Implicit class resolution for parameterized types

Question

In the following example, it seems that the Scala compiler only recognizes an implicit class when it is defined to take the higher-kinded representation of Wrapper. Why is that?

scala> case class Nested(n: Int)
defined class Nested

scala> case class Wrapper[A <: Product](nested: A)
defined class Wrapper

scala> implicit class I1[W <: Wrapper[A], A <: Product](underlying: W) {
     | def ok1() = true
     | }
defined class I1

scala> Wrapper(Nested(5)).ok1()
<console>:26: error: value ok1 is not a member of Wrapper[Nested]
       Wrapper(Nested(5)).ok1()
                          ^
scala> implicit class I2[W <: Wrapper[_]](underlying: W) {
     | def ok2() = true
     | }
defined class I2

scala> Wrapper(Nested(5)).ok2()
res1: Boolean = true

Is there a workaround for implicit resolution that maintains full information about the nested type, allowing typeclass evidence, e.g., TypeTag, to be attached to it?

Note: the example above shows Nested and Wrapper to be case classes but that's not integral to the question. It's simply a convenience for a shorter and simpler console session.

`I1` doesn't make much for me. There is already a type constraint about `A <: Product` so why duplicating it in the implicit conversion? — cchantep, Feb 14 '17 at 00:11
@cchantep how else can you have the implicit know the details of `A` or associate, for example, a `TypeTag` with it? — Sim, Feb 14 '17 at 01:42

score 4 · Accepted Answer · answered Feb 14 '17 at 02:15

This is happening because of a limitation in Scala's type inference. See SI-2272.

The implicit fails to resolve because the compiler cannot properly infer A. We can see this if we enable -Xlog-implicits. Notice that A is inferred as Nothing:

I1 is not a valid implicit value for Test.w.type => ?{def ok: ?} because:
inferred type arguments [Wrapper[Nested],Nothing] do not conform to method I1's type parameter bounds [W <: Wrapper[A],A <: Product]

The same thing happens if we try to instantiate I1 manually:

scala> val w = Wrapper(Nested(5))
w: Wrapper[Nested] = Wrapper(Nested(5))

scala> new I1(w)
<console>:21: error: inferred type arguments [Wrapper[Nested],Nothing] do not conform to class I1's type parameter bounds [W <: Wrapper[A],A <: Product]
       new I1(w)
       ^
<console>:21: error: type mismatch;
 found   : Wrapper[Nested]
 required: W
       new I1(w)
              ^

Now, the work-arounds.

First, Wrapper is a case class, so there shouldn't be a reason for it to have sub-types. You can remove the W type parameter, and change underlying to a Wrapper[A]:

implicit class I1[A <: Product](underlying: Wrapper[A]) {
  def ok = true
}

If you still wish to require two type parameters, you can also require implicit evidence that W <:< Wrapper[A], while removing the upper-bound on the type parameter W:

implicit class I1[W, A <: Product](underlying: W)(implicit ev: W <:< Wrapper[A]) {
  def ok = true
}

`-Xlog-implicits` is a great tip. – Sim Feb 15 '17 at 13:31 — Sim, Feb 15 '17 at 13:31

Jasper-M · Answer 2 · 2017-02-14T12:01:02.567

Everything Michael said is true. Here is some extra perspective on this issue.

Because of the way you wrote your implicit class it looks like you want the implicit class to work on all subtypes of Wrapper and have as specific information about all types involved as possible. (99% of the time it's a bad idea to extend case classes, but it is possible, and these tricks also work for non case classes).

The trick basically is to make sure that all the type parameters that you want inferred are present somewhere in the value parameter lists. Another thing to keep in mind is this:

scala> trait Foo[A]; trait Bar extends Foo[Int]
defined trait Foo
defined trait Bar

scala> implicitly[Bar with Foo[Int] =:= Bar]
res0: =:=[Bar with Foo[Int],Bar] = <function1>

Take these two pieces of knowledge and you can rewrite your implicit class like this:

implicit class I1[Y, A <: Product](underlying: Y with Wrapper[A]) {
  def ok1(): (Y, A) = ???
}

And see it at work:

scala> :paste
// Entering paste mode (ctrl-D to finish)

case class Nested(n: Int)
case class Wrapper[A <: Product](nested: A)
class Crazy(override val nested: Nested) extends Wrapper[Nested](nested)

implicit class I1[Y, A <: Product](underlying: Y with Wrapper[A]) {
  def ok1(): (Y, A) = ???
}

// Exiting paste mode, now interpreting.


scala> :type Wrapper(Nested(5)).ok1()
(Wrapper[Nested], Nested)

scala> :type new Crazy(Nested(5)).ok1()
(Crazy, Nested)

Note that the last solution Michael gave is based on the same thing: by moving the upper bound to the implicit parameter list, A is now present in the value parameter lists and can be inferred by the compiler.

The additional context is helpful. – Sim Feb 15 '17 at 13:30 — Sim, Feb 15 '17 at 13:30

Implicit class resolution for parameterized types

2 Answers2