[Python-Dev] Revert #12085 fix for del attribute error message (original) (raw)

Cameron Simpson cs at zip.com.au
Thu Sep 26 01:05:20 CEST 2013

[ I've replied to two messages here: Georg's and Glenn's (supporting MRAB's).

On 25Sep2013 08:22, Georg Brandl <g.brandl at gmx.net> wrote: | Am 24.09.2013 00:11, schrieb Greg Ewing: | > How about something like "Uncaught exception in del | > method ignored"? It explains fairly clearly what has | > happened, and also indicates what do do about it -- | > catch it in the del method. || "Exception in del caught and not propagated:" | Georg

On 24Sep2013 09:33, Glenn Linderman <v+python at g.nevcal.com> wrote: | [MRAB]: | >> Why not just say something like "Cannot propagate exception..."; it's | >> simpler than "Unpropagatable exception...". [...] || First one I've heard that accurately and unambiguously and briefly | describes the issue. | +1

I'm strongly in favour of Georg's one ("Exception in del caught and not propagated").

Why?

It says simply and clearly what has happened. It denotes the relevant context (del) in which it happened. The reader can then decide to find out why that decision may have been made.

Why not MRAB's? ("Cannot propagate exception...")

While better than "Unpropagatable exception" and "unraisable" and "unreraisable", it has the same flaw that I think underlies Antoine's concerns: it suggests the reason there's an error printed instead of further propagation is a property of the exception. It doesn't say it outright, but as an outsider that is definitely what I would at first infer.

So: a small +0.1 for "Cannot propagate exception..."

And: a big +2 for "Exception in del caught and not propagated:".

Cheers,

Cameron Simpson <cs at zip.com.au>

Let the bullet of your thought achieve the true and final path of its trajectory before it reaches the ear of the listener, lest it plow out the other side of his head. - Henry David Thoreau

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