String interpolation with macro-supported access to positions.

macro-interp.scala

sealed trait Piece
case class Place(p: String) extends Piece
case class Name(n: String) extends Piece

case class LocatedPieces(located: Seq[(String, Piece, (Int, Int))])

object S2 extends ReflectionUtils {
  import scala.language.experimental.macros
  import scala.language.reflectiveCalls
  import scala.reflect.macros.Context

  implicit class s2pieces(sc: StringContext) {
    def s2(pieces: Piece*) = macro s2Impl
  }

  def s2Impl(c: Context)(pieces: c.Expr[Piece]*): c.Expr[LocatedPieces] = {
    import c.universe._

    val ac = companionApplier(c.universe)

    val parts = c.prefix.tree match {
      case Apply(_, List(Apply(_, parts))) => parts zip pieces map {
        case (part, piece) =>
          val line = c.literal(piece.tree.pos.line).tree
          val column = c.literal(piece.tree.pos.column).tree
          
          ac[(_, _, _)](part, piece.tree, ac[(_, _)](line, column))
      }
    }

    c.Expr(ac[LocatedPieces](ac[Seq[_]](parts: _*)))
  }
}

trait ReflectionUtils {
  import scala.reflect.api.Universe

  def companionApplier(u: Universe) = new {
    def apply[A: u.TypeTag](xs: u.Tree*): u.Tree = u.Apply(
      u.Select(u.Ident(u.typeOf[A].typeSymbol.companionSymbol), "apply"),
      xs.toList
    )
  }
}

And a usage example:

scala> val x = Name("Ben Baxter")
x: Name = Name(Ben Baxter)

scala> val y = Name("Pea Soup Limited")
y: Name = Name(Pea Soup Limited)

scala> val z = Place("Ingleby Barwick, England")
z: Place = Place(Ingleby Barwick, England)

scala> import S2._
import S2._

scala> s2"$x, director of $y, a smoke-machine supplier in $z..."
res0: LocatedPieces = ...

scala> res0.located foreach println
(,Name(Ben Baxter),(13,21))
(, director of ,Name(Pea Soup Limited),(13,37))
(, a smoke-machine supplier in ,Place(Ingleby Barwick, England),(13,69))

Could you explain why the code snippet with the inlined c.Expr fails to compile? I don't get it.

Actually good point—I'm looking back at it and I don't know why it doesn't work.