Improve error message for incompatible signatures in union type from typed/untyped function call

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untyped function call error message union type incompatible signature

Example

This code errors as follows:

function foo<T>(x: T | (() => string)) {
    if (typeof x === "function") {
        let a = x();
             // ^ Cannot invoke an expression whose type lacks a call signature. 
             //Type '(() => string) | (T & Function)' has no compatible call signatures. [2349]
    }
}

which feels strange given that both of the following are fine:

function fooL<T>(x: T) {
    if (typeof x === "function") {
        let a = x();
    }
}

function fooR(x: () => string) {
    if (typeof x === "function") {
        let a = x();
    }
}

If an evaluation contexts accepts values of type A and values of type B, then it should accepts values of type A | B. I think what is going on is that the call signature from T & Function is untyped, which is incompatible with the typed signature of () => string.

I don't think this is very obvious to a user, and they end up seeing an application that works for both branches of a union, but not their composition.

Suggestion

I think making the example work is out of scope. My suggestion is to improve the error message, something like:

function foo<T>(x: T | (() => string)) {
    if (typeof x === "function") {
        let a = x();
             // ^ Cannot invoke an expression whose type lacks a call signature. 
             // Type '(() => string) | (T & Function)' has no compatible call signatures. [2349]
             //   Cannot combine untyped function call with typed function call
    }
}

Checklist

My suggestion meets these guidelines:

• This wouldn't be a breaking change in existing TypeScript / JavaScript code
• This wouldn't change the runtime behavior of existing JavaScript code
• This could be implemented without emitting different JS based on the types of the expressions
• This isn't a runtime feature (e.g. new expression-level syntax)

Inizia eseguendo l’esempio TypeScript nell’issue e cerca l’errore 2349 nei diagnostici del compilatore. Ricostruisci come le firme di chiamata dell’unione producono il messaggio attuale. Il lavoro è completato quando le chiamate a funzioni tipizzate e non tipizzate incompatibili ricevono un diagnostico esplicativo più chiaro e gli esempi esistenti continuano a essere coperti.