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Support null-conditional operator when the return value is a pointer type #80694

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Support null-conditional operator when the return value is a pointer type #80694

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9bbba4a
Initial plan
Copilot Oct 14, 2025
7384206
Add temporary tests to understand current pointer null-conditional be…
Copilot Oct 14, 2025
807300e
Support null-conditional operator with pointer return types
Copilot Oct 14, 2025
5de452e
Add WorkItem attributes to pointer null-conditional tests
Copilot Oct 14, 2025
b5ddcc3
Update tests
CyrusNajmabadi Oct 14, 2025
f011de2
Merge branch 'copilot/support-null-conditional-operator' of https://g…
CyrusNajmabadi Oct 14, 2025
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15 changes: 8 additions & 7 deletions src/Compilers/CSharp/Portable/Binder/Binder_Expressions.cs
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Original file line number Diff line number Diff line change
Expand Up @@ -11387,17 +11387,17 @@ private BoundConditionalAccess BindConditionalAccessExpression(ConditionalAccess
return GenerateBadConditionalAccessNodeError(node, receiver, access, diagnostics);
}

// The resulting type must be either a reference type T or Nullable<T>
// The resulting type must be either a reference type T, Nullable<T>, or a pointer type.
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@dotnet/roslyn-compiler i think this is correct. The spec says this: https://github.com/dotnet/csharpstandard/blob/standard-v6/standard/expressions.md#1177-null-conditional-member-access

A null_conditional_member_access expression E is of the form P?.A. Let T be the type of the expression P.A. The meaning of E is determined as follows:

Otherwise the type of E is T, and the meaning of E is the same as the meaning of:

- ((object)P == null) ? null : P.A
- Except that P is evaluated only once.

So my reading from teh spec is that this should be legal.

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https://github.com/dotnet/csharpstandard/blob/draft-v8/standard/expressions.md#1288-null-conditional-member-access has revised the wording somewhat but I think Cyrus's interpretation still holds.

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The latest docs show this:

Let T be the type of the expression P.A.

...

Otherwise the type of E is T, and the meaning of E is the same as the meaning of:

((object)P == null) ? (T)null : P.A
Except that P is evaluated only once.

// Therefore we must reject cases resulting in types that are not reference types and cannot be lifted into nullable.
// - access cannot have unconstrained generic type
// - access cannot be a pointer
// - access cannot be a function pointer
// - access cannot be a restricted type
if ((!accessType.IsReferenceType && !accessType.IsValueType) || accessType.IsPointerOrFunctionPointer() || accessType.IsRestrictedType())
// Note: Regular pointers are allowed because they can represent null (as the zero value).
if ((!accessType.IsReferenceType && !accessType.IsValueType) || accessType.IsFunctionPointer() || accessType.IsRestrictedType())
{
// Result type of the access is void when result value cannot be made nullable.
// For improved diagnostics we detect the cases where the value will be used and produce a
// more specific (though not technically correct) diagnostic here:
// "Error CS0023: Operator '?' cannot be applied to operand of type 'T'"
// more specific error here.
if (ResultIsUsed(node))
{
return GenerateBadConditionalAccessNodeError(node, receiver, access, diagnostics);
Expand All @@ -11406,10 +11406,11 @@ private BoundConditionalAccess BindConditionalAccessExpression(ConditionalAccess
accessType = GetSpecialType(SpecialType.System_Void, diagnostics, node);
}

// if access has value type, the type of the conditional access is nullable of that
// if access has value type (but not a pointer), the type of the conditional access is nullable of that
// https://github.com/dotnet/roslyn/issues/35075: The test `accessType.IsValueType && !accessType.IsNullableType()`
// should probably be `accessType.IsNonNullableValueType()`
if (accessType.IsValueType && !accessType.IsNullableType() && !accessType.IsVoidType())
// Note: Pointers are not wrapped in Nullable<> because they can already represent null (as the zero value).
if (accessType.IsValueType && !accessType.IsNullableType() && !accessType.IsVoidType() && !accessType.IsPointerType())
{
accessType = GetSpecialType(SpecialType.System_Nullable_T, diagnostics, node).Construct(accessType);
}
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162 changes: 162 additions & 0 deletions src/Compilers/CSharp/Test/Semantic/Semantics/NullConditionalAssignmentTests.cs
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Expand Up @@ -2892,5 +2892,167 @@ static void M(bool b, C? c1, C? c2)
""",
graph, symbol);
}

[Fact]
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@copilot these should have WorkItem attributes on them. The WorkItem should only have one argument. The url to the issue this is a test for.

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Added WorkItem attributes to all 7 test methods with the issue URL. (commit: work in progress)

public void PointerReturnType_Simple()
{
var source = """
public unsafe class A
{
public byte* Ptr = null;
}

unsafe class Test
{
static void M1(A a)
{
byte* ptr = a?.Ptr;
}

static void M2(A a)
{
var result = a?.Ptr;
}
}
""";
var comp = CreateCompilation(source, options: TestOptions.UnsafeDebugDll);
comp.VerifyEmitDiagnostics();
}

[Fact]
public void PointerReturnType_WithUsage()
{
var source = """
using System;

public unsafe class A
{
public byte* Ptr = null;
}

unsafe class Test
{
static void Main()
{
var a = new A();
byte* ptr1 = a?.Ptr;
Console.Write(ptr1 == null ? "null" : "not null");

a = null;
byte* ptr2 = a?.Ptr;
Console.Write(ptr2 == null ? " null" : " not null");
}
}
""";
var verifier = CompileAndVerify(source, options: TestOptions.UnsafeDebugExe, verify: Verification.Skipped, expectedOutput: "null null");
verifier.VerifyDiagnostics();
}

[Fact]
public void PointerReturnType_IntPointer()
{
var source = """
unsafe class Test
{
public int* Value = null;

static void M(Test t)
{
int* p = t?.Value;
var v = t?.Value;
}
}
""";
var comp = CreateCompilation(source, options: TestOptions.UnsafeDebugDll);
comp.VerifyEmitDiagnostics();
}

[Fact]
public void PointerReturnType_VoidPointer()
{
var source = """
unsafe class Test
{
public void* Data = null;

static void M(Test t)
{
void* p = t?.Data;
var d = t?.Data;
}
}
""";
var comp = CreateCompilation(source, options: TestOptions.UnsafeDebugDll);
comp.VerifyEmitDiagnostics();
}

[Fact]
public void PointerReturnType_Chained()
{
var source = """
unsafe struct Node
{
public Node* Next;
public int Value;

public Node(int v) { Next = null; Value = v; }
}

unsafe class Test
{
public Node* Head = null;

static void M(Test t)
{
Node* n1 = t?.Head;
}
}
""";
var comp = CreateCompilation(source, options: TestOptions.UnsafeDebugDll);
comp.VerifyEmitDiagnostics();
}

[Fact]
public void PointerReturnType_StatementContext()
{
var source = """
public unsafe class A
{
public byte* Ptr = null;
public void DoSomething() { }
}

unsafe class Test
{
static void M(A a)
{
a?.DoSomething(); // Statement context - method call works
}
}
""";
var comp = CreateCompilation(source, options: TestOptions.UnsafeDebugDll);
comp.VerifyEmitDiagnostics();
}

[Fact]
public void FunctionPointerReturnType_StillRejected()
{
var source = """
unsafe class Test
{
public delegate*<int, void> FPtr = null;

static void M(Test t)
{
var f = t?.FPtr;
}
}
""";
var comp = CreateCompilation(source, options: TestOptions.UnsafeDebugDll);
comp.VerifyEmitDiagnostics(
// (7,19): error CS8978: 'delegate*<int, void>' cannot be made nullable.
// var f = t?.FPtr;
Diagnostic(ErrorCode.ERR_CannotBeMadeNullable, ".FPtr").WithArguments("delegate*<int, void>").WithLocation(7, 19));
}
}
}
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