When running Python's pdb as a script, how do I autostart the script?

Question

If I want to run a script and have pdb catch any exceptions come up, I invoke it like so:

python -m pdb script.py

Or:

pdb script.py

The problem is that it stops at the debugging prompt right away:

> /home/coiax/Junkyard/script.py(1)<module>()
-> import sys
(Pdb) 

And I have to type c or continue to get it to go. Is there any way of getting it to just load and start the script without initially asking if I want to set any breakpoints or whatever?

I swear I've read the pdb module documentation, and tried making a .pdbrc file containing

c

but it doesn't start auto-magically.

Answer 1

What you want can trivially be achieved using ipython:

ipython yourmodule.py --pdb

Whenever an exception is raised which is not caught properly (i.e. the program crashes), you instantly land in ipython's debugger at the point where the exception was raised. From there on you can move the stack up and down, inspect variables, etc. This is a huge time saver when developing with Python; I use it all the time.

Answer 2

Since Python 3.2 you can use the following:

python3 -m pdb -c c script.py

Answer 3

It works exactly as you describe and want it to work in python 3.3-- with the 'c' character in a .pdbrc file.

The pdb module documentation says this was added in 3.2:

Changed in version 3.2: .pdbrc can now contain commands that continue debugging, such as continue or next. Previously, these commands had no effect.