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Rust errors / Types and traits

Rust compiler error · checked with rustc 1.99.0

Rust error E0617: can't pass `f32` to variadic function

What it meansAttempted to pass an invalid type of variable into a variadic function.

What rustc prints

error[E0617]: can't pass `f32` to variadic function
 --> main.rs:8:36
  |
8 |     printf("%f\n\0".as_ptr() as _, 0f32);
  |                                    ^^^^
  |
help: cast the value to `c_double`
  |
8 |     printf("%f\n\0".as_ptr() as _, 0f32 as c_double);
  |                                         +++++++++++

Real output of rustc 1.99.0 compiling the official example below (2021 edition). Your names and line numbers will differ; the first line is the part to match.

E0617Types and traits
Activein rustc 1.99.0
8related errors linked below

The compiler team's explanation

Attempted to pass an invalid type of variable into a variadic function.

Erroneous code example:

extern "C" {
    fn printf(format: *const c_char, ...) -> c_int;
}

unsafe {
    printf("%f\n\0".as_ptr() as _, 0f32);
    // error: cannot pass an `f32` to variadic function, cast to `c_double`
}

Certain Rust types must be cast before passing them to a variadic function, because of arcane ABI rules dictated by the C standard. To fix the error, cast the value to the type specified by the error message (which you may need to import from std::os::raw).

In this case, c_double has the same size as f64 so we can use it directly:


unsafe {
    printf("%f\n\0".as_ptr() as _, 0f64); // ok!
}

From rustc --explain E0617 (1.99.0), part of the Rust project, MIT or Apache-2.0. Official page.

Related errors

All 518 Rust error codes · Rust crate data · Glossary

Up next

Often hit nextE0308: mismatched typesA related error from the same family.Read it next →

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