Accept one spelling per draw, and reject a path into a repeating level

README.md

@@ -347,7 +347,19 @@ renders e.g. `Kungsgatan 35` / `176 99 Stockholm`, never a Stockholm postal code
 beside Tranås. Each row carries its own `weight`, so how often a place appears is data
 too. The rule holds both ways: two tails of one head come from the same row, and
 one path read twice reads one value (`{p.first} … {p.first}@…` gives one name).
-A bare `{place}` in such a format reads that same draw.
+
+**One draw, one spelling.** A format may not both *render* a level and *read a
+path into* it — `{p}` beside `{p.first}`, or `{place}` beside `{place.locality}`.
+Rendering a level expands it afresh while a path reads the level's held draw, so
+the two would disagree; naming the fields you want is the one spelling that
+always agrees, and the other is a load error:
+
+```
+token {p} renders a level that {p.first} reads a path into; name the fields you want instead
+```
+
+For the same reason a path may not read into a level carrying a `repeat`: it
+reads one draw, so the repeat could never apply.
 
 A path is held at **every level it passes through**, not just the first, so the
 facts can nest as deeply as they belong:

node.go

@@ -47,7 +47,7 @@ type template struct {
 	ops       []op // format compiled once (see compileOps); what expand walks
 	grow      int  // minimum output size, to size the render buffer
 	// bound is the fields the format addresses by dotted path, each drawn once per
-	// expansion so two tokens read one row (see boundHeads and expand). nil when
+	// expansion so two tokens read one row (see compileOps and expand). nil when
 	// the format takes no path.
 	bound map[string]bool
 }
@@ -161,6 +161,9 @@ func compileTemplate(m map[string]any) (node, error) {
 		return nil, err
 	}
 	t.ops, t.grow, t.bound = compileOps(format)
+	if err := checkNoOverlap(t.ops, t.bound); err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
 	return t, nil
 }
 
@@ -174,6 +177,9 @@ func checkPath(n node, tail []string) error {
 	}
 	switch n := n.(type) {
 	case *template:
+		if n.repeat > 1 {
+			return fmt.Errorf("it carries a repeat, which a path reading one draw of it cannot apply")
+		}
 		child, ok := n.fields[tail[0]]
 		if !ok {
 			return fmt.Errorf("no field %q", tail[0])

render.go

@@ -189,31 +189,41 @@ func resolve(s *session, arms []arm, t *template, bound *draws) string {
 		n = drawn(s, t.fields[a.key])
 		bound.variant[a.key] = n
 	}
-	// Walk the tail, holding the draw at every level the path passes through, so
+	// Hold the draw at every level passed through, so two paths sharing a prefix
-	// two paths sharing a prefix share every choice along it, not just the head.
+	// share it; the leaf needs no hold, as checkNoOverlap means no other token
-	// The last level is held too: another token may name it in full.
+	// can name it.
 	for i, seg := range a.tail {
+		if i < len(a.steps) {
 			held, drew := bound.variant[a.steps[i]]
 			if !drew {
 				held = drawn(s, child(n, seg))
 				bound.variant[a.steps[i]] = held
 			}
 			n = held
+			continue
+		}
+		n = child(n, seg)
 	}
 	v := render(s, n)
 	bound.value[a.name] = v
 	return v
 }
 
-// child is the node one path segment names below an already-drawn node. checkPath
+// child is the node one path segment names below an already-drawn node. It holds
-// proved the segment exists and that drawn leaves a template here, so this cannot
+// while checkPath and the set a choice shares (see sharedPaths) agree with this
-// fail.
+// walk: both prove the segment exists and that drawn leaves a template here. Each
+// way that can break panics naming the segment, so a slip in that agreement
+// reports where it happened rather than surfacing a nil node a level later.
 func child(n node, seg string) node {
 	t, ok := n.(*template)
 	if !ok {
 		panic(fmt.Sprintf("fakes: %q under %T, which carries no fields", seg, n))
 	}
-	return t.fields[seg]
+	c, ok := t.fields[seg]
+	if !ok {
+		panic(fmt.Sprintf("fakes: no field %q under a drawn level", seg))
+	}
+	return c
 }
 
 // drawn resolves a choice to one variant, so a bound head is a concrete node the

template.go

@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ package fakes
 
 import (
 	"fmt"
+	"sort"
 	"strings"
 )
 
@@ -178,15 +179,12 @@ func fieldTokens(format string) []string {
 // arm is one alternative of a {a|b} token, split into the key naming the node in
 // a template's fields (a sibling field, or the whole "..path" string a reference is
 // bound under) and the tail of a dotted path into it. A non-empty tail is what makes
-// the arm a bound draw: its head is drawn once per expansion (see boundHeads).
+// the arm a bound draw: its head is drawn once per expansion (see compileOps).
 type arm struct {
 	name  string // as written, and the key a bound draw's value is held under
 	key   string
 	tail  []string
-	// steps holds the key for each segment the walk descends to, so every level a
+	steps []string // key per level passed through; the head and leaf hold their own
-	// path passes through is held — including its last, which another path may
-	// name in full ({p.addr} beside {p.addr.city}).
-	steps []string
 }
 
 // splitArm splits one token alternative into key and tail. A reference keeps its
@@ -200,13 +198,42 @@ func splitArm(name string) arm {
 		return arm{name: name, key: name}
 	}
 	segs := strings.Split(tail, ".")
-	steps := make([]string, len(segs))
+	var steps []string
-	for i := range segs {
+	for i := 0; i < len(segs)-1; i++ { // every level except the leaf's own
-		steps[i] = head + "." + strings.Join(segs[:i+1], ".")
+		steps = append(steps, head+"."+strings.Join(segs[:i+1], "."))
 	}
 	return arm{name: name, key: head, tail: segs, steps: steps}
 }
 
+// checkNoOverlap rejects a format that both renders a level and reads a path into
+// it — {p} beside {p.first}, or {p.addr} beside {p.addr.city}. The two spell one
+// draw two ways: the path reads the level's held draw, while rendering the level
+// expands it afresh, so their values disagree. One spelling, so there is nothing
+// to get wrong. Names are compared in sorted order, so which pair is reported
+// does not depend on where the tokens sit.
+func checkNoOverlap(ops []op, bound map[string]bool) error {
+	var names []string
+	for i := range ops {
+		if ops[i].kind != 'f' {
+			continue
+		}
+		for _, a := range ops[i].arms {
+			if bound[a.key] {
+				names = append(names, a.name)
+			}
+		}
+	}
+	sort.Strings(names)
+	for i, level := range names {
+		for _, path := range names[i+1:] {
+			if strings.HasPrefix(path, level+".") {
+				return fmt.Errorf("token {%s} renders a level that {%s} reads a path into; name the fields you want instead", level, path)
+			}
+		}
+	}
+	return nil
+}
+
 // checkSegments rejects an unfinished path: "{a.}", "{.b}" and "{a..b}" each have
 // a segment naming nothing. A field really named "" would otherwise make them
 // resolve, so a typo would read as a path that worked.