[GHC] #9784: Allow Qualified Promoted Types

8 Nov 2014

      #9784: Allow Qualified Promoted Types
-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------
       Reporter:  crockeea           |                   Owner:
           Type:  bug                |                  Status:  new
       Priority:  normal             |               Milestone:
      Component:  Compiler (Parser)  |                 Version:  7.8.3
       Keywords:                     |        Operating System:
   Architecture:  Unknown/Multiple   |  Unknown/Multiple
     Difficulty:  Unknown            |         Type of failure:  GHC
     Blocked By:                     |  rejects valid program
Related Tickets:                     |               Test Case:
                                     |                Blocking:
                                     |  Differential Revisions:
-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------
 The program

 {{{#!hs
 {-# LANGUAGE DataKinds #-}
 module Foo where
 import Data.Proxy

 data MyNat = Z | S MyNat

 bar :: Proxy Foo.'Z -> Int
 bar _ = 0
 }}}
 fails with the error
 {{{
 Foo.hs:7:17:
     Illegal symbol '.' in type
     Perhaps you intended to use RankNTypes or a similar language
     extension to enable explicit-forall syntax: forall <tvs>. <type>
 Failed, modules loaded: none.
 }}}

 I believe the program above should compile without error. In the example
 above, I could make the code compile with my intended meanign using `Z`,
 `'Z`, or even `Foo.Z` in place of `Foo.'Z`, all of which refer to
 `Foo.'Z`. However, if there is also a vanilla type `Z` in scope and
 another promoted constructor `'Z` in scope, I have no way to disambiguate
 the reference to `'Z` in `bar`:
   - `Z` and `Foo.Z` refer to the vanilla type
   - `'Z` could be from the promoted `MyNat` constructor, or from the other
 module

 Concretely, I could import `Data.Type.Natural` from
 [https://hackage.haskell.org/package/type-natural type-natural], which
 also defines the promoted constructor `'Z`.

 {{{#!hs
 {-# LANGUAGE DataKinds #-}
 module Foo where
 import Data.Proxy
 import Data.Type.Natural

 data MyNat = Z | S MyNat

 bar :: Proxy Foo.'Z -> Int
 bar _ = 0
 }}}

 In this case, there is no way for me to indicate that `bar` has the type
 `Foo.'Z -> Int`

 As a side note, if I do as the error suggests and use`RankNTypes`, I get
 the same error message. It's a bit strange for GHC suggest adding an
 extension that is already enabled.

--
Ticket URL: http://ghc.haskell.org/trac/ghc/ticket/9784
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