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Re: Misleading error message of the day

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Newsgroups comp.lang.python
Date Thu, 8 Dec 2011 10:42:45 -0800 (PST)
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(some,
 very,
 long,
 list,
 of,
 variable,
 names,
 to,
 get,
 the,
 stuff,
 unpacked,
 into) = function_that_should_return_a_14_tuple()

raises

ValueError: too many values to unpack

Quick, what's the bug?  Did I forget a variable on the LHS, or is my function returning more things than it should?  I know it's supposed to be 14, but I don't know which side is wrong.  Had it said "... expected 13, got 14", I would know immediately.

Error messages should be as explicit as possible.  It's just like bug reports.  The basic mantra of a bug report is:

1) This is what I did

2) This is what I expected to happen

3) This is what I observed happen

4) This is how what I observed differed from what I expected

Saying, "expected X, got Y" is more explicit than "got too many"

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Thread

Misleading error message of the day Roy Smith <roy@panix.com> - 2011-12-08 09:23 -0500
  Re: Misleading error message of the day Andrea Crotti <andrea.crotti.0@gmail.com> - 2011-12-08 14:39 +0000
  Re: Misleading error message of the day Chris Angelico <rosuav@gmail.com> - 2011-12-09 01:40 +1100
  Re: Misleading error message of the day Robert Kern <robert.kern@gmail.com> - 2011-12-08 14:47 +0000
    Re: Misleading error message of the day Roy Smith <roy@panix.com> - 2011-12-08 07:30 -0800
      Re: Misleading error message of the day Tim Chase <python.list@tim.thechases.com> - 2011-12-08 11:41 -0600
    Re: Misleading error message of the day Roy Smith <roy@panix.com> - 2011-12-08 07:30 -0800
  Re: Misleading error message of the day Jean-Michel Pichavant <jeanmichel@sequans.com> - 2011-12-08 16:03 +0100
    Re: Misleading error message of the day Roy Smith <roy@panix.com> - 2011-12-08 07:33 -0800
      Re: Misleading error message of the day Jean-Michel Pichavant <jeanmichel@sequans.com> - 2011-12-08 20:49 +0100
      Re: Misleading error message of the day Ethan Furman <ethan@stoneleaf.us> - 2011-12-08 12:13 -0800
      Re: Misleading error message of the day Lie Ryan <lie.1296@gmail.com> - 2011-12-09 12:46 +1100
        Re: Misleading error message of the day alex23 <wuwei23@gmail.com> - 2011-12-08 20:57 -0800
          Re: Misleading error message of the day Lie Ryan <lie.1296@gmail.com> - 2011-12-11 10:41 +1100
      Re: Misleading error message of the day Jean-Michel Pichavant <jeanmichel@sequans.com> - 2011-12-09 11:03 +0100
        Re: Misleading error message of the day Roy Smith <roy@panix.com> - 2011-12-09 09:43 -0500
      Re: Misleading error message of the day Ethan Furman <ethan@stoneleaf.us> - 2011-12-09 09:39 -0800
    Re: Misleading error message of the day Roy Smith <roy@panix.com> - 2011-12-08 07:33 -0800
      Re: Misleading error message of the day Grant Edwards <invalid@invalid.invalid> - 2011-12-08 18:10 +0000
        Re: Misleading error message of the day alister <alister.ware@ntlworld.com> - 2011-12-08 20:58 +0000
          Re: Misleading error message of the day Chris Angelico <rosuav@gmail.com> - 2011-12-09 08:17 +1100
        Re: Misleading error message of the day Roy Smith <roy@panix.com> - 2011-12-08 20:19 -0500
        Re: Misleading error message of the day Steven D'Aprano <steve+comp.lang.python@pearwood.info> - 2011-12-09 02:07 +0000
          Re: Misleading error message of the day Chris Angelico <rosuav@gmail.com> - 2011-12-09 14:46 +1100
            Re: Misleading error message of the day Roy Smith <roy@panix.com> - 2011-12-08 23:44 -0500
  Re: Misleading error message of the day Heiko Wundram <modelnine@modelnine.org> - 2011-12-08 16:16 +0100
    Re: Misleading error message of the day Roy Smith <roy@panix.com> - 2011-12-08 07:42 -0800
      Re: Misleading error message of the day Heiko Wundram <modelnine@modelnine.org> - 2011-12-08 16:50 +0100
        Re: Misleading error message of the day Roy Smith <roy@panix.com> - 2011-12-08 10:42 -0800
          Re: Misleading error message of the day Benjamin Kaplan <benjamin.kaplan@case.edu> - 2011-12-08 13:57 -0500
          Re: Misleading error message of the day Ethan Furman <ethan@stoneleaf.us> - 2011-12-08 11:09 -0800
          Re: Misleading error message of the day Benjamin Kaplan <benjamin.kaplan@case.edu> - 2011-12-08 14:38 -0500
          Re: Misleading error message of the day Ethan Furman <ethan@stoneleaf.us> - 2011-12-08 12:09 -0800
        Re: Misleading error message of the day Roy Smith <roy@panix.com> - 2011-12-08 10:42 -0800
      Re: Misleading error message of the day Andrea Crotti <andrea.crotti.0@gmail.com> - 2011-12-08 15:55 +0000
      Re: Misleading error message of the day Chris Angelico <rosuav@gmail.com> - 2011-12-09 03:21 +1100
      Re: Misleading error message of the day Robert Kern <robert.kern@gmail.com> - 2011-12-08 19:57 +0000
    Re: Misleading error message of the day Roy Smith <roy@panix.com> - 2011-12-08 07:42 -0800

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