NeighbourMessage, NeighbourAttribute is not re-exported from rtnetlink

[zdpk]

Hello.

I tried to get the IP and MAC addresses from a Neighbour object and print them, similar to the ip neigh show command. However, I noticed that the match attr arm didn’t auto-complete.

This happens because NeighbourAttribute comes from the netlink_packet_route crate, and it’s not re-exported by rtnetlink.

Here’s my code:

    let (conn, handle, _) = rtnetlink::new_connection()?;

    tokio::spawn(conn);

    let mut neigh_entries = handle
        .neighbours()
        .get()
        .set_family(rtnetlink::IpVersion::V4)
        .execute();


    // extract ip & mac addresses for each neighbor entry
    while let Some(neigh) = neigh_entries.try_next().await? {
        neigh.attributes.iter().for_each(|attr| {
           // ✅ this point
           match attr {
            }
   }
}

It’s not usable even though it’s necessary for extracting IP and MAC addresses.

To match them, I have to explicitly add the netlink_packet_route crate and ensure the versions align.

I just want to understand the reasoning behind this. If it’s an intended design, why does it work this way?

I’m not arguing, I’m just a newbie who wants to understand the thoughts and philosophy of experts.

Thank you.