Python curses dilemma

Question

I'm playing around a little with Python and curses.

When I run

import time
import curses

def main():
    curses.initscr()
    curses.cbreak()
    for i in range(3):
        time.sleep(1)
        curses.flash()
        pass
    print( "Hello World" )
    curses.endwin()

if __name__ == '__main__':
    main()

if I wait all the way through, curses.endwin() gets called so everything works out fine. However, if I cut it short with Ctrl-C, curses.endwin() never gets called so it screws up my terminal session.

What is the proper way to handle this situation? How can I make sure that no matter how I try to end/interrupt the program (e.g. Ctrl-C, Ctrl-Z), it doesn't mess up the terminal?

Answer 1

You could do this:

def main():
    curses.initscr()

    try:
        curses.cbreak()
        for i in range(3):
            time.sleep(1)
            curses.flash()
            pass
        print( "Hello World" )
    finally:
        curses.endwin()

Or more nicely, make a context wrapper:

class CursesWindow(object):
    def __enter__(self):
        curses.initscr()

    def __exit__(self):
        curses.endwin()

def main():
    with CursesWindow():
        curses.cbreak()
        for i in range(3):
            time.sleep(1)
            curses.flash()
            pass
        print( "Hello World" )