get_authors sometimes returns None values in a list of Author objects.

[barrysmyth]

sch.get_authors(['2148555752']) returns a NoneType error because the SS API returns None for this author id and the module does not seem to account for this. A NoneType error is then generated when trying to complete an Author object.

---

TypeError Traceback (most recent call last)
Cell In [286], line 1
----> 1 sch.get_authors(['2148555752'])

File ~/anaconda3/envs/py39/lib/python3.9/site-packages/semanticscholar/SemanticScholar.py:397, in SemanticScholar.get_authors(self, author_ids, fields)
385 '''Get details for multiple authors at once
386
387 :calls: `POST /author/batch <https://api.semanticscholar.org/api-docs/\
(...)
393 :raises: BadQueryParametersException: if no author was found.
394 '''
396 loop = asyncio.get_event_loop()
--> 397 authors = loop.run_until_complete(
398 self._AsyncSemanticScholar.get_authors(
399 author_ids=author_ids,
400 fields=fields
401 )
402 )
404 return authors

File ~/anaconda3/envs/py39/lib/python3.9/site-packages/nest_asyncio.py:89, in _patch_loop..run_until_complete(self, future)
86 if not f.done():
87 raise RuntimeError(
88 'Event loop stopped before Future completed.')
---> 89 return f.result()

File ~/anaconda3/envs/py39/lib/python3.9/asyncio/futures.py:201, in Future.result(self)
199 self.__log_traceback = False
200 if self._exception is not None:
--> 201 raise self._exception
202 return self._result

File ~/anaconda3/envs/py39/lib/python3.9/asyncio/tasks.py:256, in Task.__step(failed resolving arguments)
252 try:
253 if exc is None:
254 # We use the send method directly, because coroutines
255 # don't have __iter__ and __next__ methods.
--> 256 result = coro.send(None)
257 else:
258 result = coro.throw(exc)

File ~/anaconda3/envs/py39/lib/python3.9/site-packages/semanticscholar/AsyncSemanticScholar.py:543, in AsyncSemanticScholar.get_authors(self, author_ids, fields)
539 payload = { "ids": author_ids }
541 data = await self._requester.get_data_async(
542 url, parameters, self.auth_header, payload)
--> 543 authors = [Author(item) for item in data]
545 return authors

File ~/anaconda3/envs/py39/lib/python3.9/site-packages/semanticscholar/AsyncSemanticScholar.py:543, in (.0)
539 payload = { "ids": author_ids }
541 data = await self._requester.get_data_async(
542 url, parameters, self.auth_header, payload)
--> 543 authors = [Author(item) for item in data]
545 return authors

File ~/anaconda3/envs/py39/lib/python3.9/site-packages/semanticscholar/Author.py:57, in Author.init(self, data)
55 self._papers = None
56 self._url = None
---> 57 self._init_attributes(data)

File ~/anaconda3/envs/py39/lib/python3.9/site-packages/semanticscholar/Author.py:131, in Author._init_attributes(self, data)
129 def _init_attributes(self, data):
130 self._data = data
--> 131 if 'affiliations' in data:
132 self._affiliations = data['affiliations']
133 if 'authorId' in data:

TypeError: argument of type 'NoneType' is not iterable

[danielnsilva]

@barrysmyth,

This issue is similar to #80 regarding the get_papers() method. The solution implemented for that problem has also been applied to the get_authors() method.

This fix will be included in the next release. In the meantime, you can try installing directly from the source.

pip install --no-cache-dir --force-reinstall git+https://github.com/danielnsilva/semanticscholar@master

[j-z10]

Could you please make a new release to PyPi, since this bug was fixed two weeks ago.
This would be really helpful, thanks.