DSL parse errors

This vignette outlines errors that might be generated when parsing monty DSL code, with more explanation about the error and how they can be avoided. Don’t read this top to bottom as it’s quite boring! However, if we get errors that benefit from more explanation about why they’ve been thrown then we’ll expand on the contents here and arrange for these to be linked from the thrown error directly.

The error numbers are arbitrary after the first digit. The first digit will correspond to different phases of the parsing:

  • E1xx - errors during parsing of individual expressions
  • E2xx - errors when considering the system as a whole

E101

We found an expression that is neither an assignment (with <-) or a stochastic relationship (with ~)

Example:

a + 1

E102

Invalid left hand side of a relationship operator (~). Currently the left hand side must be symbol, though this will be relaxed in the future once we support an array syntax. However, you may not use things like numbers or function calls on the left hand side.

Example:

1 <- 2
f(x) <- g(y)

E103

Your distribution call failed to parse. This can fail for many reasons, and the details of the failure come from monty::monty_dsl_parse_distribution

Example reasons for failure include the rhs being:

  • not a call (e.g., compare(x) ~ 1
  • not a call to distribution function (e.g., compare(x) ~ sqrt(2))
  • an invalid call (e.g., compare(x) ~ Normal(0, 1, 2))

The details for the failure will be included in the body of the error message.

E104

Invalid left hand side of an assignment with <-; this is similar to E102.

E201

Duplicated relationships (with ~).

Example:

a ~ Normal(0, 1)
b ~ Uniform(0, 1)
a ~ Exponential(1) # <= error here

Relationships must be unique because each represents a parameter, and a parameter can’t be represented by two different distributions.

E202

Duplicated assignments (with <-). This is similar to E201

Example:

a <- 1
b <- 2
a <- 3 # <= error here

Assignments must be unique within the DSL code because this makes it straightforward to trace usage through the dependency graph and from this create a gradient function using automatic differentiation.

This restriction means that you cannot reassign a value either, so this is an error:

a <- 1
b <- 10
a <- a + b # <= error here

E203

A relationship (with ~) is shadowing a previous assignment. So after assigning to a variable you have declared that the same symbol refers to a parameter.

Example:

a <- 1
a ~ Normal(0, 1) # <= error here

E204

An assignment (with <-) is shadowing a previous relationship.

Example:

a ~ Normal(0, 1)
a <- 10

E205

Variables are used out of order. If you are using odin this is a big departure - at the moment you must declare your expressions (assignments and relationships) in order. However, because we forbid multiple assignment we may relax this in the future, but no existing programs should be changed.

E206

Failed to differentiate the model. This error will only be seen where it was not possible to differentiate your model but you requested that a gradient be available. Not all functions supported in the DSL can currently be differentiated by monty; if you think that yours should be, please let us know.

E207

A value in fixed is shadowed by an assignment or a relationship. If you pass in fixed data it may not be used on the left hand side of any expression in your DSL code.