Skip to content

Suggestions when a single-field enum variant pattern is needed #94942

Open
@kpreid

Description

@kpreid

Beginners are often confused by the pattern where a set of types are combined using an enum, especially when the name of the enum variant is the same as the name of the variant's field's type. Even knowing how it works, I've myself forgotten to write out enum variant patterns containing struct patterns where they are needed. It would be useful if the compiler could give suggestions that understand this mistake.

Given the following code:

enum Foo {
    Bar(Bar),
}
struct Bar {
    x: i32,
}

fn oops_1(f: Foo) {
    match f {
        Foo::Bar { x } => todo!()
    }
}
fn oops_2(f: Foo) {
    match f {
        Bar { x } => todo!()
    }
}

The current output is:

error[E0769]: tuple variant `Foo::Bar` written as struct variant
  --> src/lib.rs:10:9
   |
10 |         Foo::Bar { x } => todo!()
   |         ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
   |
help: use the tuple variant pattern syntax instead
   |
10 |         Foo::Bar(x) => todo!()
   |                 ~~~

error[E0308]: mismatched types
  --> src/lib.rs:15:9
   |
14 |     match f {
   |           - this expression has type `Foo`
15 |         Bar { x } => todo!()
   |         ^^^^^^^^^ expected enum `Foo`, found struct `Bar`

The compiler could instead recognize these cases, and produce the suggestion Foo::Bar(Bar { x }) => as well as a message specific to the situation:

  • A variant pattern with fields which do not match the variant, but do match the fields of the variant's sole field.
  • A pattern not of enum type where an enum pattern is expected, but the enum has a variant whose sole field is of the pattern's type.

@rustbot label +A-suggestion-diagnostics +C-enhancement +D-newcomer-roadblock

Metadata

Metadata

Assignees

No one assigned

    Labels

    A-diagnosticsArea: Messages for errors, warnings, and lintsA-suggestion-diagnosticsArea: Suggestions generated by the compiler applied by `cargo fix`C-enhancementCategory: An issue proposing an enhancement or a PR with one.D-newcomer-roadblockDiagnostics: Confusing error or lint; hard to understand for new users.T-compilerRelevant to the compiler team, which will review and decide on the PR/issue.

    Type

    No type

    Projects

    No projects

    Milestone

    No milestone

    Relationships

    None yet

    Development

    No branches or pull requests

    Issue actions