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diff --git a/Doc/library/faulthandler.rst b/Doc/library/faulthandler.rst new file mode 100644 index 0000000..3c33621 --- /dev/null +++ b/Doc/library/faulthandler.rst @@ -0,0 +1,136 @@ +:mod:`faulthandler` --- Dump the Python traceback +================================================= + +.. module:: faulthandler + :synopsis: Dump the Python traceback. + +This module contains functions to dump Python tracebacks explicitly, on a fault, +after a timeout, or on a user signal. Call :func:`faulthandler.enable` to +install fault handlers for the :const:`SIGSEGV`, :const:`SIGFPE`, +:const:`SIGABRT`, :const:`SIGBUS`, and :const:`SIGILL` signals. You can also +enable them at startup by setting the :envvar:`PYTHONFAULTHANDLER` environment +variable or by using :option:`-X` ``faulthandler`` command line option. + +The fault handler is compatible with system fault handlers like Apport or the +Windows fault handler. The module uses an alternative stack for signal handlers +if the :c:func:`sigaltstack` function is available. This allows it to dump the +traceback even on a stack overflow. + +The fault handler is called on catastrophic cases and therefore can only use +signal-safe functions (e.g. it cannot allocate memory on the heap). Because of +this limitation traceback dumping is minimal compared to normal Python +tracebacks: + +* Only ASCII is supported. The ``backslashreplace`` error handler is used on + encoding. +* Each string is limited to 500 characters. +* Only the filename, the function name and the line number are + displayed. (no source code) +* It is limited to 100 frames and 100 threads. + +By default, the Python traceback is written to :data:`sys.stderr`. To see +tracebacks, applications must be run in the terminal. A log file can +alternatively be passed to :func:`faulthandler.enable`. + +The module is implemented in C, so tracebacks can be dumped on a crash or when +Python is deadlocked. + +.. versionadded:: 3.3 + + +Dump the traceback +------------------ + +.. function:: dump_traceback(file=sys.stderr, all_threads=True) + + Dump the tracebacks of all threads into *file*. If *all_threads* is + ``False``, dump only the current thread. + + +Fault handler state +------------------- + +.. function:: enable(file=sys.stderr, all_threads=True) + + Enable the fault handler: install handlers for the :const:`SIGSEGV`, + :const:`SIGFPE`, :const:`SIGABRT`, :const:`SIGBUS` and :const:`SIGILL` + signals to dump the Python traceback. If *all_threads* is ``True``, + produce tracebacks for every running thread. Otherwise, dump only the current + thread. + +.. function:: disable() + + Disable the fault handler: uninstall the signal handlers installed by + :func:`enable`. + +.. function:: is_enabled() + + Check if the fault handler is enabled. + + +Dump the tracebacks after a timeout +----------------------------------- + +.. function:: dump_traceback_later(timeout, repeat=False, file=sys.stderr, exit=False) + + Dump the tracebacks of all threads, after a timeout of *timeout* seconds, or + every *timeout* seconds if *repeat* is ``True``. If *exit* is ``True``, call + :c:func:`_exit` with status=1 after dumping the tracebacks. (Note + :c:func:`_exit` exits the process immediately, which means it doesn't do any + cleanup like flushing file buffers.) If the function is called twice, the new + call replaces previous parameters and resets the timeout. The timer has a + sub-second resolution. + + This function is implemented using a watchdog thread and therefore is not + available if Python is compiled with threads disabled. + +.. function:: cancel_dump_traceback_later() + + Cancel the last call to :func:`dump_traceback_later`. + + +Dump the traceback on a user signal +----------------------------------- + +.. function:: register(signum, file=sys.stderr, all_threads=True, chain=False) + + Register a user signal: install a handler for the *signum* signal to dump + the traceback of all threads, or of the current thread if *all_threads* is + ``False``, into *file*. Call the previous handler if chain is ``True``. + + Not available on Windows. + +.. function:: unregister(signum) + + Unregister a user signal: uninstall the handler of the *signum* signal + installed by :func:`register`. Return ``True`` if the signal was registered, + ``False`` otherwise. + + Not available on Windows. + + +File descriptor issue +--------------------- + +:func:`enable`, :func:`dump_traceback_later` and :func:`register` keep the +file descriptor of their *file* argument. If the file is closed and its file +descriptor is reused by a new file, or if :func:`os.dup2` is used to replace +the file descriptor, the traceback will be written into a different file. Call +these functions again each time that the file is replaced. + + +Example +------- + +Example of a segmentation fault on Linux: :: + + $ python -q -X faulthandler + >>> import ctypes + >>> ctypes.string_at(0) + Fatal Python error: Segmentation fault + + Current thread 0x00007fb899f39700: + File "/home/python/cpython/Lib/ctypes/__init__.py", line 486 in string_at + File "<stdin>", line 1 in <module> + Segmentation fault + |