Setting attributes by attribute name in Python

Question

I've got this somewhat ugly code writing to a bunch of properties. It seems I should be able to loop through a list to do this. How would I loop through ['command','options','library'] and set the associated property?

    <snip>

    try:
        self.command = data_dict['command']
    except KeyError:
        pass

    try:
        self.options = data_dict['options']
    except KeyError:
        pass

    try:
        self.library = data_dict['library']
    except KeyError:
        pass

   <snip>

Would the getattr function suffice?

Sasha
– Sasha

2018-03-15 16:17:14 +00:00
Commented Mar 15, 2018 at 16:17 — Sasha
– Sasha, Commented Mar 15, 2018 at 16:17

Jean-Paul Calderone · Accepted Answer · 2018-03-15 16:28:00Z

1

With setattr:

for name in ['command', 'options', 'library']:
    try:
        value = data_dict[name]
    except KeyError:
        pass
    else:
        setattr(self, name, value)

answered Mar 15, 2018 at 16:28

Jean-Paul Calderone

48.5k6 gold badges101 silver badges126 bronze badges

Sign up to request clarification or add additional context in comments.

Comments

Jim Wright · Accepted Answer · 2018-03-15 16:32:20Z

1

You can use setattr to set an attribute with a dynamic name.

In my opinion it is cleaner check if the key exists rather than handling the KeyError.

for name in ['command', 'options', 'library']:
    if name in data_dict:
        setattr(self, name, value)

answered Mar 15, 2018 at 16:32

Jim Wright

6,0681 gold badge18 silver badges35 bronze badges

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

Setting attributes by attribute name in Python

2 Answers 2

Comments

Comments

Your Answer

Hot Network Questions

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

2 Answers 2

Comments

Comments

Your Answer

Sign up or log in

Post as a guest

Related