Syntax error in test file makes pytest exit with exit code 2

[martinsmid]

Ubuntu 18.04
pytest-4.0.2
python 2.7 and 3.6

Description

Having a test file with syntax error or import error results in pytest exiting with exitcode 2.

How to reproduce

1. Create a file named test_syntax_error.py with content

def x:
    pass

2. Run pytest and print exit code
   pytest test_syntax_error.py; echo $?

Expected

Probably worth a new exitcode as it doesn't really fit into those 5 documented

Actual

Exits with code 2, which stands for "Test execution was interrupted by the user"

Similarly, a file with content import non_existent will have the same effect.

This issue is similar to #2832 and also
#2950, but still I hope this will be useful for reference and example.

[nicoddemus]

Hi @martinsmid,

In this case we raise Interrupted because we decided some time ago that we wanted to interrupt the running session in case of a collection error. I guess it would be fine though to include a new EXIT_COLLECTIONERROR exit code instead of reusing the Interrupted exception.

[symonk]

HI @nicoddemus, ok if I look into this one sir?

[BenjaminHamon]

Sorry about resurrecting a very old issue but I just ran into this and didn't find a more recent issue. I have a tool invoking pytest and checking error codes to raise the adequate exception and message. Getting the exit code 2 (Interrupted by user) was very weird until I figured out it was an import error during collection.

It seems to me it was unwise to reuse the Interrupted exit code for a totally different exit case. This behavior is also undocumented at https://docs.pytest.org/en/stable/reference/exit-codes.html.