arg parsing truncates at hash

[mgdelmonte]

Fire's arg parser truncates strings with hashes (#) in them. Simple test:

test.py:

import fire
def test(a): print(a, type(a))
fire.Fire(test)

> python test.py hi#there
hi <class 'str'>
> python test.py "hi#there"
hi <class 'str'>

If this is by design, it doesn't appear to be documented anywhere.

[dbieber]

This is an unintended side-effect of our reliance on the python ast when parsing inputs:

python-fire/fire/parser.py

Line 77 in c1266d0

def _LiteralEval(value):

As a workaround for now, you can add an extra layer of quotes.
python test.py '"hi#there"'

I agree we should improve this behavior.

[sidshrivastav]

@dbieber hey can we json.dumps the value in _LiteralEval, then we don't have to give parameter in this manner, '"hi#there"'

[dbieber]

I don't think that will work, unfortunately. If the input is "1", json.dumps will produce '"1"' which will get parsed as a string, whereas an int is desired.

[sidshrivastav]

Ok, let me check how we can use AST with preserving comments.