Class factory in Python

Question

I'm new to Python and need some advice implementing the scenario below.

I have two classes for managing domains at two different registrars. Both have the same interface, e.g.

class RegistrarA(Object):
    def __init__(self, domain):
        self.domain = domain

    def lookup(self):
        ...

    def register(self, info):
        ...

and

class RegistrarB(object):
    def __init__(self, domain):
        self.domain = domain

    def lookup(self):
        ...

    def register(self, info):
        ...

I would like to create a Domain class that, given a domain name, loads the correct registrar class based on the extension, e.g.

com = Domain('test.com') #load RegistrarA
com.lookup()

biz = Domain('test.biz') #load RegistrarB
biz.lookup()

I know this can be accomplished using a factory function (see below), but is this the best way of doing it or is there a better way using OOP features?

def factory(domain):
  if ...:
    return RegistrarA(domain)
  else:
    return RegistrarB(domain)

Answer 1

I think using a function is fine.

The more interesting question is how do you determine which registrar to load? One option is to have an abstract base Registrar class which concrete implementations subclass, then iterate over its __subclasses__() calling an is_registrar_for() class method:

class Registrar(object):
  def __init__(self, domain):
    self.domain = domain

class RegistrarA(Registrar):
  @classmethod
  def is_registrar_for(cls, domain):
    return domain == 'foo.com'

class RegistrarB(Registrar):
  @classmethod
  def is_registrar_for(cls, domain):
    return domain == 'bar.com'


def Domain(domain):
  for cls in Registrar.__subclasses__():
    if cls.is_registrar_for(domain):
      return cls(domain)
  raise ValueError


print Domain('foo.com')
print Domain('bar.com')

This will let you transparently add new Registrars and delegate the decision of which domains each supports, to them.

Answer 2

Assuming you need separate classes for different registrars (though it's not obvious in your example) your solution looks okay, though RegistrarA and RegistrarB probably share functionality and could be derived from an Abstract Base Class.

As an alternative to your factory function, you could specify a dict, mapping to your registrar classes:

Registrar = {'test.com': RegistrarA, 'test.biz': RegistrarB}

Then:

registrar = Registrar['test.com'](domain)

One quibble: You're not really doing a Class Factory here as you're returning instances rather than classes.

Answer 3

In Python you can change the actual class directly:

class Domain(object):
  def __init__(self, domain):
    self.domain = domain
    if ...:
      self.__class__ = RegistrarA
    else:
      self.__class__ = RegistrarB

And then following will work.

com = Domain('test.com') #load RegistrarA
com.lookup()

I'm using this approach successfully.

Answer 4

You can create a 'wrapper' class and overload its __new__() method to return instances of the specialized sub-classes, e.g.:

class Registrar(object):
    def __new__(self, domain):
        if ...:
            return RegistrarA(domain)
        elif ...:
            return RegistrarB(domain)
        else:
            raise Exception()

Additionally, in order to deal with non-mutually exclusive conditions, an issue that was raised in other answers, the first question to ask yourself is whether you want the wrapper class, which plays the role of a dispatcher, to govern the conditions, or it will delegate it to the specialized classes. I can suggest a shared mechanism, where the specialized classes define their own conditions, but the wrapper does the validation, like this (provided that each specialized class exposes a class method that verifies whether it is a registrar for a particular domain, is_registrar_for(...) as suggested in other answers):

class Registrar(object):
    registrars = [RegistrarA, RegistrarB]
    def __new__(self, domain):
        matched_registrars = [r for r in self.registrars if r.is_registrar_for(domain)]

        if len(matched_registrars) > 1:
            raise Exception('More than one registrar matched!')
        elif len(matched_registrars) < 1:
            raise Exception('No registrar was matched!')
        else:
            return matched_registrars[0](domain)

Answer 5

I have this problem all the time. If you have the classes embedded in your application (and its modules) then you can use a function; but if you load plugins dynamically, you need something more dynamic -- registering the classes with a factory via metaclasses automatically.

Here is a pattern I'm sure I lifted from StackOverflow originally, but I don't still have the path to the original post

_registry = {}

class PluginType(type):
    def __init__(cls, name, bases, attrs):
        _registry[name] = cls
        return super(PluginType, cls).__init__(name, bases, attrs)

class Plugin(object):
    __metaclass__  = PluginType # python <3.0 only 
    def __init__(self, *args):
        pass

def load_class(plugin_name, plugin_dir):
    plugin_file = plugin_name + ".py"
    for root, dirs, files in os.walk(plugin_dir) :
        if plugin_file in (s for s in files if s.endswith('.py')) :
            fp, pathname, description = imp.find_module(plugin_name, [root])
            try:
                mod = imp.load_module(plugin_name, fp, pathname, description)
            finally:
                if fp:
                    fp.close()
    return

def get_class(plugin_name) :
    t = None
    if plugin_name in _registry:
        t = _registry[plugin_name]
    return t

def get_instance(plugin_name, *args):
    return get_class(plugin_name)(*args)

Answer 6

how about something like

class Domain(object):
  registrars = []

  @classmethod
  def add_registrar( cls, reg ):
    registrars.append( reg )

  def __init__( self, domain ):
    self.domain = domain
    for reg in self.__class__.registrars:
       if reg.is_registrar_for( domain ):
          self.registrar = reg  
  def lookup( self ):
     return self.registrar.lookup()    

Domain.add_registrar( RegistrarA )
Domain.add_registrar( RegistrarB )

com = Domain('test.com')
com.lookup()

Answer 7

Since the methods are probably shared, using some base class would make sense. getattr can be used in the factory function to dynamically call another class.

The logic to figure out the registrartype should not be part these classes, but should be in some helper function.

import sys

class RegistrarBase():
    """Registrar Base Class"""
    def __init__(self, domain):
        self.name = domain

    def register(self, info):
        pass

    def lookup(self):
        pass
    def __repr__(self):
        return "empty domain"


class RegistrarA(RegistrarBase):
    def __repr__(self):
        return ".com domain"
                    
class RegistrarB(RegistrarBase):
    def __repr__(self):
        return ".biz domain"


def create_registrar(domainname, registrartype):
    try: 
        registrar = getattr(sys.modules[__name__], registrartype)
        return registrar(domainname)
    except:
        return RegistrarBase(domainname)

    
    
domain = create_registrar(domainname = 'test.com', registrartype='RegistrarA')    

print(domain)    
print(domain.name)
#.com domain
#test.com

Answer 8

Okay, here is an answer based on the answer of Alec Thomas, modified and extended: taking care of multi-level inheritance and ambiguity. If _resolve should be something more complicated than simple check of uniqueness and is likely to change it may be supplied as an argument and not be a class method.

base class module bbb.py:

from __future__ import annotations

from abc import ABC, abstractmethod
from typing import Sequence, Type


class Base(ABC):

    def __init__(self, *args, **kwargs):
        ...

    @classmethod
    def isit(cls, _s: str) -> bool:
        return False

    @classmethod
    def from_str(cls, s: str, *args, **kwargs) -> Base:
        subs = cls._findit(s)
        sc = cls._resolve(s, subs)
        return sc(*args, **kwargs)

    @classmethod
    def _findit(cls, s: str) -> Sequence[Type[Base]]:
        subs = [cls] if cls.isit(s) else []
        subs += [ssc for sc in cls.__subclasses__() for ssc in sc._findit(s)]
        return subs

    @classmethod
    def _resolve(cls, s: str, subs: Sequence[Type[Base]]) -> Type[Base]:
        if len(subs) == 0:
            raise Exception(f'Cannot find subclass for {s}')

        if len(subs) > 1:
            raise Exception(
                f'Cannot choose unique subclass for {s}: {subs}')
        sc = subs[0]
        return sc


class B(Base):
    @classmethod
    def isit(cls, s: str) -> bool:
        res = s == 'b class'
        return res
    enter code here

derived class module ccc.py:

from bbb import Base


class C(Base):
    @classmethod
    def isit(cls, s: str) -> bool:
        res = s == 'c class'
        return res


class CC(Base):
    @classmethod
    def isit(cls, s: str) -> bool:
        res = s == 'cc class'
        return res

How to use:

In [4]: from bbb import Base

In [5]: import ccc

In [6]: Base.from_str('b class')
Out[6]: <bbb.B at 0x1adf2665288>

In [7]: Base.from_str('c class')
Out[7]: <ccc.C at 0x1adf266a908>

In [8]: Base.from_str('cc class')
Out[8]: <ccc.CC at 0x1adf2665608>

Answer 9

Here a metaclass implicitly collects Registars Classes in an ENTITIES dict

class DomainMeta(type):
    ENTITIES = {}

    def __new__(cls, name, bases, attrs):
        cls = type.__new__(cls, name, bases, attrs)
        try:
            entity = attrs['domain']
            cls.ENTITIES[entity] = cls
        except KeyError:
            pass
        return cls

class Domain(metaclass=DomainMeta):
    @classmethod
    def factory(cls, domain):
        return DomainMeta.ENTITIES[domain]()

class RegistrarA(Domain):
    domain = 'test.com'
    def lookup(self):
        return 'Custom command for .com TLD'

class RegistrarB(Domain):
    domain = 'test.biz'
    def lookup(self):
        return 'Custom command for .biz TLD'


com = Domain.factory('test.com')
type(com)       # <class '__main__.RegistrarA'>
com.lookup()    # 'Custom command for .com TLD'

com = Domain.factory('test.biz')
type(com)       # <class '__main__.RegistrarB'>
com.lookup()    # 'Custom command for .biz TLD'