We have code that invokes a variable number of context managers depending on runtime parameters:
from contextlib import nested, contextmanager
@contextmanager
def my_context(arg):
print("entering", arg)
try:
yield arg
finally:
print("exiting", arg)
def my_fn(items):
with nested(*(my_context(arg) for arg in items)) as managers:
print("processing under", managers)
my_fn(range(3))
However, contextlib.nested
is deprecated since Python 2.7:
DeprecationWarning: With-statements now directly support multiple context managers
The answers to Multiple variables in Python 'with' statement indicate that contextlib.nested
has some "confusing error prone quirks", but the suggested alternative of using the multiple-manager with
statement won't work for a variable number of context managers (and also breaks backward compatibility).
Are there any alternatives to contextlib.nested
that aren't deprecated and (preferably) don't have the same bugs?
Or should I continue to use contextlib.nested
and ignore the warning? If so, should I plan for contextlib.nested
to be removed at some time in the future?
The new Python 3 contextlib.ExitStack
class was added as a replacement for contextlib.nested()
(see issue 13585).
It is coded in such a way you can use it in Python 2 directly:
import sys
from collections import deque
class ExitStack(object):
"""Context manager for dynamic management of a stack of exit callbacks
For example:
with ExitStack() as stack:
files = [stack.enter_context(open(fname)) for fname in filenames]
# All opened files will automatically be closed at the end of
# the with statement, even if attempts to open files later
# in the list raise an exception
"""
def __init__(self):
self._exit_callbacks = deque()
def pop_all(self):
"""Preserve the context stack by transferring it to a new instance"""
new_stack = type(self)()
new_stack._exit_callbacks = self._exit_callbacks
self._exit_callbacks = deque()
return new_stack
def _push_cm_exit(self, cm, cm_exit):
"""Helper to correctly register callbacks to __exit__ methods"""
def _exit_wrapper(*exc_details):
return cm_exit(cm, *exc_details)
_exit_wrapper.__self__ = cm
self.push(_exit_wrapper)
def push(self, exit):
"""Registers a callback with the standard __exit__ method signature
Can suppress exceptions the same way __exit__ methods can.
Also accepts any object with an __exit__ method (registering a call
to the method instead of the object itself)
"""
# We use an unbound method rather than a bound method to follow
# the standard lookup behaviour for special methods
_cb_type = type(exit)
try:
exit_method = _cb_type.__exit__
except AttributeError:
# Not a context manager, so assume its a callable
self._exit_callbacks.append(exit)
else:
self._push_cm_exit(exit, exit_method)
return exit # Allow use as a decorator
def callback(self, callback, *args, **kwds):
"""Registers an arbitrary callback and arguments.
Cannot suppress exceptions.
"""
def _exit_wrapper(exc_type, exc, tb):
callback(*args, **kwds)
# We changed the signature, so using @wraps is not appropriate, but
# setting __wrapped__ may still help with introspection
_exit_wrapper.__wrapped__ = callback
self.push(_exit_wrapper)
return callback # Allow use as a decorator
def enter_context(self, cm):
"""Enters the supplied context manager
If successful, also pushes its __exit__ method as a callback and
returns the result of the __enter__ method.
"""
# We look up the special methods on the type to match the with statement
_cm_type = type(cm)
_exit = _cm_type.__exit__
result = _cm_type.__enter__(cm)
self._push_cm_exit(cm, _exit)
return result
def close(self):
"""Immediately unwind the context stack"""
self.__exit__(None, None, None)
def __enter__(self):
return self
def __exit__(self, *exc_details):
# We manipulate the exception state so it behaves as though
# we were actually nesting multiple with statements
frame_exc = sys.exc_info()[1]
def _fix_exception_context(new_exc, old_exc):
while 1:
exc_context = new_exc.__context__
if exc_context in (None, frame_exc):
break
new_exc = exc_context
new_exc.__context__ = old_exc
# Callbacks are invoked in LIFO order to match the behaviour of
# nested context managers
suppressed_exc = False
while self._exit_callbacks:
cb = self._exit_callbacks.pop()
try:
if cb(*exc_details):
suppressed_exc = True
exc_details = (None, None, None)
except:
new_exc_details = sys.exc_info()
# simulate the stack of exceptions by setting the context
_fix_exception_context(new_exc_details[1], exc_details[1])
if not self._exit_callbacks:
raise
exc_details = new_exc_details
return suppressed_exc
Use this as your context manager, then add nested context managers at will:
with ExitStack() as stack:
managers = [stack.enter_context(my_context(arg)) for arg in items]
print("processing under", managers)
For your example context manager, this prints:
>>> my_fn(range(3))
('entering', 0)
('entering', 1)
('entering', 2)
('processing under', [0, 1, 2])
('exiting', 2)
('exiting', 1)
('exiting', 0)
You can also install the contextlib2
module; it includes ExitStack
as a backport.
It's a little vexing that the python3 maintainers chose to break backwards compatibility, since implementing nested
in terms of ExitStack
is pretty straightforward:
try:
from contextlib import nested # Python 2
except ImportError:
from contextlib import ExitStack, contextmanager
@contextmanager
def nested(*contexts):
"""
Reimplementation of nested in python 3.
"""
with ExitStack() as stack:
for ctx in contexts:
stack.enter_context(ctx)
yield contexts
It seems that you are supposed to use the with
statement with multiple context manager instances.
from https://pymotw.com/2/contextlib/:
In Python 2.7 and later, nested() is deprecated because the with
statement supports nesting directly.
import contextlib
@contextlib.contextmanager
def make_context(name):
print 'entering:', name
yield name
print 'exiting :', name
with make_context('A') as A, make_context('B') as B, make_context('C') as C:
print 'inside with statement:', A, B, C
import sys
import contextlib
class nodeA(object):
def __init__(self):
print( '__init__ nodeA')
def __enter__(self):
print( '__enter__ nodeA')
def __exit__(self, a, b, c):
print( '__exit__ nodeA')
class nodeB(object):
def __init__(self):
print( '__init__ nodeB')
def __enter__(self):
print( '__enter__ nodeB')
def __exit__(self, a, b, c):
print( '__exit__ nodeB')
class nodeC(object):
def __init__(self):
print( '__init__ nodeC')
def __enter__(self):
print( '__enter__ nodeC')
def __exit__(self, a, b, c):
print( '__exit__ nodeC')
print( 'Start...')
a = nodeA()
b = nodeB()
c = nodeC()
print( 'Python version: %s' % (sys.version))
if sys.version.startswith('2'):
print('Use python 2!')
with contextlib.nested(a, b, c):
print('hallo?')
if sys.version.startswith('3'):
print('Use python 3!')
with contextlib.ExitStack() as stack:
[stack.enter_context(arg) for arg in [a,b,c]]
print('...end!')