Fatal error on Product-Compare page when Short Description & Description attributes are empty

[operator888]

Preconditions (*)

1. Magento 2.3.5

Steps to reproduce (*)

1. Add products to Compare where at least one product has no value set for at least one of its comparable attributes (e.g. "Description" or "Short Description" is empty).
2. Go to the compare page (<site_root>/catalog/product_compare/index)

Expected result (*)

1. Compare page should load normally, where any unconfigured attributes show "N/A" or "No".

Actual result (*)

1. Compare page is Broken and a Fatal Error is displayed.
   Fatal error: Uncaught TypeError: preg_match() expects parameter 2 to be string, object given in /app/web/vendor/magento/module-catalog/Helper/Output.php:245

Fatal error: Uncaught TypeError: preg_match() expects parameter 2 to be string, object given in /app/web/vendor/magento/module-catalog/Helper/Output.php:245 Stack trace: #0 /app/web/vendor/magento/module-catalog/Helper/Output.php(245): preg_match('/{{([a-z]{0,10}...', Object(Magento\Framework\Phrase)) #1 /app/web/vendor/magento/module-catalog/Helper/Output.php(185): Magento\Catalog\Helper\Output->isDirectivesExists(Object(Magento\Framework\Phrase)) #2 /app/web/vendor/magento/module-catalog/view/frontend/templates/product/compare/list.phtml(134): Magento\Catalog\Helper\Output->productAttribute(Object(Magento\Catalog\Model\Product\Interceptor), Object(Magento\Framework\Phrase), 'short_descripti...') #3 /app/web/vendor/magento/framework/View/TemplateEngine/Php.php(59): include('/app/web/vendor...') #4 /app/web/vendor/magento/framework/Interception/Interceptor.php(58): Magento\Framework\View\TemplateEngine\Php->render(Object(Magento\Catalog\Block\Product\Compare\ListCompare\Interceptor), '/app/web/vendor...', Array) #5 /app/w in /app/web/vendor/magento/module-catalog/Helper/Output.php on line 245

[m2-assistant]

Hi @sudheers-kensium. Thank you for working on this issue.
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[operator888]

(Note that this is essentially the same issue as #20229, which was not fixed properly.)

Yes Brengineer, as you can see on the bottom of #20229 report, I have made an entry yesterday, but noone seem to re-open that case or take any action. So, I had to re-report it here, because although its about the same topic, its still not fixed, and I have no Idea why that report had been closed.

[operator888]

But I cross-referenced and clearly mention that relation with that bug-report 2 messages before your message in here.

Anyway, could you help fix this bug, or at least verify the validity of it? :)

[operator888]

I'm sorry, I did not notice that entry.
If you like, I will remove my comments.

its ok with me friend and no problem.
I just try to be thorough and right when doing bug reports and i was like, huh.. but i reported that already what is he talking about?! :)
Now lets quit small talk, and work on this and other issues.
Have a nice day!

[bernd-reindl]

Hi.

Should be easy to solve. Add (string) before $attributeHtml. So Phrase is converted to string in preg_match().

    public function isDirectivesExists($attributeHtml)
.....
            if (preg_match($pattern, (string)$attributeHtml)) {
.....
    }

[magento-engcom-team]

✅ Confirmed by @sudheers-kensium
Thank you for verifying the issue. Based on the provided information internal tickets MC-34464 were created

Issue Available: @sudheers-kensium, You will be automatically unassigned. Contributors/Maintainers can claim this issue to continue. To reclaim and continue work, reassign the ticket to yourself.