How can I dynamically create derived classes from a base class
Question:
For example I have a base class as follows:
class BaseClass(object):
def __init__(self, classtype):
self._type = classtype
From this class I derive several other classes, e.g.
class TestClass(BaseClass):
def __init__(self):
super(TestClass, self).__init__('Test')
class SpecialClass(BaseClass):
def __init__(self):
super(TestClass, self).__init__('Special')
Is there a nice, pythonic way to create those classes dynamically by a function call that puts the new class into my current scope, like:
foo(BaseClass, "My")
a = MyClass()
...
As there will be comments and questions why I need this: The derived classes all have the exact same internal structure with the difference, that the constructor takes a number of previously undefined arguments. So, for example, MyClass takes the keywords a while the constructor of class TestClass takes b and c.
inst1 = MyClass(a=4)
inst2 = MyClass(a=5)
inst3 = TestClass(b=False, c = "test")
But they should NEVER use the type of the class as input argument like
inst1 = BaseClass(classtype = "My", a=4)
I got this to work but would prefer the other way, i.e. dynamically created class objects.
Answers:
type() is the function that creates classes and in particular sub-classes, like in the question:
def set_x(self, value):
self.x = value
# type() takes as argument the new class name, its base
# classes, and its attributes:
SubClass = type('SubClass', (BaseClass,), {'set_x': set_x})
# (More methods can be put in SubClass, including __init__().)
obj = SubClass()
obj.set_x(42)
print obj.x # Prints 42
print isinstance(obj, BaseClass) # True
This bit of code allows you to create new classes with dynamic
names and parameter names.
The parameter verification in __init__ just does not allow
unknown parameters, if you need other verifications, like
type, or that they are mandatory, just add the logic
there:
class BaseClass(object):
def __init__(self, classtype):
self._type = classtype
def ClassFactory(name, argnames, BaseClass=BaseClass):
def __init__(self, **kwargs):
for key, value in kwargs.items():
# here, the argnames variable is the one passed to the
# ClassFactory call
if key not in argnames:
raise TypeError("Argument %s not valid for %s"
% (key, self.__class__.__name__))
setattr(self, key, value)
BaseClass.__init__(self, name[:-len("Class")])
newclass = type(name, (BaseClass,),{"__init__": __init__})
return newclass
And this works like this, for example:
>>> SpecialClass = ClassFactory("SpecialClass", "a b c".split())
>>> s = SpecialClass(a=2)
>>> s.a
2
>>> s2 = SpecialClass(d=3)
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "<stdin>", line 1, in <module>
File "<stdin>", line 8, in __init__
TypeError: Argument d not valid for SpecialClass
I see you are asking for inserting the dynamic names in the naming scope —
now, that is not considered a good practice in Python – you either have
variable names, known at coding time, or data – and names learned in runtime
are more “data” than “variables” –
So, you could just add your classes to a dictionary and use them from there:
name = "SpecialClass"
classes = {}
classes[name] = ClassFactory(name, params)
instance = classes[name](...)
And if your design absolutely needs the names to come in scope,
just do the same, but use the dictionary returned by the globals()
call instead of an arbitrary dictionary:
name = "SpecialClass"
globals()[name] = ClassFactory(name, params)
instance = SpecialClass(...)
(It indeed would be possible for the class factory function to insert the name dynamically on the global scope of the caller – but that is even worse practice, and is not compatible across Python implementations. The way to do that would be to get the caller’s execution frame, through sys._getframe(1) and setting the class name in the frame’s global dictionary in its f_globals attribute).
update, tl;dr: This answer had become popular, still its very specific to the question body. The general answer on how to
“dynamically create derived classes from a base class”
in Python is a simple call to type passing the new class name, a tuple with the baseclass(es) and the __dict__ body for the new class -like this:
>>> new_class = type("NewClassName", (BaseClass,), {"new_method": lambda self: ...})
update
Anyone needing this should also check the dill project – it claims to be able to pickle and unpickle classes just like pickle does to ordinary objects, and had lived to it in some of my tests.
To create a class with a dynamic attribute value, checkout the code below.
NB. This are code snippets in python programming language
def create_class(attribute_data, **more_data): # define a function with required attributes
class ClassCreated(optional extensions): # define class with optional inheritance
attribute1 = adattribute_data # set class attributes with function parameter
attribute2 = more_data.get("attribute2")
return ClassCreated # return the created class
# use class
myclass1 = create_class("hello") # *generates a class*
In my case :
inst3 = globals()["SpecialClass"](b=False, c = "test")
For example I have a base class as follows:
class BaseClass(object):
def __init__(self, classtype):
self._type = classtype
From this class I derive several other classes, e.g.
class TestClass(BaseClass):
def __init__(self):
super(TestClass, self).__init__('Test')
class SpecialClass(BaseClass):
def __init__(self):
super(TestClass, self).__init__('Special')
Is there a nice, pythonic way to create those classes dynamically by a function call that puts the new class into my current scope, like:
foo(BaseClass, "My")
a = MyClass()
...
As there will be comments and questions why I need this: The derived classes all have the exact same internal structure with the difference, that the constructor takes a number of previously undefined arguments. So, for example, MyClass takes the keywords a while the constructor of class TestClass takes b and c.
inst1 = MyClass(a=4)
inst2 = MyClass(a=5)
inst3 = TestClass(b=False, c = "test")
But they should NEVER use the type of the class as input argument like
inst1 = BaseClass(classtype = "My", a=4)
I got this to work but would prefer the other way, i.e. dynamically created class objects.
type() is the function that creates classes and in particular sub-classes, like in the question:
def set_x(self, value):
self.x = value
# type() takes as argument the new class name, its base
# classes, and its attributes:
SubClass = type('SubClass', (BaseClass,), {'set_x': set_x})
# (More methods can be put in SubClass, including __init__().)
obj = SubClass()
obj.set_x(42)
print obj.x # Prints 42
print isinstance(obj, BaseClass) # True
This bit of code allows you to create new classes with dynamic
names and parameter names.
The parameter verification in __init__ just does not allow
unknown parameters, if you need other verifications, like
type, or that they are mandatory, just add the logic
there:
class BaseClass(object):
def __init__(self, classtype):
self._type = classtype
def ClassFactory(name, argnames, BaseClass=BaseClass):
def __init__(self, **kwargs):
for key, value in kwargs.items():
# here, the argnames variable is the one passed to the
# ClassFactory call
if key not in argnames:
raise TypeError("Argument %s not valid for %s"
% (key, self.__class__.__name__))
setattr(self, key, value)
BaseClass.__init__(self, name[:-len("Class")])
newclass = type(name, (BaseClass,),{"__init__": __init__})
return newclass
And this works like this, for example:
>>> SpecialClass = ClassFactory("SpecialClass", "a b c".split())
>>> s = SpecialClass(a=2)
>>> s.a
2
>>> s2 = SpecialClass(d=3)
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "<stdin>", line 1, in <module>
File "<stdin>", line 8, in __init__
TypeError: Argument d not valid for SpecialClass
I see you are asking for inserting the dynamic names in the naming scope —
now, that is not considered a good practice in Python – you either have
variable names, known at coding time, or data – and names learned in runtime
are more “data” than “variables” –
So, you could just add your classes to a dictionary and use them from there:
name = "SpecialClass"
classes = {}
classes[name] = ClassFactory(name, params)
instance = classes[name](...)
And if your design absolutely needs the names to come in scope,
just do the same, but use the dictionary returned by the globals()
call instead of an arbitrary dictionary:
name = "SpecialClass"
globals()[name] = ClassFactory(name, params)
instance = SpecialClass(...)
(It indeed would be possible for the class factory function to insert the name dynamically on the global scope of the caller – but that is even worse practice, and is not compatible across Python implementations. The way to do that would be to get the caller’s execution frame, through sys._getframe(1) and setting the class name in the frame’s global dictionary in its f_globals attribute).
update, tl;dr: This answer had become popular, still its very specific to the question body. The general answer on how to
“dynamically create derived classes from a base class”
in Python is a simple call to type passing the new class name, a tuple with the baseclass(es) and the __dict__ body for the new class -like this:
>>> new_class = type("NewClassName", (BaseClass,), {"new_method": lambda self: ...})
update
Anyone needing this should also check the dill project – it claims to be able to pickle and unpickle classes just like pickle does to ordinary objects, and had lived to it in some of my tests.
To create a class with a dynamic attribute value, checkout the code below.
NB. This are code snippets in python programming language
def create_class(attribute_data, **more_data): # define a function with required attributes
class ClassCreated(optional extensions): # define class with optional inheritance
attribute1 = adattribute_data # set class attributes with function parameter
attribute2 = more_data.get("attribute2")
return ClassCreated # return the created class
# use class
myclass1 = create_class("hello") # *generates a class*
In my case :
inst3 = globals()["SpecialClass"](b=False, c = "test")