package core_kernel

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package core_kernel
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Idiomatic usage is to have a module M like:

module M : sig
  type t

  module Optional_syntax : Optional_syntax.S
    with type t := t
    with type value := ...
end = struct
  ...

  module Optional_syntax = struct
    module Optional_syntax = struct
      let is_none = is_none
      let unsafe_value = unsafe_value
    end
  end
end

Then, uses look like:

let open M.Optional_syntax in
match%optional m with
| None   -> ?
| Some v -> ?

The reason for the double module Optional_syntax is so that open M.Optional_syntax puts in scope only module Optional_syntax; match%optional then expands to references to Optional_syntax.is_none and Optional_syntax.unsafe_value.

unsafe_value does not have to be memory-safe if not guarded by is_none.

Implementations of is_none and unsafe_value must not have any side effects. More precisely, if you mutate any value currently being match'ed on (not necessarily your own argument) you risk a segfault as well.

This is because match%optional does not make any guarantee about is_none call being immediately followed by the corresponding unsafe_value call. In fact it makes several is_none calls followed by several unsafe_value calls, so in the presence of side-effects by the time it makes an unsafe_value call the result of the corresponding is_none can go stale.

For more details on the syntax extension, see ppx/ppx_optional/README.md.

module type S = S
module type S1 = S1
module type S2 = S2