Django: how to get field by field name from Model instance dynamically?

Question

I have a model instance and a variable that contains name of the field that I have to print:

field_name = "is_staff"
user = User.objects.get(pk=0)

How do I get the value of that field by field_name? I can't just say user.is_staff, cause I can't hard-code that the field is called is_staff.

Importantly, I need to assign a value to the field, obtained this way: user.is_staff = True.

Use [`getattr`](https://docs.python.org/2/library/functions.html#getattr). What does this have to do with Django? Also, consider carefully why you're doing this. "Variable variables" are nearly always a code smell. — Two-Bit Alchemist, May 11 '16 at 17:07
Possible duplicate of [getting dynamic attribute in python](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/13595690/getting-dynamic-attribute-in-python) — Two-Bit Alchemist, May 11 '16 at 17:09

score 23 · Accepted Answer · answered May 11 '16 at 17:50

23

Use can use `getattr'. It works like this

field_name = "is_staff"
user = User.objects.get(pk=0)
field_name_val = getattr(user, field_name)

answered May 11 '16 at 17:50

Muhammad Hassan

1

Can I assign a value to this field, e.g. `getattr(user, field_name) = False`? – Boris Burkov May 11 '16 at 17:54
7

@Bob To assign use `setattr(user, field_name, False)` – serg May 11 '16 at 18:18

1 Answers1