Exception context
-----------------
-When raising (or re-raising) an exception in an :keyword:`except` or
-:keyword:`finally` clause
-:attr:`__context__` is automatically set to the last exception caught; if the
-new exception is not handled the traceback that is eventually displayed will
-include the originating exception(s) and the final exception.
-
-When raising a new exception (rather than using a bare ``raise`` to re-raise
-the exception currently being handled), the implicit exception context can be
-supplemented with an explicit cause by using :keyword:`from<raise>` with
+When raising a new exception while another exception
+is already being handled, the new exception's
+:attr:`__context__` attribute is automatically set to the handled
+exception. An exception may be handled when an :keyword:`except` or
+:keyword:`finally` clause, or a :keyword:`with` statement, is used.
+
+This implicit exception context can be
+supplemented with an explicit cause by using :keyword:`!from` with
:keyword:`raise`::
raise new_exc from original_exc
.. productionlist:: python-grammar
raise_stmt: "raise" [`expression` ["from" `expression`]]
-If no expressions are present, :keyword:`raise` re-raises the last exception
-that was active in the current scope. If no exception is active in the current
-scope, a :exc:`RuntimeError` exception is raised indicating that this is an
-error.
+If no expressions are present, :keyword:`raise` re-raises the
+exception that is currently being handled, which is also known as the *active exception*.
+If there isn't currently an active exception, a :exc:`RuntimeError` exception is raised
+indicating that this is an error.
Otherwise, :keyword:`raise` evaluates the first expression as the exception
object. It must be either a subclass or an instance of :class:`BaseException`.
A traceback object is normally created automatically when an exception is raised
and attached to it as the :attr:`__traceback__` attribute, which is writable.
You can create an exception and set your own traceback in one step using the
-:meth:`with_traceback` exception method (which returns the same exception
-instance, with its traceback set to its argument), like so::
+:meth:`~BaseException.with_traceback` exception method (which returns the
+same exception instance, with its traceback set to its argument), like so::
raise Exception("foo occurred").with_traceback(tracebackobj)
File "<stdin>", line 4, in <module>
RuntimeError: Something bad happened
-A similar mechanism works implicitly if an exception is raised inside an
-exception handler or a :keyword:`finally` clause: the previous exception is then
+A similar mechanism works implicitly if a new exception is raised when
+an exception is already being handled. An exception may be handled
+when an :keyword:`except` or :keyword:`finally` clause, or a
+:keyword:`with` statement, is used. The previous exception is then
attached as the new exception's :attr:`__context__` attribute::
>>> try:
except:
raise OSError()
except OSError as e:
- self.assertEqual(e.__context__, context)
+ self.assertIs(e.__context__, context)
else:
self.fail("No exception raised")
except:
raise OSError()
except OSError as e:
- self.assertNotEqual(e.__context__, context)
+ self.assertIsNot(e.__context__, context)
self.assertIsInstance(e.__context__, context)
else:
self.fail("No exception raised")
except:
raise OSError
except OSError as e:
- self.assertNotEqual(e.__context__, context)
+ self.assertIsNot(e.__context__, context)
self.assertIsInstance(e.__context__, context)
else:
self.fail("No exception raised")
except NameError as e:
self.assertIsNone(e.__context__.__context__)
+ def test_not_last(self):
+ # Context is not necessarily the last exception
+ context = Exception("context")
+ try:
+ raise context
+ except Exception:
+ try:
+ raise Exception("caught")
+ except Exception:
+ pass
+ try:
+ raise Exception("new")
+ except Exception as exc:
+ raised = exc
+ self.assertIs(raised.__context__, context)
+
def test_3118(self):
# deleting the generator caused the __context__ to be cleared
def gen():