Inconsistent exception usage in PyLong_As* C functions

[nadeemvawda]

BPO	12909
Nosy	@rhettinger, @mdickinson, @pitrou
Files	pylong-exceptions.diff pylong-exceptions.diff

^{Note: these values reflect the state of the issue at the time it was migrated and might not reflect the current state.}

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GitHub fields:

assignee = 'https://github.com/rhettinger'
closed_at = <Date 2011-09-07.19:46:50.992>
created_at = <Date 2011-09-06.07:40:15.787>
labels = ['interpreter-core', 'type-bug']
title = 'Inconsistent exception usage in PyLong_As* C functions'
updated_at = <Date 2011-09-07.22:03:02.464>
user = 'https://bugs.python.org/nadeemvawda'

bugs.python.org fields:

activity = <Date 2011-09-07.22:03:02.464>
actor = 'rhettinger'
assignee = 'rhettinger'
closed = True
closed_date = <Date 2011-09-07.19:46:50.992>
closer = 'nadeem.vawda'
components = ['Interpreter Core']
creation = <Date 2011-09-06.07:40:15.787>
creator = 'nadeem.vawda'
dependencies = []
files = ['23106', '23110']
hgrepos = []
issue_num = 12909
keywords = ['patch']
message_count = 11.0
messages = ['143588', '143593', '143605', '143606', '143613', '143614', '143654', '143701', '143703', '143704', '143710']
nosy_count = 5.0
nosy_names = ['rhettinger', 'mark.dickinson', 'pitrou', 'nadeem.vawda', 'python-dev']
pr_nums = []
priority = 'normal'
resolution = 'fixed'
stage = 'resolved'
status = 'closed'
superseder = None
type = 'behavior'
url = 'https://bugs.python.org/issue12909'
versions = ['Python 3.3']

[nadeemvawda]

The C functions for converting a Python 'int' object to a C integer are
inconsistent about what exception gets raised when the object passed to
them is not an integer. Most of these functions raise a TypeError, but
PyLong_AsUnsignedLongLong() and PyLong_AsDouble() raise a SystemError
instead.

Raising a SystemError here is quite unhelpful. My understanding is that
it is intended to indicate internal programming errors, so an extension
module should not raise one when (for example) a function is passed an
argument of the incorrect type. In such a case, raising a TypeError is a
reasonable default.

Is there any reason not to change the behaviour of these two functions to
be consistent with their siblings?

[mdickinson]

+1 for turning these into TypeErrors. It makes little sense that PyLong_AsLongLong and PyLong_AsUnsignedLongLong behave differently here.

Do you have a patch handy?

[nadeemvawda]

Do you have a patch handy?

See attached.

[nadeemvawda]

This probably shouldn't be backported to 3.2; it could break 3rd-party
extension modules (though I would hope that nothing depends on this
behaviour...).

Also, it's worth noting that the error handling between conversion
functions still isn't completely consistent - some attempt to coerce
the argument to an integer using type->tp_as_number->nb_int, while
others fail immediately when they see that PyLong_Check() fails.
That's a less pressing issue, though.

[mdickinson]

This probably shouldn't be backported to 3.2

Agreed; I don't see this as a bugfix (especially since AFAIK it's not documented that TypeError should be raised here); rather, as a design improvement.

Also, it's worth noting that the error handling between conversion
functions still isn't completely consistent

True; there are a number of inconsistencies left. We'll get them all eventually. :-)

[mdickinson]

The patch still needs tests (e.g., in test_capi). I'm not sure whether it would be good to add information about the TypeError to the docs.

[nadeemvawda]

Attached is an updated patch with tests.

There don't seem to be any tests for PyLong_AsS[s]ize_t() and
PyLong_AsDouble(), so I added new ones for this issue. They should still
be expanded on at some point in the future, but for the meanwhile this
should be sufficient.

I'm not sure whether it would be good to add information about the TypeError to the docs.

Yeah, that doesn't seem necessary; raising TypeError in this sort of
situation is sufficiently typical behavior that explicitly documenting
it feels redundant.

[mdickinson]

Looks good to me.

I'd prefer 'test_long_as_size' to be called 'test_long_as_size_t' (even though that's inaccurate for the ssize_t bits :-).

The 'Py_None' reference counting in test_long_as_size and test_long_as_double looked a little odd at first glance---particularly the lack of a Py_INCREF just before the return Py_None. I see that it works; it just caught my eye.

Anyway, those are just nitpicks; I leave it to you whether you want to change anything. Otherwise, please go ahead and apply. Thanks for the patches!

[python-dev]

New changeset 4a66a35da3fd by Nadeem Vawda in branch 'default':
Issue bpo-12909: Make PyLong_As* functions consistent in their use of exceptions.
http://hg.python.org/cpython/rev/4a66a35da3fd

[nadeemvawda]

The 'Py_None' reference counting in test_long_as_size and
test_long_as_double looked a little odd at first glance

Indeed, it is rather roundabout, so I added a comment to avoid confusion.

Anyway, those are just nitpicks; I leave it to you whether you want to
change anything. Otherwise, please go ahead and apply. Thanks for the
patches!

Thanks for the review.

[rhettinger]

+1