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1:mod:`trace` --- Trace or track Python statement execution
2==========================================================
3
4.. module:: trace
5   :synopsis: Trace or track Python statement execution.
6
7**Source code:** :source:`Lib/trace.py`
8
9--------------
10
11The :mod:`trace` module allows you to trace program execution, generate
12annotated statement coverage listings, print caller/callee relationships and
13list functions executed during a program run.  It can be used in another program
14or from the command line.
15
16.. seealso::
17
18   `Coverage.py <https://coverage.readthedocs.io/>`_
19      A popular third-party coverage tool that provides HTML
20      output along with advanced features such as branch coverage.
21
22.. _trace-cli:
23
24Command-Line Usage
25------------------
26
27The :mod:`trace` module can be invoked from the command line.  It can be as
28simple as ::
29
30   python -m trace --count -C . somefile.py ...
31
32The above will execute :file:`somefile.py` and generate annotated listings of
33all Python modules imported during the execution into the current directory.
34
35.. program:: trace
36
37.. cmdoption:: --help
38
39   Display usage and exit.
40
41.. cmdoption:: --version
42
43   Display the version of the module and exit.
44
45Main options
46^^^^^^^^^^^^
47
48At least one of the following options must be specified when invoking
49:mod:`trace`.  The :option:`--listfuncs <-l>` option is mutually exclusive with
50the :option:`--trace <-t>` and :option:`--count <-c>` options. When
51:option:`--listfuncs <-l>` is provided, neither :option:`--count <-c>` nor
52:option:`--trace <-t>` are accepted, and vice versa.
53
54.. program:: trace
55
56.. cmdoption:: -c, --count
57
58   Produce a set of annotated listing files upon program completion that shows
59   how many times each statement was executed.  See also
60   :option:`--coverdir <-C>`, :option:`--file <-f>` and
61   :option:`--no-report <-R>` below.
62
63.. cmdoption:: -t, --trace
64
65   Display lines as they are executed.
66
67.. cmdoption:: -l, --listfuncs
68
69   Display the functions executed by running the program.
70
71.. cmdoption:: -r, --report
72
73   Produce an annotated list from an earlier program run that used the
74   :option:`--count <-c>` and :option:`--file <-f>` option.  This does not
75   execute any code.
76
77.. cmdoption:: -T, --trackcalls
78
79   Display the calling relationships exposed by running the program.
80
81Modifiers
82^^^^^^^^^
83
84.. program:: trace
85
86.. cmdoption:: -f, --file=<file>
87
88   Name of a file to accumulate counts over several tracing runs.  Should be
89   used with the :option:`--count <-c>` option.
90
91.. cmdoption:: -C, --coverdir=<dir>
92
93   Directory where the report files go.  The coverage report for
94   ``package.module`` is written to file :file:`{dir}/{package}/{module}.cover`.
95
96.. cmdoption:: -m, --missing
97
98   When generating annotated listings, mark lines which were not executed with
99   ``>>>>>>``.
100
101.. cmdoption:: -s, --summary
102
103   When using :option:`--count <-c>` or :option:`--report <-r>`, write a brief
104   summary to stdout for each file processed.
105
106.. cmdoption:: -R, --no-report
107
108   Do not generate annotated listings.  This is useful if you intend to make
109   several runs with :option:`--count <-c>`, and then produce a single set of
110   annotated listings at the end.
111
112.. cmdoption:: -g, --timing
113
114   Prefix each line with the time since the program started.  Only used while
115   tracing.
116
117Filters
118^^^^^^^
119
120These options may be repeated multiple times.
121
122.. program:: trace
123
124.. cmdoption:: --ignore-module=<mod>
125
126   Ignore each of the given module names and its submodules (if it is a
127   package).  The argument can be a list of names separated by a comma.
128
129.. cmdoption:: --ignore-dir=<dir>
130
131   Ignore all modules and packages in the named directory and subdirectories.
132   The argument can be a list of directories separated by :data:`os.pathsep`.
133
134.. _trace-api:
135
136Programmatic Interface
137----------------------
138
139.. class:: Trace(count=1, trace=1, countfuncs=0, countcallers=0, ignoremods=(),\
140                 ignoredirs=(), infile=None, outfile=None, timing=False)
141
142   Create an object to trace execution of a single statement or expression.  All
143   parameters are optional.  *count* enables counting of line numbers.  *trace*
144   enables line execution tracing.  *countfuncs* enables listing of the
145   functions called during the run.  *countcallers* enables call relationship
146   tracking.  *ignoremods* is a list of modules or packages to ignore.
147   *ignoredirs* is a list of directories whose modules or packages should be
148   ignored.  *infile* is the name of the file from which to read stored count
149   information.  *outfile* is the name of the file in which to write updated
150   count information.  *timing* enables a timestamp relative to when tracing was
151   started to be displayed.
152
153    .. method:: run(cmd)
154
155       Execute the command and gather statistics from the execution with
156       the current tracing parameters.  *cmd* must be a string or code object,
157       suitable for passing into :func:`exec`.
158
159    .. method:: runctx(cmd, globals=None, locals=None)
160
161       Execute the command and gather statistics from the execution with the
162       current tracing parameters, in the defined global and local
163       environments.  If not defined, *globals* and *locals* default to empty
164       dictionaries.
165
166    .. method:: runfunc(func, *args, **kwds)
167
168       Call *func* with the given arguments under control of the :class:`Trace`
169       object with the current tracing parameters.
170
171    .. method:: results()
172
173       Return a :class:`CoverageResults` object that contains the cumulative
174       results of all previous calls to ``run``, ``runctx`` and ``runfunc``
175       for the given :class:`Trace` instance.  Does not reset the accumulated
176       trace results.
177
178.. class:: CoverageResults
179
180   A container for coverage results, created by :meth:`Trace.results`.  Should
181   not be created directly by the user.
182
183    .. method:: update(other)
184
185       Merge in data from another :class:`CoverageResults` object.
186
187    .. method:: write_results(show_missing=True, summary=False, coverdir=None)
188
189       Write coverage results.  Set *show_missing* to show lines that had no
190       hits.  Set *summary* to include in the output the coverage summary per
191       module.  *coverdir* specifies the directory into which the coverage
192       result files will be output.  If ``None``, the results for each source
193       file are placed in its directory.
194
195A simple example demonstrating the use of the programmatic interface::
196
197   import sys
198   import trace
199
200   # create a Trace object, telling it what to ignore, and whether to
201   # do tracing or line-counting or both.
202   tracer = trace.Trace(
203       ignoredirs=[sys.prefix, sys.exec_prefix],
204       trace=0,
205       count=1)
206
207   # run the new command using the given tracer
208   tracer.run('main()')
209
210   # make a report, placing output in the current directory
211   r = tracer.results()
212   r.write_results(show_missing=True, coverdir=".")
213
214