New upstream version 1.41.1+dfsg1

[rustc.git] / src / librustc_error_codes / error_codes / E0374.md

A struct without a field containing an unsized type cannot implement
`CoerceUnsized`. An [unsized type][1] is any type that the compiler
doesn't know the length or alignment of at compile time. Any struct
containing an unsized type is also unsized.

[1]: https://doc.rust-lang.org/book/ch19-04-advanced-types.html#dynamically-sized-types-and-the-sized-trait

Example of erroneous code:

```compile_fail,E0374
#![feature(coerce_unsized)]
use std::ops::CoerceUnsized;

struct Foo<T: ?Sized> {
    a: i32,
}

// error: Struct `Foo` has no unsized fields that need `CoerceUnsized`.
impl<T, U> CoerceUnsized<Foo<U>> for Foo<T>
    where T: CoerceUnsized<U> {}
```

`CoerceUnsized` is used to coerce one struct containing an unsized type
into another struct containing a different unsized type. If the struct
doesn't have any fields of unsized types then you don't need explicit
coercion to get the types you want. To fix this you can either
not try to implement `CoerceUnsized` or you can add a field that is
unsized to the struct.

Example:

```
#![feature(coerce_unsized)]
use std::ops::CoerceUnsized;

// We don't need to impl `CoerceUnsized` here.
struct Foo {
    a: i32,
}

// We add the unsized type field to the struct.
struct Bar<T: ?Sized> {
    a: i32,
    b: T,
}

// The struct has an unsized field so we can implement
// `CoerceUnsized` for it.
impl<T, U> CoerceUnsized<Bar<U>> for Bar<T>
    where T: CoerceUnsized<U> {}
```

Note that `CoerceUnsized` is mainly used by smart pointers like `Box`, `Rc`
and `Arc` to be able to mark that they can coerce unsized types that they
are pointing at.