Set attributes from dictionary in python

Question

Is it possible to create an object from a dictionary in python in such a way that each key is an attribute of that object?

Something like this:

 d =          


        

Answer 1

Why not just use attribute names as keys to a dictionary?

class StructMyDict(dict):

     def __getattr__(self, name):
         try:
             return self[name]
         except KeyError as e:
             raise AttributeError(e)

     def __setattr__(self, name, value):
         self[name] = value

You can initialize with named arguments, a list of tuples, or a dictionary, or individual attribute assignments, e.g.:

nautical = StructMyDict(left = "Port", right = "Starboard") # named args

nautical2 = StructMyDict({"left":"Port","right":"Starboard"}) # dictionary

nautical3 = StructMyDict([("left","Port"),("right","Starboard")]) # tuples list

nautical4 = StructMyDict()  # fields TBD
nautical4.left = "Port"
nautical4.right = "Starboard"

for x in [nautical, nautical2, nautical3, nautical4]:
    print "%s <--> %s" % (x.left,x.right)

Alternatively, instead of raising the attribute error, you can return None for unknown values. (A trick used in the web2py storage class)