[Hs-Generics] Re: Syb Renovations? Issues with Data.Generics

[Isaac Dupree]

Ian Lynagh wrote:
> If so, the first "pro" isn't a pro at all. Debatably it's a con - it
> would make it less convenient to derive instance Data for types
> containing IO etc.

maybe in those cases of "convenience" we could use a tool like
Data.Derive, and make some name to derive with it like "DubiousData".
Then the dubious Data instances wouldn't have to be defined/imported.
I wonder if it would be possible to have Derive have a "NotSoDubiousData"
that somehow figured out whether dubious types were involved and
rejected them..  (Admittedly, last I tried, using Derive or DrIFT for a 
project
that wasn't using it already, was much harder than the built-in deriving
mechanism)

here's an example (which don't know enough to say whether
it supports any particular position) : say we have a type
data Something a = Something a (IO a)
If we want
instance (Data a) => Data (Something a)
ignoring the IO member but traversing the "a" member,
then if we use the normal deriving where we have dubious instances,
then (Something (a->b)) is going to be in Data even if it shouldn't be,
and it will be easy not to notice.
Given how popular polymorphism is in Haskell, I guess this is fairly
likely to happen?

-Isaac