Traceback error when compiling the following regular
expression. Error discovered with Python 2.4.2.
Used pre from python2.3 to check the validity of
re_fmt. With pre it works fine.

Question:
I submitted a sre error report before and I warned
to take off pre from the library. It is of advantage
to be able to check a failing re with pre. Personally
I feel sre has still too many bugs to completely
substitute pre.

Regards

Wolfgang Grafen

======================================================

chios scalar 582 % ./fmtscalar.py
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "./fmtscalar.py", line 21, in ?
    re_fmt = re.compile(
  File "/user/freepool/local/lib/python2.3/sre.py",
line 179, in compile
    return _compile(pattern, flags)
  File "/user/freepool/local/lib/python2.3/sre.py",
line 230, in _compile
    raise error, v # invalid expression
sre_constants.error: nothing to repeat

---- cut here ----
#!/usr/bin/env python2.3
# -*- coding: Latin-1 -*-

import sre as re

re_fmt = re.compile(
                        "("
                            "%"
                            "(?P<precision>"
                                "\d+"
                                "(?:"
                                    "[.]"
                                    "\d+"
                                ")"
                            ")?"
                            "(?:"
                                "[(]"
                                "(?P<key>"
                                    "[^)]*"
                                ")?"
                                "[)]"
                            ")?"
                            "(?P<c>[a-z])"
                        ")"
                    )

a="%s"
b="aber%sxyz"
c="aber%3.1i"
c="aber%(quengel)s"

for i in a,b,c:
    m = re_fmt.findall(i)
    print i,m
---- cut here ---