improved error message for invalid chart types #9417

cel4 · 2015-02-04T22:30:22Z

pd.Series([2,3,4]).plot("quiver") now gives an improved error message:

Users/ch/miniconda/envs/pd_dev34/lib/python3.4/site-packages/pandas/tools/plotting.py in _plot(data, x, y, subplots, ax, kind, **kwds)
   2269         klass = _plot_klass[kind]
   2270     else:
-> 2271         raise ValueError(invalid_ct_fmtstr % kind)
   2272 
   2273     from pandas import DataFrame

ValueError: 'quiver' is not a valid chart type

instead of:

/Users/ch/miniconda/envs/sci33/lib/python3.3/site-packages/pandas/tools/plotting.py in _plot(data, x, y, subplots, ax, kind, **kwds)
   2267         klass = _plot_klass[kind]
   2268     else:
-> 2269         raise ValueError('Invalid chart type given %s' % kind)
   2270 
   2271     from pandas import DataFrame

ValueError: Invalid chart type given quiver

shoyer · 2015-02-04T23:21:41Z

pandas/tools/plotting.py

@@ -2262,11 +2262,13 @@ def result(self):

 def _plot(data, x=None, y=None, subplots=False,
          ax=None, kind='line', **kwds):
+
+    invalid_ct_fmtstr = "'%s' is not a valid chart type"


I would use the word kind instead of type to match the keyword argument.

Also, perhaps use %r instead of '%s' to properly format non-string arguments, too

How would you formulate the message? 'blabla' is not a valid value for the keyword argument 'kind'?

Is it possible to replace chart type by chart kind? I am not a native speaker - to me it somehow sounds strange.

at this point kind can only be a string. It gets set in line 2265: kind = _get_standard_kind(kind.lower().strip())

Maybe "%r is not a valid plot kind"? I see you are correct about the type.

Hmm... I don't really have a strong opinion here about the exact wording.

In any case this is a clear improvement over the original. If you're happy with the wording that's fine.

jorisvandenbossche · 2015-02-05T09:59:41Z

pandas/tools/plotting.py

@@ -2274,7 +2276,7 @@ def _plot(data, x=None, y=None, subplots=False,
            plot_obj = klass(data, x=x, y=y, subplots=subplots, ax=ax,
                             kind=kind, **kwds)
        else:
-            raise ValueError('Invalid chart type given %s' % kind)
+            raise ValueError(invalid_ct_fmtstr % kind)


I think you should ideally differentiate between the two messages. As the first message is just general 'not a valid plot kind'. While this message is specific for DataFrames (you get here if you give a kind that is only possible for a dataframe, but if your object is not a dataframe). So here I would say something like '%r is only a valid plot kind for DataFrames' or the like.

cel4 · 2015-02-07T12:36:05Z

Can you check the new error messages? If they're ok, I would squash my commits.

shoyer · 2015-02-08T08:53:07Z

This looks good to me. @jorisvandenbossche ?

jorisvandenbossche · 2015-02-08T11:21:04Z

pandas/tools/plotting.py

    kind = _get_standard_kind(kind.lower().strip())
    if kind in _all_kinds:
        klass = _plot_klass[kind]
    else:
-        raise ValueError('Invalid chart type given %s' % kind)
+        raise ValueError("%r is not a valid plot kind" % kind)


a very small thing, but can you add ' around the %r? I think that makes the message more clear

%r seems to add the 'automatically: print("%r" % "hi") prints: 'hi'

ah, I didn't know that. Perfect then!

jorisvandenbossche · 2015-02-08T12:01:05Z

@cel4 Just a small question, can you squash the two commits into one?

jorisvandenbossche · 2015-02-08T12:22:17Z

@cel4 Looking good, thanks! I'll merge when travis is green

improved error message for invalid chart types

cel4 mentioned this pull request Feb 4, 2015

Improve error message in plotting.py's _plot #9400

Closed

shoyer reviewed Feb 4, 2015
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jorisvandenbossche added the Error Reporting Incorrect or improved errors from pandas label Feb 5, 2015

jorisvandenbossche added this to the 0.16.0 milestone Feb 5, 2015

jorisvandenbossche reviewed Feb 5, 2015
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jreback added the Visualization plotting label Feb 5, 2015

jorisvandenbossche reviewed Feb 8, 2015
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cel4 force-pushed the plot_error branch from 2e97d35 to 9a9cd24 Compare February 8, 2015 12:11

improved error messages for invalid chart types

f9031c2

cel4 force-pushed the plot_error branch from 9a9cd24 to f9031c2 Compare February 8, 2015 12:18

jorisvandenbossche added a commit that referenced this pull request Feb 8, 2015

Merge pull request #9417 from cel4/plot_error

107cb10

improved error message for invalid chart types

jorisvandenbossche merged commit 107cb10 into pandas-dev:master Feb 8, 2015

cel4 deleted the plot_error branch August 15, 2015 12:37

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improved error message for invalid chart types #9417

improved error message for invalid chart types #9417

cel4 commented Feb 4, 2015

shoyer Feb 4, 2015

cel4 Feb 5, 2015

shoyer Feb 5, 2015

shoyer Feb 5, 2015

jorisvandenbossche Feb 5, 2015

cel4 commented Feb 7, 2015

shoyer commented Feb 8, 2015

jorisvandenbossche Feb 8, 2015

cel4 Feb 8, 2015

jorisvandenbossche Feb 8, 2015

jorisvandenbossche commented Feb 8, 2015

jorisvandenbossche commented Feb 8, 2015

improved error message for invalid chart types #9417

improved error message for invalid chart types #9417

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cel4 commented Feb 4, 2015

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cel4 commented Feb 7, 2015

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jorisvandenbossche commented Feb 8, 2015

jorisvandenbossche commented Feb 8, 2015