#11376: Inconsistent specified type variables among functions and datatypes/classes when using -XTypeApplications -------------------------------------+------------------------------------- Reporter: RyanGlScott | Owner: goldfire Type: bug | Status: new Priority: normal | Milestone: 8.0.1 Component: Compiler (Type | Version: 8.1 checker) | Keywords: Resolution: | TypeApplications Operating System: Unknown/Multiple | Architecture: | Unknown/Multiple Type of failure: Other | Test Case: Blocked By: | Blocking: Related Tickets: | Differential Rev(s): Wiki Page: | -------------------------------------+------------------------------------- Comment (by goldfire): Specificity is indeed specialized. However, the problematic output from `:type` that your patch fixes will happen only with visible type application. So, we're already focusing on a specialized audience. I could live with your last proposal -- that `:type <identifier>` is, essentially, a separate command from the normal `:type`. But how long will it be until someone posts a bug report complaining that `:t (blah)` is different from `:t blah`? This is the sort of "computer trying to be smart" behavior that I find so irritating in a variety of programs. It is indeed possible (and easy) to specify, but that specification will be buried in some bullet in the manual. What this all boils down to is that we really do need two commands: One that gives the raw, uninstantiated type; and one that tells us what type an identifier would be inferred to have if assigned to an expression. These are different, and both are useful! So maybe we should just introduce a new command. `:type` should clearly have the instantiated behavior, and the new one can be uninstantiated. I'm uninspired about the name of the new command. -- Ticket URL: http://ghc.haskell.org/trac/ghc/ticket/11376#comment:33 GHC http://www.haskell.org/ghc/ The Glasgow Haskell Compiler