| :mod:`inspect` --- Inspect live objects | |
| ======================================= | |
| .. module:: inspect | |
| :synopsis: Extract information and source code from live objects. | |
| .. moduleauthor:: Ka-Ping Yee <ping@lfw.org> | |
| .. sectionauthor:: Ka-Ping Yee <ping@lfw.org> | |
| .. versionadded:: 2.1 | |
| **Source code:** :source:`Lib/inspect.py` | |
| -------------- | |
| The :mod:`inspect` module provides several useful functions to help get | |
| information about live objects such as modules, classes, methods, functions, | |
| tracebacks, frame objects, and code objects. For example, it can help you | |
| examine the contents of a class, retrieve the source code of a method, extract | |
| and format the argument list for a function, or get all the information you need | |
| to display a detailed traceback. | |
| There are four main kinds of services provided by this module: type checking, | |
| getting source code, inspecting classes and functions, and examining the | |
| interpreter stack. | |
| .. _inspect-types: | |
| Types and members | |
| ----------------- | |
| The :func:`getmembers` function retrieves the members of an object such as a | |
| class or module. The sixteen functions whose names begin with "is" are mainly | |
| provided as convenient choices for the second argument to :func:`getmembers`. | |
| They also help you determine when you can expect to find the following special | |
| attributes: | |
| +-----------+-----------------+---------------------------+-------+ | |
| | Type | Attribute | Description | Notes | | |
| +===========+=================+===========================+=======+ | |
| | module | __doc__ | documentation string | | | |
| +-----------+-----------------+---------------------------+-------+ | |
| | | __file__ | filename (missing for | | | |
| | | | built-in modules) | | | |
| +-----------+-----------------+---------------------------+-------+ | |
| | class | __doc__ | documentation string | | | |
| +-----------+-----------------+---------------------------+-------+ | |
| | | __module__ | name of module in which | | | |
| | | | this class was defined | | | |
| +-----------+-----------------+---------------------------+-------+ | |
| | method | __doc__ | documentation string | | | |
| +-----------+-----------------+---------------------------+-------+ | |
| | | __name__ | name with which this | | | |
| | | | method was defined | | | |
| +-----------+-----------------+---------------------------+-------+ | |
| | | im_class | class object that asked | \(1) | | |
| | | | for this method | | | |
| +-----------+-----------------+---------------------------+-------+ | |
| | | im_func or | function object | | | |
| | | __func__ | containing implementation | | | |
| | | | of method | | | |
| +-----------+-----------------+---------------------------+-------+ | |
| | | im_self or | instance to which this | | | |
| | | __self__ | method is bound, or | | | |
| | | | ``None`` | | | |
| +-----------+-----------------+---------------------------+-------+ | |
| | function | __doc__ | documentation string | | | |
| +-----------+-----------------+---------------------------+-------+ | |
| | | __name__ | name with which this | | | |
| | | | function was defined | | | |
| +-----------+-----------------+---------------------------+-------+ | |
| | | func_code | code object containing | | | |
| | | | compiled function | | | |
| | | | :term:`bytecode` | | | |
| +-----------+-----------------+---------------------------+-------+ | |
| | | func_defaults | tuple of any default | | | |
| | | | values for arguments | | | |
| +-----------+-----------------+---------------------------+-------+ | |
| | | func_doc | (same as __doc__) | | | |
| +-----------+-----------------+---------------------------+-------+ | |
| | | func_globals | global namespace in which | | | |
| | | | this function was defined | | | |
| +-----------+-----------------+---------------------------+-------+ | |
| | | func_name | (same as __name__) | | | |
| +-----------+-----------------+---------------------------+-------+ | |
| | generator | __iter__ | defined to support | | | |
| | | | iteration over container | | | |
| +-----------+-----------------+---------------------------+-------+ | |
| | | close | raises new GeneratorExit | | | |
| | | | exception inside the | | | |
| | | | generator to terminate | | | |
| | | | the iteration | | | |
| +-----------+-----------------+---------------------------+-------+ | |
| | | gi_code | code object | | | |
| +-----------+-----------------+---------------------------+-------+ | |
| | | gi_frame | frame object or possibly | | | |
| | | | ``None`` once the | | | |
| | | | generator has been | | | |
| | | | exhausted | | | |
| +-----------+-----------------+---------------------------+-------+ | |
| | | gi_running | set to 1 when generator | | | |
| | | | is executing, 0 otherwise | | | |
| +-----------+-----------------+---------------------------+-------+ | |
| | | next | return the next item from | | | |
| | | | the container | | | |
| +-----------+-----------------+---------------------------+-------+ | |
| | | send | resumes the generator and | | | |
| | | | "sends" a value that | | | |
| | | | becomes the result of the | | | |
| | | | current yield-expression | | | |
| +-----------+-----------------+---------------------------+-------+ | |
| | | throw | used to raise an | | | |
| | | | exception inside the | | | |
| | | | generator | | | |
| +-----------+-----------------+---------------------------+-------+ | |
| | traceback | tb_frame | frame object at this | | | |
| | | | level | | | |
| +-----------+-----------------+---------------------------+-------+ | |
| | | tb_lasti | index of last attempted | | | |
| | | | instruction in bytecode | | | |
| +-----------+-----------------+---------------------------+-------+ | |
| | | tb_lineno | current line number in | | | |
| | | | Python source code | | | |
| +-----------+-----------------+---------------------------+-------+ | |
| | | tb_next | next inner traceback | | | |
| | | | object (called by this | | | |
| | | | level) | | | |
| +-----------+-----------------+---------------------------+-------+ | |
| | frame | f_back | next outer frame object | | | |
| | | | (this frame's caller) | | | |
| +-----------+-----------------+---------------------------+-------+ | |
| | | f_builtins | builtins namespace seen | | | |
| | | | by this frame | | | |
| +-----------+-----------------+---------------------------+-------+ | |
| | | f_code | code object being | | | |
| | | | executed in this frame | | | |
| +-----------+-----------------+---------------------------+-------+ | |
| | | f_exc_traceback | traceback if raised in | | | |
| | | | this frame, or ``None`` | | | |
| +-----------+-----------------+---------------------------+-------+ | |
| | | f_exc_type | exception type if raised | | | |
| | | | in this frame, or | | | |
| | | | ``None`` | | | |
| +-----------+-----------------+---------------------------+-------+ | |
| | | f_exc_value | exception value if raised | | | |
| | | | in this frame, or | | | |
| | | | ``None`` | | | |
| +-----------+-----------------+---------------------------+-------+ | |
| | | f_globals | global namespace seen by | | | |
| | | | this frame | | | |
| +-----------+-----------------+---------------------------+-------+ | |
| | | f_lasti | index of last attempted | | | |
| | | | instruction in bytecode | | | |
| +-----------+-----------------+---------------------------+-------+ | |
| | | f_lineno | current line number in | | | |
| | | | Python source code | | | |
| +-----------+-----------------+---------------------------+-------+ | |
| | | f_locals | local namespace seen by | | | |
| | | | this frame | | | |
| +-----------+-----------------+---------------------------+-------+ | |
| | | f_restricted | 0 or 1 if frame is in | | | |
| | | | restricted execution mode | | | |
| +-----------+-----------------+---------------------------+-------+ | |
| | | f_trace | tracing function for this | | | |
| | | | frame, or ``None`` | | | |
| +-----------+-----------------+---------------------------+-------+ | |
| | code | co_argcount | number of arguments (not | | | |
| | | | including \* or \*\* | | | |
| | | | args) | | | |
| +-----------+-----------------+---------------------------+-------+ | |
| | | co_code | string of raw compiled | | | |
| | | | bytecode | | | |
| +-----------+-----------------+---------------------------+-------+ | |
| | | co_consts | tuple of constants used | | | |
| | | | in the bytecode | | | |
| +-----------+-----------------+---------------------------+-------+ | |
| | | co_filename | name of file in which | | | |
| | | | this code object was | | | |
| | | | created | | | |
| +-----------+-----------------+---------------------------+-------+ | |
| | | co_firstlineno | number of first line in | | | |
| | | | Python source code | | | |
| +-----------+-----------------+---------------------------+-------+ | |
| | | co_flags | bitmap: 1=optimized ``|`` | | | |
| | | | 2=newlocals ``|`` 4=\*arg | | | |
| | | | ``|`` 8=\*\*arg | | | |
| +-----------+-----------------+---------------------------+-------+ | |
| | | co_lnotab | encoded mapping of line | | | |
| | | | numbers to bytecode | | | |
| | | | indices | | | |
| +-----------+-----------------+---------------------------+-------+ | |
| | | co_name | name with which this code | | | |
| | | | object was defined | | | |
| +-----------+-----------------+---------------------------+-------+ | |
| | | co_names | tuple of names of local | | | |
| | | | variables | | | |
| +-----------+-----------------+---------------------------+-------+ | |
| | | co_nlocals | number of local variables | | | |
| +-----------+-----------------+---------------------------+-------+ | |
| | | co_stacksize | virtual machine stack | | | |
| | | | space required | | | |
| +-----------+-----------------+---------------------------+-------+ | |
| | | co_varnames | tuple of names of | | | |
| | | | arguments and local | | | |
| | | | variables | | | |
| +-----------+-----------------+---------------------------+-------+ | |
| | builtin | __doc__ | documentation string | | | |
| +-----------+-----------------+---------------------------+-------+ | |
| | | __name__ | original name of this | | | |
| | | | function or method | | | |
| +-----------+-----------------+---------------------------+-------+ | |
| | | __self__ | instance to which a | | | |
| | | | method is bound, or | | | |
| | | | ``None`` | | | |
| +-----------+-----------------+---------------------------+-------+ | |
| Note: | |
| (1) | |
| .. versionchanged:: 2.2 | |
| :attr:`im_class` used to refer to the class that defined the method. | |
| .. function:: getmembers(object[, predicate]) | |
| Return all the members of an object in a list of (name, value) pairs sorted by | |
| name. If the optional *predicate* argument is supplied, only members for which | |
| the predicate returns a true value are included. | |
| .. note:: | |
| :func:`getmembers` does not return metaclass attributes when the argument | |
| is a class (this behavior is inherited from the :func:`dir` function). | |
| .. function:: getmoduleinfo(path) | |
| Return a tuple of values that describe how Python will interpret the file | |
| identified by *path* if it is a module, or ``None`` if it would not be | |
| identified as a module. The return tuple is ``(name, suffix, mode, | |
| module_type)``, where *name* is the name of the module without the name of | |
| any enclosing package, *suffix* is the trailing part of the file name (which | |
| may not be a dot-delimited extension), *mode* is the :func:`open` mode that | |
| would be used (``'r'`` or ``'rb'``), and *module_type* is an integer giving | |
| the type of the module. *module_type* will have a value which can be | |
| compared to the constants defined in the :mod:`imp` module; see the | |
| documentation for that module for more information on module types. | |
| .. versionchanged:: 2.6 | |
| Returns a :term:`named tuple` ``ModuleInfo(name, suffix, mode, | |
| module_type)``. | |
| .. function:: getmodulename(path) | |
| Return the name of the module named by the file *path*, without including the | |
| names of enclosing packages. This uses the same algorithm as the interpreter | |
| uses when searching for modules. If the name cannot be matched according to the | |
| interpreter's rules, ``None`` is returned. | |
| .. function:: ismodule(object) | |
| Return true if the object is a module. | |
| .. function:: isclass(object) | |
| Return true if the object is a class, whether built-in or created in Python | |
| code. | |
| .. function:: ismethod(object) | |
| Return true if the object is a bound or unbound method written in Python. | |
| .. function:: isfunction(object) | |
| Return true if the object is a Python function, which includes functions | |
| created by a :term:`lambda` expression. | |
| .. function:: isgeneratorfunction(object) | |
| Return true if the object is a Python generator function. | |
| .. versionadded:: 2.6 | |
| .. function:: isgenerator(object) | |
| Return true if the object is a generator. | |
| .. versionadded:: 2.6 | |
| .. function:: istraceback(object) | |
| Return true if the object is a traceback. | |
| .. function:: isframe(object) | |
| Return true if the object is a frame. | |
| .. function:: iscode(object) | |
| Return true if the object is a code. | |
| .. function:: isbuiltin(object) | |
| Return true if the object is a built-in function or a bound built-in method. | |
| .. function:: isroutine(object) | |
| Return true if the object is a user-defined or built-in function or method. | |
| .. function:: isabstract(object) | |
| Return true if the object is an abstract base class. | |
| .. versionadded:: 2.6 | |
| .. function:: ismethoddescriptor(object) | |
| Return true if the object is a method descriptor, but not if | |
| :func:`ismethod`, :func:`isclass`, :func:`isfunction` or :func:`isbuiltin` | |
| are true. | |
| This is new as of Python 2.2, and, for example, is true of | |
| ``int.__add__``. An object passing this test | |
| has a :meth:`~object.__get__` method but not a :meth:`~object.__set__` | |
| method, but beyond that the set of attributes varies. A | |
| :attr:`~definition.__name__` attribute is usually | |
| sensible, and :attr:`__doc__` often is. | |
| Methods implemented via descriptors that also pass one of the other tests | |
| return false from the :func:`ismethoddescriptor` test, simply because the | |
| other tests promise more -- you can, e.g., count on having the | |
| :attr:`im_func` attribute (etc) when an object passes :func:`ismethod`. | |
| .. function:: isdatadescriptor(object) | |
| Return true if the object is a data descriptor. | |
| Data descriptors have both a :attr:`~object.__get__` and a :attr:`~object.__set__` method. | |
| Examples are properties (defined in Python), getsets, and members. The | |
| latter two are defined in C and there are more specific tests available for | |
| those types, which is robust across Python implementations. Typically, data | |
| descriptors will also have :attr:`~definition.__name__` and :attr:`__doc__` attributes | |
| (properties, getsets, and members have both of these attributes), but this is | |
| not guaranteed. | |
| .. versionadded:: 2.3 | |
| .. function:: isgetsetdescriptor(object) | |
| Return true if the object is a getset descriptor. | |
| .. impl-detail:: | |
| getsets are attributes defined in extension modules via | |
| :c:type:`PyGetSetDef` structures. For Python implementations without such | |
| types, this method will always return ``False``. | |
| .. versionadded:: 2.5 | |
| .. function:: ismemberdescriptor(object) | |
| Return true if the object is a member descriptor. | |
| .. impl-detail:: | |
| Member descriptors are attributes defined in extension modules via | |
| :c:type:`PyMemberDef` structures. For Python implementations without such | |
| types, this method will always return ``False``. | |
| .. versionadded:: 2.5 | |
| .. _inspect-source: | |
| Retrieving source code | |
| ---------------------- | |
| .. function:: getdoc(object) | |
| Get the documentation string for an object, cleaned up with :func:`cleandoc`. | |
| .. function:: getcomments(object) | |
| Return in a single string any lines of comments immediately preceding the | |
| object's source code (for a class, function, or method), or at the top of the | |
| Python source file (if the object is a module). | |
| .. function:: getfile(object) | |
| Return the name of the (text or binary) file in which an object was defined. | |
| This will fail with a :exc:`TypeError` if the object is a built-in module, | |
| class, or function. | |
| .. function:: getmodule(object) | |
| Try to guess which module an object was defined in. | |
| .. function:: getsourcefile(object) | |
| Return the name of the Python source file in which an object was defined. This | |
| will fail with a :exc:`TypeError` if the object is a built-in module, class, or | |
| function. | |
| .. function:: getsourcelines(object) | |
| Return a list of source lines and starting line number for an object. The | |
| argument may be a module, class, method, function, traceback, frame, or code | |
| object. The source code is returned as a list of the lines corresponding to the | |
| object and the line number indicates where in the original source file the first | |
| line of code was found. An :exc:`IOError` is raised if the source code cannot | |
| be retrieved. | |
| .. function:: getsource(object) | |
| Return the text of the source code for an object. The argument may be a module, | |
| class, method, function, traceback, frame, or code object. The source code is | |
| returned as a single string. An :exc:`IOError` is raised if the source code | |
| cannot be retrieved. | |
| .. function:: cleandoc(doc) | |
| Clean up indentation from docstrings that are indented to line up with blocks | |
| of code. | |
| All leading whitespace is removed from the first line. Any leading whitespace | |
| that can be uniformly removed from the second line onwards is removed. Empty | |
| lines at the beginning and end are subsequently removed. Also, all tabs are | |
| expanded to spaces. | |
| .. versionadded:: 2.6 | |
| .. _inspect-classes-functions: | |
| Classes and functions | |
| --------------------- | |
| .. function:: getclasstree(classes[, unique]) | |
| Arrange the given list of classes into a hierarchy of nested lists. Where a | |
| nested list appears, it contains classes derived from the class whose entry | |
| immediately precedes the list. Each entry is a 2-tuple containing a class and a | |
| tuple of its base classes. If the *unique* argument is true, exactly one entry | |
| appears in the returned structure for each class in the given list. Otherwise, | |
| classes using multiple inheritance and their descendants will appear multiple | |
| times. | |
| .. function:: getargspec(func) | |
| Get the names and default values of a Python function's arguments. A tuple of | |
| four things is returned: ``(args, varargs, keywords, defaults)``. *args* is a | |
| list of the argument names (it may contain nested lists). *varargs* and | |
| *keywords* are the names of the ``*`` and ``**`` arguments or | |
| ``None``. *defaults* is a tuple of default argument values or ``None`` if there | |
| are no default arguments; if this tuple has *n* elements, they correspond to | |
| the last *n* elements listed in *args*. | |
| .. versionchanged:: 2.6 | |
| Returns a :term:`named tuple` ``ArgSpec(args, varargs, keywords, | |
| defaults)``. | |
| .. function:: getargvalues(frame) | |
| Get information about arguments passed into a particular frame. A tuple of | |
| four things is returned: ``(args, varargs, keywords, locals)``. *args* is a | |
| list of the argument names (it may contain nested lists). *varargs* and | |
| *keywords* are the names of the ``*`` and ``**`` arguments or ``None``. | |
| *locals* is the locals dictionary of the given frame. | |
| .. versionchanged:: 2.6 | |
| Returns a :term:`named tuple` ``ArgInfo(args, varargs, keywords, | |
| locals)``. | |
| .. function:: formatargspec(args[, varargs, varkw, defaults, formatarg, formatvarargs, formatvarkw, formatvalue, join]) | |
| Format a pretty argument spec from the four values returned by | |
| :func:`getargspec`. The format\* arguments are the corresponding optional | |
| formatting functions that are called to turn names and values into strings. | |
| .. function:: formatargvalues(args[, varargs, varkw, locals, formatarg, formatvarargs, formatvarkw, formatvalue, join]) | |
| Format a pretty argument spec from the four values returned by | |
| :func:`getargvalues`. The format\* arguments are the corresponding optional | |
| formatting functions that are called to turn names and values into strings. | |
| .. function:: getmro(cls) | |
| Return a tuple of class cls's base classes, including cls, in method resolution | |
| order. No class appears more than once in this tuple. Note that the method | |
| resolution order depends on cls's type. Unless a very peculiar user-defined | |
| metatype is in use, cls will be the first element of the tuple. | |
| .. function:: getcallargs(func[, *args][, **kwds]) | |
| Bind the *args* and *kwds* to the argument names of the Python function or | |
| method *func*, as if it was called with them. For bound methods, bind also the | |
| first argument (typically named ``self``) to the associated instance. A dict | |
| is returned, mapping the argument names (including the names of the ``*`` and | |
| ``**`` arguments, if any) to their values from *args* and *kwds*. In case of | |
| invoking *func* incorrectly, i.e. whenever ``func(*args, **kwds)`` would raise | |
| an exception because of incompatible signature, an exception of the same type | |
| and the same or similar message is raised. For example:: | |
| >>> from inspect import getcallargs | |
| >>> def f(a, b=1, *pos, **named): | |
| ... pass | |
| >>> getcallargs(f, 1, 2, 3) | |
| {'a': 1, 'named': {}, 'b': 2, 'pos': (3,)} | |
| >>> getcallargs(f, a=2, x=4) | |
| {'a': 2, 'named': {'x': 4}, 'b': 1, 'pos': ()} | |
| >>> getcallargs(f) | |
| Traceback (most recent call last): | |
| ... | |
| TypeError: f() takes at least 1 argument (0 given) | |
| .. versionadded:: 2.7 | |
| .. _inspect-stack: | |
| The interpreter stack | |
| --------------------- | |
| When the following functions return "frame records," each record is a tuple of | |
| six items: the frame object, the filename, the line number of the current line, | |
| the function name, a list of lines of context from the source code, and the | |
| index of the current line within that list. | |
| .. note:: | |
| Keeping references to frame objects, as found in the first element of the frame | |
| records these functions return, can cause your program to create reference | |
| cycles. Once a reference cycle has been created, the lifespan of all objects | |
| which can be accessed from the objects which form the cycle can become much | |
| longer even if Python's optional cycle detector is enabled. If such cycles must | |
| be created, it is important to ensure they are explicitly broken to avoid the | |
| delayed destruction of objects and increased memory consumption which occurs. | |
| Though the cycle detector will catch these, destruction of the frames (and local | |
| variables) can be made deterministic by removing the cycle in a | |
| :keyword:`finally` clause. This is also important if the cycle detector was | |
| disabled when Python was compiled or using :func:`gc.disable`. For example:: | |
| def handle_stackframe_without_leak(): | |
| frame = inspect.currentframe() | |
| try: | |
| # do something with the frame | |
| finally: | |
| del frame | |
| The optional *context* argument supported by most of these functions specifies | |
| the number of lines of context to return, which are centered around the current | |
| line. | |
| .. function:: getframeinfo(frame[, context]) | |
| Get information about a frame or traceback object. A 5-tuple is returned, the | |
| last five elements of the frame's frame record. | |
| .. versionchanged:: 2.6 | |
| Returns a :term:`named tuple` ``Traceback(filename, lineno, function, | |
| code_context, index)``. | |
| .. function:: getouterframes(frame[, context]) | |
| Get a list of frame records for a frame and all outer frames. These frames | |
| represent the calls that lead to the creation of *frame*. The first entry in the | |
| returned list represents *frame*; the last entry represents the outermost call | |
| on *frame*'s stack. | |
| .. function:: getinnerframes(traceback[, context]) | |
| Get a list of frame records for a traceback's frame and all inner frames. These | |
| frames represent calls made as a consequence of *frame*. The first entry in the | |
| list represents *traceback*; the last entry represents where the exception was | |
| raised. | |
| .. function:: currentframe() | |
| Return the frame object for the caller's stack frame. | |
| .. impl-detail:: | |
| This function relies on Python stack frame support in the interpreter, | |
| which isn't guaranteed to exist in all implementations of Python. If | |
| running in an implementation without Python stack frame support this | |
| function returns ``None``. | |
| .. function:: stack([context]) | |
| Return a list of frame records for the caller's stack. The first entry in the | |
| returned list represents the caller; the last entry represents the outermost | |
| call on the stack. | |
| .. function:: trace([context]) | |
| Return a list of frame records for the stack between the current frame and the | |
| frame in which an exception currently being handled was raised in. The first | |
| entry in the list represents the caller; the last entry represents where the | |
| exception was raised. | |