pub trait __Deref {
    type Target: ?Sized;

    // Required method
    fn deref(&self) -> &Self::Target;
}
Expand description

Used for immutable dereferencing operations, like *v.

In addition to being used for explicit dereferencing operations with the (unary) * operator in immutable contexts, Deref is also used implicitly by the compiler in many circumstances. This mechanism is called Deref coercion’. In mutable contexts, DerefMut is used.

Implementing Deref for smart pointers makes accessing the data behind them convenient, which is why they implement Deref. On the other hand, the rules regarding Deref and DerefMut were designed specifically to accommodate smart pointers. Because of this, Deref should only be implemented for smart pointers to avoid confusion.

For similar reasons, this trait should never fail. Failure during dereferencing can be extremely confusing when Deref is invoked implicitly.

Violating these requirements is a logic error. The behavior resulting from a logic error is not specified, but users of the trait must ensure that such logic errors do not result in undefined behavior. This means that unsafe code must not rely on the correctness of this method.

More on Deref coercion

If T implements Deref<Target = U>, and x is a value of type T, then:

  • In immutable contexts, *x (where T is neither a reference nor a raw pointer) is equivalent to *Deref::deref(&x).
  • Values of type &T are coerced to values of type &U
  • T implicitly implements all the (immutable) methods of the type U.

For more details, visit the chapter in The Rust Programming Language as well as the reference sections on the dereference operator, method resolution and type coercions.

Examples

A struct with a single field which is accessible by dereferencing the struct.

use std::ops::Deref;

struct DerefExample<T> {
    value: T
}

impl<T> Deref for DerefExample<T> {
    type Target = T;

    fn deref(&self) -> &Self::Target {
        &self.value
    }
}

let x = DerefExample { value: 'a' };
assert_eq!('a', *x);

Required Associated Types§

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type Target: ?Sized

The resulting type after dereferencing.

Required Methods§

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fn deref(&self) -> &Self::Target

Dereferences the value.

Implementors§

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impl Deref for CString

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type Target = CStr

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impl Deref for String

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type Target = str

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impl Deref for OsString

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impl Deref for PathBuf

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type Target = Path

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impl Deref for BStr

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type Target = [u8]

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impl Deref for Bytes

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type Target = [u8]

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impl Deref for Document

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type Target = Table

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impl Deref for InternalString

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type Target = str

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impl Deref for Key

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type Target = str

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impl<'a> Deref for IoSlice<'a>

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type Target = [u8]

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impl<'a> Deref for IoSliceMut<'a>

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type Target = [u8]

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impl<'a, 'f> Deref for VaList<'a, 'f>where 'f: 'a,

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type Target = VaListImpl<'f>

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impl<'a, T> Deref for oxygengine_core::ecs::Ref<'a, T>where T: ?Sized,

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type Target = T

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impl<'a, T> Deref for oxygengine_core::ecs::RefMut<'a, T>where T: ?Sized,

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type Target = T

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impl<'a, T> Deref for MutexGuard<'a, T>where T: ?Sized,

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type Target = T

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impl<'a, T> Deref for MutexGuard<'a, T>where T: ?Sized,

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type Target = T

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impl<'a, T> Deref for SpinMutexGuard<'a, T>where T: ?Sized,

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type Target = T

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impl<'a, T> Deref for ValueReadAccess<'a, T>

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type Target = T

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impl<'a, T> Deref for ValueWriteAccess<'a, T>

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type Target = T

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impl<'k> Deref for KeyMut<'k>

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type Target = str

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impl<'rwlock, T> Deref for RwLockReadGuard<'rwlock, T>where T: ?Sized,

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type Target = T

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impl<'rwlock, T> Deref for RwLockUpgradeableGuard<'rwlock, T>where T: ?Sized,

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type Target = T

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impl<'rwlock, T> Deref for RwLockWriteGuard<'rwlock, T>where T: ?Sized,

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type Target = T

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impl<B> Deref for Cow<'_, B>where B: ToOwned + ?Sized, <B as ToOwned>::Owned: Borrow<B>,

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type Target = B

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impl<I> Deref for Located<I>

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type Target = I

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impl<I> Deref for Partial<I>

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type Target = I

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impl<I, S> Deref for Stateful<I, S>

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type Target = I

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impl<P> Deref for Pin<P>where P: Deref,

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type Target = <P as Deref>::Target

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impl<T> Deref for &Twhere T: ?Sized,

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type Target = T

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impl<T> Deref for &mut Twhere T: ?Sized,

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type Target = T

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impl<T> Deref for ArchetypeColumn<'_, T>where T: Component,

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type Target = [T]

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impl<T> Deref for ArchetypeColumnMut<'_, T>where T: Component,

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type Target = [T]

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impl<T> Deref for RefRead<T>

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type Target = T

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impl<T> Deref for RefWrite<T>

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type Target = T

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impl<T> Deref for ResRead<T>where T: 'static,

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type Target = T

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impl<T> Deref for ResWrite<T>where T: 'static,

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type Target = T

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impl<T> Deref for ThinBox<T>where T: ?Sized,

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type Target = T

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impl<T> Deref for UniqueRc<T>

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type Target = T

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impl<T> Deref for core::cell::Ref<'_, T>where T: ?Sized,

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type Target = T

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impl<T> Deref for core::cell::RefMut<'_, T>where T: ?Sized,

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type Target = T

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impl<T> Deref for ManuallyDrop<T>where T: ?Sized,

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type Target = T

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impl<T> Deref for AssertUnwindSafe<T>

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type Target = T

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impl<T> Deref for std::sync::mutex::MutexGuard<'_, T>where T: ?Sized,

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type Target = T

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impl<T> Deref for std::sync::rwlock::RwLockReadGuard<'_, T>where T: ?Sized,

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type Target = T

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impl<T> Deref for std::sync::rwlock::RwLockWriteGuard<'_, T>where T: ?Sized,

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type Target = T

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impl<T, A> Deref for Box<T, A>where A: Allocator, T: ?Sized,

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type Target = T

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impl<T, A> Deref for PeekMut<'_, T, A>where T: Ord, A: Allocator,

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type Target = T

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impl<T, A> Deref for Rc<T, A>where A: Allocator, T: ?Sized,

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type Target = T

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impl<T, A> Deref for Arc<T, A>where A: Allocator, T: ?Sized,

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type Target = T

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impl<T, A> Deref for Vec<T, A>where A: Allocator,

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type Target = [T]

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impl<T, F> Deref for LazyCell<T, F>where F: FnOnce() -> T,

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type Target = T

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impl<T, F> Deref for LazyLock<T, F>where F: FnOnce() -> T,

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type Target = T

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impl<T, F> Deref for Lazy<T, F>where F: FnOnce() -> T,

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type Target = T

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impl<T, F> Deref for Lazy<T, F>where F: FnOnce() -> T,

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type Target = T