[SciPy-dev] Segmentation fault triggered by optimize/lbfgsb.py

[Travis Oliphant]

Ed Schofield wrote:

>The code in optimize/lbfgsb.py raises an exception and then dumps core:
>
>Traceback (most recent call last):
>  ...
>  File
>"/home/schofield/Test/lib/python2.4/site-packages/scipy/optimize/lbfgsb.py",
>line 182, in fmin_l_bfgs_b
>    isave, dsave)
>ValueError: string_from_pyobj failed in converting 14th argument `csave'
>of _lbfgsb.setulb to C string
>Segmentation fault (core dumped)
>
>
>What is interesting is that I can get a segfault with the same backtrace
>even *before* the call to the Fortran function, just by executing some
>of the statements up to line 182 and exiting the python interpreter with
>^D, implying that the interpreter is no longer in a stable state.
>
>
># scipy.base.__version__    gives '0.4.3.1343'
>
>  
>
>>>>import scipy
>>>>        
>>>>
>
>  
>
>>>>task = scipy.zeros((60,), scipy.Character)
>>>>task[:] = 'blah'
>>>>^D
>>>>        
>>>>
Interesting.    I did not know scipy.Character was being used.  It 
should probably be changed to something else.   But, yes, this is a bug 
in scipy core.

-Travis