Question

I have a Python script that is using some closed-box Python functions (i.e. I can’t edit these functions) provided by my employer. When I call these functions, they are printing output to my linux terminal that I would like to suppress. I’ve tried redirecting stdout / stderr via;

orig_out = sys.stdout
sys.stdout = StringIO()
rogue_function()
sys.stdout = orig_out

but this fails to catch the output. I think the functions I’m calling via-Python (rogue_function() from above) are really wrappers for compiled C-code, which are actually doing the printing.

Does anyone know of a way I can do a “deep-capture” of any print handed to stdout / stderr by a function (and any sub-functions that function calls)?

UPDATE:

I ended up taking the method outlined in the selected answer below and writing a context manager to supress stdout and stderr:

# Define a context manager to suppress stdout and stderr.
class suppress_stdout_stderr(object):
    '''
    A context manager for doing a "deep suppression" of stdout and stderr in 
    Python, i.e. will suppress all print, even if the print originates in a 
    compiled C/Fortran sub-function.
       This will not suppress raised exceptions, since exceptions are printed
    to stderr just before a script exits, and after the context manager has
    exited (at least, I think that is why it lets exceptions through).      

    '''
    def __init__(self):
        # Open a pair of null files
        self.null_fds =  [os.open(os.devnull,os.O_RDWR) for x in range(2)]
        # Save the actual stdout (1) and stderr (2) file descriptors.
        self.save_fds = [os.dup(1), os.dup(2)]

    def __enter__(self):
        # Assign the null pointers to stdout and stderr.
        os.dup2(self.null_fds[0],1)
        os.dup2(self.null_fds[1],2)

    def __exit__(self, *_):
        # Re-assign the real stdout/stderr back to (1) and (2)
        os.dup2(self.save_fds[0],1)
        os.dup2(self.save_fds[1],2)
        # Close all file descriptors
        for fd in self.null_fds + self.save_fds:
            os.close(fd)

To use this you just:

with suppress_stdout_stderr():
    rogue_function()

This works “pretty good”. It does suppress the printout from the rogue functions that were cluttering up my script. I noticed in testing it that it lets through raised exceptions as well as some logger print, and I’m not entirely clear why. I think it has something to do with when these messages get sent to stdout / stderr (I think it happens after my context manager exits). If anyone can confirm this, I’d be interested in hearing the details …

Answer 1

This approach (found through the related sidebar) might work. It reassigns the file descriptors rather than just the wrappers to them in sys.stdout, etc.