https://github.com/python/cpython/commit/b3714a5fb7a3aadd72134ee0710b22519c1df09a
commit: b3714a5fb7a3aadd72134ee0710b22519c1df09a
branch: main
author: Gregory P. Smith <[email protected]>
committer: gpshead <[email protected]>
date: 2026-10-11T21:51:20Z
summary:

gh-159185: Document that PyMarshal_WriteObjectToFile can silently truncate 
before 3.16 (GH-159201)

gh-159185: Document that the PyMarshal file writers can fail silently before 
3.16

In Python 3.15 and earlier, PyMarshal_WriteObjectToFile() ignores most
marshalling errors and all I/O errors: it returns without setting the
error indicator after writing only part of the data.
PyMarshal_WriteLongToFile() ignores I/O errors in the same way.  That
was fixed in 3.16 by gh-155907, which is not backported.  Tell the users
of the older versions so that they can check what was written.

files:
M Doc/c-api/marshal.rst

diff --git a/Doc/c-api/marshal.rst b/Doc/c-api/marshal.rst
index 5bf4757f8ae158..43fc0f2742d5d7 100644
--- a/Doc/c-api/marshal.rst
+++ b/Doc/c-api/marshal.rst
@@ -43,6 +43,12 @@ and :exc:`MemoryError` if memory allocation fails.
    This function can fail, in which case it sets the error indicator.
    Use :c:func:`PyErr_Occurred` to check for that.
 
+   .. note::
+
+      In Python 3.15 and earlier, this function does not set the error
+      indicator if writing to *file* fails.
+      The same caveat applies as for :c:func:`PyMarshal_WriteObjectToFile`.
+
 .. c:function:: void PyMarshal_WriteObjectToFile(PyObject *value, FILE *file, 
int version)
 
    Marshal a Python object, *value*, to *file*.
@@ -51,6 +57,17 @@ and :exc:`MemoryError` if memory allocation fails.
    This function can fail, in which case it sets the error indicator.
    Use :c:func:`PyErr_Occurred` to check for that.
 
+   .. note::
+
+      In Python 3.15 and earlier, this function can write only part of the
+      data to *file* and return without setting the error indicator, for
+      example if *value* contains an object which cannot be marshalled or
+      if writing to *file* fails (see :gh:`155907`).
+      Code which has to support these versions cannot rely on
+      :c:func:`PyErr_Occurred` alone to know that all the data was written.
+      It can use :c:func:`PyMarshal_WriteObjectToString` and write the
+      result itself, or validate what was written.
+
 .. c:function:: PyObject* PyMarshal_WriteObjectToString(PyObject *value, int 
version)
 
    Return a bytes object containing the marshalled representation of *value*.

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