rust-lang / rust-lang/rust-bindgen

Consider making generated TokenStream public

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enhancement
Dominant language
Rust
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Description

There's a need for an API for manipulating generated items according to some open issues here. For a library I'm working on, I run an extra step which generates some glue code on top of the bindgen output.

Unfortunately, I have to write out the bindings to a file first and then re-read them back, because tokens are made private here:
https://github.com/rust-lang/rust-bindgen/blob/master/src/lib.rs#L1914

Please consider making it public (maybe under a feature flag with re-exporting of proc_macro2::TokenStream) This is a safe change and will make it possible to manipulate the tokens (or just reuse them to generate some extra code ).

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First steps

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  3. Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
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Research direction

Start at src/lib.rs around line 1914, where the generated tokens are made private, and review how bindgen exposes its generated output. Determine the appropriate public API, including whether a feature flag or proc_macro2::TokenStream re-export is needed. Done means callers can manipulate or reuse the generated tokens without writing and rereading a file.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
rust
Domain
tooling
Issue type
Feature
Difficulty
4/5
Estimated time
3-5 days
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
35/100

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