argparse.BooleanOptionalAction with default=argparse.SUPPRESS and help specified raises exception

[felixfontein]

BPO	46080
Nosy	@taleinat, @miss-islington, @iritkatriel, @felixfontein
PRs	bpo-46080: Fix crash when argparse.BooleanOptionalAction is used with default=argparse.SUPPRESS and help specified #30111 [3.10] bpo-46080: fix argparse help generation exception in edge case (GH-30111) #30730 [3.9] bpo-46080: fix argparse help generation exception in edge case (GH-30111) #30731

^{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 = None
closed_at = <Date 2022-01-21.08:20:51.001>
created_at = <Date 2021-12-15.06:29:31.751>
labels = ['type-bug', 'library', '3.9', '3.10', '3.11']
title = 'argparse.BooleanOptionalAction with default=argparse.SUPPRESS and help specified raises exception'
updated_at = <Date 2022-02-02.16:53:48.653>
user = 'https://github.com/felixfontein'

bugs.python.org fields:

activity = <Date 2022-02-02.16:53:48.653>
actor = 'paul.j3'
assignee = 'none'
closed = True
closed_date = <Date 2022-01-21.08:20:51.001>
closer = 'taleinat'
components = ['Library (Lib)']
creation = <Date 2021-12-15.06:29:31.751>
creator = 'felixfontein'
dependencies = []
files = []
hgrepos = []
issue_num = 46080
keywords = ['patch']
message_count = 6.0
messages = ['408586', '408588', '411052', '411055', '411057', '411096']
nosy_count = 5.0
nosy_names = ['taleinat', 'paul.j3', 'miss-islington', 'iritkatriel', 'felixfontein']
pr_nums = ['30111', '30730', '30731']
priority = 'normal'
resolution = 'fixed'
stage = 'resolved'
status = 'closed'
superseder = None
type = 'behavior'
url = 'https://bugs.python.org/issue46080'
versions = ['Python 3.9', 'Python 3.10', 'Python 3.11']

[felixfontein]

When argparse.BooleanOptionalAction is used with default=argparse.SUPPRESS and help is specified, trying to display --help results in a crash.

Reproducer:

import argparse
parser = argparse.ArgumentParser()
parser.add_argument('--test', action=argparse.BooleanOptionalAction, default=argparse.SUPPRESS, help='Foo')
parser.parse_args()

Result when running 'python t.py --help':

Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/path/to/t.py", line 4, in <module>
    parser.parse_args()
  File "/usr/lib/python3.10/argparse.py", line 1821, in parse_args
    args, argv = self.parse_known_args(args, namespace)
  File "/usr/lib/python3.10/argparse.py", line 1854, in parse_known_args
    namespace, args = self._parse_known_args(args, namespace)
  File "/usr/lib/python3.10/argparse.py", line 2063, in _parse_known_args
    start_index = consume_optional(start_index)
  File "/usr/lib/python3.10/argparse.py", line 2003, in consume_optional
    take_action(action, args, option_string)
  File "/usr/lib/python3.10/argparse.py", line 1931, in take_action
    action(self, namespace, argument_values, option_string)
  File "/usr/lib/python3.10/argparse.py", line 1095, in __call__
    parser.print_help()
  File "/usr/lib/python3.10/argparse.py", line 2551, in print_help
    self._print_message(self.format_help(), file)
  File "/usr/lib/python3.10/argparse.py", line 2535, in format_help
    return formatter.format_help()
  File "/usr/lib/python3.10/argparse.py", line 283, in format_help
    help = self._root_section.format_help()
  File "/usr/lib/python3.10/argparse.py", line 214, in format_help
    item_help = join([func(*args) for func, args in self.items])
  File "/usr/lib/python3.10/argparse.py", line 214, in <listcomp>
    item_help = join([func(*args) for func, args in self.items])
  File "/usr/lib/python3.10/argparse.py", line 214, in format_help
    item_help = join([func(*args) for func, args in self.items])
  File "/usr/lib/python3.10/argparse.py", line 214, in <listcomp>
    item_help = join([func(*args) for func, args in self.items])
  File "/usr/lib/python3.10/argparse.py", line 530, in _format_action
    help_text = self._expand_help(action)
  File "/usr/lib/python3.10/argparse.py", line 627, in _expand_help
    return self._get_help_string(action) % params
KeyError: 'default'

The problem is that in

cpython/Lib/argparse.py

Line 879 in f54fee7

if help is not None and default is not None:

, default isn't tested for SUPPRESS as well. I've prepared a patch to fix that and will push it to GitHub soon.

(I've experienced the crash with Python 3.9 and 3.10; the test I've created also crashes for the current main branch, so I guess that means that Python 3.11 is also affected. I haven't tested older Python versions before 3.9.)

[iritkatriel]

Changing type. Crash is typically segfault or hang in c code rather than an exception.

[taleinat]

New changeset 9e87c0e by Felix Fontein in branch 'main':
bpo-46080: fix argparse help generation exception in edge case (GH-30111)
9e87c0e

[miss-islington]

New changeset e5edc8d by Miss Islington (bot) in branch '3.10':
bpo-46080: fix argparse help generation exception in edge case (GH-30111)
e5edc8d

[miss-islington]

New changeset c6691a7 by Miss Islington (bot) in branch '3.9':
bpo-46080: fix argparse help generation exception in edge case (GH-30111)
c6691a7

[taleinat]

Thanks for the report and the PR, Felix!