Compile without execute for syntax check?

[Alex]

Hi, Bernhard.

I have a little program that I get emacs to run each time before I save
a python file, or execute a region of one:

#!/usr/bin/python

import sys, os

filename = sys.argv[1]

if not os.path.exists(filename):
    raise IOError, 'File not found.'

file = open(filename).read()
try:
    compile(file, 'test', 'exec')
except:
    exception_instance = sys.exc_info()[1]
    print '%i %i' % (exception_instance.lineno,
                     exception_instance.offset)
else:
    print 'No error'

If it finds an error, it prints out where in the file it is, so that
emacs can warp the cursor there.

Alex.