GNU bug report logs - #39919
26.3; Incorrect byte-compiler warning

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Message #5 received at submit <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Mike Woolley <mike <at> bulsara.com>
To: bug-gnu-emacs <at> gnu.org
Subject: 26.3; Incorrect byte-compiler warning
Date: Wed, 4 Mar 2020 23:18:07 +0000

Compiling this minimal test:

;; -*- lexical-binding: t -*-

(dotimes (i 10 t)
    (prin1 i))

Gives the incorrect warning: "Unused lexical variable ‘i’”, even though `i' is clearly used inside the loop.

However the following version (dropping the [result] form from `dotimes') does not give the warning:

(dotimes (i 10)
    (prin1 i))

This would seem like a bug to me.
Please advise?

Thanks,
Mike



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Message #8 received at 39919 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Michael Heerdegen <michael_heerdegen <at> web.de>
To: Mike Woolley <mike <at> bulsara.com>
Cc: 39919 <at> debbugs.gnu.org
Subject: Re: bug#39919: 26.3; Incorrect byte-compiler warning
Date: Thu, 05 Mar 2020 14:50:11 +0100

Mike Woolley <mike <at> bulsara.com> writes:

> This would seem like a bug to me.

Yes, the warning is wrong.  There is already a corresponding "FIXME" in
the source:

|  ;; FIXME: This let often leads to "unused var" warnings.


Michael.

Message #11 received at 39919 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Michael Heerdegen <michael_heerdegen <at> web.de>
To: Mike Woolley <mike <at> bulsara.com>
Cc: 39919 <at> debbugs.gnu.org
Subject: Re: bug#39919: 26.3; Incorrect byte-compiler warning
Date: Thu, 05 Mar 2020 15:18:34 +0100

Mike Woolley <mike <at> bulsara.com> writes:

> [I guess the normal use case would indeed be to use the loop var in
> the result form and so writing it like this was probably a reasonable
> compromise…]

No, it's just the warning is not easy to avoid, it's not raised
explicitly, it's an accident that it's raised in cases like yours which
are valid cases, even if they are not the majority of uses.

So I think it's worth to fix this.

Michael.

Message #14 received at 39919 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Mike Woolley <mike <at> bulsara.com>
To: Michael Heerdegen <michael_heerdegen <at> web.de>
Cc: 39919 <at> debbugs.gnu.org
Subject: Re: bug#39919: 26.3; Incorrect byte-compiler warning
Date: Thu, 5 Mar 2020 14:01:28 +0000

[Message part 1 (text/plain, inline)]

Yes this was pointed out to me :-)

Looks like we get the unused variable warning when there is a result form which does not contain the loop variable.

[I guess the normal use case would indeed be to use the loop var in the result form and so writing it like this was probably a reasonable compromise…]

I will adjust my code to work around it.

Thanks,
Mike

> On 5 Mar 2020, at 13:50, Michael Heerdegen <michael_heerdegen <at> web.de> wrote:
> 
> Mike Woolley <mike <at> bulsara.com> writes:
> 
>> This would seem like a bug to me.
> 
> Yes, the warning is wrong.  There is already a corresponding "FIXME" in
> the source:
> 
> |  ;; FIXME: This let often leads to "unused var" warnings.
> 
> 
> Michael.

[Message part 2 (text/html, inline)]

Message #17 received at 39919 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Michael Heerdegen <michael_heerdegen <at> web.de>
To: Mike Woolley <mike <at> bulsara.com>
Cc: 39919 <at> debbugs.gnu.org
Subject: Re: bug#39919: 26.3; Incorrect byte-compiler warning
Date: Thu, 05 Mar 2020 23:20:22 +0100

Michael Heerdegen <michael_heerdegen <at> web.de> writes:

> So I think it's worth to fix this.

Hmm, no, actually, there were already two old bug reports about this
issue: bug#16206 and 31232.  The RESULT argument of `dotimes' had been
deprecated as a result of that discussion.

So I'm going to merge this report with the others and close it.

Michael.

Message #20 received at 39919 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Richard Stallman <rms <at> gnu.org>
To: Michael Heerdegen <michael_heerdegen <at> web.de>
Cc: 39919 <at> debbugs.gnu.org, mike <at> bulsara.com
Subject: Re: bug#39919: 26.3; Incorrect byte-compiler warning
Date: Fri, 06 Mar 2020 23:23:02 -0500

[[[ To any NSA and FBI agents reading my email: please consider    ]]]
[[[ whether defending the US Constitution against all enemies,     ]]]
[[[ foreign or domestic, requires you to follow Snowden's example. ]]]

  > Hmm, no, actually, there were already two old bug reports about this
  > issue: bug#16206 and 31232.  The RESULT argument of `dotimes' had been
  > deprecated as a result of that discussion.

I can't easily obtain that discussion.  Perhaps that discussion
turned up some other reason to deprecated that argument.  But if it
was solely to avoid these warnings, I am surprised it is hard.

Does this patch fix the problem?

diff -u /home/rms/emacs-git/build-oct-2/lisp/subr.el.\~1\~ /home/rms/emacs-git/build-oct-2/lisp/subr.el
--- /home/rms/emacs-git/build-oct-2/lisp/subr.el.~1~	2019-10-02 11:07:09.046065358 -0400
+++ /home/rms/emacs-git/build-oct-2/lisp/subr.el	2020-03-06 19:31:20.053693281 -0500
@@ -281,7 +281,7 @@
                (setq ,counter (1+ ,counter)))
              ,@(if (cddr spec)
                    ;; FIXME: This let often leads to "unused var" warnings.
-                   `((let ((,(car spec) ,counter)) ,@(cddr spec))))))
+                   `((let ((,(car spec) ,counter)) ,(car spec) ,@(cddr spec))))))
       `(let ((,temp ,end)
              (,(car spec) ,start))
          (while (< ,(car spec) ,temp)

Diff finished.  Fri Mar  6 19:34:23 2020

-- 
Dr Richard Stallman
Chief GNUisance of the GNU Project (https://gnu.org)
Founder, Free Software Foundation (https://fsf.org)
Internet Hall-of-Famer (https://internethalloffame.org)

Message #23 received at 39919 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Mike Woolley <mike <at> bulsara.com>
To: rms <at> gnu.org
Cc: Michael Heerdegen <michael_heerdegen <at> web.de>, 39919 <at> debbugs.gnu.org
Subject: Re: bug#39919: 26.3; Incorrect byte-compiler warning 
Date: Sat, 7 Mar 2020 12:52:14 +0000

[Message part 1 (text/plain, inline)]

Yes that fixes the issue in the test cases I sent.
Also looks good in my real code where I noticed the problem!

Thanks Richard,
Mike

> On 7 Mar 2020, at 04:23, Richard Stallman <rms <at> gnu.org> wrote:
> 
> [[[ To any NSA and FBI agents reading my email: please consider    ]]]
> [[[ whether defending the US Constitution against all enemies,     ]]]
> [[[ foreign or domestic, requires you to follow Snowden's example. ]]]
> 
>> Hmm, no, actually, there were already two old bug reports about this
>> issue: bug#16206 and 31232.  The RESULT argument of `dotimes' had been
>> deprecated as a result of that discussion.
> 
> I can't easily obtain that discussion.  Perhaps that discussion
> turned up some other reason to deprecated that argument.  But if it
> was solely to avoid these warnings, I am surprised it is hard.
> 
> Does this patch fix the problem?
> 
> diff -u /home/rms/emacs-git/build-oct-2/lisp/subr.el.\~1\~ /home/rms/emacs-git/build-oct-2/lisp/subr.el
> --- /home/rms/emacs-git/build-oct-2/lisp/subr.el.~1~	2019-10-02 11:07:09.046065358 -0400
> +++ /home/rms/emacs-git/build-oct-2/lisp/subr.el	2020-03-06 19:31:20.053693281 -0500
> @@ -281,7 +281,7 @@
>                (setq ,counter (1+ ,counter)))
>              ,@(if (cddr spec)
>                    ;; FIXME: This let often leads to "unused var" warnings.
> -                   `((let ((,(car spec) ,counter)) ,@(cddr spec))))))
> +                   `((let ((,(car spec) ,counter)) ,(car spec) ,@(cddr spec))))))
>       `(let ((,temp ,end)
>              (,(car spec) ,start))
>          (while (< ,(car spec) ,temp)
> 
> Diff finished.  Fri Mar  6 19:34:23 2020
> 
> -- 
> Dr Richard Stallman
> Chief GNUisance of the GNU Project (https://gnu.org)
> Founder, Free Software Foundation (https://fsf.org)
> Internet Hall-of-Famer (https://internethalloffame.org)
> 
> 

[Message part 2 (text/html, inline)]

Message #26 received at 39919 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Michael Heerdegen <michael_heerdegen <at> web.de>
To: Richard Stallman <rms <at> gnu.org>
Cc: 39919 <at> debbugs.gnu.org, mike <at> bulsara.com
Subject: Re: bug#39919: 26.3; Incorrect byte-compiler warning
Date: Sun, 08 Mar 2020 01:49:08 +0100

Richard Stallman <rms <at> gnu.org> writes:

> I can't easily obtain that discussion.  Perhaps that discussion
> turned up some other reason to deprecated that argument.

Yes: the reason was that it's not very useful, the order of
execution is strange, and it's easy to avoid, so, to cite Stefan, "Which
is why I think the current behavior of complaining when the third field
is used (except in the very rare case where the third field refers to
the iteration variable) is a fairly good compromise."

> But if it was solely to avoid these warnings, I am surprised it is
> hard.
>
> Does this patch fix the problem?

Yes, that should work.  I don't consider it a good fix because it just
hides the underlying problem (I guess that's why the original author
added the FIXME instead of fixing it in this obvious way).  We have
manifestations of the same issue in other places that, AFAIR, can't be
fixed in the same way.

Anyway, I think the warning currently raised is not helpful, it is
confusing if you didn't read the related bug reports.  I guess we could
just say that the argument is deprecated.  Maybe that didn't happen
because dotimes in Common Lisp has that third argument too (as mentioned
in the other reports).

Michael.

Message #33 received at 39919 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Michael Heerdegen <michael_heerdegen <at> web.de>
To: Mike Woolley <mike <at> bulsara.com>
Cc: 39919 <at> debbugs.gnu.org, 31232 <at> debbugs.gnu.org, rms <at> gnu.org
Subject: Re: bug#39919: 26.3; Incorrect byte-compiler warning
Date: Tue, 28 Apr 2020 04:52:24 +0200

Mike Woolley <mike <at> bulsara.com> writes:

> Yes that fixes the issue in the test cases I sent.
> Also looks good in my real code where I noticed the problem!

Seems the current warning is a compromise.  It is not perfect because it
is not really clear what the warning means.  I would vote for a clear
"argument is deprecated" warning.

Michael.

Message #36 received at 39919 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Mike Woolley <mike <at> bulsara.com>
To: Michael Heerdegen <michael_heerdegen <at> web.de>
Cc: 39919 <at> debbugs.gnu.org, 31232 <at> debbugs.gnu.org, rms <at> gnu.org
Subject: Re: bug#39919: 26.3; Incorrect byte-compiler warning 
Date: Tue, 28 Apr 2020 17:35:47 +0100

[Message part 1 (text/plain, inline)]

I think people using `dotimes' from `cl’ are going to expect it to work like in Common Lisp (as that’s the whole point).

Just deprecating the result parameter because it’s too hard doesn’t seem like a good solution :-)

Thanks,
Mike

> On 28 Apr 2020, at 03:52, Michael Heerdegen <michael_heerdegen <at> web.de> wrote:
> 
> Mike Woolley <mike <at> bulsara.com> writes:
> 
>> Yes that fixes the issue in the test cases I sent.
>> Also looks good in my real code where I noticed the problem!
> 
> Seems the current warning is a compromise.  It is not perfect because it
> is not really clear what the warning means.  I would vote for a clear
> "argument is deprecated" warning.
> 
> Michael.

[Message part 2 (text/html, inline)]

Message #39 received at 39919 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Michael Heerdegen <michael_heerdegen <at> web.de>
To: Mike Woolley <mike <at> bulsara.com>
Cc: 39919 <at> debbugs.gnu.org, 31232 <at> debbugs.gnu.org, rms <at> gnu.org
Subject: Re: bug#39919: 26.3; Incorrect byte-compiler warning
Date: Tue, 28 Apr 2020 20:08:11 +0200

Mike Woolley <mike <at> bulsara.com> writes:

> I think people using `dotimes' from `cl’ are going to expect it to
> work like in Common Lisp (as that’s the whole point).

But note that dotimes is in subr.el, and cl-dotimes is separate (though
it's currently implemented on top of dotimes).

> Just deprecating the result parameter because it’s too hard doesn’t
> seem like a good solution :-)

I regret that I said it like that, no, that's not a reason.  The main
reason is that the whole existence (usefulness) of the RESULT argument
and its position in the syntax are questionable.

Michael.

Message #42 received at 39919 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Mike Woolley <mike <at> bulsara.com>
To: Michael Heerdegen <michael_heerdegen <at> web.de>
Cc: 39919 <at> debbugs.gnu.org, 31232 <at> debbugs.gnu.org, rms <at> gnu.org
Subject: Re: bug#39919: 26.3; Incorrect byte-compiler warning 
Date: Tue, 28 Apr 2020 19:48:49 +0100

Thanks for the explanation Michael.

How about changing dotimes as you suggested, but making cl-dotimes have it’s own implementation with the result parameter fix applied? 

Then everyone’s a winner - those who want the CL behaviour can have it, but core Emacs will have a cleaner version.

Thanks,
Mike

> On 28 Apr 2020, at 19:13, Michael Heerdegen <michael_heerdegen <at> web.de> wrote:
> 
> Mike Woolley <mike <at> bulsara.com> writes:
> 
>> I think people using `dotimes' from `cl’ are going to expect it to
>> work like in Common Lisp (as that’s the whole point).
> 
> But note that dotimes is in subr.el, and cl-dotimes is separate (though
> it's currently implemented on top of dotimes).
> 
>> Just deprecating the result parameter because it’s too hard doesn’t
>> seem like a good solution :-)
> 
> I regret that I said it like that, no, that's not a reason.  The main
> reason is that the whole existence (usefulness) of the RESULT argument
> and its position in the syntax are questionable.
> 
> Michael.
> 

Message #45 received at 39919 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Michael Heerdegen <michael_heerdegen <at> web.de>
To: Mike Woolley <mike <at> bulsara.com>
Cc: 39919 <at> debbugs.gnu.org, 31232 <at> debbugs.gnu.org, rms <at> gnu.org
Subject: Re: bug#39919: 26.3; Incorrect byte-compiler warning
Date: Tue, 28 Apr 2020 22:14:00 +0200

Mike Woolley <mike <at> bulsara.com> writes:

> Thanks for the explanation Michael.
>
> How about changing dotimes as you suggested, but making cl-dotimes
> have it’s own implementation with the result parameter fix applied?
>
> Then everyone’s a winner - those who want the CL behaviour can have
> it, but core Emacs will have a cleaner version.

Exactly my idea after thinking about what I had written :-)

Michael.

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