";
bar = builtins.toFile "bar" "...${foo}...";
in foo</programlisting>
This is not allowed because it would cause a cyclic dependency in
the computation of the cryptographic hashes for
<varname>foo</varname> and <varname>bar</varname>.</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry><term><function>builtins.toPath</function> <replaceable>s</replaceable></term>
<listitem><para>Convert the string value
<replaceable>s</replaceable> into a path value. The string
<replaceable>s</replaceable> must represent an absolute path
(i.e., must start with <literal>/</literal>). The path need not
exist. The resulting path is canonicalised, e.g.,
<literal>builtins.toPath "//foo/xyzzy/../bar/"</literal> returns
<literal>/foo/bar</literal>.</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry><term><function>toString</function> <replaceable>e</replaceable></term>
<listitem><para>Convert the expression
<replaceable>e</replaceable> to a string.
<replaceable>e</replaceable> can be a string (in which case
<function>toString</function> is a no-op) or a path (e.g.,
<literal>toString /foo/bar</literal> yields
<literal>"/foo/bar"</literal>.</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry xml:id='builtin-toXML'><term><function>builtins.toXML</function> <replaceable>e</replaceable></term>
<listitem><para>Return a string containing an XML representation
of <replaceable>e</replaceable>. The main application for
<function>toXML</function> is to communicate information with the
builder in a more structured format than plain environment
variables.</para>
<!-- TODO: more formally describe the schema of the XML
representation -->
<para><xref linkend='ex-toxml' /> shows an example where this is
the case. The builder is supposed to generate the configuration
file for a <link xlink:href='http://jetty.mortbay.org/'>Jetty
servlet container</link>. A servlet container contains a number
of servlets (<filename>*.war</filename> files) each exported under
a specific URI prefix. So the servlet configuration is a list of
attribute sets containing the <varname>path</varname> and
<varname>war</varname> of the servlet (<xref
linkend='ex-toxml-co-servlets' />). This kind of information is
difficult to communicate with the normal method of passing
information through an environment variable, which just
concatenates everything together into a string (which might just
work in this case, but wouldn’t work if fields are optional or
contain lists themselves). Instead the Nix expression is
converted to an XML representation with
<function>toXML</function>, which is unambiguous and can easily be
processed with the appropriate tools. For instance, in the
example an XSLT stylesheet (<xref linkend='ex-toxml-co-stylesheet'
/>) is applied to it (<xref linkend='ex-toxml-co-apply' />) to
generate the XML configuration file for the Jetty server. The XML
representation produced from <xref linkend='ex-toxml-co-servlets'
/> by <function>toXML</function> is shown in <xref
linkend='ex-toxml-result' />.</para>
<para>Note that <xref linkend='ex-toxml' /> uses the <function
linkend='builtin-toFile'>toFile</function> built-in to write the
builder and the stylesheet “inline” in the Nix expression. The
path of the stylesheet is spliced into the builder at
<literal>xsltproc ${stylesheet}
<replaceable>...</replaceable></literal>.</para>
<example xml:id='ex-toxml'><title>Passing information to a builder
using <function>toXML</function></title>
<programlisting><![CDATA[
{stdenv, fetchurl, libxslt, jira, uberwiki}:
stdenv.mkDerivation (rec {
name = "web-server";
buildInputs = [libxslt];
builder = builtins.toFile "builder.sh" "
source $stdenv/setup
mkdir $out
echo $servlets | xsltproc ${stylesheet} - > $out/server-conf.xml]]> <co xml:id='ex-toxml-co-apply' /> <![CDATA[
";
stylesheet = builtins.toFile "stylesheet.xsl"]]> <co xml:id='ex-toxml-co-stylesheet' /> <![CDATA[
"<?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-8'?>
<xsl:stylesheet xmlns:xsl='http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform' version='1.0'>
<xsl:template match='/'>
<Configure>
<xsl:for-each select='/expr/list/attrs'>
<Call name='addWebApplication'>
<Arg><xsl:value-of select=\"attr[@name = 'path']/string/@value\" /></Arg>
<Arg><xsl:value-of select=\"attr[@name = 'war']/path/@value\" /></Arg>
</Call>
</xsl:for-each>
</Configure>
</xsl:template>
</xsl:stylesheet>
";
servlets = builtins.toXML []]> <co xml:id='ex-toxml-co-servlets' /> <![CDATA[
{ path = "/bugtracker"; war = jira + "/lib/atlassian-jira.war"; }
{ path = "/wiki"; war = uberwiki + "/uberwiki.war"; }
];
})]]></programlisting>
</example>
<example xml:id='ex-toxml-result'><title>XML representation produced by
<function>toXML</function></title>
<programlisting><![CDATA[<?xml version='1.0' encoding='utf-8'?>
<expr>
<list>
<attrs>
<attr name="path">
<string value="/bugtracker" />
</attr>
<attr name="war">
<path value="/nix/store/d1jh9pasa7k2...-jira/lib/atlassian-jira.war" />
</attr>
</attrs>
<attrs>
<attr name="path">
<string value="/wiki" />
</attr>
<attr name="war">
<path value="/nix/store/y6423b1yi4sx...-uberwiki/uberwiki.war" />
</attr>
</attrs>
</list>
</expr>]]></programlisting>
</example>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>
</section>
