[IronPython] Inconsistency in getattr exceptions

[Michael Foord]

Hello all,

getattr in IronPython raises different exceptions to CPython for invalid 
input.

CPython

 >>> getattr(a, None)
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "<stdin>", line 1, in ?
TypeError: getattr(): attribute name must be string
 >>>


IronPython

 >>> a = object()
 >>> getattr(a, None)
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File , line 0, in <stdin>##64
  File , line 0, in GetAttr##65
AttributeError: 'object' object has no attribute ''
 >>>


Note also that exceptions in IronPython involving a None often print the 
empty string, which can be unhelpful. (Which is odd since both 
repr(None) and str(None) return 'None'.)

All the best,


Michael Foord
http://www.resolversystems.com
http://www.voidspace.org.uk/python/index.shtml