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1:mod:`atexit` --- Exit handlers
2===============================
3
4.. module:: atexit
5   :synopsis: Register and execute cleanup functions.
6.. moduleauthor:: Skip Montanaro <skip@pobox.com>
7.. sectionauthor:: Skip Montanaro <skip@pobox.com>
8
9
10.. versionadded:: 2.0
11
12**Source code:** :source:`Lib/atexit.py`
13
14--------------
15
16The :mod:`atexit` module defines a single function to register cleanup
17functions.  Functions thus registered are automatically executed upon normal
18interpreter termination.  :mod:`atexit` runs these functions in the *reverse*
19order in which they were registered; if you register ``A``, ``B``, and ``C``,
20at interpreter termination time they will be run in the order ``C``, ``B``,
21``A``.
22
23**Note:** The functions registered via this module are not called when the
24program is killed by a signal not handled by Python, when a Python fatal
25internal error is detected, or when :func:`os._exit` is called.
26
27.. index:: single: exitfunc (in sys)
28
29This is an alternate interface to the functionality provided by the
30:func:`sys.exitfunc` variable.
31
32Note: This module is unlikely to work correctly when used with other code that
33sets ``sys.exitfunc``.  In particular, other core Python modules are free to use
34:mod:`atexit` without the programmer's knowledge.  Authors who use
35``sys.exitfunc`` should convert their code to use :mod:`atexit` instead.  The
36simplest way to convert code that sets ``sys.exitfunc`` is to import
37:mod:`atexit` and register the function that had been bound to ``sys.exitfunc``.
38
39
40.. function:: register(func[, *args[, **kwargs]])
41
42   Register *func* as a function to be executed at termination.  Any optional
43   arguments that are to be passed to *func* must be passed as arguments to
44   :func:`register`.  It is possible to register the same function and arguments
45   more than once.
46
47   At normal program termination (for instance, if :func:`sys.exit` is called or
48   the main module's execution completes), all functions registered are called in
49   last in, first out order.  The assumption is that lower level modules will
50   normally be imported before higher level modules and thus must be cleaned up
51   later.
52
53   If an exception is raised during execution of the exit handlers, a traceback is
54   printed (unless :exc:`SystemExit` is raised) and the exception information is
55   saved.  After all exit handlers have had a chance to run the last exception to
56   be raised is re-raised.
57
58   .. versionchanged:: 2.6
59      This function now returns *func*, which makes it possible to use it as a
60      decorator.
61
62
63.. seealso::
64
65   Module :mod:`readline`
66      Useful example of :mod:`atexit` to read and write :mod:`readline` history files.
67
68
69.. _atexit-example:
70
71:mod:`atexit` Example
72---------------------
73
74The following simple example demonstrates how a module can initialize a counter
75from a file when it is imported and save the counter's updated value
76automatically when the program terminates without relying on the application
77making an explicit call into this module at termination. ::
78
79   try:
80       _count = int(open("counter").read())
81   except IOError:
82       _count = 0
83
84   def incrcounter(n):
85       global _count
86       _count = _count + n
87
88   def savecounter():
89       open("counter", "w").write("%d" % _count)
90
91   import atexit
92   atexit.register(savecounter)
93
94Positional and keyword arguments may also be passed to :func:`register` to be
95passed along to the registered function when it is called::
96
97   def goodbye(name, adjective):
98       print 'Goodbye, %s, it was %s to meet you.' % (name, adjective)
99
100   import atexit
101   atexit.register(goodbye, 'Donny', 'nice')
102
103   # or:
104   atexit.register(goodbye, adjective='nice', name='Donny')
105
106Usage as a :term:`decorator`::
107
108   import atexit
109
110   @atexit.register
111   def goodbye():
112       print "You are now leaving the Python sector."
113
114This only works with functions that can be called without arguments.
115