Files
sx/issues/0165-parenthesized-nested-optional-malformed.md
agra 0bc8005b99 fix: diagnose ?(?T) tuple-payload mismatch instead of malformed IR (issue 0165)
In type position (T) is a 1-tuple (specs.md:843), so ?(?i64) is
optional(tuple(?i64)); assigning a bare ?i64 had coerceToType classify
.none and pass the value through, then optionalWrap built a corrupt
insertvalue that aborted the LLVM verifier. After coercing toward an
optional's child, verify the coerced type equals the child type
(stmt.zig decl-init + coerce.zig .optional_wrap); on mismatch emit a
located diagnostic (tuple-specific note only when the child is a tuple).
formatTypeName now renders tuples as (x: i64, y: i64).

Regressions: optionals/0911 (nested optional via alias, round-trip),
diagnostics/1195 (the mismatch diagnostic). Updated diagnostics/1101 +
protocols/0414 goldens for the improved tuple type-name rendering.
Verified by 3 adversarial reviews. Filed adjacent bug 0171 (?any child
not canonicalized).
2026-06-22 21:54:12 +03:00

3.3 KiB

0165 — parenthesized nested optional ?(?T) resolves to a malformed double-wrapped type

RESOLVED. The issue's premise was partly wrong: per specs.md:843, in TYPE position (T) is a single-field TUPLE, not a grouping — so ?(?i64) is optional(tuple(?i64)) and the compiler's { {{i64,i1}}, i1 } layout was CORRECT. The real bug was a silent malformed-IR path: assigning a bare ?i64 to it had coerceToType classify .none and pass the value through unchanged, then optionalWrap built a corrupt insertvalue that aborted the LLVM verifier. Fix: after coercing toward an optional's child, verify the coerced value's type equals the child type (src/ir/lower/stmt.zig decl-init + src/ir/lower/coerce.zig .optional_wrap); on mismatch emit a located diagnostic (with a tuple-specific note only when the child is a tuple) instead of corrupt IR. formatTypeName now renders tuples as (x: i64, y: i64). Genuine nested optionals via alias (Opt :: ?i64; ?Opt) work and round-trip. Regressions: examples/optionals/0911-nested-optional-via-alias.sx, examples/diagnostics/1195-diagnostics-err-parenthesized-optional-tuple.sx. Verified by 3 adversarial reviews. (Adjacent pre-existing bug found + filed: 0171 ?any child not canonicalized.)

Symptom

A nested optional written ?(?i64) resolves to a spurious extra struct wrapper: the destination type lowers to { { {i64,i1} }, i1 } (triple-wrapped) instead of the correct { {i64,i1}, i1 }. Assigning an inner ?i64 then fails the LLVM verifier:

LLVM verification failed: Invalid InsertValueInst operands!
  %ow.val = insertvalue { { { i64, i1 } }, i1 } undef, { i64, i1 } %load, 0

Crash (non-zero exit). ??i64 (unparenthesized) is a separate parse error (expected type name) and is NOT this bug — only the parenthesized ?(?T) form reaches type resolution and produces the malformed layout.

Reproduction

#import "modules/std.sx";
main :: () {
  inner : ?i64 = 5;
  outer : ?(?i64) = inner;
  print("ok\n");
}

Expected: ok (a well-formed { {i64,i1}, i1 } outer optional wrapping the inner ?i64). Observed: LLVM verifier abort.

Investigation prompt

The type-table interning (src/ir/types.zig optionalOf / the optional lowering near types.zig:87) produces the CORRECT { {i64,i1}, i1 } for a real optional(optional(i64)). So the malformed layout comes from instruction.ty itself: the parenthesized (?i64) inner type expression is resolved as a single-field STRUCT wrapping ?i64, not as the optional type directly. Suspected area: resolution of a parenthesized type expression (src/ir/type_resolver.zig and/or the parser's handling of (?T) as a type) — a parenthesized type should resolve to the inner type unchanged, not introduce a tuple/struct wrapper. src/backend/llvm/ops.zig emitOptionalWrap is the faithful victim (it uses toLLVMType(instruction.ty)), not the cause.

Verify: the repro prints ok; ?(?i64) round-trips (unwrap inner, read value); confirm the IR type is { {i64,i1}, i1 }. Add an examples/optionals/09xx-nested-parenthesized-optional.sx regression. (The unresolved type panic seen when an ! unwrap is added is downstream recovery fallout of the same root cause — should disappear once the layout is correct.)