rust-lang / rust-lang/rust

Inaccurate error message when using parametric type recursion

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A-diagnostics T-compiler
Dominant language
Rust
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Description

Code
enum NestedDataType<T> {
    Nil,
    Cons(Box<NestedDataType<(T, T)>>),
}
Current output
error[E0392]: type parameter `T` is never used
 --> src/lib.rs:1:21
  |
1 | enum NestedDataType<T> {
  |                     ^ unused type parameter
  |
  = help: consider removing `T`, referring to it in a field, or using a marker such as `PhantomData`
  = help: if you intended `T` to be a const parameter, use `const T: /* Type */` instead
Desired output
Cannot support parametric type recursion
Rationale and extra context

No response

Other cases

No response

Rust Version
rustc 1.78.0-nightly (3406ada96 2024-02-21)
binary: rustc
commit-hash: 3406ada96f8e16e49e947a91db3eba0db45245fa
commit-date: 2024-02-21
host: x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu
release: 1.78.0-nightly
LLVM version: 18.1.0
Anything else?

No response

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Research direction

No repository files or tests are named. Reproduce the enum with rustc 1.78.0-nightly and compare the E0392 diagnostic with the requested parametric-recursion message. Trace the compiler path that reports the unused type parameter; done means the example emits the intended diagnostic without the misleading E0392 output.

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
Quiet
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
45/100

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