Taking the reference of a method has bad error messages #146008
Description
Code
struct LlamaModel;
impl LlamaModel {
fn chat_template(&self) -> Result<&str, ()> {
todo!()
}
}
fn template_from_str(_x: &str) {
}
fn main() {
let model = LlamaModel;
template_from_str(&model.chat_template);
}Current output
Compiling playground v0.0.1 (/playground)
error[E0609]: no field `chat_template` on type `Model`
--> src/main.rs:15:30
|
15 | template_from_str(&model.chat_template);
| ^^^^^^^^^^^^^ unknown field
For more information about this error, try `rustc --explain E0609`.
error: could not compile `playground` (bin "playground") due to 1 previous errorDesired output
Compiling playground v0.0.1 (/playground)
error[E0615]: attempted to take value of method `chat_template` on type `Model`
--> src/main.rs:11:11
|
11 | template_from_str(&model.chat_template);
| ^^^^^^^^^^^^^ method, not a field
|
help: use parentheses to call the method
|
11 | template_from_str(&model.chat_template());
| ++
For more information about this error, try `rustc --explain E0615`.
error: could not compile `playground` (bin "playground") due to 1 previous errorRationale and extra context
A friend pointed this out while working with llama_cpp that they accidentally passed the reference to a method, instead of calling the method. It would be nice if the compiler could suggest to call the method instead of thinking that it is a missing field.
Rust Version
$ rustc --version --verbose
rustc 1.89.0 (29483883e 2025-08-04)
binary: rustc
commit-hash: 29483883eed69d5fb4db01964cdf2af4d86e9cb2
commit-date: 2025-08-04
host: aarch64-apple-darwin
release: 1.89.0
LLVM version: 20.1.7Anything else?
No response