Currently the TypeInfo support for dynamic arrays is split into arrays of primitives and everything else. For example an array of ints has TypeInfo_Ai which subclasses TypeInfo while an array of strings (char[]) has TypeInfo_Array with a next field of type TypeInfo that has an instance of TypeInfo_Aa (which is the TypeInfo for a string).

As I've been messing around with std.format getting better array support I've noticed it would be nice to have a more consistent model. For example having TypeInfo_Ai subclass TypeInfo_Array with the next field set to TypeInfo_int would help.

Also having TypeInfo_Array and TypeInfo_AssociativeArray have foreach hooks would be very handy. Currently I don't want to add AA support to doFormat since it would require calling _aaApply and making assumptions about how foreach is implemented. For dynamic arrays I'm looping over the contents by hand since the layout isn't compiler dependent.

In article <dbucsl$12u7$1@digitaldaemon.com>, Ben Hinkle says...
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>Currently the TypeInfo support for dynamic arrays is split into arrays of primitives and everything else. For example an array of ints has TypeInfo_Ai which subclasses TypeInfo while an array of strings (char[]) has TypeInfo_Array with a next field of type TypeInfo that has an instance of TypeInfo_Aa (which is the TypeInfo for a string).
>
>As I've been messing around with std.format getting better array support I've noticed it would be nice to have a more consistent model. For example having TypeInfo_Ai subclass TypeInfo_Array with the next field set to TypeInfo_int would help.
>
>Also having TypeInfo_Array and TypeInfo_AssociativeArray have foreach hooks would be very handy. Currently I don't want to add AA support to doFormat since it would require calling _aaApply and making assumptions about how foreach is implemented. For dynamic arrays I'm looping over the contents by hand since the layout isn't compiler dependent.
>

I'll second this.  D's TypeInfo system has been great up until now, but its starting to come up short when compared to all the other improvments D has seen over the last few years.  At the very least, Ben's suggestions for improvment should be taken seriously.

Moreover, I also think that D should move towards a more comprehensive type system in D if any changes to TypeInfo are considered; that's something else that Ben also knows a thing or two about. ;)

- EricAnderton at yahoo