decimal — Decimal fixed-point and floating-point arithmetic¶

Quick-start tutorial¶

The usual start to using decimals is importing the module, viewing the current context with getcontext() and, if necessary, setting new values for precision, rounding, or enabled traps:

>>> from decimal import *
>>> getcontext()
Context(prec=28, rounding=ROUND_HALF_EVEN, Emin=-999999, Emax=999999,
        capitals=1, clamp=0, flags=[], traps=[Overflow, DivisionByZero,
        InvalidOperation])

>>> getcontext().prec = 7       # Set a new precision

Decimal instances can be constructed from integers, strings, floats, or tuples. Construction from an integer or a float performs an exact conversion of the value of that integer or float. Decimal numbers include special values such as NaN which stands for “Not a number”, positive and negative Infinity, and -0:

>>> getcontext().prec = 28
>>> Decimal(10)
Decimal('10')
>>> Decimal('3.14')
Decimal('3.14')
>>> Decimal(3.14)
Decimal('3.140000000000000124344978758017532527446746826171875')
>>> Decimal((0, (3, 1, 4), -2))
Decimal('3.14')
>>> Decimal(str(2.0 ** 0.5))
Decimal('1.4142135623730951')
>>> Decimal(2) ** Decimal('0.5')
Decimal('1.414213562373095048801688724')
>>> Decimal('NaN')
Decimal('NaN')
>>> Decimal('-Infinity')
Decimal('-Infinity')

If the FloatOperation signal is trapped, accidental mixing of decimals and floats in constructors or ordering comparisons raises an exception:

>>> c = getcontext()
>>> c.traps[FloatOperation] = True
>>> Decimal(3.14)
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "<stdin>", line 1, in <module>
decimal.FloatOperation: [<class 'decimal.FloatOperation'>]
>>> Decimal('3.5') < 3.7
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "<stdin>", line 1, in <module>
decimal.FloatOperation: [<class 'decimal.FloatOperation'>]
>>> Decimal('3.5') == 3.5
True

The significance of a new Decimal is determined solely by the number of digits input. Context precision and rounding only come into play during arithmetic operations.

>>> getcontext().prec = 6
>>> Decimal('3.0')
Decimal('3.0')
>>> Decimal('3.1415926535')
Decimal('3.1415926535')
>>> Decimal('3.1415926535') + Decimal('2.7182818285')
Decimal('5.85987')
>>> getcontext().rounding = ROUND_UP
>>> Decimal('3.1415926535') + Decimal('2.7182818285')
Decimal('5.85988')

If the internal limits of the C version are exceeded, constructing a decimal raises InvalidOperation:

>>> Decimal("1e9999999999999999999")
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "<stdin>", line 1, in <module>
decimal.InvalidOperation: [<class 'decimal.InvalidOperation'>]

Decimals interact well with much of the rest of Python. Here is a small decimal floating-point flying circus:

>>> data = list(map(Decimal, '1.34 1.87 3.45 2.35 1.00 0.03 9.25'.split()))
>>> max(data)
Decimal('9.25')
>>> min(data)
Decimal('0.03')
>>> sorted(data)
[Decimal('0.03'), Decimal('1.00'), Decimal('1.34'), Decimal('1.87'),
 Decimal('2.35'), Decimal('3.45'), Decimal('9.25')]
>>> sum(data)
Decimal('19.29')
>>> a,b,c = data[:3]
>>> str(a)
'1.34'
>>> float(a)
1.34
>>> round(a, 1)
Decimal('1.3')
>>> int(a)
1
>>> a * 5
Decimal('6.70')
>>> a * b
Decimal('2.5058')
>>> c % a
Decimal('0.77')

And some mathematical functions are also available to Decimal:

>>> getcontext().prec = 28
>>> Decimal(2).sqrt()
Decimal('1.414213562373095048801688724')
>>> Decimal(1).exp()
Decimal('2.718281828459045235360287471')
>>> Decimal('10').ln()
Decimal('2.302585092994045684017991455')
>>> Decimal('10').log10()
Decimal('1')

The quantize() method rounds a number to a fixed exponent. This method is useful for monetary applications that often round results to a fixed number of places:

>>> Decimal('7.325').quantize(Decimal('.01'), rounding=ROUND_DOWN)
Decimal('7.32')
>>> Decimal('7.325').quantize(Decimal('1.'), rounding=ROUND_UP)
Decimal('8')

As shown above, the getcontext() function accesses the current context and allows the settings to be changed. This approach meets the needs of most applications.

For more advanced work, it may be useful to create alternate contexts using the Context() constructor. To make an alternate active, use the setcontext() function.

In accordance with the standard, the decimal module provides two ready to use standard contexts, BasicContext and ExtendedContext. The former is especially useful for debugging because many of the traps are enabled:

>>> myothercontext = Context(prec=60, rounding=ROUND_HALF_DOWN)
>>> setcontext(myothercontext)
>>> Decimal(1) / Decimal(7)
Decimal('0.142857142857142857142857142857142857142857142857142857142857')

>>> ExtendedContext
Context(prec=9, rounding=ROUND_HALF_EVEN, Emin=-999999, Emax=999999,
        capitals=1, clamp=0, flags=[], traps=[])
>>> setcontext(ExtendedContext)
>>> Decimal(1) / Decimal(7)
Decimal('0.142857143')
>>> Decimal(42) / Decimal(0)
Decimal('Infinity')

>>> setcontext(BasicContext)
>>> Decimal(42) / Decimal(0)
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "<pyshell#143>", line 1, in -toplevel-
    Decimal(42) / Decimal(0)
DivisionByZero: x / 0

Contexts also have signal flags for monitoring exceptional conditions encountered during computations. The flags remain set until explicitly cleared, so it is best to clear the flags before each set of monitored computations by using the clear_flags() method.

>>> setcontext(ExtendedContext)
>>> getcontext().clear_flags()
>>> Decimal(355) / Decimal(113)
Decimal('3.14159292')
>>> getcontext()
Context(prec=9, rounding=ROUND_HALF_EVEN, Emin=-999999, Emax=999999,
        capitals=1, clamp=0, flags=[Inexact, Rounded], traps=[])

The flags entry shows that the rational approximation to pi was rounded (digits beyond the context precision were thrown away) and that the result is inexact (some of the discarded digits were non-zero).

Individual traps are set using the dictionary in the traps attribute of a context:

>>> setcontext(ExtendedContext)
>>> Decimal(1) / Decimal(0)
Decimal('Infinity')
>>> getcontext().traps[DivisionByZero] = 1
>>> Decimal(1) / Decimal(0)
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "<pyshell#112>", line 1, in -toplevel-
    Decimal(1) / Decimal(0)
DivisionByZero: x / 0

Most programs adjust the current context only once, at the beginning of the program. And, in many applications, data is converted to Decimal with a single cast inside a loop. With context set and decimals created, the bulk of the program manipulates the data no differently than with other Python numeric types.

Decimal objects¶

class decimal.Decimal(value='0', context=None)¶

Construct a new Decimal object based from value.

value can be an integer, string, tuple, float, or another Decimal object. If no value is given, returns Decimal('0'). If value is a string, it should conform to the decimal numeric string syntax after leading and trailing whitespace characters, as well as underscores throughout, are removed:

sign           ::=  '+' | '-'
digit          ::=  '0' | '1' | '2' | '3' | '4' | '5' | '6' | '7' | '8' | '9'
indicator      ::=  'e' | 'E'
digits         ::=  digit [digit]...
decimal-part   ::=  digits '.' [digits] | ['.'] digits
exponent-part  ::=  indicator [sign] digits
infinity       ::=  'Infinity' | 'Inf'
nan            ::=  'NaN' [digits] | 'sNaN' [digits]
numeric-value  ::=  decimal-part [exponent-part] | infinity
numeric-string ::=  [sign] numeric-value | [sign] nan

Other Unicode decimal digits are also permitted where digit appears above. These include decimal digits from various other alphabets (for example, Arabic-Indic and Devanāgarī digits) along with the fullwidth digits '\uff10' through '\uff19'. Case is not significant, so, for example, inf, Inf, INFINITY, and iNfINity are all acceptable spellings for positive infinity.

If value is a tuple, it should have three components, a sign (0 for positive or 1 for negative), a tuple of digits, and an integer exponent. For example, Decimal((0, (1, 4, 1, 4), -3)) returns Decimal('1.414').

If value is a float, the binary floating-point value is losslessly converted to its exact decimal equivalent. This conversion can often require 53 or more digits of precision. For example, Decimal(float('1.1')) converts to Decimal('1.100000000000000088817841970012523233890533447265625').

The context precision does not affect how many digits are stored. That is determined exclusively by the number of digits in value. For example, Decimal('3.00000') records all five zeros even if the context precision is only three.

The purpose of the context argument is determining what to do if value is a malformed string. If the context traps InvalidOperation, an exception is raised; otherwise, the constructor returns a new Decimal with the value of NaN.

Once constructed, Decimal objects are immutable.

Changed in version 3.2: The argument to the constructor is now permitted to be a float instance.

Changed in version 3.3: float arguments raise an exception if the FloatOperation trap is set. By default the trap is off.

Changed in version 3.6: Underscores are allowed for grouping, as with integral and floating-point literals in code.

Decimal floating-point objects share many properties with the other built-in numeric types such as float and int. All of the usual math operations and special methods apply. Likewise, decimal objects can be copied, pickled, printed, used as dictionary keys, used as set elements, compared, sorted, and coerced to another type (such as float or int).

There are some small differences between arithmetic on Decimal objects and arithmetic on integers and floats. When the remainder operator % is applied to Decimal objects, the sign of the result is the sign of the dividend rather than the sign of the divisor:

>>> (-7) % 4
1
>>> Decimal(-7) % Decimal(4)
Decimal('-3')

The integer division operator // behaves analogously, returning the integer part of the true quotient (truncating towards zero) rather than its floor, so as to preserve the usual identity x == (x // y) * y + x % y:

>>> -7 // 4
-2
>>> Decimal(-7) // Decimal(4)
Decimal('-1')

The % and // operators implement the remainder and divide-integer operations (respectively) as described in the specification.

Decimal objects cannot generally be combined with floats or instances of fractions.Fraction in arithmetic operations: an attempt to add a Decimal to a float, for example, will raise a TypeError. However, it is possible to use Python’s comparison operators to compare a Decimal instance x with another number y. This avoids confusing results when doing equality comparisons between numbers of different types.

Changed in version 3.2: Mixed-type comparisons between Decimal instances and other numeric types are now fully supported.

In addition to the standard numeric properties, decimal floating-point objects also have a number of specialized methods:

adjusted()¶

Return the adjusted exponent after shifting out the coefficient’s rightmost digits until only the lead digit remains: Decimal('321e+5').adjusted() returns seven. Used for determining the position of the most significant digit with respect to the decimal point.

as_integer_ratio()¶

Return a pair (n, d) of integers that represent the given Decimal instance as a fraction, in lowest terms and with a positive denominator:

>>> Decimal('-3.14').as_integer_ratio()
(-157, 50)

The conversion is exact. Raise OverflowError on infinities and ValueError on NaNs.

Added in version 3.6.

as_tuple()¶

Return a named tuple representation of the number: DecimalTuple(sign, digits, exponent).

canonical()¶

Return the canonical encoding of the argument. Currently, the encoding of a Decimal instance is always canonical, so this operation returns its argument unchanged.

compare(other, context=None)¶

Compare the values of two Decimal instances. compare() returns a Decimal instance, and if either operand is a NaN then the result is a NaN:

a or b is a NaN  ==> Decimal('NaN')
a < b            ==> Decimal('-1')
a == b           ==> Decimal('0')
a > b            ==> Decimal('1')

compare_signal(other, context=None)¶

This operation is identical to the compare() method, except that all NaNs signal. That is, if neither operand is a signaling NaN then any quiet NaN operand is treated as though it were a signaling NaN.

compare_total(other, context=None)¶

Compare two operands using their abstract representation rather than their numerical value. Similar to the compare() method, but the result gives a total ordering on Decimal instances. Two Decimal instances with the same numeric value but different representations compare unequal in this ordering:

>>> Decimal('12.0').compare_total(Decimal('12'))
Decimal('-1')

Quiet and signaling NaNs are also included in the total ordering. The result of this function is Decimal('0') if both operands have the same representation, Decimal('-1') if the first operand is lower in the total order than the second, and Decimal('1') if the first operand is higher in the total order than the second operand. See the specification for details of the total order.

This operation is unaffected by context and is quiet: no flags are changed and no rounding is performed. As an exception, the C version may raise InvalidOperation if the second operand cannot be converted exactly.

compare_total_mag(other, context=None)¶

Compare two operands using their abstract representation rather than their value as in compare_total(), but ignoring the sign of each operand. x.compare_total_mag(y) is equivalent to x.copy_abs().compare_total(y.copy_abs()).

This operation is unaffected by context and is quiet: no flags are changed and no rounding is performed. As an exception, the C version may raise InvalidOperation if the second operand cannot be converted exactly.

conjugate()¶

Just returns self, this method is only to comply with the Decimal Specification.

copy_abs()¶

Return the absolute value of the argument. This operation is unaffected by the context and is quiet: no flags are changed and no rounding is performed.

copy_negate()¶

Return the negation of the argument. This operation is unaffected by the context and is quiet: no flags are changed and no rounding is performed.

copy_sign(other, context=None)¶

Return a copy of the first operand with the sign set to be the same as the sign of the second operand. For example:

>>> Decimal('2.3').copy_sign(Decimal('-1.5'))
Decimal('-2.3')

This operation is unaffected by context and is quiet: no flags are changed and no rounding is performed. As an exception, the C version may raise InvalidOperation if the second operand cannot be converted exactly.

exp(context=None)¶

Return the value of the (natural) exponential function e**x at the given number. The result is correctly rounded using the ROUND_HALF_EVEN rounding mode.

>>> Decimal(1).exp()
Decimal('2.718281828459045235360287471')
>>> Decimal(321).exp()
Decimal('2.561702493119680037517373933E+139')

classmethod from_float(f, /)¶

Alternative constructor that only accepts instances of float or int.

Note Decimal.from_float(0.1) is not the same as Decimal('0.1'). Since 0.1 is not exactly representable in binary floating point, the value is stored as the nearest representable value which is 0x1.999999999999ap-4. That equivalent value in decimal is 0.1000000000000000055511151231257827021181583404541015625.

Note

From Python 3.2 onwards, a Decimal instance can also be constructed directly from a float.

>>> Decimal.from_float(0.1)
Decimal('0.1000000000000000055511151231257827021181583404541015625')
>>> Decimal.from_float(float('nan'))
Decimal('NaN')
>>> Decimal.from_float(float('inf'))
Decimal('Infinity')
>>> Decimal.from_float(float('-inf'))
Decimal('-Infinity')

Added in version 3.1.

classmethod from_number(number, /)¶

Alternative constructor that only accepts instances of float, int or Decimal, but not strings or tuples.

>>> Decimal.from_number(314)
Decimal('314')
>>> Decimal.from_number(0.1)
Decimal('0.1000000000000000055511151231257827021181583404541015625')
>>> Decimal.from_number(Decimal('3.14'))
Decimal('3.14')

Added in version 3.14.

fma(other, third, context=None)¶

Fused multiply-add. Return self*other+third with no rounding of the intermediate product self*other.

>>> Decimal(2).fma(3, 5)
Decimal('11')

is_canonical()¶

Return True if the argument is canonical and False otherwise. Currently, a Decimal instance is always canonical, so this operation always returns True.

is_finite()¶

Return True if the argument is a finite number, and False if the argument is an infinity or a NaN.

is_infinite()¶

Return True if the argument is either positive or negative infinity and False otherwise.

is_nan()¶

Return True if the argument is a (quiet or signaling) NaN and False otherwise.

is_normal(context=None)¶

Return True if the argument is a normal finite number. Return False if the argument is zero, subnormal, infinite or a NaN.

is_qnan()¶

Return True if the argument is a quiet NaN, and False otherwise.

is_signed()¶

Return True if the argument has a negative sign and False otherwise. Note that zeros and NaNs can both carry signs.

is_snan()¶

Return True if the argument is a signaling NaN and False otherwise.

is_subnormal(context=None)¶

Return True if the argument is subnormal, and False otherwise.

is_zero()¶

Return True if the argument is a (positive or negative) zero and False otherwise.

ln(context=None)¶

Return the natural (base e) logarithm of the operand. The result is correctly rounded using the ROUND_HALF_EVEN rounding mode.

log10(context=None)¶

Return the base ten logarithm of the operand. The result is correctly rounded using the ROUND_HALF_EVEN rounding mode.

logb(context=None)¶

For a nonzero number, return the adjusted exponent of its operand as a Decimal instance. If the operand is a zero then Decimal('-Infinity') is returned and the DivisionByZero flag is raised. If the operand is an infinity then Decimal('Infinity') is returned.

logical_and(other, context=None)¶

logical_and() is a logical operation which takes two logical operands (see Logical operands). The result is the digit-wise and of the two operands.

logical_invert(context=None)¶

logical_invert() is a logical operation. The result is the digit-wise inversion of the operand.

logical_or(other, context=None)¶

logical_or() is a logical operation which takes two logical operands (see Logical operands). The result is the digit-wise or of the two operands.

logical_xor(other, context=None)¶

logical_xor() is a logical operation which takes two logical operands (see Logical operands). The result is the digit-wise exclusive or of the two operands.

max(other, context=None)¶

Like max(self, other) except that the context rounding rule is applied before returning and that NaN values are either signaled or ignored (depending on the context and whether they are signaling or quiet).

max_mag(other, context=None)¶

Similar to the max() method, but the comparison is done using the absolute values of the operands.

min(other, context=None)¶

Like min(self, other) except that the context rounding rule is applied before returning and that NaN values are either signaled or ignored (depending on the context and whether they are signaling or quiet).

min_mag(other, context=None)¶

Similar to the min() method, but the comparison is done using the absolute values of the operands.

next_minus(context=None)¶

Return the largest number representable in the given context (or in the current thread’s context if no context is given) that is smaller than the given operand.

next_plus(context=None)¶

Return the smallest number representable in the given context (or in the current thread’s context if no context is given) that is larger than the given operand.

next_toward(other, context=None)¶

If the two operands are unequal, return the number closest to the first operand in the direction of the second operand. If both operands are numerically equal, return a copy of the first operand with the sign set to be the same as the sign of the second operand.

normalize(context=None)¶

Used for producing canonical values of an equivalence class within either the current context or the specified context.

This has the same semantics as the unary plus operation, except that if the final result is finite it is reduced to its simplest form, with all trailing zeros removed and its sign preserved. That is, while the coefficient is non-zero and a multiple of ten the coefficient is divided by ten and the exponent is incremented by 1. Otherwise (the coefficient is zero) the exponent is set to 0. In all cases the sign is unchanged.

For example, Decimal('32.100') and Decimal('0.321000e+2') both normalize to the equivalent value Decimal('32.1').

Note that rounding is applied before reducing to simplest form.

In the latest versions of the specification, this operation is also known as reduce.

number_class(context=None)¶

Return a string describing the class of the operand. The returned value is one of the following ten strings.

• "-Infinity", indicating that the operand is negative infinity.

• "-Normal", indicating that the operand is a negative normal number.

• "-Subnormal", indicating that the operand is negative and subnormal.

• "-Zero", indicating that the operand is a negative zero.

• "+Zero", indicating that the operand is a positive zero.

• "+Subnormal", indicating that the operand is positive and subnormal.

• "+Normal", indicating that the operand is a positive normal number.

• "+Infinity", indicating that the operand is positive infinity.

• "NaN", indicating that the operand is a quiet NaN (Not a Number).

• "sNaN", indicating that the operand is a signaling NaN.

quantize(exp, rounding=None, context=None)¶

Return a value equal to the first operand after rounding and having the exponent of the second operand.

>>> Decimal('1.41421356').quantize(Decimal('1.000'))
Decimal('1.414')

Unlike other operations, if the length of the coefficient after the quantize operation would be greater than precision, then an InvalidOperation is signaled. This guarantees that, unless there is an error condition, the quantized exponent is always equal to that of the right-hand operand.

Also unlike other operations, quantize never signals Underflow, even if the result is subnormal and inexact.

If the exponent of the second operand is larger than that of the first then rounding may be necessary. In this case, the rounding mode is determined by the rounding argument if given, else by the given context argument; if neither argument is given the rounding mode of the current thread’s context is used.

An error is returned whenever the resulting exponent is greater than Emax or less than Etiny().

radix()¶

Return Decimal(10), the radix (base) in which the Decimal class does all its arithmetic. Included for compatibility with the specification.

remainder_near(other, context=None)¶

Return the remainder from dividing self by other. This differs from self % other in that the sign of the remainder is chosen so as to minimize its absolute value. More precisely, the return value is self - n * other where n is the integer nearest to the exact value of self / other, and if two integers are equally near then the even one is chosen.

If the result is zero then its sign will be the sign of self.

>>> Decimal(18).remainder_near(Decimal(10))
Decimal('-2')
>>> Decimal(25).remainder_near(Decimal(10))
Decimal('5')
>>> Decimal(35).remainder_near(Decimal(10))
Decimal('-5')

rotate(other, context=None)¶

Return the result of rotating the digits of the first operand by an amount specified by the second operand. The second operand must be an integer in the range -precision through precision. The absolute value of the second operand gives the number of places to rotate. If the second operand is positive then rotation is to the left; otherwise rotation is to the right. The coefficient of the first operand is padded on the left with zeros to length precision if necessary. The sign and exponent of the first operand are unchanged.

same_quantum(other, context=None)¶

Test whether self and other have the same exponent or whether both are NaN.

This operation is unaffected by context and is quiet: no flags are changed and no rounding is performed. As an exception, the C version may raise InvalidOperation if the second operand cannot be converted exactly.

scaleb(other, context=None)¶

Return the first operand with exponent adjusted by the second. Equivalently, return the first operand multiplied by 10**other. The second operand must be an integer.

shift(other, context=None)¶

Return the result of shifting the digits of the first operand by an amount specified by the second operand. The second operand must be an integer in the range -precision through precision. The absolute value of the second operand gives the number of places to shift. If the second operand is positive then the shift is to the left; otherwise the shift is to the right. Digits shifted into the coefficient are zeros. The sign and exponent of the first operand are unchanged.

sqrt(context=None)¶

Return the square root of the argument to full precision.

to_eng_string(context=None)¶

Convert to a string, using engineering notation if an exponent is needed.

Engineering notation has an exponent which is a multiple of 3. This can leave up to 3 digits to the left of the decimal place and may require the addition of either one or two trailing zeros.

For example, this converts Decimal('123E+1') to Decimal('1.23E+3').

to_integral(rounding=None, context=None)¶

Identical to the to_integral_value() method. The to_integral name has been kept for compatibility with older versions.

to_integral_exact(rounding=None, context=None)¶

Round to the nearest integer, signaling Inexact or Rounded as appropriate if rounding occurs. The rounding mode is determined by the rounding parameter if given, else by the given context. If neither parameter is given then the rounding mode of the current context is used.

to_integral_value(rounding=None, context=None)¶

Round to the nearest integer without signaling Inexact or Rounded. If given, applies rounding; otherwise, uses the rounding method in either the supplied context or the current context.

Decimal numbers can be rounded using the round() function:

round(number)

round(number, ndigits)

If ndigits is not given or None, returns the nearest int to number, rounding ties to even, and ignoring the rounding mode of the Decimal context. Raises OverflowError if number is an infinity or ValueError if it is a (quiet or signaling) NaN.

If ndigits is an int, the context’s rounding mode is respected and a Decimal representing number rounded to the nearest multiple of Decimal('1E-ndigits') is returned; in this case, round(number, ndigits) is equivalent to self.quantize(Decimal('1E-ndigits')). Returns Decimal('NaN') if number is a quiet NaN. Raises InvalidOperation if number is an infinity, a signaling NaN, or if the length of the coefficient after the quantize operation would be greater than the current context’s precision. In other words, for the non-corner cases:

• if ndigits is positive, return number rounded to ndigits decimal places;

• if ndigits is zero, return number rounded to the nearest integer;

• if ndigits is negative, return number rounded to the nearest multiple of 10**abs(ndigits).

For example:

>>> from decimal import Decimal, getcontext, ROUND_DOWN
>>> getcontext().rounding = ROUND_DOWN
>>> round(Decimal('3.75'))     # context rounding ignored
4
>>> round(Decimal('3.5'))      # round-ties-to-even
4
>>> round(Decimal('3.75'), 0)  # uses the context rounding
Decimal('3')
>>> round(Decimal('3.75'), 1)
Decimal('3.7')
>>> round(Decimal('3.75'), -1)
Decimal('0E+1')

Context objects¶

Contexts are environments for arithmetic operations. They govern precision, set rules for rounding, determine which signals are treated as exceptions, and limit the range for exponents.

Each thread has its own current context which is accessed or changed using the getcontext() and setcontext() functions:

decimal.getcontext()¶

Return the current context for the active thread.

decimal.setcontext(c, /)¶

Set the current context for the active thread to c.

You can also use the with statement and the localcontext() function to temporarily change the active context.

decimal.localcontext(ctx=None, **kwargs)¶

Return a context manager that will set the current context for the active thread to a copy of ctx on entry to the with-statement and restore the previous context when exiting the with-statement. If no context is specified, a copy of the current context is used. The kwargs argument is used to set the attributes of the new context.

For example, the following code sets the current decimal precision to 42 places, performs a calculation, and then automatically restores the previous context:

from decimal import localcontext

with localcontext() as ctx:
    ctx.prec = 42   # Perform a high precision calculation
    s = calculate_something()
s = +s  # Round the final result back to the default precision

Using keyword arguments, the code would be the following:

from decimal import localcontext

with localcontext(prec=42) as ctx:
    s = calculate_something()
s = +s

Raises TypeError if kwargs supplies an attribute that Context doesn’t support. Raises either TypeError or ValueError if kwargs supplies an invalid value for an attribute.

Changed in version 3.11: localcontext() now supports setting context attributes through the use of keyword arguments.

decimal.IEEEContext(bits)¶

Return a context object initialized to the proper values for one of the IEEE interchange formats. The argument must be a multiple of 32 and less than IEEE_CONTEXT_MAX_BITS.

Added in version 3.14.

New contexts can also be created using the Context constructor described below. In addition, the module provides three pre-made contexts:

decimal.BasicContext¶

This is a standard context defined by the General Decimal Arithmetic Specification. Precision is set to nine. Rounding is set to ROUND_HALF_UP. All flags are cleared. All traps are enabled (treated as exceptions) except Inexact, Rounded, and Subnormal.

Because many of the traps are enabled, this context is useful for debugging.

decimal.ExtendedContext¶

This is a standard context defined by the General Decimal Arithmetic Specification. Precision is set to nine. Rounding is set to ROUND_HALF_EVEN. All flags are cleared. No traps are enabled (so that exceptions are not raised during computations).

Because the traps are disabled, this context is useful for applications that prefer to have result value of NaN or Infinity instead of raising exceptions. This allows an application to complete a run in the presence of conditions that would otherwise halt the program.

decimal.DefaultContext¶

This context is used by the Context constructor as a prototype for new contexts. Changing a field (such a precision) has the effect of changing the default for new contexts created by the Context constructor.

This context is most useful in multi-threaded environments. Changing one of the fields before threads are started has the effect of setting system-wide defaults. Changing the fields after threads have started is not recommended as it would require thread synchronization to prevent race conditions.

In single threaded environments, it is preferable to not use this context at all. Instead, simply create contexts explicitly as described below.

The default values are Context.prec=28, Context.rounding=ROUND_HALF_EVEN, and enabled traps for Overflow, InvalidOperation, and DivisionByZero.

In addition to the three supplied contexts, new contexts can be created with the Context constructor.

class decimal.Context(prec=None, rounding=None, Emin=None, Emax=None, capitals=None, clamp=None, flags=None, traps=None)¶

Creates a new context. If a field is not specified or is None, the default values are copied from the DefaultContext. If the flags field is not specified or is None, all flags are cleared.

prec¶

An integer in the range [1, MAX_PREC] that sets the precision for arithmetic operations in the context.

rounding¶

One of the constants listed in the section Rounding Modes.

traps¶

flags¶

Lists of any signals to be set. Generally, new contexts should only set traps and leave the flags clear.

Emin¶

Emax¶

Integers specifying the outer limits allowable for exponents. Emin must be in the range [MIN_EMIN, 0], Emax in the range [0, MAX_EMAX].

capitals¶

Either 0 or 1 (the default). If set to 1, exponents are printed with a capital E; otherwise, a lowercase e is used: Decimal('6.02e+23').

clamp¶

Either 0 (the default) or 1. If set to 1, the exponent e of a Decimal instance representable in this context is strictly limited to the range Emin - prec + 1 <= e <= Emax - prec + 1. If clamp is 0 then a weaker condition holds: the adjusted exponent of the Decimal instance is at most Emax. When clamp is 1, a large normal number will, where possible, have its exponent reduced and a corresponding number of zeros added to its coefficient, in order to fit the exponent constraints; this preserves the value of the number but loses information about significant trailing zeros. For example:

>>> Context(prec=6, Emax=999, clamp=1).create_decimal('1.23e999')
Decimal('1.23000E+999')

A clamp value of 1 allows compatibility with the fixed-width decimal interchange formats specified in IEEE 754.

The Context class defines several general purpose methods as well as a large number of methods for doing arithmetic directly in a given context. In addition, for each of the Decimal methods described above (with the exception of the adjusted() and as_tuple() methods) there is a corresponding Context method. For example, for a Context instance C and Decimal instance x, C.exp(x) is equivalent to x.exp(context=C). Each Context method accepts a Python integer (an instance of