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Implicitly call method when instance name is called

In an instance, is there a way I can call a method implicitly when I am calling just the instance name?
So for example if I have this
class MyClass:
def __init__(self, html):
self.html = html
def _render_html_(self):
# omitted
pass
>>> some_fancy_html = """(omitted)"""
>>> mc = MyClass(some_fancy_html)
## So instead of
>>> mc._render_html_()
## I would like to call
>>> mc
### to implicitly call the method _render_html()
Is that possible?
Background
In the Panda's source code I can see this in a docstring:
Notes
-----
Most styling will be done by passing style functions into
``Styler.apply`` or ``Styler.applymap``. Style functions should
return values with strings containing CSS ``'attr: value'`` that will
be applied to the indicated cells.
If using in the Jupyter notebook, Styler has defined a ``_repr_html_``
to automatically render itself. Otherwise call Styler.render to get
the generated HTML.
In the second paragraph it says:
Styler has defined a `_repr_html_` to automatically render itself
Source:
Github: Pandas

I don't think you can do that. I'd rather overload the parentheses operator, just like it's explained here.
>>> class MyClass:
... def __init__(self, html):
... self.html = html
... def __call__(self):
... print(self.html)
...
>>> mc = MyClass("Hello, world")
>>> mc
<__main__.MyClass instance at 0x7f3a27a29bd8>
>>> mc()
Hello, world

Instead of _render_html, call it __call__. This will be called by mc(). The step further than this - dropping the brackets in the calling code - is not possible, but you can come close if you make _render_html a property like so:
class MyClass:
#property
def html(self):
pass
Then you can do mc.html, without the brackets, to call that function.

You can try to assign this function to some variable:
mc = MyClass._render_html_(MyClass(some_fancy_html))
Then you when you call mc it will call class method.
Of course, you can always pass already existing class object as a self:
some_fancy_html = """(omitted)"""
mc = MyClass(some_fancy_html)
method = MyClass._render_html_(mc)
Then typing method will execute same what would do: mc._render_html_()

Get variable value defined in another python code

In order to create a code, I have decided to create a python class to just define some variables with default value. you can see this as "struct" in C.
the file is name : ScreenStructure.py
Inside I have defined this code
class ViewIdleScreen():
def _init_(self):
self.menu_access = "id/no_id/21"
self.Call_app = "id/no_id/23"
self.Email_app = "idno_id/24"
self.Camera_app = "id/no_id/27"
self.Browser_app = "id/no_id/26"
self.Contacts_app = "id/no_id/9"
self.Calendar_app = "id/no_id/10"
self.Messaging_app = "id/no_id/11"
self.Notes_app = "id/no_id/12"
def Call_app(self):
return self.Call_app
In the main file, I have added :
from ScreenStructure import ViewIdleScreen
later in the code of the main file:
IdleScreenView = ViewIdleScreen()
print IdleScreenView.Call_app()
but instead of displaying "id/no_id/23" it display
<bound method ViewIdleScreen.Call_app of <ScreenStructure.ViewIdleScreen instance at 0x02A16990>>

First, you're naming __init__ _init_. This is wrong. You need two underscores.
Second, you're setting an attribute Call_app there, but that's the same name as the method you define later:
def Call_app(self):
return self.Call_app
In addition to being shadowed by the attribute (if __init__ were declared properly), this method returns the method itself, which is the bound method you're seeing.
Avoid the collision of attribute and method names, and name __init__ correctly

you should not make functions named the same as data members
hello = "hello world"
def hello():
print "goodbye!"
print hello
often times people will make a variable name preceded by an underscore or something
class X:
def __init__(self,*args):
self._x = "yellow"
def x(self):
return self._x
but as #mhlester points out a main problem is that you named __init__ incorrectly

Python extension methods

OK, in C# we have something like:
public static string Destroy(this string s) {
return "";
}
So basically, when you have a string you can do:
str = "This is my string to be destroyed";
newstr = str.Destroy()
# instead of
newstr = Destroy(str)
Now this is cool because in my opinion it's more readable. Does Python have something similar? I mean instead of writing like this:
x = SomeClass()
div = x.getMyDiv()
span = x.FirstChild(x.FirstChild(div)) # so instead of this
I'd like to write:
span = div.FirstChild().FirstChild() # which is more readable to me
Any suggestion?

You can just modify the class directly, sometimes known as monkey patching.
def MyMethod(self):
return self + self
MyClass.MyMethod = MyMethod
del(MyMethod)#clean up namespace
I'm not 100% sure you can do this on a special class like str, but it's fine for your user-defined classes.
Update
You confirm in a comment my suspicion that this is not possible for a builtin like str. In which case I believe there is no analogue to C# extension methods for such classes.
Finally, the convenience of these methods, in both C# and Python, comes with an associated risk. Using these techniques can make code more complex to understand and maintain.

You can do what you have asked like the following:
def extension_method(self):
#do stuff
class.extension_method = extension_method

I would use the Adapter pattern here. So, let's say we have a Person class and in one specific place we would like to add some health-related methods.
from dataclasses import dataclass
#dataclass
class Person:
name: str
height: float # in meters
mass: float # in kg
class PersonMedicalAdapter:
person: Person
def __init__(self, person: Person):
self.person = person
def __getattr__(self, item):
return getattr(self.person, item)
def get_body_mass_index(self) -> float:
return self.person.mass / self.person.height ** 2
if __name__ == '__main__':
person = Person('John', height=1.7, mass=76)
person_adapter = PersonMedicalAdapter(person)
print(person_adapter.name) # Call to Person object field
print(person_adapter.get_body_mass_index()) # Call to wrapper object method
I consider it to be an easy-to-read, yet flexible and pythonic solution.

You can change the built-in classes by monkey-patching with the help of forbidden fruit
But installing forbidden fruit requires a C compiler and unrestricted environment so it probably will not work or needs hard effort to run on Google App Engine, Heroku, etc.
I changed the behaviour of unicode class in Python 2.7 for a Turkish i,I uppercase/lowercase problem by this library.
# -*- coding: utf8 -*-
# Redesigned by #guneysus
import __builtin__
from forbiddenfruit import curse
lcase_table = tuple(u'abcçdefgğhıijklmnoöprsştuüvyz')
ucase_table = tuple(u'ABCÇDEFGĞHIİJKLMNOÖPRSŞTUÜVYZ')
def upper(data):
data = data.replace('i',u'İ')
data = data.replace(u'ı',u'I')
result = ''
for char in data:
try:
char_index = lcase_table.index(char)
ucase_char = ucase_table[char_index]
except:
ucase_char = char
result += ucase_char
return result
curse(__builtin__.unicode, 'upper', upper)
class unicode_tr(unicode):
"""For Backward compatibility"""
def __init__(self, arg):
super(unicode_tr, self).__init__(*args, **kwargs)
if __name__ == '__main__':
print u'istanbul'.upper()

You can achieve this nicely with the following context manager that adds the method to the class or object inside the context block and removes it afterwards:
class extension_method:
def __init__(self, obj, method):
method_name = method.__name__
setattr(obj, method_name, method)
self.obj = obj
self.method_name = method_name
def __enter__(self):
return self.obj
def __exit__(self, type, value, traceback):
# remove this if you want to keep the extension method after context exit
delattr(self.obj, self.method_name)
Usage is as follows:
class C:
pass
def get_class_name(self):
return self.__class__.__name__
with extension_method(C, get_class_name):
assert hasattr(C, 'get_class_name') # the method is added to C
c = C()
print(c.get_class_name()) # prints 'C'
assert not hasattr(C, 'get_class_name') # the method is gone from C

I'd like to think that extension methods in C# are pretty much the same as normal method call where you pass the instance then arguments and stuff.
instance.method(*args, **kwargs)
method(instance, *args, **kwargs) # pretty much the same as above, I don't see much benefit of it getting implemented in python.

After a week, I have a solution that is closest to what I was seeking for. The solution consists of using getattr and __getattr__. Here is an example for those who are interested.
class myClass:
def __init__(self): pass
def __getattr__(self, attr):
try:
methodToCall = getattr(myClass, attr)
return methodToCall(myClass(), self)
except:
pass
def firstChild(self, node):
# bla bla bla
def lastChild(self, node):
# bla bla bla
x = myClass()
div = x.getMYDiv()
y = div.firstChild.lastChild
I haven't test this example, I just gave it to give an idea for who might be interested. Hope that helps.

C# implemented extension methods because it lacks first class functions, Python has them and it is the preferred method for "wrapping" common functionality across disparate classes in Python.
There are good reasons to believe Python will never have extension methods, simply look at the available built-ins:
len(o) calls o.__len__
iter(o) calls o.__iter__
next(o) calls o.next
format(o, s) calls o.__format__(s)
Basically, Python likes functions.

How to get the caller's method name in the called method?

Python: How to get the caller's method name in the called method?
Assume I have 2 methods:
def method1(self):
...
a = A.method2()
def method2(self):
...
If I don't want to do any change for method1, how to get the name of the caller (in this example, the name is method1) in method2?

inspect.getframeinfo and other related functions in inspect can help:
>>> import inspect
>>> def f1(): f2()
...
>>> def f2():
... curframe = inspect.currentframe()
... calframe = inspect.getouterframes(curframe, 2)
... print('caller name:', calframe[1][3])
...
>>> f1()
caller name: f1
this introspection is intended to help debugging and development; it's not advisable to rely on it for production-functionality purposes.

Shorter version:
import inspect
def f1(): f2()
def f2():
print 'caller name:', inspect.stack()[1][3]
f1()
(with thanks to #Alex, and Stefaan Lippen)

This seems to work just fine:
import sys
print sys._getframe().f_back.f_code.co_name

I would use inspect.currentframe().f_back.f_code.co_name. Its use hasn't been covered in any of the prior answers which are mainly of one of three types:
Some prior answers use inspect.stack but it's known to be too slow.
Some prior answers use sys._getframe which is an internal private function given its leading underscore, and so its use is implicitly discouraged.
One prior answer uses inspect.getouterframes(inspect.currentframe(), 2)[1][3] but it's entirely unclear what [1][3] is accessing.
import inspect
from types import FrameType
from typing import cast
def demo_the_caller_name() -> str:
"""Return the calling function's name."""
# Ref: https://stackoverflow.com/a/57712700/
return cast(FrameType, cast(FrameType, inspect.currentframe()).f_back).f_code.co_name
if __name__ == '__main__':
def _test_caller_name() -> None:
assert demo_the_caller_name() == '_test_caller_name'
_test_caller_name()
Note that cast(FrameType, frame) is used to satisfy mypy.
Acknowlegement: comment by 1313e for an answer.

I've come up with a slightly longer version that tries to build a full method name including module and class.
https://gist.github.com/2151727 (rev 9cccbf)
# Public Domain, i.e. feel free to copy/paste
# Considered a hack in Python 2
import inspect
def caller_name(skip=2):
"""Get a name of a caller in the format module.class.method
`skip` specifies how many levels of stack to skip while getting caller
name. skip=1 means "who calls me", skip=2 "who calls my caller" etc.
An empty string is returned if skipped levels exceed stack height
"""
stack = inspect.stack()
start = 0 + skip
if len(stack) < start + 1:
return ''
parentframe = stack[start][0]
name = []
module = inspect.getmodule(parentframe)
# `modname` can be None when frame is executed directly in console
# TODO(techtonik): consider using __main__
if module:
name.append(module.__name__)
# detect classname
if 'self' in parentframe.f_locals:
# I don't know any way to detect call from the object method
# XXX: there seems to be no way to detect static method call - it will
# be just a function call
name.append(parentframe.f_locals['self'].__class__.__name__)
codename = parentframe.f_code.co_name
if codename != '<module>': # top level usually
name.append( codename ) # function or a method
## Avoid circular refs and frame leaks
# https://docs.python.org/2.7/library/inspect.html#the-interpreter-stack
del parentframe, stack
return ".".join(name)

Bit of an amalgamation of the stuff above. But here's my crack at it.
def print_caller_name(stack_size=3):
def wrapper(fn):
def inner(*args, **kwargs):
import inspect
stack = inspect.stack()
modules = [(index, inspect.getmodule(stack[index][0]))
for index in reversed(range(1, stack_size))]
module_name_lengths = [len(module.__name__)
for _, module in modules]
s = '{index:>5} : {module:^%i} : {name}' % (max(module_name_lengths) + 4)
callers = ['',
s.format(index='level', module='module', name='name'),
'-' * 50]
for index, module in modules:
callers.append(s.format(index=index,
module=module.__name__,
name=stack[index][3]))
callers.append(s.format(index=0,
module=fn.__module__,
name=fn.__name__))
callers.append('')
print('\n'.join(callers))
fn(*args, **kwargs)
return inner
return wrapper
Use:
#print_caller_name(4)
def foo():
return 'foobar'
def bar():
return foo()
def baz():
return bar()
def fizz():
return baz()
fizz()
output is
level : module : name
--------------------------------------------------
3 : None : fizz
2 : None : baz
1 : None : bar
0 : __main__ : foo

You can use decorators, and do not have to use stacktrace
If you want to decorate a method inside a class
import functools
# outside ur class
def printOuterFunctionName(func):
#functools.wraps(func)
def wrapper(self):
print(f'Function Name is: {func.__name__}')
func(self)
return wrapper
class A:
#printOuterFunctionName
def foo():
pass
you may remove functools, self if it is procedural

An alternative to sys._getframe() is used by Python's Logging library to find caller information. Here's the idea:
raise an Exception
immediately catch it in an Except clause
use sys.exc_info to get Traceback frame (tb_frame).
from tb_frame get last caller's frame using f_back.
from last caller's frame get the code object that was being executed in that frame.
In our sample code it would be method1 (not method2) being executed.
From code object obtained, get the object's name -- this is caller method's name in our sample.
Here's the sample code to solve example in the question:
def method1():
method2()
def method2():
try:
raise Exception
except Exception:
frame = sys.exc_info()[2].tb_frame.f_back
print("method2 invoked by: ", frame.f_code.co_name)
# Invoking method1
method1()
Output:
method2 invoked by: method1
Frame has all sorts of details, including line number, file name, argument counts, argument type and so on. The solution works across classes and modules too.

Code:
#!/usr/bin/env python
import inspect
called=lambda: inspect.stack()[1][3]
def caller1():
print "inside: ",called()
def caller2():
print "inside: ",called()
if __name__=='__main__':
caller1()
caller2()
Output:
shahid#shahid-VirtualBox:~/Documents$ python test_func.py
inside: caller1
inside: caller2
shahid#shahid-VirtualBox:~/Documents$

I found a way if you're going across classes and want the class the method belongs to AND the method. It takes a bit of extraction work but it makes its point. This works in Python 2.7.13.
import inspect, os
class ClassOne:
def method1(self):
classtwoObj.method2()
class ClassTwo:
def method2(self):
curframe = inspect.currentframe()
calframe = inspect.getouterframes(curframe, 4)
print '\nI was called from', calframe[1][3], \
'in', calframe[1][4][0][6: -2]
# create objects to access class methods
classoneObj = ClassOne()
classtwoObj = ClassTwo()
# start the program
os.system('cls')
classoneObj.method1()

Hey mate I once made 3 methods without plugins for my app and maybe that can help you, It worked for me so maybe gonna work for you too.
def method_1(a=""):
if a == "method_2":
print("method_2")
if a == "method_3":
print("method_3")
def method_2():
method_1("method_2")
def method_3():
method_1("method_3")
method_2()

Getting an instance name inside class __init__() [duplicate]

This question already has answers here:
Getting the name of a variable as a string
(32 answers)
Closed 3 years ago.
While building a new class object in python, I want to be able to create a default value based on the instance name of the class without passing in an extra argument. How can I accomplish this? Here's the basic pseudo-code I'm trying for:
class SomeObject():
defined_name = u""
def __init__(self, def_name=None):
if def_name == None:
def_name = u"%s" % (<INSTANCE NAME>)
self.defined_name = def_name
ThisObject = SomeObject()
print ThisObject.defined_name # Should print "ThisObject"

Well, there is almost a way to do it:
#!/usr/bin/env python
import traceback
class SomeObject():
def __init__(self, def_name=None):
if def_name == None:
(filename,line_number,function_name,text)=traceback.extract_stack()[-2]
def_name = text[:text.find('=')].strip()
self.defined_name = def_name
ThisObject = SomeObject()
print ThisObject.defined_name
# ThisObject
The traceback module allows you to peek at the code used to call SomeObject().
With a little string wrangling, text[:text.find('=')].strip() you can
guess what the def_name should be.
However, this hack is brittle. For example, this doesn't work so well:
ThisObject,ThatObject = SomeObject(),SomeObject()
print ThisObject.defined_name
# ThisObject,ThatObject
print ThatObject.defined_name
# ThisObject,ThatObject
So if you were to use this hack, you have to bear in mind that you must call SomeObject()
using simple python statement:
ThisObject = SomeObject()
By the way, as a further example of using traceback, if you define
def pv(var):
# stack is a list of 4-tuples: (filename, line number, function name, text)
# see http://docs.python.org/library/traceback.html#module-traceback
#
(filename,line_number,function_name,text)=traceback.extract_stack()[-2]
# ('x_traceback.py', 18, 'f', 'print_var(y)')
print('%s: %s'%(text[text.find('(')+1:-1],var))
then you can call
x=3.14
pv(x)
# x: 3.14
to print both the variable name and its value.

Instances don't have names. By the time the global name ThisObject gets bound to the instance created by evaluating the SomeObject constructor, the constructor has finished running.
If you want an object to have a name, just pass the name along in the constructor.
def __init__(self, name):
self.name = name

You can create a method inside your class that check all variables in the current frame and use hash() to look for the self variable.
The solution proposed here will return all the variables pointing to the instance object.
In the class below, isinstance() is used to avoid problems when applying hash(), since some objects like a numpy.array or a list, for example, are unhashable.
import inspect
class A(object):
def get_my_name(self):
ans = []
frame = inspect.currentframe().f_back
tmp = dict(frame.f_globals.items() + frame.f_locals.items())
for k, var in tmp.items():
if isinstance(var, self.__class__):
if hash(self) == hash(var):
ans.append(k)
return ans
The following test has been done:
def test():
a = A()
b = a
c = b
print c.get_my_name()
The result is:
test()
#['a', 'c', 'b']

This cannot work, just imagine this: a = b = TheMagicObjet(). Names have no effect on Values, they just point to them.

One horrible, horrible way to accomplish this is to reverse the responsibilities:
class SomeObject():
def __init__(self, def_name):
self.defined_name = def_name
globals()[def_name] = self
SomeObject("ThisObject")
print ThisObject.defined_name
If you wanted to support something other than global scope, you'd have to do something even more awful.

In Python, all data is stored in objects. Additionally, a name can be bound with an object, after which that name can be used to look up that object.
It makes no difference to the object what names, if any, it might be bound to. It might be bound to dozens of different names, or none. Also, Python does not have any "back links" that point from an object to a name.
Consider this example:
foo = 1
bar = foo
baz = foo
Now, suppose you have the integer object with value 1, and you want to work backwards and find its name. What would you print? Three different names have that object bound to them, and all are equally valid.
print(bar is foo) # prints True
print(baz is foo) # prints True
In Python, a name is a way to access an object, so there is no way to work with names directly. You could search through various name spaces until you find a name that is bound with the object of interest, but I don't recommend this.
How do I get the string representation of a variable in python?
There is a famous presentation called "Code Like a Pythonista" that summarizes this situation as "Other languages have 'variables'" and "Python has 'names'"
http://python.net/~goodger/projects/pycon/2007/idiomatic/handout.html#other-languages-have-variables

If you want an unique instance name for a class, try __repr__() or id(self)
class Some:
def __init__(self):
print(self.__repr__()) # = hex(id(self))
print(id(self))
It will print the memory address of the instance, which is unique.

Inspired by the answers of unutbu and Saullo Castro, I have created a more sophisticated class that can even be subclassed. It solves what was asked for in the question.
"create a default value based on the instance name of the class
without passing in an extra argument."
Here's what it does, when an instance of this class or a subclass is created:
Go up in the frame stack until the first frame which does not belong to a method of the current instance.
Inspect this frame to get the attributes self.creation_(name/file/module/function/line/text).
Perform an an additional check whether an object with name self.creation_name was actually defined in the frame's locals() namespace to make 100% sure the found creation_name is correct or raise an error otherwise.
The Code:
import traceback, threading, time
class InstanceCreationError(Exception):
pass
class RememberInstanceCreationInfo:
def __init__(self):
for frame, line in traceback.walk_stack(None):
varnames = frame.f_code.co_varnames
if varnames is ():
break
if frame.f_locals[varnames[0]] not in (self, self.__class__):
break
# if the frame is inside a method of this instance,
# the first argument usually contains either the instance or
# its class
# we want to find the first frame, where this is not the case
else:
raise InstanceCreationError("No suitable outer frame found.")
self._outer_frame = frame
self.creation_module = frame.f_globals["__name__"]
self.creation_file, self.creation_line, self.creation_function, \
self.creation_text = \
traceback.extract_stack(frame, 1)[0]
self.creation_name = self.creation_text.split("=")[0].strip()
super().__init__()
threading.Thread(target=self._check_existence_after_creation).start()
def _check_existence_after_creation(self):
while self._outer_frame.f_lineno == self.creation_line:
time.sleep(0.01)
# this is executed as soon as the line number changes
# now we can be sure the instance was actually created
error = InstanceCreationError(
"\nCreation name not found in creation frame.\ncreation_file: "
"%s \ncreation_line: %s \ncreation_text: %s\ncreation_name ("
"might be wrong): %s" % (
self.creation_file, self.creation_line, self.creation_text,
self.creation_name))
nameparts = self.creation_name.split(".")
try:
var = self._outer_frame.f_locals[nameparts[0]]
except KeyError:
raise error
finally:
del self._outer_frame
# make sure we have no permament inter frame reference
# which could hinder garbage collection
try:
for name in nameparts[1:]: var = getattr(var, name)
except AttributeError:
raise error
if var is not self: raise error
def __repr__(self):
return super().__repr__()[
:-1] + " with creation_name '%s'>" % self.creation_name
A simple example:
class MySubclass(RememberInstanceCreationInfo):
def __init__(self):
super().__init__()
def print_creation_info(self):
print(self.creation_name, self.creation_module, self.creation_function,
self.creation_line, self.creation_text, sep=", ")
instance = MySubclass()
instance.print_creation_info()
#out: instance, __main__, <module>, 68, instance = MySubclass()
If the creation name cannot be determined properly an error is raised:
variable, another_instance = 2, MySubclass()
# InstanceCreationError:
# Creation name not found in creation frame.
# creation_file: /.../myfile.py
# creation_line: 71
# creation_text: variable, another_instance = 2, MySubclass()
# creation_name (might be wrong): variable, another_instance

I think that names matters if they are the pointers to any object..
no matters if:
foo = 1
bar = foo
I know that foo points to 1 and bar points to the same value 1 into the same memory space.
but supose that I want to create a class with a function that adds a object to it.
Class Bag(object):
def __init__(self):
some code here...
def addItem(self,item):
self.__dict__[somewaytogetItemName] = item
So, when I instantiate the class bag like below:
newObj1 = Bag()
newObj2 = Bag()
newObj1.addItem(newObj2)I can do this to get an attribute of newObj1:
newObj1.newObj2

The best way is really to pass the name to the constructor as in the chosen answer. However, if you REALLY want to avoid asking the user to pass the name to the constructor, you can do the following hack:
If you are creating the instance with 'ThisObject = SomeObject()' from the command line, you can get the object name from the command string in command history:
import readline
import re
class SomeObject():
def __init__(self):
cmd = readline.get_history_item(readline.get_current_history_length())
self.name = re.split('=| ',cmd)[0]
If you are creating the instance using 'exec' command, you can handle this with:
if cmd[0:4] == 'exec': self.name = re.split('\'|=| ',cmd)[1] # if command performed using 'exec'
else: self.name = re.split('=| ',cmd)[0]