Can't access parent member variable in Python

Question

I'm trying to access a parent member variable from an extended class. But running the following code...

class Mother(object):
    def __init__(self):
        self._haircolor = "Brown"

class Child(Mother):
    def __init__(self): 
        Mother.__init__(self)   
    def print_haircolor(self):
        print Mother._haircolor

c = Child()
c.print_haircolor()

Gets me this error:

AttributeError: type object 'Mother' has no attribute '_haircolor'

What am I doing wrong?

score 39 · Accepted Answer · answered Apr 08 '12 at 17:15

39

You're mixing up class and instance attributes.

print self._haircolor

answered Apr 08 '12 at 17:15

Ignacio Vazquez-Abrams

776,304
153
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1,358

score 24 · Answer 2 · answered Apr 08 '12 at 17:17

24

You want the instance attribute, not the class attribute, so you should use self._haircolor.

Also, you really should use super in the __init__ in case you decide to change your inheritance to Father or something.

class Child(Mother):
    def __init__(self): 
        super(Child, self).__init__()
    def print_haircolor(self):
        print self._haircolor

answered Apr 08 '12 at 17:17

mVChr

49,587
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1

What is `super()`'s behavior when confronted with multiple inheritance? Does the usual MRO kick in? – Joel Cornett Apr 08 '12 at 17:22
1

http://stackoverflow.com/questions/3277367/how-does-pythons-super-work-with-multiple-inheritance – mVChr Apr 08 '12 at 17:24

Can't access parent member variable in Python

2 Answers2

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