template-quote 0.4.4

A new-fasioned quote! macro implementation with pretty template-engine like syntax
Documentation

This crate provides a Rust quasi-quoting macro for proc-macro development. It generates TokenStreams by expanding variable interpolation and template syntax.

The macro is built on top of the proc_macro crate.

Interpolation

The original quote! macro syntax is fully supported. See quote docs.

For backward compatibility, interpolation rules are the same as in the traditional quote! macro. Interpolation uses #var (similar to $var in macro_rules!). Most values from syn are interpolated via the [::proc_quote::ToTokens] trait.

Rules

Repetition uses syntax like #(...)* or #(...),*. It repeats variables (#var) inside the pattern that implement [::proc_quote::Repeat].

  • #(...)* repeats ... with no separator. At least one variable must appear in ....
  • #(...),* does the same, but inserts , as a separator.

Problem

Classic interpolation is limited, so this crate introduces new template syntax. For example, the following code is not allowed because #var1 cannot be nested in this way:

# use template_quote::quote;
let var1 = vec!['a', 'b'];
let var2 = vec![vec![1, 2], vec![3, 4]];
let tokens = quote!{
	#(#(#var1 #var2)*)*
};
assert_eq!("'a' 1i32 'a' 2i32 'b' 3i32 'b' 4i32", tokens.to_string());

Template syntax

Template syntax is procedural-like and lets you use structured statements inside the macro.

If syntax

This code iterates over #i (via interpolation) and emits i32 into the TokenStream when the value meets the condition.

# use template_quote::quote;
let i = vec![1, 2, 3];
let tokens = quote!{
	#(
		#(if i > &2) {
			#i
		}
	)*
};
assert_eq!("3i32", tokens.to_string());

if-else and if-else-if are also supported.

# use template_quote::quote;
let i = vec![1, 2, 3];
let tokens = quote!{
	#(
		#(if i > &2) {
			+ #i
		}
		#(else) {
			- #i
		}
	)*
};
assert_eq!("- 1i32 - 2i32 + 3i32", tokens.to_string());
# use template_quote::quote;
let i = vec![1, 2, 3, 4, 5];
let tokens = quote!{
	#(
		#(if i % &2 == 0) {
			+ #i
		}
		#(else if i % &3 == 0) {
			- #i
		}
		#(else) {
			#i
		}
	)*
};
assert_eq!("1i32 + 2i32 - 3i32 + 4i32 5i32", tokens.to_string());

For syntax

for syntax iterates over variables (similar to interpolation), but lets you explicitly choose which variable to iterate.

# use template_quote::quote;
let v1 = vec![1, 2];
let v2 = vec!['a', 'b'];
let tokens = quote!{
	#(for i1 in &v1) {
		#(for i2 in &v2) {
			#i1 -> #i2
		}
	}
};
assert_eq!("1i32 -> 'a' 1i32 -> 'b' 2i32 -> 'a' 2i32 -> 'b'", tokens.to_string());

The inner loop can be replaced with interpolation:

# use template_quote::quote;
let v1 = vec![1, 2];
let v2 = vec!['a', 'b'];
let tokens = quote!{
	#(for i1 in &v1) {
		#(
			#i1 -> #v2
		)*
	}
};
assert_eq!("1i32 -> 'a' 1i32 -> 'b' 2i32 -> 'a' 2i32 -> 'b'", tokens.to_string());

You can also specify a separator with a for statement.

# use template_quote::quote;
let v = vec![1, 2];
let tokens = quote!{
	#(for i in v) | { #i }
};
assert_eq!("1i32 | 2i32", tokens.to_string());

Interpolation cannot use variables bound by for syntax directly. For example:

# use template_quote::quote;
let v = vec![vec![1, 2], vec![3]];
let tokens = quote!{
	#(
		#(for i in v) { #i }
	),*
};
assert_eq!("1i32 2i32 , 3i32", tokens.to_string());

This fails because no interpolation variable is available:

error: proc macro panicked
  --> ***
   |
6  |   let tokens = quote!{
   |  ______________^
7  | |     #(
8  | |         #(for i in v) { #i }
9  | |     )*
10 | | };
   | |_^
   |
   = help: message: Iterative vals not found

In this case, use #(for i in #v) to specify which variable to iterate via interpolation:

# use template_quote::quote;
let v = vec![vec![1, 2], vec![3]];
let tokens = quote!{
	#(
		#(for i in #v) { #i }
	),*
};
assert_eq!("1i32 2i32 , 3i32", tokens.to_string());

While syntax

# use template_quote::quote;
let mut v = vec![1, 2].into_iter();
let tokens = quote!{
	#(while v.next().is_some()) { hello }
};
assert_eq!("hello hello", tokens.to_string());

While-let syntax

# use template_quote::quote;
let mut v = vec![1, 2].into_iter();
let tokens = quote!{
	#(while let Some(i) = v.next()) { #i }
};
assert_eq!("1i32 2i32", tokens.to_string());

As with for syntax, variables bound in while are not iterable through interpolation. For example:

# use template_quote::quote;
let mut v = vec![1, 2].into_iter();
quote!{
	#(
		#(while let Some(i) = v.next()) { #i }
	)*
};

This fails.

Let syntax

let syntax binds new variables that can be used inside the block.

# use template_quote::quote;
let v = vec![(1, 'a'), (2, 'b')];
let tokens = quote!{
	#(for i in v), {
		#(let (n, c) = i) {
			#n -> #c
		}
	}
};
assert_eq!("1i32 -> 'a' , 2i32 -> 'b'", tokens.to_string());

Here, #n and #c are not iterable via interpolation.

Inline expression

You can place inline expressions in quote!.

# use template_quote::quote;
let v = vec![1, 2];
let tokens = quote!{
	#(for i in v){
		#i -> #{ i.to_string() }
	}
};
assert_eq!("1i32 -> \"1\" 2i32 -> \"2\"", tokens.to_string());

The following example fails because the macro cannot determine which variable should be iterated:

# use template_quote::quote;
let v = vec![1, 2];
let tokens = quote!{
	#(
		#{ v.to_string() }
	)*
};
assert_eq!("\"1\" \"2\"", tokens.to_string());

In this case, use #i inside the inline expression to specify the interpolation variable:

# use template_quote::quote;
let v = vec![1, 2];
let tokens = quote!{
	#(
		#{ #v.to_string() }
	)*
};
assert_eq!("\"1\" \"2\"", tokens.to_string());

Inline statement

You can place arbitrary statements inside the macro. For example:

# use template_quote::quote;
let v = vec![1, 2, 3];
let tokens = quote!{
	#(
		#v
		#{ eprintln!("debug: {}", &v); }
	)*
};
assert_eq!("1i32 2i32 3i32", tokens.to_string());

This prints:

debug: 1
debug: 2
debug: 3

To avoid ambiguity, all inline statements must end with ;. For example, an if statement in inline-statement syntax needs an extra ;:

# use template_quote::quote;
let v = vec![1, 2, 3];
quote!{
	#(
		#v
		#{ if v >= &2 { eprintln!("debug: {}", &v); } ; }
	)*
};

Break, Continue

You can use control-flow statements like break and continue in inline statements, but this can be risky.

If you use break; inside a group (like { ... } or ( ... )), it aborts emission of the whole group, and nothing is emitted for that group. For example, the following code emits only one token:

# use template_quote::quote;
let v = vec![1, 2, 3];
let tokens = quote!{
	#(for i in v) {
		#i // emitted once
		// This block is not emitted
		{
			#i
			#{ break; }
		}
	}
};
assert_eq!("1i32", tokens.to_string());

break also affects interpolation syntax:

# use template_quote::quote;
let v = vec![1, 2, 3];
let tokens = quote!{
	#(
		#v
		#{ break; }
	),*
};
assert_eq!("1i32", tokens.to_string());

break can even escape outside the quote! macro. In this example, the internal break affects the outer for loop:

# use template_quote::quote;
let mut v = Vec::new();
for _ in 0..3 {
	let tokens = quote!{
		#{ break; }
	};
	v.push(tokens);
}
assert_eq!(v.len(), 0);

This crate provides quasi-quoting macros like quote. It is backward-compatible with the original quote! macro and also provides new template-engine-like syntax.

This crate is inspired in part by proc-quote.

Using this crate

This crate is useful for proc-macro development. A typical proc-macro crate using template_quote has the following Cargo.toml:

[package]
name = "your_crate_name"
version = "0.0.0"
edition = "2021"

[lib]
proc-macro = true

[dependencies]
template-quote = "0.2"
proc-macro2 = "1.0"

And the following src/lib.rs:

extern crate proc_macro;
extern crate proc_macro2;
extern crate template_quote;

use template_quote::quote;
use proc_macro::TokenStream;
use proc_macro2::TokenStream as TokenStream2;

#[proc_macro]
pub fn my_macro(_: TokenStream) -> TokenStream {
	quote! { /* something here */ }.into()
}

Then you can use it like this:

extern crate your_crate_name;
use your_crate_name::my_macro;

my_macro!()