[issue6650] sre_parse contains a confusing generic error message

[Torne Wuff]

New submission from Torne Wuff <torne-pythonbugs at wolfpuppy.org.uk>:

sre_parse raises an exception with the message "syntax error" - very
generic and confusing - in the case where something that looks like a
lookbehind assertion is invalid.

>>> import re
>>> re.match('(?<foo>.*)', 'foo')
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "<stdin>", line 1, in <module>
  File "/usr/lib/python2.5/re.py", line 137, in match
    return _compile(pattern, flags).match(string)
  File "/usr/lib/python2.5/re.py", line 241, in _compile
    raise error, v # invalid expression
sre_constants.error: syntax error

This example is a typo for '(?P<foo>.*)' :)

This is the only case in sre_parse where the message "syntax error" is
used - the others are much more descriptive. Attached patch changes it
to "bad lookbehind assertion type: %s" for python 2.x head; should be
applied to 3.x also.

----------
components: Regular Expressions
files: sre_error_msg.diff
keywords: patch
messages: 91324
nosy: torne
severity: normal
status: open
title: sre_parse contains a confusing generic error message
type: behavior
versions: Python 2.4, Python 2.5, Python 2.6, Python 2.7, Python 3.0, Python 3.1, Python 3.2
Added file: http://bugs.python.org/file14659/sre_error_msg.diff

_______________________________________
Python tracker <report at bugs.python.org>
<http://bugs.python.org/issue6650>
_______________________________________