Is std.array.replace supposed to work with char[]?

[Steven Schveighoffer]

On Sun, 20 Feb 2011 09:45:36 -0500, Jacob Carlborg <doob at me.com> wrote:

> On 2011-02-19 23:20, Steven Schveighoffer wrote:
>> On Sat, 19 Feb 2011 16:23:12 -0500, Jacob Carlborg <doob at me.com> wrote:
>>
>>> Compiling the following code with DMD 2.052 on Mac OS X:
>>>
>>> import std.array;
>>>
>>> void main ()
>>> {
>>> char[] a;
>>> char[] b;
>>> a.replace(1, 3, b);
>>> }
>>>
>>> Results in the following error:
>>>
>>> test.d(7): Error: template std.array.replace(T,Range) if
>>> (isDynamicArray!(Range) && is(ElementType!(Range) : T)) does not match
>>> any function template declaration
>>> test.d(7): Error: template std.array.replace(T,Range) if
>>> (isDynamicArray!(Range) && is(ElementType!(Range) : T)) cannot deduce
>>> template function from argument types !()(char[],int,int,char[])
>>>
>>> What am I doing wrong or isn't std.array.replace supposed to work with
>>> char[]?
>>
>> D currently suffers from a form of schizophrenia. in Phobos, char[] and
>> wchar[] (and related const/immutable versions) are *NOT* treated as
>> arrays of char and wchar. They are treated as bi-directional ranges of
>> dchar. The compiler does not see it this way, it thinks they are arrays.
>>
>> The error in your assumption is that Range's element type is char, when
>> in fact it is dchar (Range is the type of the second char[]). So the
>> is(ElementType!(char[]) : char) fails.
>>
>> -Steve
>
> So you're saying that I can only use dstrings for anything with the same  
> template constraint?

Yes, dstrings act like arrays according to phobos.  wstrings and strings  
do not.  Some functions have specialized versions for strings, some do  
not.  Expect to be confused...

-Steve