E0261 - Error codes index
Description: Book listing all Rust error codes

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# Error code E0261

An undeclared lifetime was used.

Erroneous code example:

    #![allow(unused)]
    fn main() {
    // error, use of undeclared lifetime name `'a`
    fn foo(x: &'a str) { }

    struct Foo {
        // error, use of undeclared lifetime name `'a`
        x: &'a str,
    }
    }

These can be fixed by declaring lifetime parameters:

    #![allow(unused)]
    fn main() {
    struct Foo<'a> {
        x: &'a str,
    }

    fn foo<'a>(x: &'a str) {}
    }

Impl blocks declare lifetime parameters separately. You need to add lifetime parameters to an impl block if you’re implementing a type that has a lifetime parameter of its own. For example:

    #![allow(unused)]
    fn main() {
    struct Foo<'a> {
        x: &'a str,
    }

    // error,  use of undeclared lifetime name `'a`
    impl Foo<'a> {
        fn foo<'a>(x: &'a str) {}
    }
    }

This is fixed by declaring the impl block like this:

    #![allow(unused)]
    fn main() {
    struct Foo<'a> {
        x: &'a str,
    }

    // correct
    impl<'a> Foo<'a> {
        fn foo(x: &'a str) {}
    }
    }