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@Copilot Copilot AI commented Aug 15, 2025

Problem

When nullness checking is enabled, variables in non-null branches of match expressions should be refined to non-null types, but type aliases were not being preserved during this refinement process.

Consider this example:

type objnull = obj | null

let getEnvAliasObj (_: string) : objnull = failwith "stub"

let valueAliasObj =
    match getEnvAliasObj "ENVVAR" with
    | null -> "missing"
    | x -> x.ToString() // x should be refined to obj (non-null), preserving the alias

Previously, the type alias objnull would be stripped during nullness refinement, and the variable x would lose its connection to the original type alias.

Root Cause

The issue was in the removeNull function within TcMatchClause in CheckExpressions.fs. The original implementation used:

let removeNull t =
    let stripped = stripTyEqns cenv.g t
    replaceNullnessOfTy KnownWithoutNull stripped

This approach stripped type abbreviations using stripTyEqns and then applied the nullness refinement to the stripped type, losing the original type alias information.

Solution

Modified the nullness refinement logic to:

  1. Use stripTyEqns only for decision-making (to determine if refinement is applicable)
  2. Apply the refinement directly to the original type structure to preserve aliases
  3. Manually construct refined types with KnownWithoutNull nullness while preserving the original type constructor and type arguments

The new implementation:

let removeNull t =
    match stripTyEqns cenv.g t with
    | TType_app (tcref, _, _) when not tcref.Deref.IsStructOrEnumTycon ->
        match t with
        | TType_app (tcrefOrig, tinstOrig, _) -> TType_app (tcrefOrig, tinstOrig, KnownWithoutNull)
        | _ -> replaceNullnessOfTy KnownWithoutNull t
    | TType_var _ ->
        match t with  
        | TType_var (tpOrig, _) -> TType_var (tpOrig, KnownWithoutNull)
        | _ -> replaceNullnessOfTy KnownWithoutNull t
    | _ -> t

Impact

  • ✅ Type aliases like objnull = obj | null are now preserved in non-null branches
  • ✅ Variables in non-null match branches are correctly refined to non-null types
  • ✅ Handles both defaulting cases (failwith "") and explicit type aliases
  • ✅ Maintains compatibility with existing nullness checking functionality

Testing

Added comprehensive test cases covering:

  • Defaulting case where failwith "" creates unconstrained types
  • Explicit type aliases to obj | null
  • Explicit type aliases to string | null

Fixes #18488


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✅ No release notes required

Copilot AI and others added 3 commits August 15, 2025 08:41
…patterns

- Add tryRefineToNonNullPreservingAbbrev helper to TypedTreeOps.fs
- Modify TcMatchClause in CheckExpressions.fs to use new helper
- Preserves type aliases while refining nullness after null patterns

Co-authored-by: T-Gro <[email protected]>
- Modified helper function to preserve type structure
- Tests still show type variable not being refined correctly
- May need different approach to handle defaulting interaction

Co-authored-by: T-Gro <[email protected]>
- Modify removeNull function in TcMatchClause to preserve original type structure
- Use stripTyEqns only for decision making, apply refinement to original type
- Directly construct refined types with KnownWithoutNull nullness
- This preserves type aliases like 'objnull = obj | null' during refinement

Co-authored-by: T-Gro <[email protected]>
@Copilot Copilot AI changed the title [WIP] Nullness: refine scrutinee to non-null after a null pattern (preserve aliases); fix defaulting case (failwith "" -> obj|null) Fix nullness flow after null pattern to preserve type aliases in match expressions Aug 15, 2025
@Copilot Copilot AI requested a review from T-Gro August 15, 2025 09:00
Copilot finished work on behalf of T-Gro August 15, 2025 09:00
@T-Gro T-Gro changed the title Fix nullness flow after null pattern to preserve type aliases in match expressions Fix nullness flow for objnull from failwith after null pattern Aug 15, 2025
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Nullness issue - match control flow for reference types
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