Python 2.7 32 bit
cx_Oracle 5.3
Oracle instant client 12.1
Windows 7 64 bit
VCForPython27 Compiler

I have a case where it appears that the cx_Oracle.connect method will accept the login credentials as unicode strings but the cx_Oracle.SessionPool will not.

I have check this simply by using the same login credentials with both functions.

In my test case the user name, password, and dsn are all unicode strings. The exception I get when calling the session pool is below.

sessionPool = cx_oracle.SessionPool(*r_pargs, **r_kwargs)
TypeError: argument 1 must be str, not unicode

I guess this isn't really a bug so much as inconsistent behavior if the connect method accepts Unicode strings I would expect the SessionPool to as well, at least for the fields that is has in common with connect.