Fixed not being able to clear CompletionItem.text.

Author: kmvanbrunt

cmd2/completion.py

@@ -31,6 +31,15 @@
 from . import rich_utils as ru
 
 
+class _UnsetText(str):
+    """Internal sentinel to distinguish between an unset and an explicit empty string."""
+
+    __slots__ = ()
+
+
+_UNSET_TEXT = _UnsetText("")
+
+
 @dataclass(frozen=True, slots=True, kw_only=True)
 class CompletionItem:
     """A single completion result."""
@@ -39,13 +48,16 @@ class CompletionItem:
     # control sequences (like ^J or ^I) in the completion menu.
     _CONTROL_WHITESPACE_RE = re.compile(r"\r\n|[\n\r\t\f\v]")
 
-    # The underlying object this completion represents (e.g., str, int, Path).
-    # This is used to support argparse choices validation.
+    # The core object this completion represents (e.g., str, int, Path).
+    # This serves as the default source for the completion string and is used
+    # to support object-based validation when used in argparse choices.
     value: Any = field(kw_only=False)
 
-    # The actual string that will be inserted into the command line.
-    # If not provided, it defaults to str(value).
-    text: str = ""
+    # The actual completion string. If not provided, it defaults to str(value)
+    # during initialization. This can be used to provide a human-friendly alias
+    # for complex objects in an argparse choices list (requires a matching
+    # 'type' converter for validation).
+    text: str = _UNSET_TEXT
 
     # Optional string for displaying the completion differently in the completion menu.
     # This can contain ANSI style sequences. A plain version is stored in display_plain.
@@ -60,9 +72,8 @@ class CompletionItem:
     table_data: Sequence[Any] = field(default_factory=tuple)
 
     # Plain text versions of display fields (stripped of ANSI) for sorting/filtering.
-    # These are set in __post_init__().
-    display_plain: str = field(init=False)
-    display_meta_plain: str = field(init=False)
+    display_plain: str = field(default="", init=False)
+    display_meta_plain: str = field(default="", init=False)
 
     @classmethod
     def _clean_display(cls, val: str) -> str:
@@ -78,8 +89,8 @@ def _clean_display(cls, val: str) -> str:
 
     def __post_init__(self) -> None:
         """Finalize the object after initialization."""
-        # Derive text from value if it wasn't explicitly provided
-        if not self.text:
+        # If the completion string was not provided, derive it from value
+        if isinstance(self.text, _UnsetText):
             object.__setattr__(self, "text", str(self.value))
 
         # Ensure display is never blank.
@@ -163,7 +174,7 @@ class CompletionResultsBase:
 
     # True if every item in this collection has a numeric display string.
     # Used for sorting and alignment.
-    numeric_display: bool = field(init=False)
+    numeric_display: bool = field(default=False, init=False)
 
     def __post_init__(self) -> None:
         """Finalize the object after initialization."""

tests/test_completion.py

@@ -1300,3 +1300,16 @@ def test_subcommand_tab_completion_with_no_completer_scu(scu_app) -> None:
 
     completions = scu_app.complete(text, line, begidx, endidx)
     assert not completions
+
+
+def test_completion_item_blank_text() -> None:
+    # Verify that CompletionItem correctly handles blank text when set via dataclasses.replace
+    import dataclasses
+
+    value = "something"
+    item = CompletionItem(value=value)
+    assert item.text == value
+
+    item2 = dataclasses.replace(item, text="")
+    assert item2.text == ""
+    assert item2.display == value