Skip to content

[3.14] gh-158681: Document that regrtest no longer supports test_main() (GH-158682) #159574

New issue

Have a question about this project? Sign up for a free GitHub account to open an issue and contact its maintainers and the community.

Sign up for GitHub

By clicking “Sign up for GitHub”, you agree to our terms of service and privacy statement. We’ll occasionally send you account related emails.

Already on GitHub? Sign in to your account

Merged
StanFromIreland merged 1 commit into from
Oct 16, 2026
Merged

[3.14] gh-158681: Document that regrtest no longer supports test_main() (GH-158682) #159574

Show file tree
Hide file tree
Changes from all commits
Commits
Show all changes
1 commit
Select commit
File filter

Filter by extension

Filter by extension
Conversations
Failed to load comments.
Loading
Jump to
Jump to file
Failed to load files.
Loading
Diff view
Diff view
20 changes: 12 additions & 8 deletions Doc/library/test.rst
View file
Open in desktop
Original file line number Diff line number Diff line change
Expand Up @@ -167,11 +167,13 @@ test suite, thanks to the :option:`-m` option: :program:`python -m test`. Under
the hood, it uses :mod:`!test.regrtest`; the call :program:`python -m
test.regrtest` used in previous Python versions still works. Running the
script by itself automatically starts running all regression tests in the
:mod:`!test` package. It does this by finding all modules in the package whose
name starts with ``test_``, importing them, and executing the function
:func:`test_main` if present or loading the tests via
unittest.TestLoader.loadTestsFromModule if ``test_main`` does not exist. The
names of tests to execute may also be passed to the script. Specifying a single
:mod:`!test` package. It does this by finding modules and packages whose names
start with ``test_``, importing each one, and loading its tests with
:meth:`unittest.TestLoader.loadTestsFromModule`. See the
:ref:`load_tests protocol <load_tests-protocol>` for how a module or package
can customize what is loaded. Defining a module-level ``test_main()`` function
is not supported and causes the test to fail. The names of tests to
execute may also be passed to the script. Specifying a single
regression test (:program:`python -m test test_spam`) will minimize output and
only print whether the test passed or failed.

Expand Down Expand Up @@ -883,9 +885,11 @@ The :mod:`!test.support` module defines the following functions:

.. function:: reap_children()

Use this at the end of ``test_main`` whenever sub-processes are started.
This will help ensure that no extra children (zombies) stick around to
hog resources and create problems when looking for refleaks.
Call this from :meth:`~unittest.TestCase.setUp`,
:meth:`~unittest.TestCase.tearDown`, or ``tearDownModule()`` in tests
that start subprocesses. This will help ensure that no extra children
(zombies) stick around to hog resources and create problems when looking
for refleaks.


.. function:: get_attribute(obj, name)
Expand Down
8 changes: 4 additions & 4 deletions Lib/test/support/__init__.py
View file
Open in desktop
Original file line number Diff line number Diff line change
Expand Up @@ -1453,10 +1453,10 @@ def set_environment_altered(reason):


def reap_children():
"""Use this function at the end of test_main() whenever sub-processes
are started. This will help ensure that no extra children (zombies)
stick around to hog resources and create problems when looking
for refleaks.
"""Call this from setUp(), tearDown(), or tearDownModule() in tests
that start subprocesses. This will help ensure that no extra children
(zombies) stick around to hog resources and create problems when
looking for refleaks.
"""
# Need os.waitpid(-1, os.WNOHANG): Windows is not supported
if not (hasattr(os, 'waitpid') and hasattr(os, 'WNOHANG')):
Expand Down
Loading