How to call a class method given its name?

Question

I am attempting to call a class method by variable name that I extract from an external file, as seen below:

structures.py:

event_map = {'year' : 'get_year'}

Class code:

class MyClass(object):
    def __init__(self):
        self._analyze()

    def _analyze(self):
        event_method = event_map['year']
        self.event_method() #<--------------this doesn't work

    def get_year(self):
        print('here')

'get_year' in your dict is a string, not a method. Also you set event_method but then use self.event_method. Also, event_map seems to be declared outside of your class, so it won't be aware of what `get_year` is. — JeffUK, Dec 06 '20 at 00:55
Your example are strange and unclear, but you can try 'event_method(self)' on your real code, because in this example code event_method is a string and will not work. — Daniel Farina, Dec 06 '20 at 00:59
https://stackoverflow.com/questions/3061/calling-a-function-of-a-module-by-using-its-name-a-string is what you really want I think — dpwr, Dec 06 '20 at 01:01
"that I extract from an external file" what does this mean, exactly? — juanpa.arrivillaga, Dec 06 '20 at 01:23

score 2 · Accepted Answer · answered Dec 06 '20 at 00:59

2

You can use getattr to get an attribute by name:

getattr(self, event_method)()

answered Dec 06 '20 at 00:59

B. Morris

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score 1 · Answer 2 · answered Dec 06 '20 at 00:57

Python has a getattr(object, name) function to call a function given its name as a string. You would use getattr(self, event_method)():

lass MyClass(object):
    def __init__(self):
        self._analyze()

    def _analyze(self):
        event_method = event_map['year']
        getattr(self, event_method)()

    def get_year(self):
        print('here')

How to call a class method given its name?

2 Answers2

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