need an alternative to getattr()

[pranav.choudhary]

Hi,

AIM: I have a config file that contains configuration under headings
like this:

heading1:
<configuration 1>
<configuration 2>
heading2:
<configuration 1>
<configuration 2>
....
....

i parse this file to get heading1, heading2, etc and then i want to
call heading1.process(), heading2.process(), etc.
What i am trying to do is: (this is not the exact code, it just
represents what i am trying to do)

import heading1
import heading2
While True:
heading = get_next_heading(file_ptr) # This func will return
"heading1", then "heading2"(on next call)
if heading = "":
break
getattr(heading, "process")(file_ptr) # The problem, as you would
have noticed, is that the first
# argument to getattr is a string!!

Is there an alternatice to getattr() that will solve my problem, or is
there another way to do it.

-pranav

 

[Uffe Wassmann]

I think you would benefit from looking at the ConfigParser module.
I haven't tried it yet, but it looks like a nice interface for writing
and reading configuration files.

-Uffe.

 

[Ant]

getattr(heading, "process")(file_ptr) ....
Is there an alternatice to getattr() that will solve my problem, or is
there another way to do it.

How about:

eval("%s.process(%s)" % (heading, file_ptr))

 

[Jon Ribbens]

import heading1
import heading2
While True:
heading = get_next_heading(file_ptr) # This func will return
"heading1", then "heading2"(on next call)
if heading = "":
break
getattr(heading, "process")(file_ptr) # The problem, as you would
have noticed, is that the first
# argument to getattr is a string!!

Is there an alternatice to getattr() that will solve my problem, or is
there another way to do it.

globals()

.process(file_ptr)

or

sys.modules

.process(file_ptr)

but note that, unless you are checking 'heading' against a 'known
good configuration keywords' list beforehand, you are trusting the
author of the configuration file.​