Unions
Syntax
Union :
union
IDENTIFIER Generics? WhereClause?{
StructFields}
A union declaration uses the same syntax as a struct declaration, except with
union
in place of struct
.
# #![allow(unused_variables)] #fn main() { #[repr(C)] union MyUnion { f1: u32, f2: f32, } #}
The key property of unions is that all fields of a union share common storage. As a result writes to one field of a union can overwrite its other fields, and size of a union is determined by the size of its largest field.
A value of a union type can be created using the same syntax that is used for struct types, except that it must specify exactly one field:
# #![allow(unused_variables)] #fn main() { # union MyUnion { f1: u32, f2: f32 } # let u = MyUnion { f1: 1 }; #}
The expression above creates a value of type MyUnion
and initializes the
storage using field f1
. The union can be accessed using the same syntax as
struct fields:
let f = u.f1;
Unions have no notion of an "active field". Instead, every union access just
interprets the storage at the type of the field used for the access. Reading a
union field reads the bits of the union at the field's type. It is the
programmer's responsibility to make sure that the data is valid at that
type. Failing to do so results in undefined behavior. For example, reading the
value 3
at type bool
is undefined behavior. Effectively, writing to and then
reading from a union is analogous to a transmute
from the type used for
writing to the type used for reading.
Consequently, all reads of union fields have to be placed in unsafe
blocks:
# #![allow(unused_variables)] #fn main() { # union MyUnion { f1: u32, f2: f32 } # let u = MyUnion { f1: 1 }; # unsafe { let f = u.f1; } #}
Writes to Copy
union fields do not require reads for running destructors, so
these writes don't have to be placed in unsafe
blocks
# #![allow(unused_variables)] #fn main() { # union MyUnion { f1: u32, f2: f32 } # let mut u = MyUnion { f1: 1 }; # u.f1 = 2; #}
Commonly, code using unions will provide safe wrappers around unsafe union field accesses.
Another way to access union fields is to use pattern matching. Pattern matching
on union fields uses the same syntax as struct patterns, except that the pattern
must specify exactly one field. Since pattern matching is like reading the union
with a particular field, it has to be placed in unsafe
blocks as well.
# #![allow(unused_variables)] #fn main() { # union MyUnion { f1: u32, f2: f32 } # fn f(u: MyUnion) { unsafe { match u { MyUnion { f1: 10 } => { println!("ten"); } MyUnion { f2 } => { println!("{}", f2); } } } } #}
Pattern matching may match a union as a field of a larger structure. In particular, when using a Rust union to implement a C tagged union via FFI, this allows matching on the tag and the corresponding field simultaneously:
# #![allow(unused_variables)] #fn main() { #[repr(u32)] enum Tag { I, F } #[repr(C)] union U { i: i32, f: f32, } #[repr(C)] struct Value { tag: Tag, u: U, } fn is_zero(v: Value) -> bool { unsafe { match v { Value { tag: I, u: U { i: 0 } } => true, Value { tag: F, u: U { f: 0.0 } } => true, _ => false, } } } #}
Since union fields share common storage, gaining write access to one field of a union can give write access to all its remaining fields. Borrow checking rules have to be adjusted to account for this fact. As a result, if one field of a union is borrowed, all its remaining fields are borrowed as well for the same lifetime.
// ERROR: cannot borrow `u` (via `u.f2`) as mutable more than once at a time
fn test() {
let mut u = MyUnion { f1: 1 };
unsafe {
let b1 = &mut u.f1;
---- first mutable borrow occurs here (via `u.f1`)
let b2 = &mut u.f2;
^^^^ second mutable borrow occurs here (via `u.f2`)
*b1 = 5;
}
- first borrow ends here
assert_eq!(unsafe { u.f1 }, 5);
}
As you could see, in many aspects (except for layouts, safety and ownership) unions behave exactly like structs, largely as a consequence of inheriting their syntactic shape from structs. This is also true for many unmentioned aspects of Rust language (such as privacy, name resolution, type inference, generics, trait implementations, inherent implementations, coherence, pattern checking, etc etc etc).