(:before)

selects values that appear before an anchor in source order

(:before anchor val)

Where:

1. anchor: the reference point in the source code *
2. val: what to find before the anchor *

Behavior

• Respects lexical scope - only considers values and anchors within the same scope.
• Using (:into) on the anchor includes the anchor itself in the search area.

Examples

Find module-level calls that execute before function definitions to detect initialization order issues.

(:before (fun) (call))

Selects in lines { 1 } but not in { }:

configure()
def configure():
  pass

def render():
  setup()

---

Locate translate() calls before i18n initialization to fix ordering bugs.

(:inside
  (fun /render/)
  (:before
    (call init_i18n)
    (call translate)))

Selects in lines { 2, 2 } but not in { }:

def render1():
  translate()

def render2():
  init_i18n()
  translate()

def render3():
  translate()
  init_i18n()

---

Find variables declared before a specific import to reorder dependencies.

(:before (import react) (id))

Selects in lines { 1 } but not in { }:

x
import { useState } from 'react'
y

---

Include the anchor in results by refining with :into.

(:before (:into (fun)) (id))

Selects in lines { 1, 2 } but not in { }:

x
def y():

---

Arguments

anchor

• (:#across) • (:after) • (:at) • (:before) • (:inside) • (:outside) • (:kind) • (:ref) • (:text) • (:into)

Does NOT support: Composition — Replacement

val

• inherit