rust-lang / rust-lang/rust

Misleading error message for string parsing

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A-diagnostics C-bug D-confusing T-compiler
Dominant language
Rust
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Description

Code
use std::error::Error;

fn main() -> Result<(), Box<dyn Error>> {
    let foo = "3";
    let bar = foo.parse()?;
    
    Ok(())
}
Current output
Compiling playground v0.0.1 (/playground)
error[E0277]: the trait bound `(): FromStr` is not satisfied
    --> src/main.rs:5:19
     |
5    |     let bar = foo.parse()?;
     |                   ^^^^^ the trait `FromStr` is not implemented for `()`
     |
     = help: the following other types implement trait `FromStr`:
               bool
               char
               isize
               i8
               i16
               i32
               i64
               i128
             and 29 others
note: required by a bound in `core::str::<impl str>::parse`
    --> /playground/.rustup/toolchains/stable-x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu/lib/rustlib/src/rust/library/core/src/str/mod.rs:2317:21
     |
2317 |     pub fn parse<F: FromStr>(&self) -> Result<F, F::Err> {
     |                     ^^^^^^^ required by this bound in `core::str::<impl str>::parse`
Desired output
A message clearly indicating that the problem is that bar or parse needs a type annotation.
Rationale and extra context

The following seems to work fine:

fn main() {
    let foo = "3";
    let bar = foo.parse().unwrap();
}

Error message:

   Compiling playground v0.0.1 (/playground)
error[E0284]: type annotations needed
 --> src/main.rs:3:9
  |
3 |     let bar = foo.parse().unwrap();
  |         ^^^       ----- type must be known at this point
  |
  = note: cannot satisfy `<_ as FromStr>::Err == _`
help: consider giving `bar` an explicit type
  |
3 |     let bar: /* Type */ = foo.parse().unwrap();
  |            ++++++++++++
Other cases

No response

Rust Version
rustc 1.73.0 (cc66ad468 2023-10-03)
binary: rustc
commit-hash: cc66ad468955717ab92600c770da8c1601a4ff33
commit-date: 2023-10-03
host: aarch64-apple-darwin
release: 1.73.0
LLVM version: 17.0.2
Anything else?

No response

Contributor guide

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First steps

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  2. Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
  3. Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
  4. Open a pull request that references the issue number.

Research direction

Reproduce the diagnostic using the example in src/main.rs, focusing on the foo.parse() call and the bar binding. Compare it with the unwrap() example and investigate how the compiler reports missing type information; done means the error clearly points users toward adding a type annotation.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

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

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