/* Salt state-space search problem 2003 Portuguese National Logical Programming Contest problem http://paginas.fe.up.pt/~eol/LP/0304/documents/Exercicios_CNPL.PDF Introduction: Mr Silva sells salt. He has to measure the quantity requested by his customers by using two measures and an accumulator. Neither has any measuring markers. Those measures can easily be broken and he has to replace them each time it happens. More, a substitution can be made by a measure with a different capacity than the one being replaced. Objective: To produce a program, given the capacity of two measures and the intended quantity, which helps Mr. Silva knowing if it is possible to obtain the amount requested by his customer, and if so, measuring the intended quantity in the least amount of steps. Remarks: This problem is similar to the Water Jug's' problem. It is more general, seeing that the Water Jug's problem uses static values for the jugs capacities and the final goal. */ :- object(salt(_Acumulator, _Measure1, _Measure2), instantiates(state_space)). :- info([ version is 1.0, author is 'Paula Marisa Sampaio', date is 2005/06/08, comment is 'Salt state-space search problem.']). % each state is represented by a compound term with four arguments: (Acumulator, Measure1, Measure2, Step) initial_state(initial, (0, 0, 0, all_empty)). % the intended salt quantity must end up on the acumulator goal_state(acumulator, (Acumulator, _, _, _)) :- parameter(1, Acumulator). % state transitions: % emptying a measure into the accumulator next_state((Acc, X, Y, _), (NewAcc, 0, Y, transfer(m1, acc))) :- X > 0, NewAcc is Acc + X. next_state((Acc, X, Y, _), (NewAcc, X, 0, transfer(m2, acc))) :- Y > 0, NewAcc is Acc + Y. % filling up of one of the measures next_state((Acc, X, Y, Step), (Acc, MaxX, Y, fill(m1))) :- parameter(2, MaxX), X < MaxX, Step \= empty(m1). next_state((Acc, X, Y, Step), (Acc, X, MaxY, fill(m2))) :- parameter(3, MaxY), Y < MaxY, Step \= empty(m2). % either pouring of a measure into the other till it is filled up % or all content of a measure into the other one next_state((Acc, X, Y, _), (Acc, W, Z, transfer(m2, m1))) :- parameter(2, MaxX), Y > 0, X < MaxX, (X + Y >= MaxX -> W = MaxX, Z is Y - (MaxX - X) ; W is X + Y, Z = 0 ). next_state((Acc, X, Y, _), (Acc, W, Z, transfer(m1, m2))) :- parameter(3, MaxY), X > 0, Y < MaxY, (X + Y >= MaxY -> W is X - (MaxY - Y), Z = MaxY ; W = 0, Z is X + Y ). % throwing out the contents of a measure; does not afect the accumulator next_state((Acc, X, Y, Step), (Acc, 0, Y, empty(m1))) :- X > 0, Step \= fill(m1). next_state((Acc, X, Y, Step), (Acc, X, 0, empty(m2))) :- Y > 0, Step \= fill(m2). print_state((Acc, X, Y, Step)) :- write('('), write((Acc, X, Y)), write(') '), write(Step), nl. :- end_object.