cpython/Doc/library/traceback.rst

:mod:`!traceback` --- Print or retrieve a stack traceback
=========================================================

.. module:: traceback
   :synopsis: Print or retrieve a stack traceback.

**Source code:** :source:`Lib/traceback.py`

--------------

This module provides a standard interface to extract, format and print stack
traces of Python programs.  It exactly mimics the behavior of the Python
interpreter when it prints a stack trace.  This is useful when you want to print
stack traces under program control, such as in a "wrapper" around the
interpreter.

.. index:: pair: object; traceback

The module uses :ref:`traceback objects <traceback-objects>` --- these are
objects of type :class:`types.TracebackType`,
which are assigned to the :attr:`~BaseException.__traceback__` field of
:class:`BaseException` instances.

.. seealso::

   Module :mod:`faulthandler`
      Used to dump Python tracebacks explicitly, on a fault, after a timeout, or on a user signal.

   Module :mod:`pdb`
      Interactive source code debugger for Python programs.

The module defines the following functions:

.. function:: print_tb(tb, limit=None, file=None)

   Print up to *limit* stack trace entries from
   :ref:`traceback object <traceback-objects>` *tb* (starting
   from the caller's frame) if *limit* is positive.  Otherwise, print the last
   ``abs(limit)`` entries.  If *limit* is omitted or ``None``, all entries are
   printed.  If *file* is omitted or ``None``, the output goes to
   :data:`sys.stderr`; otherwise it should be an open
   :term:`file <file object>` or :term:`file-like object` to
   receive the output.

   .. note::

      The meaning of the *limit* parameter is different than the meaning
      of :const:`sys.tracebacklimit`. A negative *limit* value corresponds to
      a positive value of :const:`!sys.tracebacklimit`, whereas the behaviour of
      a positive *limit* value cannot be achieved with
      :const:`!sys.tracebacklimit`.

   .. versionchanged:: 3.5
       Added negative *limit* support.


.. function:: print_exception(exc, /[, value, tb], limit=None, \
                              file=None, chain=True)

   Print exception information and stack trace entries from
   :ref:`traceback object <traceback-objects>`
   *tb* to *file*. This differs from :func:`print_tb` in the following
   ways:

   * if *tb* is not ``None``, it prints a header ``Traceback (most recent
     call last):``

   * it prints the exception type and *value* after the stack trace

   .. index:: single: ^ (caret); marker

   * if *type(value)* is :exc:`SyntaxError` and *value* has the appropriate
     format, it prints the line where the syntax error occurred with a caret
     indicating the approximate position of the error.

   Since Python 3.10, instead of passing *value* and *tb*, an exception object
   can be passed as the first argument. If *value* and *tb* are provided, the
   first argument is ignored in order to provide backwards compatibility.

   The optional *limit* argument has the same meaning as for :func:`print_tb`.
   If *chain* is true (the default), then chained exceptions (the
   :attr:`~BaseException.__cause__` or :attr:`~BaseException.__context__`
   attributes of the exception) will be
   printed as well, like the interpreter itself does when printing an unhandled
   exception.

   .. versionchanged:: 3.5
      The *etype* argument is ignored and inferred from the type of *value*.

   .. versionchanged:: 3.10
      The *etype* parameter has been renamed to *exc* and is now
      positional-only.


.. function:: print_exc(limit=None, file=None, chain=True)

   This is a shorthand for ``print_exception(sys.exception(), limit, file,
   chain)``.


.. function:: print_last(limit=None, file=None, chain=True)

   This is a shorthand for ``print_exception(sys.last_exc, limit, file,
   chain)``.  In general it will work only after an exception has reached
   an interactive prompt (see :data:`sys.last_exc`).


.. function:: print_stack(f=None, limit=None, file=None)

   Print up to *limit* stack trace entries (starting from the invocation
   point) if *limit* is positive.  Otherwise, print the last ``abs(limit)``
   entries.  If *limit* is omitted or ``None``, all entries are printed.
   The optional *f* argument can be used to specify an alternate
   :ref:`stack frame <frame-objects>`
   to start.  The optional *file* argument has the same meaning as for
   :func:`print_tb`.

   .. versionchanged:: 3.5
          Added negative *limit* support.


.. function:: extract_tb(tb, limit=None)

   Return a :class:`StackSummary` object representing a list of "pre-processed"
   stack trace entries extracted from the
   :ref:`traceback object <traceback-objects>` *tb*.  It is useful
   for alternate formatting of stack traces.  The optional *limit* argument has
   the same meaning as for :func:`print_tb`.  A "pre-processed" stack trace
   entry is a :class:`FrameSummary` object containing attributes
   :attr:`~FrameSummary.filename`, :attr:`~FrameSummary.lineno`,
   :attr:`~FrameSummary.name`, and :attr:`~FrameSummary.line` representing the
   information that is usually printed for a stack trace.


.. function:: extract_stack(f=None, limit=None)

   Extract the raw traceback from the current
   :ref:`stack frame <frame-objects>`.  The return value has
   the same format as for :func:`extract_tb`.  The optional *f* and *limit*
   arguments have the same meaning as for :func:`print_stack`.


.. function:: format_list(extracted_list)

   Given a list of tuples or :class:`FrameSummary` objects as returned by
   :func:`extract_tb` or :func:`extract_stack`, return a list of strings ready
   for printing.  Each string in the resulting list corresponds to the item with
   the same index in the argument list.  Each string ends in a newline; the
   strings may contain internal newlines as well, for those items whose source
   text line is not ``None``.


.. function:: format_exception_only(exc, /[, value], *, show_group=False)

   Format the exception part of a traceback using an exception value such as
   given by :data:`sys.last_value`.  The return value is a list of strings, each
   ending in a newline.  The list contains the exception's message, which is
   normally a single string; however, for :exc:`SyntaxError` exceptions, it
   contains several lines that (when printed) display detailed information
   about where the syntax error occurred. Following the message, the list
   contains the exception's :attr:`notes <BaseException.__notes__>`.

   Since Python 3.10, instead of passing *value*, an exception object
   can be passed as the first argument.  If *value* is provided, the first
   argument is ignored in order to provide backwards compatibility.

   When *show_group* is ``True``, and the exception is an instance of
   :exc:`BaseExceptionGroup`, the nested exceptions are included as
   well, recursively, with indentation relative to their nesting depth.

   .. versionchanged:: 3.10
      The *etype* parameter has been renamed to *exc* and is now
      positional-only.

   .. versionchanged:: 3.11
      The returned list now includes any
      :attr:`notes <BaseException.__notes__>` attached to the exception.

   .. versionchanged:: 3.13
      *show_group* parameter was added.


.. function:: format_exception(exc, /[, value, tb], limit=None, chain=True)

   Format a stack trace and the exception information.  The arguments  have the
   same meaning as the corresponding arguments to :func:`print_exception`.  The
   return value is a list of strings, each ending in a newline and some
   containing internal newlines.  When these lines are concatenated and printed,
   exactly the same text is printed as does :func:`print_exception`.

   .. versionchanged:: 3.5
      The *etype* argument is ignored and inferred from the type of *value*.

   .. versionchanged:: 3.10
      This function's behavior and signature were modified to match
      :func:`print_exception`.


.. function:: format_exc(limit=None, chain=True)

   This is like ``print_exc(limit)`` but returns a string instead of printing to
   a file.


.. function:: format_tb(tb, limit=None)

   A shorthand for ``format_list(extract_tb(tb, limit))``.


.. function:: format_stack(f=None, limit=None)

   A shorthand for ``format_list(extract_stack(f, limit))``.

.. function:: clear_frames(tb)

   Clears the local variables of all the stack frames in a
   :ref:`traceback <traceback-objects>` *tb*
   by calling the :meth:`~frame.clear` method of each
   :ref:`frame object <frame-objects>`.

   .. versionadded:: 3.4

.. function:: walk_stack(f)

   Walk a stack following :attr:`f.f_back <frame.f_back>` from the given frame,
   yielding the frame
   and line number for each frame. If *f* is ``None``, the current stack is
   used. This helper is used with :meth:`StackSummary.extract`.

   .. versionadded:: 3.5

.. function:: walk_tb(tb)

   Walk a traceback following :attr:`~traceback.tb_next` yielding the frame and
   line number
   for each frame. This helper is used with :meth:`StackSummary.extract`.

   .. versionadded:: 3.5

The module also defines the following classes:

:class:`!TracebackException` Objects
------------------------------------

.. versionadded:: 3.5

:class:`!TracebackException` objects are created from actual exceptions to
capture data for later printing in a lightweight fashion.

.. class:: TracebackException(exc_type, exc_value, exc_traceback, *, limit=None, lookup_lines=True, capture_locals=False, compact=False, max_group_width=15, max_group_depth=10)

   Capture an exception for later rendering. *limit*, *lookup_lines* and
   *capture_locals* are as for the :class:`StackSummary` class.

   If *compact* is true, only data that is required by
   :class:`!TracebackException`'s :meth:`format` method
   is saved in the class attributes. In particular, the
   :attr:`__context__` field is calculated only if :attr:`__cause__` is
   ``None`` and :attr:`__suppress_context__` is false.

   Note that when locals are captured, they are also shown in the traceback.

   *max_group_width* and *max_group_depth* control the formatting of exception
   groups (see :exc:`BaseExceptionGroup`). The depth refers to the nesting
   level of the group, and the width refers to the size of a single exception
   group's exceptions array. The formatted output is truncated when either
   limit is exceeded.

   .. versionchanged:: 3.10
      Added the *compact* parameter.

   .. versionchanged:: 3.11
      Added the *max_group_width* and *max_group_depth* parameters.

   .. attribute:: __cause__

      A :class:`!TracebackException` of the original
      :attr:`~BaseException.__cause__`.

   .. attribute:: __context__

      A :class:`!TracebackException` of the original
      :attr:`~BaseException.__context__`.

   .. attribute:: exceptions

      If ``self`` represents an :exc:`ExceptionGroup`, this field holds a list of
      :class:`!TracebackException` instances representing the nested exceptions.
      Otherwise it is ``None``.

      .. versionadded:: 3.11

   .. attribute:: __suppress_context__

      The :attr:`~BaseException.__suppress_context__` value from the original
      exception.

   .. attribute:: __notes__

      The :attr:`~BaseException.__notes__` value from the original exception,
      or ``None``
      if the exception does not have any notes. If it is not ``None``
      is it formatted in the traceback after the exception string.

      .. versionadded:: 3.11

   .. attribute:: stack

      A :class:`StackSummary` representing the traceback.

   .. attribute:: exc_type

      The class of the original traceback.

      .. deprecated:: 3.13

   .. attribute:: exc_type_str

      String display of the class of the original exception.

      .. versionadded:: 3.13

   .. attribute:: filename

      For syntax errors - the file name where the error occurred.

   .. attribute:: lineno

      For syntax errors - the line number where the error occurred.

   .. attribute:: end_lineno

      For syntax errors - the end line number where the error occurred.
      Can be ``None`` if not present.

      .. versionadded:: 3.10

   .. attribute:: text

      For syntax errors - the text where the error occurred.

   .. attribute:: offset

      For syntax errors - the offset into the text where the error occurred.

   .. attribute:: end_offset

      For syntax errors - the end offset into the text where the error occurred.
      Can be ``None`` if not present.

      .. versionadded:: 3.10

   .. attribute:: msg

      For syntax errors - the compiler error message.

   .. classmethod:: from_exception(exc, *, limit=None, lookup_lines=True, capture_locals=False)

      Capture an exception for later rendering. *limit*, *lookup_lines* and
      *capture_locals* are as for the :class:`StackSummary` class.

      Note that when locals are captured, they are also shown in the traceback.

   .. method::  print(*, file=None, chain=True)

      Print to *file* (default ``sys.stderr``) the exception information returned by
      :meth:`format`.

      .. versionadded:: 3.11

   .. method:: format(*, chain=True)

      Format the exception.

      If *chain* is not ``True``, :attr:`__cause__` and :attr:`__context__`
      will not be formatted.

      The return value is a generator of strings, each ending in a newline and
      some containing internal newlines. :func:`~traceback.print_exception`
      is a wrapper around this method which just prints the lines to a file.

   .. method::  format_exception_only(*, show_group=False)

      Format the exception part of the traceback.

      The return value is a generator of strings, each ending in a newline.

      When *show_group* is ``False``, the generator emits the exception's
      message followed by its notes (if it has any). The exception message
      is normally a single string; however, for :exc:`SyntaxError` exceptions,
      it consists of several lines that (when printed) display detailed
      information about where the syntax error occurred.

      When *show_group* is ``True``, and the exception is an instance of
      :exc:`BaseExceptionGroup`, the nested exceptions are included as
      well, recursively, with indentation relative to their nesting depth.

      .. versionchanged:: 3.11
         The exception's :attr:`notes <BaseException.__notes__>` are now
         included in the output.

      .. versionchanged:: 3.13
         Added the *show_group* parameter.


:class:`!StackSummary` Objects
------------------------------

.. versionadded:: 3.5

:class:`!StackSummary` objects represent a call stack ready for formatting.

.. class:: StackSummary

   .. classmethod:: extract(frame_gen, *, limit=None, lookup_lines=True, capture_locals=False)

      Construct a :class:`!StackSummary` object from a frame generator (such as
      is returned by :func:`~traceback.walk_stack` or
      :func:`~traceback.walk_tb`).

      If *limit* is supplied, only this many frames are taken from *frame_gen*.
      If *lookup_lines* is ``False``, the returned :class:`FrameSummary`
      objects will not have read their lines in yet, making the cost of
      creating the :class:`!StackSummary` cheaper (which may be valuable if it
      may not actually get formatted). If *capture_locals* is ``True`` the
      local variables in each :class:`!FrameSummary` are captured as object
      representations.

      .. versionchanged:: 3.12
         Exceptions raised from :func:`repr` on a local variable (when
         *capture_locals* is ``True``) are no longer propagated to the caller.

   .. classmethod:: from_list(a_list)

      Construct a :class:`!StackSummary` object from a supplied list of
      :class:`FrameSummary` objects or old-style list of tuples.  Each tuple
      should be a 4-tuple with *filename*, *lineno*, *name*, *line* as the
      elements.

   .. method:: format()

      Returns a list of strings ready for printing.  Each string in the
      resulting list corresponds to a single :ref:`frame <frame-objects>` from
      the stack.
      Each string ends in a newline; the strings may contain internal
      newlines as well, for those items with source text lines.

      For long sequences of the same frame and line, the first few
      repetitions are shown, followed by a summary line stating the exact
      number of further repetitions.

      .. versionchanged:: 3.6
         Long sequences of repeated frames are now abbreviated.

   .. method:: format_frame_summary(frame_summary)

      Returns a string for printing one of the :ref:`frames <frame-objects>`
      involved in the stack.
      This method is called for each :class:`FrameSummary` object to be
      printed by :meth:`StackSummary.format`. If it returns ``None``, the
      frame is omitted from the output.

      .. versionadded:: 3.11


:class:`!FrameSummary` Objects
------------------------------

.. versionadded:: 3.5

A :class:`!FrameSummary` object represents a single :ref:`frame <frame-objects>`
in a :ref:`traceback <traceback-objects>`.

.. class:: FrameSummary(filename, lineno, name, lookup_line=True, locals=None, line=None)

   Represents a single :ref:`frame <frame-objects>` in the
   :ref:`traceback <traceback-objects>` or stack that is being formatted
   or printed. It may optionally have a stringified version of the frame's
   locals included in it. If *lookup_line* is ``False``, the source code is not
   looked up until the :class:`!FrameSummary` has the :attr:`~FrameSummary.line`
   attribute accessed (which also happens when casting it to a :class:`tuple`).
   :attr:`~FrameSummary.line` may be directly provided, and will prevent line
   lookups happening at all. *locals* is an optional local variable
   mapping, and if supplied the variable representations are stored in the
   summary for later display.

   :class:`!FrameSummary` instances have the following attributes:

   .. attribute:: FrameSummary.filename

      The filename of the source code for this frame. Equivalent to accessing
      :attr:`f.f_code.co_filename <codeobject.co_filename>` on a
      :ref:`frame object <frame-objects>` *f*.

   .. attribute:: FrameSummary.lineno

      The line number of the source code for this frame.

   .. attribute:: FrameSummary.name

      Equivalent to accessing :attr:`f.f_code.co_name <codeobject.co_name>` on
      a :ref:`frame object <frame-objects>` *f*.

   .. attribute:: FrameSummary.line

      A string representing the source code for this frame, with leading and
      trailing whitespace stripped.
      If the source is not available, it is ``None``.

.. _traceback-example:

Traceback Examples
------------------

This simple example implements a basic read-eval-print loop, similar to (but
less useful than) the standard Python interactive interpreter loop.  For a more
complete implementation of the interpreter loop, refer to the :mod:`code`
module. ::

   import sys, traceback

   def run_user_code(envdir):
       source = input(">>> ")
       try:
           exec(source, envdir)
       except Exception:
           print("Exception in user code:")
           print("-"*60)
           traceback.print_exc(file=sys.stdout)
           print("-"*60)

   envdir = {}
   while True:
       run_user_code(envdir)


The following example demonstrates the different ways to print and format the
exception and traceback:

.. testcode::

   import sys, traceback

   def lumberjack():
       bright_side_of_life()

   def bright_side_of_life():
       return tuple()[0]

   try:
       lumberjack()
   except IndexError:
       exc = sys.exception()
       print("*** print_tb:")
       traceback.print_tb(exc.__traceback__, limit=1, file=sys.stdout)
       print("*** print_exception:")
       traceback.print_exception(exc, limit=2, file=sys.stdout)
       print("*** print_exc:")
       traceback.print_exc(limit=2, file=sys.stdout)
       print("*** format_exc, first and last line:")
       formatted_lines = traceback.format_exc().splitlines()
       print(formatted_lines[0])
       print(formatted_lines[-1])
       print("*** format_exception:")
       print(repr(traceback.format_exception(exc)))
       print("*** extract_tb:")
       print(repr(traceback.extract_tb(exc.__traceback__)))
       print("*** format_tb:")
       print(repr(traceback.format_tb(exc.__traceback__)))
       print("*** tb_lineno:", exc.__traceback__.tb_lineno)

The output for the example would look similar to this:

.. testoutput::
   :options: +NORMALIZE_WHITESPACE

   *** print_tb:
     File "<doctest...>", line 10, in <module>
       lumberjack()
       ~~~~~~~~~~^^
   *** print_exception:
   Traceback (most recent call last):
     File "<doctest...>", line 10, in <module>
       lumberjack()
       ~~~~~~~~~~^^
     File "<doctest...>", line 4, in lumberjack
       bright_side_of_life()
       ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~^^
   IndexError: tuple index out of range
   *** print_exc:
   Traceback (most recent call last):
     File "<doctest...>", line 10, in <module>
       lumberjack()
       ~~~~~~~~~~^^
     File "<doctest...>", line 4, in lumberjack
       bright_side_of_life()
       ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~^^
   IndexError: tuple index out of range
   *** format_exc, first and last line:
   Traceback (most recent call last):
   IndexError: tuple index out of range
   *** format_exception:
   ['Traceback (most recent call last):\n',
    '  File "<doctest default[0]>", line 10, in <module>\n    lumberjack()\n    ~~~~~~~~~~^^\n',
    '  File "<doctest default[0]>", line 4, in lumberjack\n    bright_side_of_life()\n    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~^^\n',
    '  File "<doctest default[0]>", line 7, in bright_side_of_life\n    return tuple()[0]\n           ~~~~~~~^^^\n',
    'IndexError: tuple index out of range\n']
   *** extract_tb:
   [<FrameSummary file <doctest...>, line 10 in <module>>,
    <FrameSummary file <doctest...>, line 4 in lumberjack>,
    <FrameSummary file <doctest...>, line 7 in bright_side_of_life>]
   *** format_tb:
   ['  File "<doctest default[0]>", line 10, in <module>\n    lumberjack()\n    ~~~~~~~~~~^^\n',
    '  File "<doctest default[0]>", line 4, in lumberjack\n    bright_side_of_life()\n    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~^^\n',
    '  File "<doctest default[0]>", line 7, in bright_side_of_life\n    return tuple()[0]\n           ~~~~~~~^^^\n']
   *** tb_lineno: 10


The following example shows the different ways to print and format the stack::

   >>> import traceback
   >>> def another_function():
   ...     lumberstack()
   ...
   >>> def lumberstack():
   ...     traceback.print_stack()
   ...     print(repr(traceback.extract_stack()))
   ...     print(repr(traceback.format_stack()))
   ...
   >>> another_function()
     File "<doctest>", line 10, in <module>
       another_function()
     File "<doctest>", line 3, in another_function
       lumberstack()
     File "<doctest>", line 6, in lumberstack
       traceback.print_stack()
   [('<doctest>', 10, '<module>', 'another_function()'),
    ('<doctest>', 3, 'another_function', 'lumberstack()'),
    ('<doctest>', 7, 'lumberstack', 'print(repr(traceback.extract_stack()))')]
   ['  File "<doctest>", line 10, in <module>\n    another_function()\n',
    '  File "<doctest>", line 3, in another_function\n    lumberstack()\n',
    '  File "<doctest>", line 8, in lumberstack\n    print(repr(traceback.format_stack()))\n']


This last example demonstrates the final few formatting functions:

.. doctest::
   :options: +NORMALIZE_WHITESPACE

   >>> import traceback
   >>> traceback.format_list([('spam.py', 3, '<module>', 'spam.eggs()'),
   ...                        ('eggs.py', 42, 'eggs', 'return "bacon"')])
   ['  File "spam.py", line 3, in <module>\n    spam.eggs()\n',
    '  File "eggs.py", line 42, in eggs\n    return "bacon"\n']
   >>> an_error = IndexError('tuple index out of range')
   >>> traceback.format_exception_only(type(an_error), an_error)
   ['IndexError: tuple index out of range\n']