Description

serhiy-storchaka

opened on May 8, 2026

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In the Python implementation it returns empty iterator for Comment and ProcessingInstruction. In the C implementation it emits their content.

>>> import xml.etree.ElementTree as ET
>>> list(ET.Comment('comment').itertext())
['comment']

cc @scoder

Linked PRs

• gh-149571: Make Element.itertext consistent for Comment and ProcessingInstruction #149714
• gh-149571: Fix the C implementation of Element.itertext() #149929
• [3.15] gh-149571: Fix the C implementation of Element.itertext() (GH-149929) #150509
• [3.14] gh-149571: Fix the C implementation of Element.itertext() (GH-149929) #150510
• [3.13] gh-149571: Fix the C implementation of Element.itertext() (GH-149929) #150511

Activity

1. serhiy-storchaka

   added

   topic-XML

   3.13only security fixesonly security fixes

   3.14bugs and security fixesbugs and security fixes

   3.15bugs and security fixesbugs and security fixes

   3.16new features, bugs and security fixesnew features, bugs and security fixes

   on May 8, 2026
2. StanFromIreland

   added

   type-bugAn unexpected behavior, bug, or errorAn unexpected behavior, bug, or error

   stdlibStandard Library Python modules in the Lib/ directoryStandard Library Python modules in the Lib/ directory

   extension-modulesC modules in the Modules dirC modules in the Modules dir

   on May 8, 2026
3. hardiksingh5864

   added 4 commits that reference this issue on May 12, 2026

   Add news fragment for pythongh-149571

   6c97311

   pythongh-149571: Make Element.itertext consistent for Comment and Pro…

   2dfd433

   pythongh-149571: Remove the linter issue

   7c8cb36

   pythongh-149571: Fixing the Ci failure

   5df8ef0
4. serhiy-storchaka commented on May 15, 2026

   

   serhiy-storchaka

   on May 15, 2026

   MemberAuthor

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   Let's compare with lxml.

   >>> import lxml.etree as ET
   >>> e = ET.Element('tag')
   >>> e.text = 'text'
   >>> e.append(ET.Comment('comment'))
   >>> list(e.iter())
   [<Element tag at 0x7769b3723540>, <!--comment-->]
   >>> list(e.itertext())
   ['text']

   >>> import xml.etree.ElementTree as ET
   >>> e = ET.Element('tag')
   >>> e.text = 'text'
   >>> e.append(ET.Comment('comment'))
   >>> list(e.iter())
   [<Element 'tag' at 0x7769b368a610>, <Element <function Comment at 0x7769b371b7f0> at 0x7769b3746520>]
   >>> list(e.itertext())
   ['tail', 'comment']

   So I think the correct behavior is to skip comments and processing instructions.
5. scoder commented on May 16, 2026

   

   scoder

   on May 16, 2026

   Contributor

   More actions

   So I think the correct behavior is to skip comments and processing instructions.

   I think so, too. Users who collect text from a document wouldn't normally expect comments to be included, let alone processing instructions. Comments are literally meant to keep their content out of the processed document.
6. serhiy-storchaka

   self-assigned this

   on May 16, 2026
7. serhiy-storchaka commented on May 17, 2026

   

   serhiy-storchaka

   on May 17, 2026

   MemberAuthor

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   #149929 changes the C implementation. It is not exact match of the Python implementation -- they are different if the comment or processing instruction has subelements. But this is a not supported case, it is merely an implementation artifact, so I do not think it is worth to add a code to handle it.
8. serhiy-storchaka commented on May 17, 2026

   

   serhiy-storchaka

   on May 17, 2026

   MemberAuthor

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   This is even explicitly stated in the XML specification, that they are not part of the document's character data.

   https://www.w3.org/TR/xml11/#NT-Comment
   https://www.w3.org/TR/xml11/#NT-PI
9. serhiy-storchaka

   added 4 commits that reference this issue on May 27, 2026

   gh-149571: Fix the C implementation of Element.itertext() (GH-149929)

   7de4fcd

   [3.13] gh-149571: Fix the C implementation of Element.itertext() (GH-…

   98a9ccb

   [3.14] gh-149571: Fix the C implementation of Element.itertext() (GH-…

   27a18eb

   [3.15] gh-149571: Fix the C implementation of Element.itertext() (GH-…

   d2b10e7
10. serhiy-storchaka

    closed this as completedon May 27, 2026

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