Issue #17911: traceback module overhaul

Provide a way to seed the linecache for a PEP-302 module without actually
loading the code.

Provide a new object API for traceback, including the ability to not lookup
lines at all until the traceback is actually rendered, without any trace of the
original objects being kept alive.

Doc/library/linecache.rst

@@ -43,6 +43,14 @@ The :mod:`linecache` module defines the following functions:
    changed on disk, and you require the updated version.  If *filename* is omitted,
    it will check all the entries in the cache.
 
+.. function:: lazycache(filename, module_globals)
+
+   Capture enough detail about a non-file based module to permit getting its
+   lines later via :func:`getline` even if *module_globals* is None in the later
+   call. This avoids doing I/O until a line is actually needed, without having
+   to carry the module globals around indefinitely.
+
+   .. versionadded:: 3.5
 
 Example::
 

Doc/library/traceback.rst

@@ -136,6 +136,130 @@ The module defines the following functions:
 
    .. versionadded:: 3.4
 
+.. function:: walk_stack(f)
+
+   Walk a stack following f.f_back from the given frame, yielding the frame and
+   line number for each frame. If f is None, the current stack is used.
+   This helper is used with *Stack.extract*.
+
+   .. versionadded:: 3.5
+
+.. function:: walk_tb(tb)
+
+   Walk a traceback following tb_next yielding the frame and line number for
+   each frame. This helper is used with *Stack.extract*.
+
+   .. versionadded:: 3.5
+
+The module also defines the following classes:
+
+:class:`TracebackException` Objects
+-----------------------------------
+
+:class:`.TracebackException` objects are created from actual exceptions to
+capture data for later printing in a lightweight fashion.
+
+.. class:: TracebackException(exc_type, exc_value, exc_traceback, limit=None, lookup_lines=True)
+
+   Capture an exception for later rendering. limit, lookup_lines are as for
+   the :class:`.StackSummary` class.
+
+   .. versionadded:: 3.5
+
+.. classmethod:: `.from_exception`(exc, limit=None, lookup_lines=True)
+
+   Capture an exception for later rendering. limit and lookup_lines
+   are as for the :class:`.StackSummary` class.
+
+   .. versionadded:: 3.5
+
+.. attribute:: `.__cause__` A TracebackException of the original *__cause__*.
+
+.. attribute:: `.__context__` A TracebackException of the original *__context__*.
+.. attribute:: `.__suppress_context__` The *__suppress_context__* value from the
+               original exception.
+.. attribute:: `.stack` A `StackSummary` representing the traceback.
+.. attribute:: `.exc_type` The class of the original traceback.
+.. attribute:: `.filename` For syntax errors - the filename where the error
+               occured.
+.. attribute:: `.lineno` For syntax errors - the linenumber where the error
+               occured.
+.. attribute:: `.text` For syntax errors - the text where the error
+               occured.
+.. attribute:: `.offset` For syntax errors - the offset into the text where the
+               error occured.
+.. attribute:: `.msg` For syntax errors - the compiler error message.
+
+.. method::  TracebackException.format(chain=True)
+
+    Format the exception.
+
+    If chain is not *True*, *__cause__* and *__context__* will not be formatted.
+
+    The return value is a generator of strings, each ending in a newline and
+    some containing internal newlines. `print_exception` is a wrapper around
+    this method which just prints the lines to a file.
+
+    The message indicating which exception occurred is always the last
+    string in the output.
+
+   .. versionadded:: 3.5
+
+.. method::  TracebackException.format_exception_only()
+
+    Format the exception part of the traceback.
+
+    The return value is a generator of strings, each ending in a newline.
+
+    Normally, the generator emits a single string; however, for
+    SyntaxError exceptions, it emites several lines that (when
+    printed) display detailed information about where the syntax
+    error occurred.
+
+    The message indicating which exception occurred is always the last
+    string in the output.
+
+   .. versionadded:: 3.5
+
+
+:class:`StackSummary` Objects
+-----------------------------
+
+:class:`.StackSummary` objects represent a call stack ready for formatting.
+
+.. classmethod:: StackSummary.extract(frame_gen, limit=None, lookup_lines=True)
+
+   Construct a StackSummary object from a frame generator (such as is returned by
+   `walk_stack` or `walk_tb`.
+
+   If limit is supplied, only this many frames are taken from frame_gen.
+   If lookup_lines is False, the returned FrameSummary objects will not have read
+   their lines in yet, making the cost of creating the StackSummary cheaper (which
+   may be valuable if it may not actually get formatted).
+
+   .. versionadded:: 3.5
+
+.. classmethod:: StackSummary.from_list(a_list)
+
+   Construct a StackSummary object from a supplied old-style list of tuples. Each
+   tuple should be a 4-tuple with filename, lineno, name, line as the elements.
+
+   .. versionadded:: 3.5
+
+:class:`FrameSummary` Objects
+-----------------------------
+
+FrameSummary objects represent a single frame in a traceback.
+
+.. class:: FrameSummary(filename, lineno, name, lookup_line=True, locals=None, line=None)
+   :noindex:
+
+   Represent a single frame in the traceback or stack that is being formatted
+   or printed. It may optionally have a stringified version of the frames
+   locals included in it. If *lookup_line* is False, the source code is not
+   looked up until the FrameSummary has the :attr:`line` attribute accessed (which
+   also happens when casting it to a tuple). Line may be directly provided, and
+   will prevent line lookups happening at all.
 
 .. _traceback-example:
 

Lib/linecache.py

@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ is not found, it will look down the module search path for a file by
 that name.
 """
 
+import functools
 import sys
 import os
 import tokenize
@@ -21,7 +22,9 @@ def getline(filename, lineno, module_globals=None):
 
 # The cache
 
-cache = {} # The cache
+# The cache. Maps filenames to either a thunk which will provide source code,
+# or a tuple (size, mtime, lines, fullname) once loaded.
+cache = {}
 
 
 def clearcache():
@@ -36,6 +39,9 @@ def getlines(filename, module_globals=None):
     Update the cache if it doesn't contain an entry for this file already."""
 
     if filename in cache:
+        entry = cache[filename]
+        if len(entry) == 1:
+            return updatecache(filename, module_globals)
         return cache[filename][2]
     else:
         return updatecache(filename, module_globals)
@@ -54,7 +60,11 @@ def checkcache(filename=None):
             return
 
     for filename in filenames:
-        size, mtime, lines, fullname = cache[filename]
+        entry = cache[filename]
+        if len(entry) == 1:
+            # lazy cache entry, leave it lazy.
+            continue
+        size, mtime, lines, fullname = entry
         if mtime is None:
             continue   # no-op for files loaded via a __loader__
         try:
@@ -72,7 +82,8 @@ def updatecache(filename, module_globals=None):
     and return an empty list."""
 
     if filename in cache:
-        del cache[filename]
+        if len(cache[filename]) != 1:
+            del cache[filename]
     if not filename or (filename.startswith('<') and filename.endswith('>')):
         return []
 
@@ -82,27 +93,23 @@ def updatecache(filename, module_globals=None):
     except OSError:
         basename = filename
 
-        # Try for a __loader__, if available
-        if module_globals and '__loader__' in module_globals:
-            name = module_globals.get('__name__')
-            loader = module_globals['__loader__']
-            get_source = getattr(loader, 'get_source', None)
-
-            if name and get_source:
-                try:
-                    data = get_source(name)
-                except (ImportError, OSError):
-                    pass
-                else:
-                    if data is None:
-                        # No luck, the PEP302 loader cannot find the source
-                        # for this module.
-                        return []
-                    cache[filename] = (
-                        len(data), None,
-                        [line+'\n' for line in data.splitlines()], fullname
-                    )
-                    return cache[filename][2]
+        # Realise a lazy loader based lookup if there is one
+        # otherwise try to lookup right now.
+        if lazycache(filename, module_globals):
+            try:
+                data = cache[filename][0]()
+            except (ImportError, OSError):
+                pass
+            else:
+                if data is None:
+                    # No luck, the PEP302 loader cannot find the source
+                    # for this module.
+                    return []
+                cache[filename] = (
+                    len(data), None,
+                    [line+'\n' for line in data.splitlines()], fullname
+                )
+                return cache[filename][2]
 
         # Try looking through the module search path, which is only useful
         # when handling a relative filename.
@@ -132,3 +139,36 @@ def updatecache(filename, module_globals=None):
     size, mtime = stat.st_size, stat.st_mtime
     cache[filename] = size, mtime, lines, fullname
     return lines
+
+
+def lazycache(filename, module_globals):
+    """Seed the cache for filename with module_globals.
+
+    The module loader will be asked for the source only when getlines is
+    called, not immediately.
+
+    If there is an entry in the cache already, it is not altered.
+
+    :return: True if a lazy load is registered in the cache,
+        otherwise False. To register such a load a module loader with a
+        get_source method must be found, the filename must be a cachable
+        filename, and the filename must not be already cached.
+    """
+    if filename in cache:
+        if len(cache[filename]) == 1:
+            return True
+        else:
+            return False
+    if not filename or (filename.startswith('<') and filename.endswith('>')):
+        return False
+    # Try for a __loader__, if available
+    if module_globals and '__loader__' in module_globals:
+        name = module_globals.get('__name__')
+        loader = module_globals['__loader__']
+        get_source = getattr(loader, 'get_source', None)
+
+        if name and get_source:
+            get_lines = functools.partial(get_source, name)
+            cache[filename] = (get_lines,)
+            return True
+    return False

Lib/test/test_linecache.py

@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ from test import support
 
 
 FILENAME = linecache.__file__
+NONEXISTENT_FILENAME = FILENAME + '.missing'
 INVALID_NAME = '!@$)(!@#_1'
 EMPTY = ''
 TESTS = 'inspect_fodder inspect_fodder2 mapping_tests'
@@ -126,6 +127,49 @@ class LineCacheTests(unittest.TestCase):
                 self.assertEqual(line, getline(source_name, index + 1))
                 source_list.append(line)
 
+    def test_lazycache_no_globals(self):
+        lines = linecache.getlines(FILENAME)
+        linecache.clearcache()
+        self.assertEqual(False, linecache.lazycache(FILENAME, None))
+        self.assertEqual(lines, linecache.getlines(FILENAME))
+
+    def test_lazycache_smoke(self):
+        lines = linecache.getlines(NONEXISTENT_FILENAME, globals())
+        linecache.clearcache()
+        self.assertEqual(
+            True, linecache.lazycache(NONEXISTENT_FILENAME, globals()))
+        self.assertEqual(1, len(linecache.cache[NONEXISTENT_FILENAME]))
+        # Note here that we're looking up a non existant filename with no
+        # globals: this would error if the lazy value wasn't resolved.
+        self.assertEqual(lines, linecache.getlines(NONEXISTENT_FILENAME))
+
+    def test_lazycache_provide_after_failed_lookup(self):
+        linecache.clearcache()
+        lines = linecache.getlines(NONEXISTENT_FILENAME, globals())
+        linecache.clearcache()
+        linecache.getlines(NONEXISTENT_FILENAME)
+        linecache.lazycache(NONEXISTENT_FILENAME, globals())
+        self.assertEqual(lines, linecache.updatecache(NONEXISTENT_FILENAME))
+
+    def test_lazycache_check(self):
+        linecache.clearcache()
+        linecache.lazycache(NONEXISTENT_FILENAME, globals())
+        linecache.checkcache()
+
+    def test_lazycache_bad_filename(self):
+        linecache.clearcache()
+        self.assertEqual(False, linecache.lazycache('', globals()))
+        self.assertEqual(False, linecache.lazycache('<foo>', globals()))
+
+    def test_lazycache_already_cached(self):
+        linecache.clearcache()
+        lines = linecache.getlines(NONEXISTENT_FILENAME, globals())
+        self.assertEqual(
+            False,
+            linecache.lazycache(NONEXISTENT_FILENAME, globals()))
+        self.assertEqual(4, len(linecache.cache[NONEXISTENT_FILENAME]))
+
+
 def test_main():
     support.run_unittest(LineCacheTests)
 

Lib/test/test_traceback.py

@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
 """Test cases for traceback module"""
 
+from collections import namedtuple
 from io import StringIO
+import linecache
 import sys
 import unittest
 import re
@@ -12,6 +14,11 @@ import textwrap
 import traceback
 
 
+test_code = namedtuple('code', ['co_filename', 'co_name'])
+test_frame = namedtuple('frame', ['f_code', 'f_globals'])
+test_tb = namedtuple('tb', ['tb_frame', 'tb_lineno', 'tb_next'])
+
+
 class SyntaxTracebackCases(unittest.TestCase):
     # For now, a very minimal set of tests.  I want to be sure that
     # formatting of SyntaxErrors works based on changes for 2.1.
@@ -477,6 +484,195 @@ class MiscTracebackCases(unittest.TestCase):
         self.assertEqual(len(inner_frame.f_locals), 0)
 
 
+class TestFrame(unittest.TestCase):
+
+    def test_basics(self):
+        linecache.clearcache()
+        linecache.lazycache("f", globals())
+        f = traceback.FrameSummary("f", 1, "dummy")
+        self.assertEqual(
+            ("f", 1, "dummy", '"""Test cases for traceback module"""'),
+            tuple(f))
+        self.assertEqual(None, f.locals)
+
+    def test_lazy_lines(self):
+        linecache.clearcache()
+        f = traceback.FrameSummary("f", 1, "dummy", lookup_line=False)
+        self.assertEqual(None, f._line)
+        linecache.lazycache("f", globals())
+        self.assertEqual(
+            '"""Test cases for traceback module"""',
+            f.line)
+
+    def test_explicit_line(self):
+        f = traceback.FrameSummary("f", 1, "dummy", line="line")
+        self.assertEqual("line", f.line)
+
+
+class TestStack(unittest.TestCase):
+
+    def test_walk_stack(self):
+        s = list(traceback.walk_stack(None))
+        self.assertGreater(len(s), 10)
+
+    def test_walk_tb(self):
+        try:
+            1/0
+        except Exception:
+            _, _, tb = sys.exc_info()
+        s = list(traceback.walk_tb(tb))
+        self.assertEqual(len(s), 1)
+
+    def test_extract_stack(self):
+        s = traceback.StackSummary.extract(traceback.walk_stack(None))
+        self.assertIsInstance(s, traceback.StackSummary)
+
+    def test_extract_stack_limit(self):
+        s = traceback.StackSummary.extract(traceback.walk_stack(None), limit=5)
+        self.assertEqual(len(s), 5)
+
+    def test_extract_stack_lookup_lines(self):
+        linecache.clearcache()
+        linecache.updatecache('/foo.py', globals())
+        c = test_code('/foo.py', 'method')
+        f = test_frame(c, None)
+        s = traceback.StackSummary.extract(iter([(f, 6)]), lookup_lines=True)
+        linecache.clearcache()
+        self.assertEqual(s[0].line, "import sys")
+
+    def test_extract_stackup_deferred_lookup_lines(self):
+        linecache.clearcache()
+        c = test_code('/foo.py', 'method')
+        f = test_frame(c, None)
+        s = traceback.StackSummary.extract(iter([(f, 6)]), lookup_lines=False)
+        self.assertEqual({}, linecache.cache)
+        linecache.updatecache('/foo.py', globals())
+        self.assertEqual(s[0].line, "import sys")
+
+    def test_from_list(self):
+        s = traceback.StackSummary([('foo.py', 1, 'fred', 'line')])
+        self.assertEqual(
+            ['  File "foo.py", line 1, in fred\n    line\n'],
+            s.format())
+
+    def test_format_smoke(self):
+        # For detailed tests see the format_list tests, which consume the same
+        # code.
+        s = traceback.StackSummary([('foo.py', 1, 'fred', 'line')])
+        self.assertEqual(
+            ['  File "foo.py", line 1, in fred\n    line\n'],
+            s.format())
+
+
+
+class TestTracebackException(unittest.TestCase):
+
+    def test_smoke(self):
+        try:
+            1/0
+        except Exception:
+            exc_info = sys.exc_info()
+            exc = traceback.TracebackException(*exc_info)
+            expected_stack = traceback.StackSummary.extract(
+                traceback.walk_tb(exc_info[2]))
+        self.assertEqual(None, exc.__cause__)
+        self.assertEqual(None, exc.__context__)
+        self.assertEqual(False, exc.__suppress_context__)
+        self.assertEqual(expected_stack, exc.stack)
+        self.assertEqual(exc_info[0], exc.exc_type)
+        self.assertEqual(str(exc_info[1]), str(exc))
+
+    def test_from_exception(self):
+        # Check all the parameters are accepted.
+        def foo():
+            1/0
+        try:
+            foo()
+        except Exception as e:
+            exc_info = sys.exc_info()
+            self.expected_stack = traceback.StackSummary.extract(
+                traceback.walk_tb(exc_info[2]), limit=1, lookup_lines=False,
+                capture_locals=True)
+            self.exc = traceback.TracebackException.from_exception(
+                e, limit=1, lookup_lines=False, capture_locals=True)
+        expected_stack = self.expected_stack
+        exc = self.exc
+        self.assertEqual(None, exc.__cause__)
+        self.assertEqual(None, exc.__context__)
+        self.assertEqual(False, exc.__suppress_context__)
+        self.assertEqual(expected_stack, exc.stack)
+        self.assertEqual(exc_info[0], exc.exc_type)
+        self.assertEqual(str(exc_info[1]), str(exc))
+
+    def test_cause(self):
+        try:
+            try:
+                1/0
+            finally:
+                exc_info_context = sys.exc_info()
+                exc_context = traceback.TracebackException(*exc_info_context)
+                cause = Exception("cause")
+                raise Exception("uh oh") from cause
+        except Exception:
+            exc_info = sys.exc_info()
+            exc = traceback.TracebackException(*exc_info)
+            expected_stack = traceback.StackSummary.extract(
+                traceback.walk_tb(exc_info[2]))
+        exc_cause = traceback.TracebackException(Exception, cause, None)
+        self.assertEqual(exc_cause, exc.__cause__)
+        self.assertEqual(exc_context, exc.__context__)
+        self.assertEqual(True, exc.__suppress_context__)
+        self.assertEqual(expected_stack, exc.stack)
+        self.assertEqual(exc_info[0], exc.exc_type)
+        self.assertEqual(str(exc_info[1]), str(exc))
+
+    def test_context(self):
+        try:
+            try:
+                1/0
+            finally:
+                exc_info_context = sys.exc_info()
+                exc_context = traceback.TracebackException(*exc_info_context)
+                raise Exception("uh oh")
+        except Exception:
+            exc_info = sys.exc_info()
+            exc = traceback.TracebackException(*exc_info)
+            expected_stack = traceback.StackSummary.extract(
+                traceback.walk_tb(exc_info[2]))
+        self.assertEqual(None, exc.__cause__)
+        self.assertEqual(exc_context, exc.__context__)
+        self.assertEqual(False, exc.__suppress_context__)
+        self.assertEqual(expected_stack, exc.stack)
+        self.assertEqual(exc_info[0], exc.exc_type)
+        self.assertEqual(str(exc_info[1]), str(exc))
+
+    def test_limit(self):
+        def recurse(n):
+            if n:
+                recurse(n-1)
+            else:
+                1/0
+        try:
+            recurse(10)
+        except Exception:
+            exc_info = sys.exc_info()
+            exc = traceback.TracebackException(*exc_info, limit=5)
+            expected_stack = traceback.StackSummary.extract(
+                traceback.walk_tb(exc_info[2]), limit=5)
+        self.assertEqual(expected_stack, exc.stack)
+
+    def test_lookup_lines(self):
+        linecache.clearcache()
+        e = Exception("uh oh")
+        c = test_code('/foo.py', 'method')
+        f = test_frame(c, None)
+        tb = test_tb(f, 6, None)
+        exc = traceback.TracebackException(Exception, e, tb, lookup_lines=False)
+        self.assertEqual({}, linecache.cache)
+        linecache.updatecache('/foo.py', globals())
+        self.assertEqual(exc.stack[0].line, "import sys")
+
+
 def test_main():
     run_unittest(__name__)
 

Lib/traceback.py

@@ -14,19 +14,12 @@ __all__ = ['extract_stack', 'extract_tb', 'format_exception',
 # Formatting and printing lists of traceback lines.
 #
 
-def _format_list_iter(extracted_list):
-    for filename, lineno, name, line in extracted_list:
-        item = '  File "{}", line {}, in {}\n'.format(filename, lineno, name)
-        if line:
-            item = item + '    {}\n'.format(line.strip())
-        yield item
-
 def print_list(extracted_list, file=None):
     """Print the list of tuples as returned by extract_tb() or
     extract_stack() as a formatted stack trace to the given file."""
     if file is None:
         file = sys.stderr
-    for item in _format_list_iter(extracted_list):
+    for item in StackSummary.from_list(extracted_list).format():
         print(item, file=file, end="")
 
 def format_list(extracted_list):
@@ -39,45 +32,12 @@ def format_list(extracted_list):
     the strings may contain internal newlines as well, for those items
     whose source text line is not None.
     """
-    return list(_format_list_iter(extracted_list))
+    return StackSummary.from_list(extracted_list).format()
 
 #
 # Printing and Extracting Tracebacks.
 #
 
-# extractor takes curr and needs to return a tuple of:
-# - Frame object
-# - Line number
-# - Next item (same type as curr)
-# In practice, curr is either a traceback or a frame.
-def _extract_tb_or_stack_iter(curr, limit, extractor):
-    if limit is None:
-        limit = getattr(sys, 'tracebacklimit', None)
-
-    n = 0
-    while curr is not None and (limit is None or n < limit):
-        f, lineno, next_item = extractor(curr)
-        co = f.f_code
-        filename = co.co_filename
-        name = co.co_name
-
-        linecache.checkcache(filename)
-        line = linecache.getline(filename, lineno, f.f_globals)
-
-        if line:
-            line = line.strip()
-        else:
-            line = None
-
-        yield (filename, lineno, name, line)
-        curr = next_item
-        n += 1
-
-def _extract_tb_iter(tb, limit):
-    return _extract_tb_or_stack_iter(
-                tb, limit,
-                operator.attrgetter("tb_frame", "tb_lineno", "tb_next"))
-
 def print_tb(tb, limit=None, file=None):
     """Print up to 'limit' stack trace entries from the traceback 'tb'.
 
@@ -90,7 +50,7 @@ def print_tb(tb, limit=None, file=None):
 
 def format_tb(tb, limit=None):
     """A shorthand for 'format_list(extract_tb(tb, limit))'."""
-    return format_list(extract_tb(tb, limit=limit))
+    return extract_tb(tb, limit=limit).format()
 
 def extract_tb(tb, limit=None):
     """Return list of up to limit pre-processed entries from traceback.
@@ -103,7 +63,7 @@ def extract_tb(tb, limit=None):
     leading and trailing whitespace stripped; if the source is not
     available it is None.
     """
-    return list(_extract_tb_iter(tb, limit=limit))
+    return StackSummary.extract(walk_tb(tb), limit=limit)
 
 #
 # Exception formatting and output.
@@ -111,47 +71,12 @@ def extract_tb(tb, limit=None):
 
 _cause_message = (
     "\nThe above exception was the direct cause "
-    "of the following exception:\n")
+    "of the following exception:\n\n")
 
 _context_message = (
     "\nDuring handling of the above exception, "
-    "another exception occurred:\n")
+    "another exception occurred:\n\n")
 
-def _iter_chain(exc, custom_tb=None, seen=None):
-    if seen is None:
-        seen = set()
-    seen.add(exc)
-    its = []
-    context = exc.__context__
-    cause = exc.__cause__
-    if cause is not None and cause not in seen:
-        its.append(_iter_chain(cause, False, seen))
-        its.append([(_cause_message, None)])
-    elif (context is not None and
-          not exc.__suppress_context__ and
-          context not in seen):
-        its.append(_iter_chain(context, None, seen))
-        its.append([(_context_message, None)])
-    its.append([(exc, custom_tb or exc.__traceback__)])
-    # itertools.chain is in an extension module and may be unavailable
-    for it in its:
-        yield from it
-
-def _format_exception_iter(etype, value, tb, limit, chain):
-    if chain:
-        values = _iter_chain(value, tb)
-    else:
-        values = [(value, tb)]
-
-    for value, tb in values:
-        if isinstance(value, str):
-            # This is a cause/context message line
-            yield value + '\n'
-            continue
-        if tb:
-            yield 'Traceback (most recent call last):\n'
-            yield from _format_list_iter(_extract_tb_iter(tb, limit=limit))
-        yield from _format_exception_only_iter(type(value), value)
 
 def print_exception(etype, value, tb, limit=None, file=None, chain=True):
     """Print exception up to 'limit' stack trace entries from 'tb' to 'file'.
@@ -166,9 +91,11 @@ def print_exception(etype, value, tb, limit=None, file=None, chain=True):
     """
     if file is None:
         file = sys.stderr
-    for line in _format_exception_iter(etype, value, tb, limit, chain):
+    for line in TracebackException(
+            etype, value, tb, limit=limit).format(chain=chain):
         print(line, file=file, end="")
 
+
 def format_exception(etype, value, tb, limit=None, chain=True):
     """Format a stack trace and the exception information.
 
@@ -178,7 +105,9 @@ def format_exception(etype, value, tb, limit=None, chain=True):
     these lines are concatenated and printed, exactly the same text is
     printed as does print_exception().
     """
-    return list(_format_exception_iter(etype, value, tb, limit, chain))
+    return list(TracebackException(
+        etype, value, tb, limit=limit).format(chain=chain))
+
 
 def format_exception_only(etype, value):
     """Format the exception part of a traceback.
@@ -196,46 +125,14 @@ def format_exception_only(etype, value):
     string in the list.
 
     """
-    return list(_format_exception_only_iter(etype, value))
+    return list(TracebackException(etype, value, None).format_exception_only())
 
-def _format_exception_only_iter(etype, value):
-    # Gracefully handle (the way Python 2.4 and earlier did) the case of
-    # being called with (None, None).
-    if etype is None:
-        yield _format_final_exc_line(etype, value)
-        return
 
-    stype = etype.__qualname__
-    smod = etype.__module__
-    if smod not in ("__main__", "builtins"):
-        stype = smod + '.' + stype
-
-    if not issubclass(etype, SyntaxError):
-        yield _format_final_exc_line(stype, value)
-        return
-
-    # It was a syntax error; show exactly where the problem was found.
-    filename = value.filename or "<string>"
-    lineno = str(value.lineno) or '?'
-    yield '  File "{}", line {}\n'.format(filename, lineno)
-
-    badline = value.text
-    offset = value.offset
-    if badline is not None:
-        yield '    {}\n'.format(badline.strip())
-        if offset is not None:
-            caretspace = badline.rstrip('\n')
-            offset = min(len(caretspace), offset) - 1
-            caretspace = caretspace[:offset].lstrip()
-            # non-space whitespace (likes tabs) must be kept for alignment
-            caretspace = ((c.isspace() and c or ' ') for c in caretspace)
-            yield '    {}^\n'.format(''.join(caretspace))
-    msg = value.msg or "<no detail available>"
-    yield "{}: {}\n".format(stype, msg)
+# -- not offical API but folk probably use these two functions.
 
 def _format_final_exc_line(etype, value):
     valuestr = _some_str(value)
-    if value is None or not valuestr:
+    if value == 'None' or value is None or not valuestr:
         line = "%s\n" % etype
     else:
         line = "%s: %s\n" % (etype, valuestr)
@@ -247,6 +144,8 @@ def _some_str(value):
     except:
         return '<unprintable %s object>' % type(value).__name__
 
+# --
+
 def print_exc(limit=None, file=None, chain=True):
     """Shorthand for 'print_exception(*sys.exc_info(), limit, file)'."""
     print_exception(*sys.exc_info(), limit=limit, file=file, chain=chain)
@@ -267,15 +166,6 @@ def print_last(limit=None, file=None, chain=True):
 # Printing and Extracting Stacks.
 #
 
-def _extract_stack_iter(f, limit=None):
-    return _extract_tb_or_stack_iter(
-                f, limit, lambda f: (f, f.f_lineno, f.f_back))
-
-def _get_stack(f):
-    if f is None:
-        f = sys._getframe().f_back.f_back
-    return f
-
 def print_stack(f=None, limit=None, file=None):
     """Print a stack trace from its invocation point.
 
@@ -283,11 +173,13 @@ def print_stack(f=None, limit=None, file=None):
     stack frame at which to start. The optional 'limit' and 'file'
     arguments have the same meaning as for print_exception().
     """
-    print_list(extract_stack(_get_stack(f), limit=limit), file=file)
+    print_list(extract_stack(f, limit=limit), file=file)
+
 
 def format_stack(f=None, limit=None):
     """Shorthand for 'format_list(extract_stack(f, limit))'."""
-    return format_list(extract_stack(_get_stack(f), limit=limit))
+    return format_list(extract_stack(f, limit=limit))
+
 
 def extract_stack(f=None, limit=None):
     """Extract the raw traceback from the current stack frame.
@@ -298,10 +190,11 @@ def extract_stack(f=None, limit=None):
     line number, function name, text), and the entries are in order
     from oldest to newest stack frame.
     """
-    stack = list(_extract_stack_iter(_get_stack(f), limit=limit))
+    stack = StackSummary.extract(walk_stack(f), limit=limit)
     stack.reverse()
     return stack
 
+
 def clear_frames(tb):
     "Clear all references to local variables in the frames of a traceback."
     while tb is not None:
@@ -311,3 +204,328 @@ def clear_frames(tb):
             # Ignore the exception raised if the frame is still executing.
             pass
         tb = tb.tb_next
+
+
+class FrameSummary:
+    """A single frame from a traceback.
+
+    - :attr:`filename` The filename for the frame.
+    - :attr:`lineno` The line within filename for the frame that was
+      active when the frame was captured.
+    - :attr:`name` The name of the function or method that was executing
+      when the frame was captured.
+    - :attr:`line` The text from the linecache module for the
+      of code that was running when the frame was captured.
+    - :attr:`locals` Either None if locals were not supplied, or a dict
+      mapping the name to the str() of the variable.
+    """
+
+    __slots__ = ('filename', 'lineno', 'name', '_line', 'locals')
+
+    def __init__(self, filename, lineno, name, lookup_line=True, locals=None,
+            line=None):
+        """Construct a FrameSummary.
+
+        :param lookup_line: If True, `linecache` is consulted for the source
+            code line. Otherwise, the line will be looked up when first needed.
+        :param locals: If supplied the frame locals, which will be captured as
+            strings.
+        :param line: If provided, use this instead of looking up the line in
+            the linecache.
+        """
+        self.filename = filename
+        self.lineno = lineno
+        self.name = name
+        self._line = line
+        if lookup_line:
+            self.line
+        self.locals = \
+            dict((k, str(v)) for k, v in locals.items()) if locals else None
+
+    def __eq__(self, other):
+        return (self.filename == other.filename and
+                self.lineno == other.lineno and
+                self.name == other.name and
+                self.locals == other.locals)
+
+    def __getitem__(self, pos):
+        return (self.filename, self.lineno, self.name, self.line)[pos]
+
+    def __iter__(self):
+        return iter([self.filename, self.lineno, self.name, self.line])
+
+    def __repr__(self):
+        return "<FrameSummary file {filename}, line {lineno} in {name}>".format(
+            filename=self.filename, lineno=self.lineno, name=self.name)
+
+    @property
+    def line(self):
+        if self._line is None:
+            self._line = linecache.getline(self.filename, self.lineno).strip()
+        return self._line
+
+
+def walk_stack(f):
+    """Walk a stack yielding the frame and line number for each frame.
+
+    This will follow f.f_back from the given frame. If no frame is given, the
+    current stack is used. Usually used with StackSummary.extract.
+    """
+    if f is None:
+        f = sys._getframe().f_back.f_back
+    while f is not None:
+        yield f, f.f_lineno
+        f = f.f_back
+
+
+def walk_tb(tb):
+    """Walk a traceback yielding the frame and line number for each frame.
+
+    This will follow tb.tb_next (and thus is in the opposite order to
+    walk_stack). Usually used with StackSummary.extract.
+    """
+    while tb is not None:
+        yield tb.tb_frame, tb.tb_lineno
+        tb = tb.tb_next
+
+
+class StackSummary(list):
+    """A stack of frames."""
+
+    @classmethod
+    def extract(klass, frame_gen, limit=None, lookup_lines=True):
+        """Create a StackSummary from a traceback or stack object.
+
+        :param frame_gen: A generator that yields (frame, lineno) tuples to
+            include in the stack.
+        :param limit: None to include all frames or the number of frames to
+            include.
+        :param lookup_lines: If True, lookup lines for each frame immediately,
+            otherwise lookup is deferred until the frame is rendered.
+        """
+        if limit is None:
+            limit = getattr(sys, 'tracebacklimit', None)
+
+        result = klass()
+        fnames = set()
+        for pos, (f, lineno) in enumerate(frame_gen):
+            if limit is not None and pos >= limit:
+                break
+            co = f.f_code
+            filename = co.co_filename
+            name = co.co_name
+
+            fnames.add(filename)
+            linecache.lazycache(filename, f.f_globals)
+            # Must defer line lookups until we have called checkcache.
+            result.append(FrameSummary(filename, lineno, name, lookup_line=False))
+        for filename in fnames:
+            linecache.checkcache(filename)
+        # If immediate lookup was desired, trigger lookups now.
+        if lookup_lines:
+            for f in result:
+                f.line
+        return result
+
+    @classmethod
+    def from_list(klass, a_list):
+        """Create a StackSummary from a simple list of tuples.
+
+        This method supports the older Python API. Each tuple should be a
+        4-tuple with (filename, lineno, name, line) elements.
+        """
+        if isinstance(a_list, StackSummary):
+            return StackSummary(a_list)
+        result = StackSummary()
+        for filename, lineno, name, line in a_list:
+            result.append(FrameSummary(filename, lineno, name, line=line))
+        return result
+
+    def format(self):
+        """Format the stack ready for printing.
+
+        Returns a list of strings ready for printing.  Each string in the
+        resulting list corresponds to a single frame from the stack.
+        Each string ends in a newline; the strings may contain internal
+        newlines as well, for those items with source text lines.
+        """
+        result = []
+        for filename, lineno, name, line in self:
+            item = '  File "{}", line {}, in {}\n'.format(filename, lineno, name)
+            if line:
+                item = item + '    {}\n'.format(line.strip())
+            result.append(item)
+        return result
+
+
+class TracebackException:
+    """An exception ready for rendering.
+
+    The traceback module captures enough attributes from the original exception
+    to this intermediary form to ensure that no references are held, while
+    still being able to fully print or format it.
+
+    Use `from_exception` to create TracebackException instances from exception
+    objects, or the constructor to create TracebackException instances from
+    individual components.
+
+    - :attr:`__cause__` A TracebackException of the original *__cause__*.
+    - :attr:`__context__` A TracebackException of the original *__context__*.
+    - :attr:`__suppress_context__` The *__suppress_context__* value from the
+      original exception.
+    - :attr:`stack` A `StackSummary` representing the traceback.
+    - :attr:`exc_type` The class of the original traceback.
+    - :attr:`filename` For syntax errors - the filename where the error
+      occured.
+    - :attr:`lineno` For syntax errors - the linenumber where the error
+      occured.
+    - :attr:`text` For syntax errors - the text where the error
+      occured.
+    - :attr:`offset` For syntax errors - the offset into the text where the
+      error occured.
+    - :attr:`msg` For syntax errors - the compiler error message.
+    """
+
+    def __init__(self, exc_type, exc_value, exc_traceback, limit=None,
+            lookup_lines=True, _seen=None):
+        # NB: we need to accept exc_traceback, exc_value, exc_traceback to
+        # permit backwards compat with the existing API, otherwise we
+        # need stub thunk objects just to glue it together.
+        # Handle loops in __cause__ or __context__.
+        if _seen is None:
+            _seen = set()
+        _seen.add(exc_value)
+        # Gracefully handle (the way Python 2.4 and earlier did) the case of
+        # being called with no type or value (None, None, None).
+        if (exc_value and exc_value.__cause__ is not None
+            and exc_value.__cause__ not in _seen):
+            cause = TracebackException(
+                type(exc_value.__cause__),
+                exc_value.__cause__,
+                exc_value.__cause__.__traceback__,
+                limit=limit,
+                lookup_lines=False,
+                _seen=_seen)
+        else:
+            cause = None
+        if (exc_value and exc_value.__context__ is not None
+            and exc_value.__context__ not in _seen):
+            context = TracebackException(
+                type(exc_value.__context__),
+                exc_value.__context__,
+                exc_value.__context__.__traceback__,
+                limit=limit,
+                lookup_lines=False,
+                _seen=_seen)
+        else:
+            context = None
+        self.__cause__ = cause
+        self.__context__ = context
+        self.__suppress_context__ = \
+            exc_value.__suppress_context__ if exc_value else False
+        # TODO: locals.
+        self.stack = StackSummary.extract(
+            walk_tb(exc_traceback), limit=limit, lookup_lines=lookup_lines)
+        self.exc_type = exc_type
+        # Capture now to permit freeing resources: only complication is in the
+        # unofficial API _format_final_exc_line
+        self._str = _some_str(exc_value)
+        if exc_type and issubclass(exc_type, SyntaxError):
+            # Handle SyntaxError's specially
+            self.filename = exc_value.filename
+            self.lineno = str(exc_value.lineno)
+            self.text = exc_value.text
+            self.offset = exc_value.offset
+            self.msg = exc_value.msg
+        if lookup_lines:
+            self._load_lines()
+
+    @classmethod
+    def from_exception(self, exc, *args, **kwargs):
+        """Create a TracebackException from an exception."""
+        return TracebackException(
+            type(exc), exc, exc.__traceback__, *args, **kwargs)
+
+    def _load_lines(self):
+        """Private API. force all lines in the stack to be loaded."""
+        for frame in self.stack:
+            frame.line
+        if self.__context__:
+            self.__context__._load_lines()
+        if self.__cause__:
+            self.__cause__._load_lines()
+
+    def __eq__(self, other):
+        return self.__dict__ == other.__dict__
+
+    def __str__(self):
+        return self._str
+
+    def format_exception_only(self):
+        """Format the exception part of the traceback.
+
+        The return value is a generator of strings, each ending in a newline.
+
+        Normally, the generator emits a single string; however, for
+        SyntaxError exceptions, it emites several lines that (when
+        printed) display detailed information about where the syntax
+        error occurred.
+
+        The message indicating which exception occurred is always the last
+        string in the output.
+        """
+        if self.exc_type is None:
+            yield _format_final_exc_line(None, self._str)
+            return
+
+        stype = self.exc_type.__qualname__
+        smod = self.exc_type.__module__
+        if smod not in ("__main__", "builtins"):
+            stype = smod + '.' + stype
+
+        if not issubclass(self.exc_type, SyntaxError):
+            yield _format_final_exc_line(stype, self._str)
+            return
+
+        # It was a syntax error; show exactly where the problem was found.
+        filename = self.filename or "<string>"
+        lineno = str(self.lineno) or '?'
+        yield '  File "{}", line {}\n'.format(filename, lineno)
+
+        badline = self.text
+        offset = self.offset
+        if badline is not None:
+            yield '    {}\n'.format(badline.strip())
+            if offset is not None:
+                caretspace = badline.rstrip('\n')
+                offset = min(len(caretspace), offset) - 1
+                caretspace = caretspace[:offset].lstrip()
+                # non-space whitespace (likes tabs) must be kept for alignment
+                caretspace = ((c.isspace() and c or ' ') for c in caretspace)
+                yield '    {}^\n'.format(''.join(caretspace))
+        msg = self.msg or "<no detail available>"
+        yield "{}: {}\n".format(stype, msg)
+
+    def format(self, chain=True):
+        """Format the exception.
+
+        If chain is not *True*, *__cause__* and *__context__* will not be formatted.
+
+        The return value is a generator of strings, each ending in a newline and
+        some containing internal newlines. `print_exception` is a wrapper around
+        this method which just prints the lines to a file.
+
+        The message indicating which exception occurred is always the last
+        string in the output.
+        """
+        if chain:
+            if self.__cause__ is not None:
+                yield from self.__cause__.format(chain=chain)
+                yield _cause_message
+            elif (self.__context__ is not None and
+                not self.__suppress_context__):
+                yield from self.__context__.format(chain=chain)
+                yield _context_message
+        yield 'Traceback (most recent call last):\n'
+        yield from self.stack.format()
+        yield from self.format_exception_only()

Misc/NEWS

@@ -441,6 +441,13 @@ Library
   now clears its internal reference to the selector mapping to break a
   reference cycle. Initial patch written by Martin Richard.
 
+- Issue #17911: Provide a way to seed the linecache for a PEP-302 module
+  without actually loading the code.
+
+- Issue #17911: Provide a new object API for traceback, including the ability
+  to not lookup lines at all until the traceback is actually rendered, without
+  any trace of the original objects being kept alive.
+
 - Issue #19777: Provide a home() classmethod on Path objects.  Contributed
   by Victor Salgado and Mayank Tripathi.