Macro transmute_ref

macro_rules! transmute_ref {
    ($e:expr) => { ... };
}

Safely transmutes a mutable or immutable reference of one type to an immutable reference of another type of the same size and compatible alignment.

This macro behaves like an invocation of this function:

const fn transmute_ref<'src, 'dst, Src, Dst>(src: &'src Src) -> &'dst Dst
where
    'src: 'dst,
    Src: IntoBytes + Immutable,
    Dst: FromBytes + Immutable,
    size_of::<Src>() == size_of::<Dst>(),
    align_of::<Src>() >= align_of::<Dst>(),
{
    ...
}

However, unlike a function, this macro can only be invoked when the types of Src and Dst are completely concrete. The types Src and Dst are inferred from the calling context; they cannot be explicitly specified in the macro invocation.

Examples

let one_dimensional: [u8; 8] = [0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7];

let two_dimensional: &[[u8; 4]; 2] = transmute_ref!(&one_dimensional);

assert_eq!(two_dimensional, &[[0, 1, 2, 3], [4, 5, 6, 7]]);

Use in const contexts

This macro can be invoked in const contexts.

Alignment increase error message

Because of limitations on macros, the error message generated when transmute_ref! is used to transmute from a type of lower alignment to a type of higher alignment is somewhat confusing. For example, the following code:

const INCREASE_ALIGNMENT: &u16 = zerocopy::transmute_ref!(&[0u8; 2]);

…generates the following error:

error[E0512]: cannot transmute between types of different sizes, or dependently-sized types
 --> src/lib.rs:1524:34
  |
5 | const INCREASE_ALIGNMENT: &u16 = zerocopy::transmute_ref!(&[0u8; 2]);
  |                                  ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
  |
  = note: source type: `AlignOf<[u8; 2]>` (8 bits)
  = note: target type: `MaxAlignsOf<[u8; 2], u16>` (16 bits)
  = note: this error originates in the macro `$crate::assert_align_gt_eq` which comes from the expansion of the macro `transmute_ref` (in Nightly builds, run with -Z macro-backtrace for more info)

This is saying that max(align_of::<T>(), align_of::<U>()) != align_of::<T>(), which is equivalent to align_of::<T>() < align_of::<U>().