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Update nomicon to describe #[may_dangle]
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apasel422 committed Jan 19, 2017
1 parent 8e29b4d commit 65147b6
Showing 1 changed file with 24 additions and 6 deletions.
30 changes: 24 additions & 6 deletions src/doc/nomicon/dropck.md
Expand Up @@ -199,24 +199,42 @@ assert (unsafely) that a generic type's destructor is *guaranteed* to
not access any expired data, even if its type gives it the capability
to do so.

That attribute is called `unsafe_destructor_blind_to_params`.
That attribute is called `may_dangle` and was introduced in [RFC 1327]
(https://github.com/rust-lang/rfcs/blob/master/text/1327-dropck-param-eyepatch.md).
To deploy it on the Inspector example from above, we would write:

```rust,ignore
struct Inspector<'a>(&'a u8, &'static str);
impl<'a> Drop for Inspector<'a> {
#[unsafe_destructor_blind_to_params]
unsafe impl<#[may_dangle] 'a> Drop for Inspector<'a> {
fn drop(&mut self) {
println!("Inspector(_, {}) knows when *not* to inspect.", self.1);
}
}
```

This attribute has the word `unsafe` in it because the compiler is not
checking the implicit assertion that no potentially expired data
Use of this attribute requires the `Drop` impl to be marked `unsafe` because the
compiler is not checking the implicit assertion that no potentially expired data
(e.g. `self.0` above) is accessed.

The attribute can be applied to any number of lifetime and type parameters. In
the following example, we assert that we access no data behind a reference of
lifetime `'b` and that the only uses of `T` will be moves or drops, but omit
the attribute from `'a` and `U`, because we do access data with that lifetime
and that type:

```rust,ignore
use std::fmt::Display;
struct Inspector<'a, 'b, T, U: Display>(&'a u8, &'b u8, T, U);
unsafe impl<'a, #[may_dangle] 'b, #[may_dangle] T, U: Display> Drop for Inspector<'a, 'b, T, U> {
fn drop(&mut self) {
println!("Inspector({}, _, _, {})", self.0, self.3);
}
}
```

It is sometimes obvious that no such access can occur, like the case above.
However, when dealing with a generic type parameter, such access can
occur indirectly. Examples of such indirect access are:
Expand Down Expand Up @@ -263,7 +281,7 @@ some other method invoked by the destructor, rather than being written
directly within it.

In all of the above cases where the `&'a u8` is accessed in the
destructor, adding the `#[unsafe_destructor_blind_to_params]`
destructor, adding the `#[may_dangle]`
attribute makes the type vulnerable to misuse that the borrower
checker will not catch, inviting havoc. It is better to avoid adding
the attribute.
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