Issue #6644: Fix compile error on AIX.

[python.git] / Doc / library / inspect.rst

: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

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      | built-in 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, mtype)``,
   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 *mtype* is an integer giving the type of the
   module.  *mtype* 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.


.. function:: ismethod(object)

   Return true if the object is a method.


.. function:: isfunction(object)

   Return true if the object is a Python function or unnamed (:term:`lambda`) function.

.. 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.


.. 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`
   or :func:`isclass` or :func:`isfunction` 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 :attr:`__get__` attribute
   but not a :attr:`__set__` attribute, but beyond that the set of attributes
   varies.  :attr:`__name__` 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:`__get__` and a :attr:`__set__` attribute.
   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:`__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.

   getsets are attributes defined in extension modules via ``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.

   Member descriptors are attributes defined in extension modules via
   ``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.  Any whitespace that can be uniformly removed from the second line
   onwards is 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 function's arguments. A tuple of four
   things is returned: ``(args, varargs, varkw, defaults)``. *args* is a list of
   the argument names (it may contain nested lists). *varargs* and *varkw* 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, varkw, locals)``. *args* is a list of the
   argument names (it may contain nested lists). *varargs* and *varkw* 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.


.. _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.


.. 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.