Develop Reference

Nested try/except statement for method

I wonder if it is possible to handle the exceptions raised when calling a method via a function (this is necessary as in the production code different objects are created depending on args passed) as in the following example.
Function createObj triggers the creation of an object Obj_A based off different criteria and is supposed to handle any exceptions that may occur with Obj_A.
def createObj():
try:
return Obj_A()
except:
print("Bad boy!")
Obj_A has a method that creates a nested object, in which I would like to catch exceptions and handle those at the level of createObj:
class Obj_A(object):
def __init__(self):
pass
def myFunc(self, var):
return self.Obj_B(self, var)
class Obj_B(object):
def __init__(my, self, var):
try:
1/0
except:
raise ValueError("Don't divide by zero")
Calling createObj works just fine. But calling createObj.myFunc('var') raises the ValueError("Don't divide by zero").
Of course, handling the error on a
try:
createObj().myFunc('var')
except:
print("Not what I need")
would work, but is unfortunately not desirable for this use case.
Is there a way to handle this exception on the createObj level and return Bad boy!?

You want to handle an exception with the except clause that will be raised in the future after the corresponding try statement. It's impossible, and unnatural if it's possible.
Instead, do in other way like this example.
def createObj():
def handle_exception(e):
print("Bad boy!")
return Obj_A(handle_exception)
class Obj_A(object):
def __init__(self, handle_exception):
self.handle_exception = handle_exception
def myFunc(self, var):
try:
return self.Obj_B(self, var)
except Exception as e:
self.handle_exception(e)

Use an object even though `__init__()` raises an exception?

I'm in a situation where some meager important parts of a classes __init__ method could raise an exception. In that case I want to display an error message but carry on using the instance.
A very basic example:
class something(object):
def __init__(self):
do_something_important()
raise IrrelevantException()
def do_something_useful(self):
pass
try:
that_thing = something()
except IrrelevantException:
print("Something less important failed.")
that_thing.do_something_useful()
However, the last line does not work, because that_thing is not defined. Strange thing is, I could swear I've done things like this before and it worked fine. I even thougt about ways to keep people from using such an unfinished instance, because I found out it gets created even in case of errors. Now I wanted to use that and it does not work. Hmmm...?!?
PS: something was written by myself, so I'm in control of everything.

You can accomplish this by calling object.__new__() to create the object. Then after that call __init__() to create the object.
This will execute all of the code possible.
class IrrelevantException(Exception):
"""This is not important, keep executing."""
pass
class something(object):
def __init__(self):
print("Doing important stuff.")
raise IrrelevantException()
def do_something_useful(self):
print("Now this is useful.")
that_thing = object.__new__(something) # Create the object, does not call __init__
try:
that_thing.__init__() # Now run __init__
except IrrelevantException:
print("Something less important failed.")
that_thing.do_something_useful() # And everything that __init__ could do is done.
EDIT, as #abarnert pointed out. This code does presume that __init__() is defined, but __new__() is not.
Now if it can be assumed that __new__() will not error, it can replace object.__new__() in the code.
However, if there is an error in object.__new__(), there is no way to both create the instance, and have the actions in __new__() applied to it.
This is because __new__() returns the instance, versus __init__() which manipulates the instance. (When you call something(), the default __new__() function actually calls __init__() and then quietly returns the instance.)
So the most robust version of this code would be:
class IrrelevantException(Exception):
"""This is not important, keep executing."""
pass
class something(object):
def __init__(self):
print("Doing important stuff.")
raise IrrelevantException()
def do_something_useful(self):
print("Now this is useful.")
try:
that_thing = something.__new__(something) # Create the object, does not call __init__
except IrrelevantException:
# Well, just create the object without calling cls.__new__()
that_thing = object.__new__(something)
try:
that_thing.__init__() # Now run __init__
except IrrelevantException:
print("Something less important failed.")
that_thing.do_something_useful()
So, meanwhile both of these answer the question, this latter one should also help in the (admittedly rare) case where __new__() has an error, but this does not stop do_something_useful() from working.

From a comment:
PS: something was written by myself, so I'm in control of everything.
Well, then the answer is obvious: just remove that raise IrrelevantException()
Of course your real code probably doesn't have raise IrrelevantException, but instead a call to some dangerous_function() that might raise. But that's fine; you can handle the exception the same way you do anywhere else; the fact that you're inside an __init__ method makes no difference:
class something(object):
def __init__(self):
do_something_important()
try:
do_something_dangerous()
except IrrelevantException as e:
print(f'do_something_dangerous raised {e!r}')
do_other_stuff_if_you_have_any()
That's all there is to it. There's no reason your __init__ should be raising an exception, and therefore the question of how to handle that exception never arises in the first place.
If you can't modify something, but can subclass it, then you don't need anything fancy:
class IrrelevantException(Exception):
pass
def do_something_important():
pass
class something(object):
def __init__(self):
do_something_important()
raise IrrelevantException()
def do_something_useful(self):
pass
class betterthing(something):
def __init__(self):
try:
super().__init__() # use 2.x style if you're on 2.x of course
except IrrelevantException:
pass # or log it, or whatever
# You can even do extra stuff after the exception
that_thing = betterthing()
that_thing.do_something_useful()
Now do_something_important got called, and a something instance got returns that I was able to save and call do_something_useful on, and so on. Exactly what you were looking for.
You could of course hide something behind betterthing with some clever renaming tricks:
_something = something
class something(_something):
# same code as above
… or just monkeypatch something.__init__ with a wrapper function instead of wrapping the class:
_init = something.__init__
def __init__(self):
try:
_init(self)
except IrrelevantException:
pass
something.__init__ = __init__
But, unless there's a good reason that you can't be explicit about the fact that you're adding a wrapper it, it's probably better to be explicit.

You can't have both an exception raised and a value returned (without getting hacky). If this is all code you control, then may I suggest this pattern:
class something(object):
Exception = None
def __init__(self):
...
if BadStuff:
self.Exception = IrrelevantException()
...
that_thing = something()
if that_thing.Exception:
print(that_thing.Exception)
# carry on
Note, if you are just looking for a message, then don't bother creating an Exception object, but rather just set an error code/message on self, and check for it later.

I assume that you don't have control over the "something" class, so in that case you can call the method directly, assuming that there are no elements in the class that are needed. You're passing self=None though, so it won't be able to have any access to the class's variables.
class IrrelevantException(Exception):
x = "i don't matter"
class something(object):
def __init__(self):
raise IrrelevantException()
def do_something_useful(self):
print('hi')
#this will fail
try:
that_thing = something()
except IrrelevantException:
print("Something less important failed.")
#this will run
something.do_something_useful(None)
Alternatively you can use inheritance:
class mega_something(something):
def __init__(self):
print("its alive!")
that_other_thing = mega_something()
that_other_thing.do_something_useful()
The mega_something class won't run its parent constructor unless called.

exception handling in decorator function

New to Python and I have a bunch of functions to perform various tasks on some hardware. Each function has different numbers of parameters and returns.
I want to make a kind of generic "retry" wrapper function that will catch an exception from any of my functions and do some error handling (such as retrying the task).
From what I understand I should be able to use a decorator function as a generic wrapper for each of my functions. That seems to work, but I don't seem to be able to actually get any of the exceptions from the function being called from within my decorator function.
I've looked at various examples and come up with this:
def retry(function):
def _retry(*args, **kwargs):
try:
reply = function(*args, **kwargs)
print "reply: ", reply
return reply
except PDError as msg:
print "_retry", msg
except:
print "_retry: another error"
return _retry
Then I call it using the name of one of my functions:
value = retry(pd.command_get_parameter(0x00))
It seems to call my function and return correctly, but the exceptions are never caught within my retry function. So I can't handle an error and do a retry.
I've also tried this:
from functools import wraps
def retry(function):
#wraps(function)
def _retry(*args, **kwargs):
.....
I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong, or if this is even the best way to be doing this. Does anyone have a suggestion on how to do this? I don't really want to have to make separate "retry" functions for each of my main functions.

Converting my comment to answer:
You should be using like:
def retry(function):
#wraps(function)
def _retry(*args, **kwargs):
try:
reply = function(*args, **kwargs)
print "reply: ", reply
return reply
except PDError as msg:
print "_retry", msg
except:
print "_retry: another error"
return _retry
class SomeClass(object):
#retry
def command_get_parameter(..):
return <some value>
s = SomeClass()
result = s.command_get_parameter(..) #retry(..) actually invokes this function.
Decorators take in a function, and return a decorated function. A decoration is something that is capable of doing something before the function is invoked, after it, or catch exceptions etc. If you the above syntax (#retry), the interpreter call the retry(..), passes in the function object (command_get_parameter), and replaces the function with the function returned by retry(command_get_parameter).
What's going on is somewhat similar to below steps (pseudocode):
new_command_get_parameter = retry(command_get_parameter) ##retry has this effect.
result = new_command_get_parameter(your_input)
The difference is the above two steps are done done for you by the interpreter magically -- keeping the code cleaner and readable for the eyes.
Currently you are invoking the function, and passing the result of it to retry(..) which is obviously wrong. Further it wont catch exceptions the way you want it to.
Update: If you want the retry to access the instance variable, all you have to do is let _retry use the first parameter as self. Something like:
def retry(func):
def _retry(self, *args, **kwargs):
print "Decorator printing a:", self.a
print "Decorator printing b:", self.b
try:
return func(*args, **kwargs)
except Exception as e:
print "Caught exception"
return "Grr.."
return _retry
class Temp(object):
def __init__(self, a, b):
self.a = a
self.b = b
#retry
def command(self, *args, **kwargs):
print "In command."
print "Args:", args
print "KWargs:", kwargs
raise Exception("DIE!")
t = Temp(3, 5)
print t.command(3,4,5, a=4, b=8)
Output:
Decorator printing a: 3
Decorator printing b: 5
In command.
Args: (4, 5)
KWargs: {'a': 4, 'b': 8}
Caught exception
Grr..

Do the same change (try-except) on multiple lines - python

There are ways how programmer can make programming and refactoring easier and more simple, python is very good in this area.
I'm curious whether is there a more elegant way to solve my problem than brute-force writing the same code multiple times again and again.
Situation:
I'm writing a code. There are many equal methods calling with different arguments sequentially.
For example - I have this code:
...
...
my_method(1)
my_method(2)
my_method(3)
my_method(4)
...
my_method(10)
...
So I have this code written, everything works fine but suddenly I find out that I need to make a log file so I have to put try-except on everyone of this methods so the code will look like this:
...
...
try:
my_method(3)
except Exception as e:
print_to_file(log.txt,str(e))
...
...
try:
my_method(8)
except Exception as e:
print_to_file(log.txt,str(e))
...
...
Do I have a better option than changing every my_method(x) calling and putting it into try-except clause? I know that it is a mistake of the programmer who had to think about it at the beginning but these situations happens.
EDIT: According to the answer - the code above is the simple example. In real code there are no int arguments given but dates where there is no logic there so I can't put it into the loop. Assume that the arguments can't be generated.

If you're using the logger supplied by python, you can redirect exception output to the log as opposed to have to put a ton of try blocks everywhere:
import os, sys
import logging
logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
handler = logging.StreamHandler(stream=sys.stdout)
logger.addHandler(handler)
def handle_exception(exc_type, exc_value, exc_traceback):
if issubclass(exc_type, KeyboardInterrupt):
sys.__excepthook__(exc_type, exc_value, exc_traceback)
return
logger.error("Uncaught exception", exc_info=(exc_type, exc_value, exc_traceback))
sys.excepthook = handle_exception
if __name__ == "__main__":
raise RuntimeError("Test unhandled")
Now is an exception is thrown, you won't need a try block, it will be written to the log regardless
ref

You can take advantage of the fact that a function, in python, is totally an object, and write a function that takes in another function, runs it, and logs any exceptions
def sloppyRun(func, *args, **kwargs):
"""Runs a function, catching all exceptions
and writing them to a log file."""
try:
return func(*args, **kwargs) #running function here
except:
logging.exception(func.__name__ + str(args) + str(kwargs))
#incidentally, the logging module is wonderful. I'd recommend using it.
#It'll even write the traceback to a file.
And then you can write something like
sloppyRun(my_method, 8) #note the lack of parens for my_method

You could have like a context manager or a decorator to log what you need, when you need to. if you intend to always log an exception when you use that function, I would suggest going the simple decorator rule or even a try and except inside that function. If it is functions not in your code or you dont want them to always log,then I would used a context manager (called as with ..:)
A context manager example code
import functools
class LoggerContext():
def __enter__(self):
# function that is called on enter of the with context
# we dont need this
pass
def __exit__(self, type, value, traceback):
# If there was an exception, it will be passed to the
# exit function.
# type = type of exception
# value = the string arg of the exception
# traceback object for you to extract the traceback if you need to
if traceback:
# do something with exception like log it etc
print(type, value, traceback)
# If the return value of the exit function is not True, python
# interpreter re-raises the exception. We dont want to re-raise
# the exception
return True
def __call__(self, f):
# this is just to make a context manager a decorator
# so that you could use the #context on a function
#functools.wraps(f)
def decorated(*args, **kwds):
with self:
return f(*args, **kwds)
return decorated
#LoggerContext()
def myMethod(test):
raise FileNotFoundError(test)
def myMethod2(test):
raise TypeError(test)
myMethod('asdf')
with LoggerContext():
myMethod2('asdf')
A simple decorator example:
import functools
def LoggerDecorator(f):
#functools.wraps(f)
def decorated(*args, **kwds):
try:
return f(*args, **kwds)
except Exception as e:
# do something with exception
print('Exception:', e)
return decorated
#LoggerDecorator
def myMethod3(test):
raise IOError(test)
myMethod3('asdf')

Exceptions for the whole class

I'm writing a program in Python, and nearly every method im my class is written like this:
def someMethod(self):
try:
#...
except someException:
#in case of exception, do something here
#e.g display a dialog box to inform the user
#that he has done something wrong
As the class grows, it is a little bit annoying to write the same try-except block over and over. Is it possible to create some sort of 'global' exception for the whole class? What's the recommended way in Python to deal with this?

Write one or more exception handler functions that, given a function and the exception raised in it, does what you want to do (e.g. displays an alert). If you need more than one, write them.
def message(func, e):
print "Exception", type(e).__name__, "in", func.__name__
print str(e)
Now write a decorator that applies a given handler to a called function:
import functools
def handle_with(handler, *exceptions):
try:
handler, cleanup = handler
except TypeError:
cleanup = lambda f, e: None
def decorator(func):
#functools.wraps(func)
def wrapper(*args, **kwargs):
try:
return func(*args, **kwargs)
except exceptions or Exception as e:
return handler(func, e)
else:
e = None
finally:
cleanup(func, e)
return wrapper
return decorator
This only captures the exceptions you specify. If you don't specify any, Exception is caught. Additionally, the first argument can be a tuple (or other sequence) of two handler functions; the second handler, if given, is called in a finally clause. The value returned from the primary handler is returned as the value of the function call.
Now, given the above, you can write:
#handle_with(message, TypeError, ValueError)
def add(x, y):
return x + y
You could also do this with a context manager:
from contextlib import contextmanager
#contextmanager
def handler(handler, *exceptions):
try:
handler, cleanup = handler
except TypeError:
cleanup = lambda e: None
try:
yield
except exceptions or Exception as e:
handler(e)
else:
e = None
finally:
cleanup(e)
Now you can write:
def message(e):
print "Exception", type(e).__name__
print str(e)
def add(x, y):
with handler(message, TypeError, ValueError):
return x + y
Note that the context manager doesn't know what function it's in (you can find this out, sorta, using inspect, though this is "magic" so I didn't do it) so it gives you a little less useful information. Also, the context manager doesn't give you the opportunity to return anything in your handler.

I can think of two options:
Write a decorator that can wrap each method in the try block.
Write a "dispatcher" method that calls the appropriate method inside a try block, then call that method instead of the individual ones. That is, instead of calling obj.someMethod(), obj.otherMethod, you call obj.dispatch('someMethod') or obj.dispatch('otherMethod'), where dispatch is a wrapper that contains the try block.
Your approach seems like a bit of a strange design, though. It might make more sense to have the dialog-box stuff in some other part of the code, some higher-level event loop that catches errors and displays messages about them.