#9803: Poor error message for unbound variable in pattern synonym -------------------------------------+------------------------------------- Reporter: goldfire | Owner: Type: bug | Status: new Priority: normal | Milestone: Component: Compiler | Version: 7.9 Keywords: | Operating System: Architecture: Unknown/Multiple | Unknown/Multiple Difficulty: Easy (less than 1 | Type of failure: hour) | None/Unknown Blocked By: | Test Case: Related Tickets: | Blocking: | Differential Revisions: -------------------------------------+------------------------------------- When I say {{{ pattern OneElt = [x] }}} I get {{{ Right-hand side of bidirectional pattern synonym cannot be used as an expression [x] }}} I have two complaints with this error message: 1. It's very unclear what's actually wrong with the pattern -- `[x]` looks like a perfectly fine expression, until I realize that `x` is unbound. 2. The herald of the error is more than 80 characters (if you count the indentation) and wraps on my 80-character terminal. GHC tends to avoid this elsewhere, and so the wrapping is suboptimal. I would easily say that issue (1) is more important than issue (2). Perhaps this would be better: {{{ Variable `x' is unbound in the bidirectional pattern synonym `OneElt': [x] }}} -- Ticket URL: http://ghc.haskell.org/trac/ghc/ticket/9803 GHC http://www.haskell.org/ghc/ The Glasgow Haskell Compiler