Re: Multiple initialization methods?
Several people have told you about dispatching to the different methods based on the different parameters. Another technique is to have the different initialisation methods be static or class methods. For example, the python dictionary type can be instantiated in a variety of ways: dict(a=1, b=2, c=3) -> {'a': 1, 'c': 3, 'b': 2} dict([('a',1), ('b',2), ('c',3)]) -> {'a': 1, 'c': 3, 'b': 2} These are examples of dispatching to different initialisers based on the passed parameters, but there's also the fromkeys() class method, which accepts a list of keys and will return a new dictionary with the elements of the list as keys: dict.fromkeys(['a','b','c']) -> {'a': None, 'c': None, 'b': None} This could be implemented as follows: class dict(object): . def __init__(self, *args, **kws): . # standard initialisation... . . def fromkeys(cls, keys): . # transform the list of keys into a list of (key, value) pairs, . # then delegate to the standard initialiser . return cls([(k, None) for k in keys]) . # or: . result = cls() . for k in keys: . result[k] = None . return result . fromkeys = classmethod(fromkeys) (In 2.4, this could use decorators and generator comprehensions instead.) I often use this (even in languages like Java which support overloading) when instantiating domain objects that might be retrieved in many different ways, for example getting an instance of a user by database id or by login details: u = User.getById(1234) u = User.getByLogin(username, password) Cheers, xtian -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
Re: Multiple initialization methods?
On 16 Feb 2005 13:31:31 -0800, alex <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: Hi, it is possible to define multiple initialization methods so that the method is used that fits? I am thinking of something like this: def __init__(self, par1, par2): self.init(par1, par2); def __init__(self, par1): self.init(par1, None) def init(self, par1, par2): ... ... So if the call is with one parameter only the second class is executed (calling the 'init' method with the second parameter set to 'None' or whatever. But this example does not work. How to get it work? Alex You can do this: def __init__(self, *args, **kwargs): #args is a tuple of positional args #kwargs is a dict of named args print args, kwargs #real code here instead of lame print statements try: self.name = args[0] except IndexError: self.name = '' self.occupation = kwargs.get('occupation', '') or even better, do this: def __init__(self, name='', occuaption='', age=0): #named args with default values self.name = name self.occupation = occupation self.age = age Based on this, you should have enough information to make your class work. -- Soraia: http://www.soraia.com/ -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
Re: Multiple initialization methods?
alex wrote: > it is possible to define multiple initialization methods so that > the method is used that fits? > > I am thinking of something like this: > > def __init__(self, par1, par2): > self.init(par1, par2); > > def __init__(self, par1): > self.init(par1, None) > > def init(self, par1, par2): > ... > ... > > So if the call is with one parameter only the second class is > executed (calling the 'init' method with the second parameter set > to 'None' or whatever. But this example does not work. > > How to get it work? You have to do the method dispatching by yourself. For variable length parameter list you could choose this solution: def __init__(self, *args): if len(args) == 1: self.__setup1(*args) elif len(args) == 2: self.__setup2(*args) ... def __setup1(self, arg1): print "setup1" def __setup2(self, arg1, arg2): print "setup2" Or for different parameter lists which may have the same length my suggestion would be: def __init__(self, **kw): self.__dict__.update(kw) Mathias PS: anyone working on a patch for multimethod dispatching for python? -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
Re: Multiple initialization methods?
alex wrote: I am thinking of something like this: def __init__(self, par1, par2): self.init(par1, par2); def __init__(self, par1): self.init(par1, None) def init(self, par1, par2): ... ... So if the call is with one parameter only the second class is executed (calling the 'init' method with the second parameter set to 'None' or whatever. But this example does not work. Why don't you just write this as: def __init__(self, par1, par2=None): self.init(par1, par2) STeVe -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
Re: Multiple initialization methods?
alex wrote: > Hi, > > it is possible to define multiple initialization methods so that the > method is used that fits? No, there is no overloading in Python. > I am thinking of something like this: > > def __init__(self, par1, par2): > self.init(par1, par2); > > def __init__(self, par1): > self.init(par1, None) > > def init(self, par1, par2): > ... > ... > > So if the call is with one parameter only the second class is executed > (calling the 'init' method with the second parameter set to 'None' or > whatever. But this example does not work. > > How to get it work? > > Alex > Use a default argument for par2 and check for that in your function: def __init__(self, par1, par2=None): # do something with par1 if par2 is None: print "par2 was not given!" else: print "par2 is", par2 Read more in the FAQ: http://www.python.org/doc/faq/programming.html#how-can-i-overload-constructors-or-methods-in-python or in the tutorial: http://docs.python.org/tut/node6.html#SECTION00671 Bye, Dennis -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
Multiple initialization methods?
Hi, it is possible to define multiple initialization methods so that the method is used that fits? I am thinking of something like this: def __init__(self, par1, par2): self.init(par1, par2); def __init__(self, par1): self.init(par1, None) def init(self, par1, par2): ... ... So if the call is with one parameter only the second class is executed (calling the 'init' method with the second parameter set to 'None' or whatever. But this example does not work. How to get it work? Alex -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list