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Element.__init__ tag parameter has positional-only inconsistency #144846
Description
Bug report
Bug description:
Element.__init__ has the same Python/C signature inconsistency as SubElement (gh-144270).
Python fallback:
cpython/Lib/xml/etree/ElementTree.py
Line 167 in 23c488d
tag accepts keyword arguments: Element(tag="foo") works.
C accelerator:
cpython/Modules/_elementtree.c
Lines 419 to 420 in 23c488d
PyArg_ParseTuple only parses positional args, so tag is positional-only. Element(tag="foo") raises TypeError.
Proposed fix
- def __init__(self, tag, attrib={}, **extra):
+ def __init__(self, tag, /, attrib={}, **extra):
Same pattern as the SubElement fix in gh-144270.
Reproduce
import sys, importlib
import xml.etree.ElementTree as ET
root = ET.Element("root")
try:
ET.Element(tag="foo")
except TypeError:
print("C rejects Element(tag=...)")
sys.modules['_elementtree'] = None
importlib.reload(ET)
e = ET.Element(tag="foo")
print(f"pure-python accepted it: {e.tag}")
CPython versions tested on:
CPython main branch
Operating systems tested on:
Linux
Activity
brijkapadia commentedon Feb 16, 2026
@NekoAsakura Do you want to create a PR or could I work on it?
NekoAsakura commentedon Feb 16, 2026
Hi @bkap123 , cheers for the shout! I've already got the fix ready to go. I’ll whip a PR up now.
pythongh-144846: make Element tag positional-only
pythongh-144846: make Element tag positional-only