[Refactor] Improve error message when improperly configuring scenario

[arcanaxion]

📌 Description

I mistakenly wrote the following code:

import taipy as tp
from taipy import Config, Orchestrator


def square(number: int) -> int:
    return number**2


number_cfg = Config.configure_data_node(id="number")
squared_number_cfg = Config.configure_data_node(id="squared_number")
square_task_cfg = Config.configure_task(id="square_task", function=square, input=number_cfg, output=squared_number_cfg)
scenario_cfg = Config.configure_scenario(id="square_scenario", tasks_configs=[square_task_cfg])

Orchestrator().run()
scenario = tp.create_scenario(scenario_cfg)

and got the following error:

Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/home/main.py", line 15, in <module>
    scenario = tp.create_scenario(scenario_cfg)
  File "/home/.venv-git-2025-05-22/lib/python3.10/site-packages/taipy/core/taipy.py", line 915, in create_scenario
    return _ScenarioManagerFactory._build_manager()._create(config, creation_date, name)
  File "/home/.venv-git-2025-05-22/lib/python3.10/site-packages/taipy/core/scenario/_scenario_manager.py", line 194, in _create
    cls._repository._save(scenario)
  File "/home/.venv-git-2025-05-22/lib/python3.10/site-packages/taipy/core/_repository/_filesystem_repository.py", line 65, in _save
    json.dumps(model.to_dict(), ensure_ascii=False, indent=0, cls=_Encoder, check_circular=False),
  File "/home/.venv-git-2025-05-22/lib/python3.10/site-packages/taipy/core/_repository/_base_taipy_model.py", line 26, in to_dict
    model_dict = {**dataclasses.asdict(self)}  # type: ignore[call-overload]
  File "/home/.pyenv/versions/3.10.10/lib/python3.10/dataclasses.py", line 1238, in asdict
    return _asdict_inner(obj, dict_factory)
  File "/home/.pyenv/versions/3.10.10/lib/python3.10/dataclasses.py", line 1245, in _asdict_inner
    value = _asdict_inner(getattr(obj, f.name), dict_factory)
  File "/home/.pyenv/versions/3.10.10/lib/python3.10/dataclasses.py", line 1275, in _asdict_inner
    return type(obj)((_asdict_inner(k, dict_factory),
  File "/home/.pyenv/versions/3.10.10/lib/python3.10/dataclasses.py", line 1276, in <genexpr>
    _asdict_inner(v, dict_factory))
  File "/home/.pyenv/versions/3.10.10/lib/python3.10/dataclasses.py", line 1273, in _asdict_inner
    return type(obj)(_asdict_inner(v, dict_factory) for v in obj)
  File "/home/.pyenv/versions/3.10.10/lib/python3.10/dataclasses.py", line 1273, in <genexpr>
    return type(obj)(_asdict_inner(v, dict_factory) for v in obj)
  File "/home/.pyenv/versions/3.10.10/lib/python3.10/dataclasses.py", line 1279, in _asdict_inner
    return copy.deepcopy(obj)
  File "/home/.pyenv/versions/3.10.10/lib/python3.10/copy.py", line 161, in deepcopy
    rv = reductor(4)
TypeError: 'NoneType' object is not callable

My mistake was that I did tasks_configs instead of task_configs.

Error message could be improved when the core configuration is misconfigured.

📜 Code of Conduct

• [x] I have checked the existing issues to avoid duplicates.
• [ ] I am willing to work on this issue (optional)

✅ Acceptance Criteria

• [ ] The refactored code maintains existing functionality without breaking changes.
• [ ] Any new code is covered by unit tests.
• [ ] Code coverage remains at least 90%.
• [ ] Performance improvements are documented, if applicable.

[jrobinAV]

We cannot prevent the user from passing an incorrect parameter name, as they can pass any additional parameter.

However, we can investigate why the message is not understandable.

[arcanaxion]

Some thoughts

Consideration 1: Is there a use case where only the id property (i.e. Config.configure_scenario(id="scenario") is provided?

Even if there is a use case, perhaps Config.configure_scenario could print a warning when neither task_configs or additional_data_node_configs (which probably cover 90-100% of use cases) are specified?

Consideration 2: Improve error messages when passing invalid kwarg value:

1. Config.configure_scenario(id="scenario", hello="world"): Valid action, no error.
2. ..., hello=square_task_cfg): Invalid action, error in main post
3. ..., hello=square): Invalid action, error: "TypeError: Object of type function is not JSON serializable"

IMO, if the erroneous line doesn't appear in the stack trace (which it doesn't), then it would be better to catch and print a better error.

[DeeshantGupta]

Pls assign this task to me, lemme take a look into this

[jrobinAV]

@DeeshantGupta You are assigned. Thank you for your help.

[DeeshantGupta]

Thanks for assigning it, give me some time 😊

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