union
test.zig
$ zig test test.zig
1/1 test "simple union"...access of inactive union field
/home/andy/dev/zig/docgen_tmp/test.zig:8:12: 0x2055b5 in test "simple union" (test)
payload.Float = 12.34;
^
/home/andy/dev/zig/lib/std/special/test_runner.zig:13:25: 0x2283d1 in std.special.main (test)
if (test_fn.func()) |_| {
^
/home/andy/dev/zig/lib/std/special/start.zig:204:37: 0x227245 in std.special.posixCallMainAndExit (test)
const result = root.main() catch |err| {
^
/home/andy/dev/zig/lib/std/special/start.zig:102:5: 0x2270bf in std.special._start (test)
@noInlineCall(posixCallMainAndExit);
^
Tests failed. Use the following command to reproduce the failure:
/home/andy/dev/zig/docgen_tmp/test
You can activate another field by assigning the entire union:
test.zig
const std = @import("std");
const assert = std.debug.assert;
const Payload = union {
Int: i64,
Float: f64,
Bool: bool,
test "simple union" {
var payload = Payload{ .Int = 1234 };
payload = Payload{ .Float = 12.34 };
assert(payload.Float == 12.34);
}
$ zig test test.zig
1/1 test "simple union"...OK
All tests passed.
In order to use with a union, it must be a Tagged union.
Unions can be declared with an enum tag type. This turns the union into a tagged union, which makes it eligible to use with expressions. One can use @TagType to obtain the enum type from the union type.
test.zig
$ zig test test.zig
1/2 test "switch on tagged union"...OK
2/2 test "@TagType"...OK
All tests passed.
In order to modify the payload of a tagged union in a switch expression, place a *
before the variable name to make it a pointer:
test.zig
const std = @import("std");
const assert = std.debug.assert;
const ComplexTypeTag = enum {
Ok,
NotOk,
};
const ComplexType = union(ComplexTypeTag) {
Ok: u8,
NotOk: void,
};
test "modify tagged union in switch" {
var c = ComplexType{ .Ok = 42 };
ComplexTypeTag.Ok => |*value| value.* += 1,
ComplexTypeTag.NotOk => unreachable,
}
assert(c.Ok == 43);
}
$ zig test test.zig
1/1 test "modify tagged union in switch"...OK
All tests passed.
test.zig
$ zig test test.zig
1/1 test "union method"...OK
All tests passed.
can be used to return a comptime []const u8
value representing the field name:
test.zig
const std = @import("std");
const assert = std.debug.assert;
const Small2 = union(enum) {
A: i32,
B: bool,
C: u8,
};
test "@tagName" {
assert(std.mem.eql(u8, @tagName(Small2.C), "C"));
}
$ zig test test.zig
1/1 test "@tagName"...OK
An has memory layout guaranteed to be compatible with the target C ABI.
A packed union
has well-defined in-memory layout and is eligible to be in a packed struct.