Current atruct provides following 3 macros related to anonymous struct:

• atruct!
• #[Return]
• #[withReturn]

atruct!

inspired by structx (that doesn't work now), atruct! macro enables to use variables of anonymous structs like

use atruct::atruct;

fn main() {
    let anonymous = atruct!(
        // Type annotaion is needed for each non-literal value.
        // There are 2 options to annotate type:

        string1 @ String: String::from("string1"),  // @ pattern and
        string2(String): String::from("string2"),  // () pattern.
        // Their behaviors are completely the same. Use any one you like!

        box_option_vec @ Box<Option<Vec<u8>>>: Box::new(Some(Vec::new())),
        vec(Vec<u8>): vec![0, 1, 0, 1, 1],

        nest: {
            a: "you can define nested struct without prepare lots of named structs",
            b: 100usize,  // literals don't need type annotation
        },
    );

    println!("{}", anonymous.string1);  // string1
    println!("{}", anonymous.string2);  // string2
    println!("{:?}", anonymous.box_option_vec);  // Some([])
    println!("{:?}", anonymous.vec);  // [0, 1, 0, 1, 1]
    println!("{}", anonymous.nest.a)  // you can define nested struct without prepare lots of named structs
}

( examples/struct_of_various_values.rs )

• atruct! supports nested structs.

• When atruct was v0.1 only literals are supported as values, BUT in v0.2 you can use (maybe) any type of values!

[Return]

We usually return more than 1 values from a function. In such situations, Rust supports only tupple as a way to bundle returned values. But it's sometimes a bit anoying: when we'd like to name freely to each field, not 0, 1, 2, ...

#[Return] attribute enables such naming. You can write functions like

use atruct::Return;

fn main() {
    let abc = get_abc();
    println!("{}", abc.a);  // 24
    println!("{}", abc.b);  // you can use any value in a field
    println!("{:?}", abc.c);  // [-1, 0, 0, -1, 1, 0, 1, -1]
}

#[Return(a: u8, b: String, c: Vec<isize>)]  // not supporting nest
fn get_abc() {
    Return {
        a: 24,
        b: "you can use any value in a field".into(),
        c: vec![-1,0,0,-1,1,0,1,-1],
    }
}

( examples/return_struct.rs )

• #[Return] doesn't support nested structs. So returned value is just like a tupple you can give any names to its fields.
• #[Return] automatically generates a struct named as "FunctionName" ( e.g. if function is get_abc, for example, GetAbc ), but at the same time defines a type synonym Return. So you DON't need to memorize the generated struct's name.

[withReturn]

Actually, #[Return] itself is NOT available in impl block for a technical reason. #[withReturn] enables this：

use atruct::withReturn;

fn main() {
    let abc = T::get_abc();
    println!("abc: {{a: {}, b: {}, c: {:?}}}", abc.a, abc.b, abc.c);
    // abc: {a: 0, b: I am b, c: [1, 0, -1, 0]}
}

struct T;
#[withReturn]
impl T {
    #[Return(a: u8, b: String, c: Vec<isize>)]
    fn get_abc() {
        Return {
            a: 0,
            b: "I am b".into(),
            c: vec![1, 0, -1, 0],
        }
    }
}

( examples/return_in_impl_block.rs )

• As you see, you don't need to use atruct::Return just to write #[Return] in impl blocks.
• Current #[withReturn] generates structs in completely the same way as normal #[Return], meaning all functions using #[Return] have to have unique names to each others (This problem will be fixed in a few days).