6.5.5. Duplicate record fields¶

DuplicateRecordFields¶

Implies:	`DisambiguateRecordFields`
Since:	8.0.1

Allow definition of record types with identically-named fields.

Going beyond DisambiguateRecordFields (see Record field disambiguation), the DuplicateRecordFields extension allows multiple datatypes to be declared using the same field names in a single module. For example, it allows this:

module M where
  data S = MkS { x :: Int }
  data T = MkT { x :: Bool }

Uses of fields that are always unambiguous because they mention the constructor, including construction and pattern-matching, may freely use duplicated field names. For example, the following are permitted (just as with DisambiguateRecordFields):

s = MkS { x = 3 }

f (MkT { x = b }) = b

While DuplicateRecordFields permits multiple fields with the same name in a single module, it does not permit a field and a normal value binding to have the same name. For that, use NoFieldSelectors.

As of GHC 9.4.1, selector names have to be entirely unambiguous (under the usual name resolution rules), while for record updates, there must be at most one datatype that has all the field names being updated.

6.5.5.1. Import and export of record fields¶

When DuplicateRecordFields is enabled, an ambiguous field must be exported as part of its datatype, rather than at the top level. For example, the following is legal:

module M
  ( S(x)
  , T(..)
  ) where

data S = MkS { x :: Int }

data T = MkT { x :: Bool }

However, this would not be permitted, because x is ambiguous:

module M (x) where ...

For import statements, it is possible to import multiple fields with the same name, as well as importing individual fields as part of their datatypes. For example, the following imports are allowed:

import M (S(x))        -- imports the type S and the 'x' field of S (but not the field of T)
import M (x)           -- imports both 'x' fields
import M hiding (S(x)) -- imports everything except the type S and its 'x' field
import M hiding (x)    -- imports everything except the two 'x' fields