New submission from Eric Blake <ebl...@redhat.com>:
While PyErr_SetString is obvious that you do not have to worry about the reference count of 'exception', the documentation for PyErr_SetObject is silent on whether it steals or adds a reference to 'value'. This is particularly confusing, since other functions on the page (like PyErr_Restore) are explicit about stealing references. Looking at non-canonical documentation, I found https://docstore.mik.ua/orelly/other/python/0596001886_pythonian-chp-24-sect-1.html which claims PyErr_SetObject steals a reference to 'value'. But that is wrong; looking at the source code for _PyErr_SetString, it becomes obvious that once you use SetObject, the reference count will be increased, and the caller can release its own reference because nothing was stolen. I noticed this lack of documentation when trying to debug a memory leak in nbdsh: https://listman.redhat.com/archives/libguestfs/2021-November/msg00280.html ---------- assignee: docs@python components: Documentation messages: 407381 nosy: docs@python, eblake priority: normal severity: normal status: open title: PyErr_SetObject documentation lacks mention of reference counting _______________________________________ Python tracker <rep...@bugs.python.org> <https://bugs.python.org/issue45939> _______________________________________ _______________________________________________ Python-bugs-list mailing list Unsubscribe: https://mail.python.org/mailman/options/python-bugs-list/archive%40mail-archive.com
