Unable to view some docstrings with => (help modulename)

[atisharma]

I came across a strange error causing problems viewing the docstring of a module. Below is my setup and a minimum working example.

> python -V
Python 3.11.7

> hy -v
hy 0.28.0+82.g225017d

> uname -a
Linux jupiter 6.1.83_1 #1 SMP PREEMPT_DYNAMIC Thu Mar 28 23:12:50 UTC 2024 x86_64 GNU/Linux
> # also reproduced on a debian bookworm docker image with python 3.11.2 and hy 0.28.0 release

> cat ds.hy
"A test docstring."
(defclass ExampleError [Exception])

> HYSTARTUP="" PAGER=less hy
Hy 0.28.0+82.g225017d using CPython(main) 3.11.7 on Linux

=> (import ds)
=> (help ds)

results in the following error:

Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "stdin-851f42906b23b723c670e376d4ab82b6ce401c3d", line 1, in <module>
    (help ds)
     ^^^^^^^^
  File "/home/ati/.pyenv/versions/3.11.7/lib/python3.11/pydoc.py", line 2011, in __call__
    self.help(request)
  File "/home/ati/.pyenv/versions/3.11.7/lib/python3.11/pydoc.py", line 2072, in help
    else: doc(request, 'Help on %s:', output=self._output, is_cli=is_cli)
          ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
  File "/home/ati/.pyenv/versions/3.11.7/lib/python3.11/pydoc.py", line 1785, in doc
    pager(render_doc(thing, title, forceload))
          ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
  File "/home/ati/.pyenv/versions/3.11.7/lib/python3.11/pydoc.py", line 1778, in render_doc
    return title % desc + '\n\n' + renderer.document(object, name)
                                   ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
  File "/home/ati/.pyenv/versions/3.11.7/lib/python3.11/pydoc.py", line 479, in document
    if inspect.ismodule(object): return self.docmodule(*args)
                                        ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
  File "/home/ati/.pyenv/versions/3.11.7/lib/python3.11/pydoc.py", line 1269, in docmodule
    contents.append(self.document(value, key, name))
                    ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
  File "/home/ati/.pyenv/versions/3.11.7/lib/python3.11/pydoc.py", line 480, in document
    if inspect.isclass(object): return self.docclass(*args)
                                       ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
  File "/home/ati/.pyenv/versions/3.11.7/lib/python3.11/pydoc.py", line 1331, in docclass
    doc = getdoc(object)
          ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
  File "/home/ati/.pyenv/versions/3.11.7/lib/python3.11/pydoc.py", line 188, in getdoc
    result = _getdoc(object) or inspect.getcomments(object)
                                ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
  File "/home/ati/.pyenv/versions/3.11.7/lib/python3.11/inspect.py", line 1129, in getcomments
    lines, lnum = findsource(object)
                  ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
  File "/home/ati/.pyenv/versions/3.11.7/lib/python3.11/inspect.py", line 1089, in findsource
    tree = ast.parse(source)
           ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
  File "/home/ati/.pyenv/versions/3.11.7/lib/python3.11/ast.py", line 50, in parse
    return compile(source, filename, mode, flags,
           ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
  File "<unknown>", line 2
    (defclass ExampleError [Exception])
     ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
SyntaxError: invalid syntax. Perhaps you forgot a comma?
=>

Commenting out the class definition removes the error. Removing the docstring preserves the error.