How to get trait definition from compiler plugin?

help
1

I want to create compiler plugin which may be used like this:

trait A { fn do_a() }
my_macro!{A}

where my_macro does something based on definition of A. I know how to create compiler plugin and get passed identifier, but I can't find a way to get A's members from compiler plugin. Is it possible?

1 Like
2

No.

Macros are expanded before that sort of information is constructed. This is why you can't use derive except as an attribute; it has to be provided the struct/enum's AST to work.

3

You can, however, write a MultiModifier that works like:

#[my_macro]
trait A {
 fo do_a()
}
4

Cool, I will definitely look into MultiModifier. However, I need my macro to work for traits from other crates too. It is possible to create macro which may be used like this:

my_macro!{
  trait A {
    fn do_a()
  }
}

and get parsed trait definition inside?

5

Um, those macros (the exclamation mark ones) work on token trees, so I'm not sure. You may have to manually call the parser methods.

However, using an attribute (the #[..] thing) which is a MultiDecorator or MultiModifier will give you a parsed trait def, and the ability to replace or augment it.