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   SPDX-FileCopyrightText: 1998-2026 Paulo Moura <pmoura@logtalk.org>
   SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0

   Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
   you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
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.. rst-class:: align-right

**built-in method**

.. index:: pair: call/1-N; Built-in method
.. _methods_call_N:

``call/1-N``
============

Description
-----------

::

   call(Goal)
   call(Closure, Arg1, ...)

Calls a goal constructed by appending additional arguments to a
:term:`closure`. The upper limit for ``N`` depends on the upper limit
for the arity of a compound term of the :term:`backend Prolog compiler`.
This built-in meta-predicate is declared as a private method and thus
cannot be used as a message to an object. The ``Closure`` argument can
also be a lambda expression or a Logtalk control construct. When using a
backend Prolog compiler supporting a module system, calls in the format
``call(Module:Closure, Arg1, ...)`` may also be used.

This meta-predicate is opaque to cuts in its arguments.

Meta-predicate template
-----------------------

::

   call(0)
   call(1, *)
   call(2, *, *)
   ...

Modes and number of proofs
--------------------------

::

   call(+callable) - zero_or_more
   call(+callable, ?term) - zero_or_more
   call(+callable, ?term, ?term) - zero_or_more
   ...

Errors
------

| ``Goal`` is a variable:
|     ``instantiation_error``
| ``Goal`` is neither a variable nor a callable term:
|     ``type_error(callable, Goal)``
| ``Closure`` is a variable:
|     ``instantiation_error``
| ``Closure`` is neither a variable nor a callable term:
|     ``type_error(callable, Closure)``

Examples
--------

| Call a goal, constructed by appending additional arguments to a closure, in the context of the object or category containing the call:
|     ``call(Closure, Arg1, Arg2, ...)``
| To send a goal, constructed by appending additional arguments to a closure, as a message to :term:`self`:
|     ``call(::Closure, Arg1, Arg2, ...)``
| To send a goal, constructed by appending additional arguments to a closure, as a message to an explicit object:
|     ``call(Object::Closure, Arg1, Arg2, ...)``

.. seealso::

   :ref:`methods_ignore_1`,
   :ref:`methods_once_1`,
   :ref:`methods_not_1`
