Unquoted descriptor arguments cause RPC console to improperly detect method name #737

1. 
   achow101 commented at 10:42 pm on June 12, 2023: member

   Is there an existing issue for this?

   • I have searched the existing issues

   Current behaviour

   Using the RPC console with a command that has descriptor arguments results in a Method not found error.

   Expected behaviour

   The command should either accept the argument as is, or return an error about failing to parse the argument.

   Steps to reproduce

   0> getdescriptorinfo wpkh(cNaQCDwmmh4dS9LzCgVtyy1e1xjCJ21GUDHe9K98nzb689JvinGV)
   1Method not found (code -32601)
   

   Relevant log output

   No response

   How did you obtain Bitcoin Core

   Compiled from source

   What version of Bitcoin Core are you using?

   v25.99.0-c92fd638860c

   Operating system and version

   Arch Linux

   Machine specifications

   No response

2. achow101 renamed this:
   Single quotes in arguments cause RPC console to to improperly detect method name
   Unquoted descriptor arguments cause RPC console to to improperly detect method name
   on Jun 12, 2023
3. 
   achow101 commented at 11:19 pm on June 12, 2023: member

   Ah, the issue is actually with the parentheses. The console thinks those are the beginning of a nested command or a more function-like syntax, introduced in https://github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin/pull/7783
4. hebasto renamed this:
   Unquoted descriptor arguments cause RPC console to to improperly detect method name
   Unquoted descriptor arguments cause RPC console to improperly detect method name
   on Jun 13, 2023
5. 
   hernanmarino commented at 5:14 pm on June 16, 2023: contributor

   Perhaps I ’m saying something obvious, but a good workaround migth be enclosing the descriptor with double quotes:

   0> getdescriptorinfo "wpkh(cNaQCDwmmh4dS9LzCgVtyy1e1xjCJ21GUDHe9K98nzb689JvinGV)"
   1{
   2  "descriptor": "wpkh(02fcba7ecf41bc7e1be4ee122d9d22e3333671eb0a3a87b5cdf099d59874e1940f)#442qn8e8",
   3  "checksum": "3qah2w9c",
   4  "isrange": false,
   5  "issolvable": true,
   6  "hasprivatekeys": true
   7}
   

   Single quotes might work for some descriptors, but will probably fail with descriptors including hardened derivation paths.

6. 
   achow101 commented at 5:16 pm on June 16, 2023: member

   Perhaps I ’m saying something obvious, but a good workaround migth be enclosing the descriptor with double quotes:

   Yes, that is the correct way to pass these strings. However method not found seems like the incorrect error to be giving when not using them.

   Additionally, double quotes gets really confusing and insane when using RPCs that involve json like importdescriptors.

Contributors
achow101 hernanmarino