[mod_python] Force reload?

The way that python handles import is problematic for persistent 
interpreters such as implemented by mod_python. There doesn't, to me, 
seem any foolproof, *simple* way to solve reimportation issues in all 
circumstances, EXCEPT for what Daniel proposes, other than by restarting 
the server. It is such a pain to make some source changes, *think* you 
have reloaded affected modules, and then find out that the changes 
haven't taken effect! I have used this method for awhile now, and for 
debugging/development it seems to work (although I have some unexplained 
problems as I mentioned 11/20/2004 but never got a response on). It 
certainly is simple, and painless enough.

Unexplained issue (from 11/20/2004):
 >I am setting a global dictionary (at the module level). Every time the
 >handler is executed, I check the global to see if it needs to be
 >initialized, and if so, I set it to some value.
 >
 >If MaxRequestsPerChild (apache directive) is 0, or a large number, you
 >get what you would expect: the global needs to be initialized the first
 >time after an apache restart, and seldom on subsequent requests.
 >
 >If I set it to 1, however, the same thing happens. I.e., it seems as if
 >the module is not being re-loaded for each request, which is what I
 >thought was the implication for MaxRequestsPerChild = 1.
 >
 >However, if I set MaxKeepAliveRequests to 1 as well, then the global
 >needs to be initialized on *alternate* requests. I.e., first time, yes.
 >2nd time, no, etc.
 >
 >Does anyone have an explanation for this? I am quite puzzled.
 >
 >(this is for MPM = prefork (as far as I know), on linux, apache 2.0.48,
 >mod_python 3.1.3, python 2.3.4)


David


Daniel Popowich wrote:
> Jon-Pierre Gentil writes:
> 
>>Argh!  I wish that mod_python would check all loaded modules for changes 
>>as a flat rule, not as a tree...  because currently it will only reload 
>>something if I touch the handler, because the reload code sees that the 
>>handler hasn't changed and does not bother checking the modules that the 
>>handler uses for changes.  Might as well not even use mod_python.import() 
>>at all.
>>
>>Anyway, is there an option I can use to force the reload of the handler 
>>module each and every time a request is made?  I am only needing this for 
>>debugging purposes, so I don't mind something that is a bit kludgey.
>>
>>Thank you!  And please fix the import issue!
> 
> 
> One brute force method which I employ during early stage development
> and debugging is an apache configuration tweak.  Assuming for the
> moment you're using the prefork MPM:
> 
>     <IfModule prefork.c>
>     StartServers       8
>     MinSpareServers    5
>     MaxSpareServers   20
>     MaxClients       150
>     #MaxRequestsPerChild  1000
>     # for debugging mod_python
>     MaxRequestsPerChild  1
>     </IfModule>
> 
> You'll notice where I comment out the default for MaxRequestsPerChild,
> 1000, and replace it with 1.  This allows each process to only serve
> one request before being killed, so I get a fresh interpreter with
> each request.  When I'm ready for beta testing I switch back to 1000.
> 
> Depending on your development box, this can be slow going, but you
> will NEVER be burned by stale imports.
> 
> Daniel Popowich
> -----------------------------------------------
> http://home.comcast.net/~d.popowich/mpservlets/
> 
> 
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