SI-7289 Less strict type application for TypeVar.

When a type constructor variable is applied to the wrong number of arguments,
return a new type variable whose instance is `ErrorType`.

Dissection of the reported test case by @retronym:

Define the first implicit:

    scala> trait Schtroumpf[T]
    defined trait Schtroumpf

    scala> implicit def schtroumpf[T, U <: Coll[T], Coll[X] <: Traversable[X]]
         |     (implicit minorSchtroumpf: Schtroumpf[T]): Schtroumpf[U] = ???
    schtroumpf: [T, U <: Coll[T], Coll[X] <: Traversable[X]](implicit minorSchtroumpf: Schtroumpf[T])Schtroumpf[U]

Call it explicitly => kind error during type inference reported.

    scala> schtroumpf(null): Schtroumpf[Int]
    <console>:10: error: inferred kinds of the type arguments (Nothing,Int,Int) do not conform to the expected kinds of the type parameters (type T,type U,type Coll).
    Int's type parameters do not match type Coll's expected parameters:
    class Int has no type parameters, but type Coll has one
                  schtroumpf(null): Schtroumpf[Int]
                  ^
    <console>:10: error: type mismatch;
     found   : Schtroumpf[U]
     required: Schtroumpf[Int]
                  schtroumpf(null): Schtroumpf[Int]
                            ^

Add another implicit, and let implicit search weigh them up.

    scala> implicitly[Schtroumpf[Int]]
    <console>:10: error: diverging implicit expansion for type Schtroumpf[Int]
    starting with method schtroumpf
                  implicitly[Schtroumpf[Int]]
                            ^

    scala> implicit val qoo = new Schtroumpf[Int]{}
    qoo: Schtroumpf[Int] = $anon$1@c1b9b03

    scala> implicitly[Schtroumpf[Int]]
    <crash>

Implicit search compares the two in-scope implicits in `isStrictlyMoreSpecific`,
which constructs an existential type:

   type ET = Schtroumpf[U] forSome { type T; type U <: Coll[T]; type Coll[_] <: Traversable[_] }

A subsequent subtype check `ET <:< Schtroumpf[Int]` gets to `withTypeVars`, which
replaces the quantified types with type variables, checks conformance of that
substitued underlying type against `Schtroumpf[Int]`, and then tries to solve
the collected type constraints. The type var trace looks like:

    [    create] ?T                       ( In Test#schtroumpf[T,U <: Coll[T],Coll[_] <: Traversable[_]] )
    [    create] ?U                       ( In Test#schtroumpf[T,U <: Coll[T],Coll[_] <: Traversable[_]] )
    [    create] ?Coll                    ( In Test#schtroumpf[T,U <: Coll[T],Coll[_] <: Traversable[_]] )
    [   setInst] Nothing                  ( In Test#schtroumpf[T,U <: Coll[T],Coll[_] <: Traversable[_]], T=Nothing )
    [   setInst] scala.collection.immutable.Nil.type( In Test#schtroumpf[T,U <: Coll[T],Coll[_] <: Traversable[_]], U=scala.collection.immutable.Nil.type )
    [   setInst] =?scala.collection.immutable.Nil.type( In Test#schtroumpf[T,U <: Coll[T],Coll[_] <: Traversable[_]], Coll==?scala.collection.immutable.Nil.type )
    [    create] ?T                       ( In Test#schtroumpf[T,U <: Coll[T],Coll[_] <: Traversable[_]] )
    [   setInst] Int                      ( In Test#schtroumpf[T,U <: Coll[T],Coll[_] <: Traversable[_]], T=Int )
    [    create] ?T                       ( In Test#schtroumpf[T,U <: Coll[T],Coll[_] <: Traversable[_]] )
    [    create] ?U                       ( In Test#schtroumpf[T,U <: Coll[T],Coll[_] <: Traversable[_]] )
    [    create] ?Coll                    ( In Test#schtroumpf[T,U <: Coll[T],Coll[_] <: Traversable[_]] )
    [   setInst] Nothing                  ( In Test#schtroumpf[T,U <: Coll[T],Coll[_] <: Traversable[_]], T=Nothing )
    [   setInst] Int                      ( In Test#schtroumpf[T,U <: Coll[T],Coll[_] <: Traversable[_]], U=Int )
    [   setInst] =?Int                    ( In Test#schtroumpf[T,U <: Coll[T],Coll[_] <: Traversable[_]], Coll==?Int )

The problematic part is when `?Int` (the type var originated from `U`) is registered
as a lower bound for `Coll`. That happens in `solveOne`:

    for (tparam2 <- tparams)
      tparam2.info.bounds.hi.dealias match {
        case TypeRef(_, `tparam`, _) =>
          log(s"$tvar addLoBound $tparam2.tpeHK.instantiateTypeParams($tparams, $tvars)")
          tvar addLoBound tparam2.tpeHK.instantiateTypeParams(tparams, tvars)
        case _ =>
      }

1 files changed, 10 insertions, 7 deletions

diff --git a/src/reflect/scala/reflect/internal/Types.scala b/src/reflect/scala/reflect/internal/Types.scala
index a2c9f1fadf..ee584bed2c 100644
--- a/src/reflect/scala/reflect/internal/Types.scala
+++ b/src/reflect/scala/reflect/internal/Types.scala
@@ -3076,12 +3076,14 @@ trait Types extends api.Types { self: SymbolTable =>
     /** The variable's skolemization level */
     val level = skolemizationLevel
 
-    /** Two occurrences of a higher-kinded typevar, e.g. `?CC[Int]` and `?CC[String]`, correspond to
-     *  ''two instances'' of `TypeVar` that share the ''same'' `TypeConstraint`.
+    /** Applies this TypeVar to type arguments, if arity matches.
      *
-     *  `constr` for `?CC` only tracks type constructors anyway,
-     *   so when `?CC[Int] <:< List[Int]` and `?CC[String] <:< Iterable[String]`
-     *  `?CC's` hibounds contains List and Iterable.
+     * Different applications of the same type constructor variable `?CC`,
+     * e.g. `?CC[Int]` and `?CC[String]`, are modeled as distinct instances of `TypeVar`
+     * that share a `TypeConstraint`, so that the comparisons `?CC[Int] <:< List[Int]`
+     * and `?CC[String] <:< Iterable[String]` result in `?CC` being upper-bounded by `List` and `Iterable`.
+     *
+     * Applying the wrong number of type args results in a TypeVar whose instance is set to `ErrorType`.
      */
     def applyArgs(newArgs: List[Type]): TypeVar = (
       if (newArgs.isEmpty && typeArgs.isEmpty)
@@ -3091,7 +3093,7 @@ trait Types extends api.Types { self: SymbolTable =>
         TypeVar.trace("applyArgs", "In " + originLocation + ", apply args " + newArgs.mkString(", ") + " to " + originName)(tv)
       }
       else
-        throw new Error("Invalid type application in TypeVar: " + params + ", " + newArgs)
+        TypeVar(typeSymbol).setInst(ErrorType)
     )
     // newArgs.length may differ from args.length (could've been empty before)
     //
@@ -3121,13 +3123,14 @@ trait Types extends api.Types { self: SymbolTable =>
     // <region name="constraint mutators + undoLog">
     // invariant: before mutating constr, save old state in undoLog
     // (undoLog is used to reset constraints to avoid piling up unrelated ones)
-    def setInst(tp: Type) {
+    def setInst(tp: Type): this.type = {
 //      assert(!(tp containsTp this), this)
       undoLog record this
       // if we were compared against later typeskolems, repack the existential,
       // because skolems are only compatible if they were created at the same level
       val res = if (shouldRepackType) repackExistential(tp) else tp
       constr.inst = TypeVar.trace("setInst", "In " + originLocation + ", " + originName + "=" + res)(res)
+      this
     }
 
     def addLoBound(tp: Type, isNumericBound: Boolean = false) {