Warnings cause TypeError

[philfreo]

I'm seeing some TypeError exceptions, it seems that the new warnings / exception handling code has some issues?

  ...
  File "tasks.py", line 296, in track_sift_event
    response = sift_client.track(event_type, attrs)
  File "/home/ubuntu/closeio/venv/local/lib/python2.7/site-packages/sift/client.py", line 108, in track
    warnings.warn(traceback.format_exception_only(type(e), e))
TypeError: expected string or buffer

Not sure exactly how/when/why this happens but it seems that the Sift responses aren't always handled properly.

/cc @JohnMcSpedon @fredsadaghiani

[philfreo]

Any ideas?

[fredsadaghiani]

You're right. traceback.format_exception_only returns an array of strings, not a string. The right code would be:

except requests.exceptions.RequestException as e:
  warnings.warn('Failed to track event: %s' % properties)
  lines = traceback.format_exception_only(type(e), e)
  for line in lines:
        warnings.warn(line)

I'm not sure that the stack trace is useful in this case, so I think omitting it is best. That is, just removed the additional logging and leaving the warning about the failure to track the event.

[fredsadaghiani]

I'm working on a fix.

[philfreo]

Wouldn't having the stack trace help show where in the codebase the problem is / which usage of Sift is causing the problem?

[fredsadaghiani]

Yes, that's true. Usually in the case of exception, however, missing an event here or there isn't detrimental. In the degenerate case, it could spam the logs. That said, your comment is a good one and I'll make the change with the stack trace printed.

[fredsadaghiani]

@philfreo Please see version 1.1.2.3

[philfreo]

Thanks, will give it a shot!