Proposed resolution:

This wording is relative to N5032.

1. Modify [meta.syn], header <meta> synopsis, as indicated:

   #include <compare>              // see [compare.syn]
   #include <initializer_list>     // see [initializer.list.syn]
   
   namespace std {
     […]
     // [meta.define.static], promoting to static storage
     […]
     template<ranges::input_range R>
       consteval span<const ranges::range_value_t<R>, see below> define_static_array(R&& r);
     […]
   }
   

2. Modify [meta.define.static] as indicated:

   template<ranges::input_range R>
     consteval span<const ranges::range_value_t<R>, see below> define_static_array(R&& r);
   

   -16- Effects: Equivalent to:

   using T = ranges::range_value_t<R>;
   meta::info array = meta::reflect_constant_array(r);
   if (meta::is_array_type(meta::type_of(array))) {
     return span<const T, see below>(meta::extract<const T*>(array), meta::extent(meta::type_of(array)));
   } else {
     return span<const T, see below>(static_cast<const T*>(nullptr), 0);
   }
   

   -?- Remarks: The second template argument of the returned `span` type is static_cast<size_t>(ranges::size(r)) if `ranges::size(r)` is a constant expression, and `dynamic_extent` otherwise.

[ Croydon 2026-03-27; move to Immediate. ]

[ 2026-03-26; Tim reopens and provides revised wording ]

The `else` branch is ill-formed when the returned has non-zero static extent.

[ Croydon 2026-03-25; move to Immediate. ]

[ 2026-03-25; Reflector poll. ]

Set priority to 2 after reflector poll.

`define_static_array` can transform any input range, even a non-contiguous one, into a `span`.

However, the returned `span` always has a dynamic extent. If the size of the input range is known at compile time, returning a static `span` seems reasonable and may offer slight runtime efficiency.