python / python/cpython

Incorrect SyntaxError attributes when raised by `compile`

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interpreter-core type-bug
Dominant language
Python
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Description

Bug report

Bug description:

This is probably a problem with compile, and I will demonstrate it through ast.parse. Consider the following code in a file f.py.

import ast

code = "x y"
ast.parse(code, filename='f.py')

This correctly raises a SyntaxError with lineno = 1 and offset = 3 since the error is at the beginning of y in the code. However, the traceback points into the file f.py itself, instead of the string code. Notice that it points to the third column of the first line of f.py.

  File "f.py", line 1
    import ast
      ^
SyntaxError: invalid syntax

This does not happen for any other string given as filename to ast.parse. In general, the traceback seems to point with the "correct" lineno and offset to the code in the file itself instead of code given to ast.parse. However, the problem is slightly more nuanced. If the offset in the string given to ast.parse is more than the length of the corresponding line in f.py, the offset attribute of the SyntaxError raised is incorrectly set to the length of the corresponding line in f.py plus two. Consider the following code in f.py.

import ast

code = "                                     x y"
ast.parse(code, filename='f.py')

This raises the following exception.

  File "f.py", line 1
    import ast
              ^
IndentationError: unexpected indent

On closer inspection, it turns out that the offset of the exception raised is 12 (note that the length of "import ast" is 10) instead of the correct 37 which is observed when filename is set to anything other than f.py. However, something more interesting happens when the number of lines in the code string is more than the number of lines in the file f.py.

import ast

code = "\n\n\n\nx y"
ast.parse(code, filename='f.py')

The problem goes away!

  File "f.py", line 5
    x y
      ^
SyntaxError: invalid syntax

We even see the correct offset.

CPython versions tested on:

3.11, 3.12, 3.13

Operating systems tested on:

Linux

(Edit) Incorrect text attribute

There is something more going on here. The following issue can be seen in 3.11 and 3.12 but not in 3.13. Consider the following f.py.

import ast

with open('temp.py') as f:
    code = f.read()
ast.parse(code, filename='temp.py')

temp.py is as follows.

"""                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             """; x """                                                                                                                                                         """; foobar

This leads to the following traceback.

  File "temp.py", line 1
    foobar
          ^
SyntaxError: invalid syntax

Besides the fact that the offset is incorrectly set to 8 (instead of 840), the text is incorrectly set to foobar (on 3.13, the entire file contents of temp.py are present in text). This problem goes away if filename is set to anything else. The problem also goes away if the contents of temp.py are shorter!

Contributor guide

Open the contributing guide

First steps

  1. Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
  2. Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
  3. Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
  4. Open a pull request that references the issue number.

Research direction

Start by reproducing the examples using ast.parse and compile, comparing SyntaxError attributes when filename matches the source file and when it does not. Trace how the traceback, offset, and text are populated for matching filenames. Done means the reported lineno, offset, text, and traceback consistently describe the parsed string across the demonstrated cases, with regression coverage for the examples.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
python
Domain
compilers
Issue type
Bug
Difficulty
4/5
Estimated time
3-5 days
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
38/100

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