Struct with a u128 field can't be deserialized when inside an untagged enum

help
1 
use serde::Deserialize;

#[derive(Deserialize)]
struct U128 {
    number: u128,
}

#[derive(Deserialize)]
struct U64 {
    number: u64,
}

#[derive(Deserialize)]
#[serde(untagged)]
enum Container<T> {
    Data(T),
}

fn main() {
    let json_str = "{ \"number\": 500 }";

    // The following line works
    let _: Container<U64> = serde_json::from_str(json_str).unwrap();

    // Also works
    let _: U128 = serde_json::from_str(json_str).unwrap();

    // Panics!
    let _: Container<U128> = serde_json::from_str(json_str).unwrap();
}

Why does the deserialization of the struct with u128 field fail when put inside the untagged enum? Is this a bug?

2

Yes, that is a bug in serde. untagged enums do not support 128 bit integers · Issue #1717 · serde-rs/serde · GitHub
While deserializing an untagged enum, data is buffered. The buffer is not capable of holding i128/u128 values [src]. There is no way around that, except patching serde yourself. Maybe in some future, the internal buffering can be reworked to fix many bugs resulting from it (serde#1183).

1 Like
3

Thanks, I was confused by this issue a lot while working on a library project.