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Simple record system with selectors overloaded in explicitly-user-declared type classes. Thus one can control the scope as of any other type class.

To declare a record type, first declare classes of its selectors. Selectors can be grouped in classes by user's wish. For example:

class Xive a where x :: a -> X;

For each class C ... a, every selector must be of type a -> x, where x is member type.

Then the semantics of a record type declaration

data R = R { x :: X };

are these:

If x is in scope, part of some class C ... a, and of type C ... a => a -> X; then automatic instance C R where x (R { x = x }) = x; else type error.

If the member is polymorphic, then the semantics of a record type declaration

data R x = R { x :: x };

are these:

If x is in scope, part of some class C ... x ... a, and of type C ... x ... a => a -> x;

then automatic instance C ... x ... (R x) where x (R { x = x }) = x; else type error.

The semantics of the record mutation

(r :: R) { x = x' }

are these:

If x is in scope, part of some class C ... x ... a, and of type C ... x ... a => a -> x, and an instance C ... x ... R is in scope, and types of x and x' can be unified, i.e. x=x' would be valid in instance declaration of C ... x ... a; then its value is s such that

x s = x', y s = y r

where y is any other selector.