rust-lang / rust-lang/rfcs

Pattern bindings of structure variant fields

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Description

Currently, the following is a syntax error:

enum MyEnum {
    StructVariant {
        a: String,
        b: u64,
    },
}

fn matcher(e: MyEnum) {
    match e {
        MyEnum::StructVariant v@{ .. } => {
            // do something with `v.a` and `v.b`.
        },
    }
}
error: expected one of `::`, `=>`, `if`, or `|`, found `v`                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    
  --> src/lib.rs:10:31
   |
10 |         MyEnum::StructVariant v@{ .. } => {
   |                              -^ unexpected token
   |                              |
   |                              expected one of `::`, `=>`, `if`, or `|` here

(Side note, why are { and ( not listed in the expected list?)

When a struct variant has many fields, many of which get used in some match arm, the arm tends to get unwieldy very quickly without resorting to trs vrbl nms.

I also want to avoid making it a 1-tuple variant over another struct because that means giving a name to the structure, exporting it, and documenting it ( andsince its only purpose is to give the variant something capture-able, the struct docstring will basically be either a duplicate or "see this variant").

Open questions (with some gut-level answers of my own):

  • What is the type of v above? IMO, it should be unnameable (like a closure), but still potentially implement default traits such as Clone, Copy, Sync, and Send (though another thought makes me think: who can receive this unnamed type other than by a trait object)? This means it probably cannot implement Any as well.
  • Can it be returned out of the match or if let? I think so. It's still an unnameable type, so it cannot be returned other than through impl Trait or Box<Trait>.
  • Is this a syntax ambiguity? I'm not seeing an obvious one at least.
  • Is it applicable to tuple variants as well?

Thoughts?

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Research direction

Start with the struct-variant match example and the syntax error shown at src/lib.rs:10. Resolve the listed questions about the binding's type, returnability, syntax ambiguity, and tuple variants; done means the proposed behavior and syntax have a settled RFC direction.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
rust
Domain
compilers
Issue type
Feature
Difficulty
5/5
Estimated time
Over a week
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Needs clarification
Newbie friendliness
25/100

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