rust-lang / rust-lang/rust

`feature(new_range)` applies to macro expansions and breaks their assumptions

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C-bug F-new_range needs-triage
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Rust
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Description

#![feature(new_range)] changes the meaning of .. syntax for the entire build, regardless of where the tokens came from. Therefore, it can break macros defined by crates not using new_range. I think it should instead be activated based on the span of the .. token, similar to how edition-specific behaviors are often implemented.

I encountered this while trying to test feature(new_range) in code that uses arcstr::literal_substr!.

Repro

Substitute crate name in the doctest as needed.

//! ```
//! #![feature(new_range, new_range_api)]
//! // should print 5
//! dbg!(playground::example!("hello"));
//! ```

#[macro_export]
macro_rules! example {
    ($s:literal) => {
        $crate::takes_range(0..$s.len())
    };
}

pub fn takes_range(range: core::ops::Range<usize>) -> usize {
    range.end
}

I expected to see this happen: The use of a macro defined by another crate should successfully compile.

Instead, this happened:

error[E0308]: mismatched types
  --> src/lib.rs:6:6
   |
 8 | dbg!(scratchpad::example!("hello"));
   |      ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
   |      |
   |      expected `std::ops::Range<usize>`, found `std::range::Range<usize>`
   |      arguments to this function are incorrect
   |
   = note: expected struct `std::ops::Range<usize>`
              found struct `std::range::Range<usize>`
note: function defined here
  --> src/lib.rs:14:8
   |
14 | pub fn takes_range(range: core::ops::Range<usize>) -> usize {
   |        ^^^^^^^^^^^
   = note: this error originates in the macro `scratchpad::example` (in Nightly builds, run with -Z macro-backtrace for more info)
help: call `Into::into` on this expression to convert `std::range::Range<usize>` into `std::ops::Range<usize>`
   |
 8 | dbg!(scratchpad::example!("hello").into());
   |                                   +++++++
Meta

rustc --version --verbose:

rustc 1.93.0-nightly (292be5c7c 2025-10-29)
binary: rustc
commit-hash: 292be5c7c05138d753bbd4b30db7a3f1a5c914f7
commit-date: 2025-10-29
host: aarch64-apple-darwin
release: 1.93.0-nightly
LLVM version: 21.1.3

@rustbot label +F-new_range

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Research direction

Start by reproducing the doctest with feature(new_range, new_range_api) and the exported example! macro calling takes_range(0..$s.len()). Trace how the new_range feature interprets the range token from the macro expansion. Done means the example compiles successfully without requiring .into(), while preserving the feature's behavior for local range syntax.

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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