union
A bare union
defines a set of possible types that a value can be as a list of fields. Only one field can be active at a time. The in-memory representation of bare unions is not guaranteed. Bare unions cannot be used to reinterpret memory. For that, use @ptrCast, or use an extern union or a packed union which have guaranteed in-memory layout. Accessing the non-active field is safety-checked Undefined Behavior:
test_wrong_union_access.zig
const Payload = union {
int: i64,
float: f64,
boolean: bool,
};
test "simple union" {
var payload = Payload{ .int = 1234 };
payload.float = 12.34;
}
Shell
$ zig test test_wrong_union_access.zig
1/1 test.simple union... thread 2452406 panic: access of union field 'float' while field 'int' is active
/home/ci/actions-runner/_work/zig-bootstrap/zig/docgen_tmp/test_wrong_union_access.zig:8:12: 0x224257 in test.simple union (test)
payload.float = 12.34;
^
/home/ci/actions-runner/_work/zig-bootstrap/out/host/lib/zig/test_runner.zig:176:28: 0x22d429 in mainTerminal (test)
} else test_fn.func();
^
/home/ci/actions-runner/_work/zig-bootstrap/out/host/lib/zig/test_runner.zig:36:28: 0x22547a in main (test)
return mainTerminal();
^
/home/ci/actions-runner/_work/zig-bootstrap/out/host/lib/zig/std/start.zig:564:22: 0x224812 in posixCallMainAndExit (test)
root.main();
^
/home/ci/actions-runner/_work/zig-bootstrap/out/host/lib/zig/std/start.zig:243:5: 0x224361 in _start (test)
asm volatile (switch (native_arch) {
^
???:?:?: 0x0 in ??? (???)
error: the following test command crashed:
/home/ci/actions-runner/_work/zig-bootstrap/out/zig-local-cache/o/4c8d493e90b10d80885d62728b7b9734/test
You can activate another field by assigning the entire union:
test_simple_union.zig
const std = @import("std");
const expect = std.testing.expect;
const Payload = union {
int: i64,
float: f64,
boolean: bool,
};
test "simple union" {
var payload = Payload{ .int = 1234 };
try expect(payload.int == 1234);
payload = Payload{ .float = 12.34 };
try expect(payload.float == 12.34);
}
Shell
$ zig test test_simple_union.zig
1/1 test.simple union... OK
All 1 tests passed.
In order to use switch with a union, it must be a Tagged union.
To initialize a union when the tag is a comptime-known name, see @unionInit.
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 switch expressions. Tagged unions coerce to their tag type: Type Coercion: Unions and Enums.
test_tagged_union.zig
const std = @import("std");
const expect = std.testing.expect;
const ComplexTypeTag = enum {
ok,
not_ok,
};
const ComplexType = union(ComplexTypeTag) {
ok: u8,
not_ok: void,
};
test "switch on tagged union" {
const c = ComplexType{ .ok = 42 };
try expect(@as(ComplexTypeTag, c) == ComplexTypeTag.ok);
switch (c) {
ComplexTypeTag.ok => |value| try expect(value == 42),
ComplexTypeTag.not_ok => unreachable,
}
}
test "get tag type" {
try expect(std.meta.Tag(ComplexType) == ComplexTypeTag);
}
Shell
$ zig test test_tagged_union.zig
1/2 test.switch on tagged union... OK
2/2 test.get tag type... OK
All 2 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_switch_modify_tagged_union.zig
const std = @import("std");
const expect = std.testing.expect;
const ComplexTypeTag = enum {
ok,
not_ok,
};
const ComplexType = union(ComplexTypeTag) {
ok: u8,
not_ok: void,
};
test "modify tagged union in switch" {
var c = ComplexType{ .ok = 42 };
switch (c) {
ComplexTypeTag.ok => |*value| value.* += 1,
ComplexTypeTag.not_ok => unreachable,
}
try expect(c.ok == 43);
}
Shell
$ zig test test_switch_modify_tagged_union.zig
1/1 test.modify tagged union in switch... OK
All 1 tests passed.
Unions can be made to infer the enum tag type. Further, unions can have methods just like structs and enums.
test_union_method.zig
const std = @import("std");
const expect = std.testing.expect;
const Variant = union(enum) {
int: i32,
boolean: bool,
// void can be omitted when inferring enum tag type.
none,
fn truthy(self: Variant) bool {
return switch (self) {
Variant.int => |x_int| x_int != 0,
Variant.boolean => |x_bool| x_bool,
Variant.none => false,
};
}
};
test "union method" {
var v1 = Variant{ .int = 1 };
var v2 = Variant{ .boolean = false };
try expect(v1.truthy());
try expect(!v2.truthy());
}
Shell
$ zig test test_union_method.zig
1/1 test.union method... OK
All 1 tests passed.
@tagName can be used to return a comptime [:0]const u8
value representing the field name:
test_tagName.zig
const std = @import("std");
const expect = std.testing.expect;
const Small2 = union(enum) {
a: i32,
b: bool,
c: u8,
};
test "@tagName" {
try expect(std.mem.eql(u8, @tagName(Small2.a), "a"));
}
Shell
$ zig test test_tagName.zig
1/1 test.@tagName... OK
All 1 tests passed.
extern union
An extern union
has memory layout guaranteed to be compatible with the target C ABI.
See also:
packed union
A packed union
has well-defined in-memory layout and is eligible to be in a packed struct.
Anonymous Union Literals
Anonymous Struct Literals syntax can be used to initialize unions without specifying the type:
test_anonymous_union.zig
const std = @import("std");
const expect = std.testing.expect;
const Number = union {
int: i32,
float: f64,
};
test "anonymous union literal syntax" {
var i: Number = .{.int = 42};
var f = makeNumber();
try expect(i.int == 42);
try expect(f.float == 12.34);
}
fn makeNumber() Number {
return .{.float = 12.34};
}
Shell
$ zig test test_anonymous_union.zig
1/1 test.anonymous union literal syntax... OK
All 1 tests passed.