Making an object return its string when called

Question

Best to explain with an example. I've defined a new class for a "point" object:

class point:

    def __init__(self, px, py):
        self.x = px
        self.y = py
        self.type = point

    def __str__(self):
        return "point(" + str(self.x) + ", " + str(self.y) + ")"

Now when I print a point all works well.

In [118]: p = point(2,5)

In [119]: print(p)
point(2, 5)

But being lazy I want the __str__ method to be returned when I just type p. Currently what I get is:

In [120]: p
Out[120]: <__main__.point at 0x1e446fffeb8>

while what I want is

In [120]: p
Out[120]: point(2, 5)

Is there a way to cause the __str__ to print by default when calling this type of object?

change `__str__` to `__repr__`. – cs95 Jul 04 '16 at 06:25 — cs95, Jul 04 '16 at 06:25
You want `__repr__` instead. :-) – Martijn Pieters Jul 04 '16 at 06:25 — Martijn Pieters, Jul 04 '16 at 06:25

score 2 · Accepted Answer · answered Jul 04 '16 at 06:28

2

I believe what you're looking for is the __repr__ method.

answered Jul 04 '16 at 06:28

zarak

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Making an object return its string when called

1 Answers1