Re: Adding to a module's __dict__?
Roy Smith wrote: The idea is I want to put in the beginning of the module: declare('XYZ_FOO', 0, The foo property) declare('XYZ_BAR', 1, The bar property) declare('XYZ_BAZ', 2, reserved for future use) Okay, that seems like a passable excuse. One thing to watch out for is that if your 'declare' function is defined in a different module, when it calls globals() it will get the globals of the module it's defined in, not the one it's being called from. There's a hackish way of getting around that, but it might be better to put all of these symbols in a module of their own and import them from it. The declare() function can then be defined in that same module so that it accesses the right globals. -- Greg -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
Re: Adding to a module's __dict__?
Roy Smith wrote: From inside a module, I want to add a key-value pair to the module's __dict__. I know I can just do: FOO = 'bar' at the module top-level, but I've got 'FOO' as a string and what I really need to do is __dict__['Foo'] = 'bar' When I do that, I get NameError: name '__dict__' is not defined. Is it possible to do what I'm trying to do? test.py: import sys varName= 'foo' setattr(sys.modules[__name__], varName, 42) in a shell: import test print test.foo 42 JM -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
Re: Adding to a module's __dict__?
In article mailman.96.1267508316.23598.python-l...@python.org, Chris Rebert c...@rebertia.com wrote: On Mon, Mar 1, 2010 at 8:27 PM, Roy Smith r...@panix.com wrote: From inside a module, I want to add a key-value pair to the module's __dict__. Â I know I can just do: FOO = 'bar' at the module top-level, but I've got 'FOO' as a string and what I really need to do is __dict__['Foo'] = 'bar' When I do that, I get NameError: name '__dict__' is not defined. Â Is it possible to do what I'm trying to do? Yes; just modify the dict returned by the globals() built-in function instead. Ah, cool. Thanks. It's usually not wise to do this and is better to use a separate dict instead, but I'll assume you know what you're doing and have good reasons to disregard the standard advice due to your use-case. Why is it unwise? The use case is I'm importing a bunch of #define constants from a C header file. I've got triples that I want to associate; the constant name, the value, and a string describing it. The idea is I want to put in the beginning of the module: declare('XYZ_FOO', 0, The foo property) declare('XYZ_BAR', 1, The bar property) declare('XYZ_BAZ', 2, reserved for future use) and so on. I'm going to have hundreds of these, so ease of use, ease of maintenance, and niceness of presentation are important. My declare() function will not just set XYZ_FOO = 1 at module global scope, but also insert entries in a variety of dicts so I can look up the description string, map from a value back to the constant name, etc. I *could* do this in a separate dict, but the notational convenience of being able to have the original constant names globally available is pretty important. -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
Re: Adding to a module's __dict__?
Roy Smith wrote: In article mailman.96.1267508316.23598.python-l...@python.org, Chris Rebert c...@rebertia.com wrote: On Mon, Mar 1, 2010 at 8:27 PM, Roy Smith r...@panix.com wrote: From inside a module, I want to add a key-value pair to the module's __dict__. Â I know I can just do: FOO = 'bar' at the module top-level, but I've got 'FOO' as a string and what I really need to do is __dict__['Foo'] = 'bar' When I do that, I get NameError: name '__dict__' is not defined. Â Is it possible to do what I'm trying to do? Yes; just modify the dict returned by the globals() built-in function instead. Ah, cool. Thanks. It's usually not wise to do this and is better to use a separate dict instead, but I'll assume you know what you're doing and have good reasons to disregard the standard advice due to your use-case. Why is it unwise? The use case is I'm importing a bunch of #define constants from a C header file. I've got triples that I want to associate; the constant name, the value, and a string describing it. The idea is I want to put in the beginning of the module: declare('XYZ_FOO', 0, The foo property) declare('XYZ_BAR', 1, The bar property) declare('XYZ_BAZ', 2, reserved for future use) and so on. I'm going to have hundreds of these, so ease of use, ease of maintenance, and niceness of presentation are important. My declare() function will not just set XYZ_FOO = 1 at module global scope, but also insert entries in a variety of dicts so I can look up the description string, map from a value back to the constant name, etc. I *could* do this in a separate dict, but the notational convenience of being able to have the original constant names globally available is pretty important. And how important is it to make sure that whatever data your program processes doesn't overwrite the actual variable names you want to use to program the processing? If you use this technique you are effectively making your program a hostage to fortune, as you no longer control the namespace you are using for the programming. regards Steve -- Steve Holden +1 571 484 6266 +1 800 494 3119 PyCon is coming! Atlanta, Feb 2010 http://us.pycon.org/ Holden Web LLC http://www.holdenweb.com/ UPCOMING EVENTS:http://holdenweb.eventbrite.com/ -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
Re: Adding to a module's __dict__?
Roy Smith wrote: [ ... ] Why is it unwise? The use case is I'm importing a bunch of #define constants from a C header file. I've got triples that I want to associate; the constant name, the value, and a string describing it. The idea is I want to put in the beginning of the module: declare('XYZ_FOO', 0, The foo property) declare('XYZ_BAR', 1, The bar property) declare('XYZ_BAZ', 2, reserved for future use) and so on. I'm going to have hundreds of these, so ease of use, ease of maintenance, and niceness of presentation are important. As long as the header file says what you think it says, you're fine. If you encounter a file that does #define sys, then the sys module is forever masked, and your module can't invoke it. A header file that contains #define declare will be fun. Mel. -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
Re: Adding to a module's __dict__?
On Mar 2, 8:33 am, Steve Holden st...@holdenweb.com wrote: And how important is it to make sure that whatever data your program processes doesn't overwrite the actual variable names you want to use to program the processing? Oh, I see what you're saying. You're thinking I was going to machine- process the C header file and pattern-match the #define statements? Actually, I was just hand-copying the values, and was looking for a way to reduce typing. But, I suppose if I were to machine-process the header files, that would be a concern. I suppose in that case I would make sure I only inserted variables which matched a particular pattern (ie, [A-Z]+_[A- Z][A-Z0-9]+). In fact, now that you got me thinking in that direction... Somewhat sadly, in my case, I can't even machine process the header file. I don't, strictly speaking, have a header file. What I have is a PDF which documents what's in the header file, and I'm manually re- typing the data out of that. Sigh. -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
Re: Adding to a module's __dict__?
Roy Smith wrote: On Mar 2, 8:33 am, Steve Holden st...@holdenweb.com wrote: And how important is it to make sure that whatever data your program processes doesn't overwrite the actual variable names you want to use to program the processing? Oh, I see what you're saying. You're thinking I was going to machine- process the C header file and pattern-match the #define statements? Actually, I was just hand-copying the values, and was looking for a way to reduce typing. But, I suppose if I were to machine-process the header files, that would be a concern. I suppose in that case I would make sure I only inserted variables which matched a particular pattern (ie, [A-Z]+_[A- Z][A-Z0-9]+). In fact, now that you got me thinking in that direction... Somewhat sadly, in my case, I can't even machine process the header file. I don't, strictly speaking, have a header file. What I have is a PDF which documents what's in the header file, and I'm manually re- typing the data out of that. Sigh. Don't worry. Now you have revealed the *real* problem you may well find there are c.l.py readers who can help! Python can read PDFs ... regards Steve -- Steve Holden +1 571 484 6266 +1 800 494 3119 PyCon is coming! Atlanta, Feb 2010 http://us.pycon.org/ Holden Web LLC http://www.holdenweb.com/ UPCOMING EVENTS:http://holdenweb.eventbrite.com/ -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
Re: Adding to a module's __dict__?
On 3/2/2010 10:19 AM, Roy Smith wrote: Somewhat sadly, in my case, I can't even machine process the header file. I don't, strictly speaking, have a header file. What I have is a PDF which documents what's in the header file, and I'm manually re- typing the data out of that. Sigh. Here's an idea, perhaps too obvious, to minimize your keystrokes: 1. Create a text file with the essential data: XYZ_FOO 0 The foo property XYZ_BAR 1 The bar property XYZ_BAZ 2 reserved for future use 2. Use a Python script to convert this into the desired code: declare('XYZ_FOO', 0, The foo property) declare('XYZ_BAR', 1, The bar property) declare('XYZ_BAZ', 2, reserved for future use) Note: s 'XYZ_FOO 0 The foo property' s.split(None, 2) ['XYZ_FOO', '0', 'The foo property'] HTH, John -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
Re: Adding to a module's __dict__?
On Mar 2, 5:21 am, Roy Smith r...@panix.com wrote: In article mailman.96.1267508316.23598.python-l...@python.org, Chris Rebert c...@rebertia.com wrote: On Mon, Mar 1, 2010 at 8:27 PM, Roy Smith r...@panix.com wrote: From inside a module, I want to add a key-value pair to the module's __dict__. I know I can just do: FOO = 'bar' at the module top-level, but I've got 'FOO' as a string and what I really need to do is __dict__['Foo'] = 'bar' When I do that, I get NameError: name '__dict__' is not defined. Is it possible to do what I'm trying to do? Yes; just modify the dict returned by the globals() built-in function instead. Ah, cool. Thanks. It's usually not wise to do this and is better to use a separate dict instead, but I'll assume you know what you're doing and have good reasons to disregard the standard advice due to your use-case. Why is it unwise? He didn't say it was unwise. He said it's usually not wise. Carl Banks -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
Re: Adding to a module's __dict__?
John Posner wrote: On 3/2/2010 10:19 AM, Roy Smith wrote: Somewhat sadly, in my case, I can't even machine process the header file. I don't, strictly speaking, have a header file. What I have is a PDF which documents what's in the header file, and I'm manually re- typing the data out of that. Sigh. Here's an idea, perhaps too obvious, to minimize your keystrokes: 1. Create a text file with the essential data: XYZ_FOO 0 The foo property XYZ_BAR 1 The bar property XYZ_BAZ 2 reserved for future use 2. Use a Python script to convert this into the desired code: declare('XYZ_FOO', 0, The foo property) declare('XYZ_BAR', 1, The bar property) declare('XYZ_BAZ', 2, reserved for future use) Note: s 'XYZ_FOO 0 The foo property' s.split(None, 2) ['XYZ_FOO', '0', 'The foo property'] You might be able to reduce your typing by copy-and-pasting the relevant text from the PDF into an editor and then editing it. -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
Re: Adding to a module's __dict__?
On 3/2/2010 11:18 AM, John Posner wrote: On 3/2/2010 10:19 AM, Roy Smith wrote: Somewhat sadly, in my case, I can't even machine process the header file. I don't, strictly speaking, have a header file. What I have is a PDF which documents what's in the header file, and I'm manually re- typing the data out of that. Sigh. There are Python modules to read/write pdf. Here's an idea, perhaps too obvious, to minimize your keystrokes: 1. Create a text file with the essential data: XYZ_FOO 0 The foo property XYZ_BAR 1 The bar property XYZ_BAZ 2 reserved for future use 2. Use a Python script to convert this into the desired code: declare('XYZ_FOO', 0, The foo property) declare('XYZ_BAR', 1, The bar property) declare('XYZ_BAZ', 2, reserved for future use) Note: s 'XYZ_FOO 0 The foo property' s.split(None, 2) ['XYZ_FOO', '0', 'The foo property'] Given that set of triples is constant, I would think about having the Python script do the computation just once, instead of with every inport. In other words, the script should *call* the declare function and then write out the resulting set of dicts either to a .py or pickle file. tjr -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
Re: Adding to a module's __dict__?
Terry Reedy wrote: On 3/2/2010 11:18 AM, John Posner wrote: On 3/2/2010 10:19 AM, Roy Smith wrote: Somewhat sadly, in my case, I can't even machine process the header file. I don't, strictly speaking, have a header file. What I have is a PDF which documents what's in the header file, and I'm manually re- typing the data out of that. Sigh. There are Python modules to read/write pdf. Here's an idea, perhaps too obvious, to minimize your keystrokes: 1. Create a text file with the essential data: XYZ_FOO 0 The foo property XYZ_BAR 1 The bar property XYZ_BAZ 2 reserved for future use 2. Use a Python script to convert this into the desired code: declare('XYZ_FOO', 0, The foo property) declare('XYZ_BAR', 1, The bar property) declare('XYZ_BAZ', 2, reserved for future use) Note: s 'XYZ_FOO 0 The foo property' s.split(None, 2) ['XYZ_FOO', '0', 'The foo property'] Given that set of triples is constant, I would think about having the Python script do the computation just once, instead of with every inport. In other words, the script should *call* the declare function and then write out the resulting set of dicts either to a .py or pickle file. tjr There have been lots of good suggestions in this thread. Let me give you my take: 1) you shouldn't want to clutter up the global dictionary of your main processing module. There's too much risk of getting a collision, either with the functions you write, or with some builtin. That's especially true if you might later want to use a later version of that pdf file. Easiest solution for your purposes, make it a separate module. Give it a name like defines, and in your main module, you use import defines print defines.XYZ_FOO And if that's too much typing, you can do: import defines as I print I.XYZ_FOO Next problem is to parse that pdf file. One solution is to use a pdf library. But another is to copy/paste it into a text file, and parse that. Assuming it'll paste, and that the lines you want are recognizable (eg. they all begin as #define), the parsing should be pretty easy. The results of the parsing is a file defines.py Now, if the pdf ever changes, rerun your parsing program. But don't run it every time your application runs. If the pdf file were changing often, then I'd have a different answer: 2) define an empty class, just as a placeholder, and make one instance I Populate a class instance I withsetattrib() calls, but access it with direct syntax, same as our first example. DaveA -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
Re: Adding to a module's __dict__?
On Mon, Mar 1, 2010 at 8:27 PM, Roy Smith r...@panix.com wrote: From inside a module, I want to add a key-value pair to the module's __dict__. I know I can just do: FOO = 'bar' at the module top-level, but I've got 'FOO' as a string and what I really need to do is __dict__['Foo'] = 'bar' When I do that, I get NameError: name '__dict__' is not defined. Is it possible to do what I'm trying to do? Yes; just modify the dict returned by the globals() built-in function instead. It's usually not wise to do this and is better to use a separate dict instead, but I'll assume you know what you're doing and have good reasons to disregard the standard advice due to your use-case. Cheers, Chris -- One should avoid using the Big Hammer unnecessarily, but sometimes you really do need it and it's nice that it's available for such cases. http://blog.rebertia.com -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list