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pythonintrospection

Can Python determine the class of an object accessing a method


Is there anyway to do something like this:

class A:
    def foo(self):
        if isinstance(caller, B):
           print "B can't call methods in A"
        else:
           print "Foobar"
class B:
    def foo(self, ref): ref.foo()

class C:
    def foo(self, ref): ref.foo()


a = A();
B().foo(a)    # Outputs "B can't call methods in A"
C().foo(a)    # Outputs "Foobar"

Where caller in A uses some form of introspection to determine the class of the calling method's object?

EDIT:

In the end, I put this together based on some of the suggestions:

import inspect
...
def check_caller(self, klass):
    frame = inspect.currentframe()
    current = lambda : frame.f_locals.get('self')
    while not current() is None:
        if isinstance(current(), klass): return True
        frame = frame.f_back
    return False

It's not perfect for all the reasons supplied, but thanks for the responses: they were a big help.


Solution

  • Assuming the caller is a method, then yes you can, by looking in the previous frame, and picking out self from the locals.

    class Reciever:
        def themethod(self):
            frame = sys._getframe(1)
            arguments = frame.f_code.co_argcount
            if arguments == 0:
                print "Not called from a method"
                return
            caller_calls_self = frame.f_code.co_varnames[0]
            thecaller = frame.f_locals[caller_calls_self]
            print "Called from a", thecaller.__class__.__name__, "instance"
    

    Üglŷ as heck, but it works. Now why you would want to do this is another question altogether, I suspect that there is a better way. The whole concept of A isn't allowed to call B is likely to be a mistake.