How do I define a __del__ method for an object?

[Uwe Grauer]

Stewart,

__del__ is used for object destruction.

Read:

http://python.org/doc/current/ref/customization.html#l2h-175

Uwe

Stewart Midwinter wrote:
> I was looking through Swaroop's tutorial, "A Byte of Python", on Python 
> objects,(http://www.python.g2swaroop.net/), and he mentions that you can 
> define a __del__ function to completely delete object instances. 
> However, when I try to define one in the attached script, not just one, 
> but all, of the defined objects disappear.
> 
> Can someone show me how to define a __del__ object that works on only 
> one object instance?
> 
> Thanks
> Stewart
> 
> 
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> 
> #!/usr/bin/python
> # Filename: objvar.py
> # from Swaroop's A Byte of Python, 
> # http://www.python.g2swaroop.net/byte/ch11s05.html
> 
> class Person:
>         '''class Person represents a person.'''
>         population = 0
>         
>         def __init__(self, name):
>                 '''Initializes the person.'''
>                 self.name = name
>                 print '(Initializing %s)' % self.name
>                 
>                 # When this person is created,
>                 # he/she adds to the population
>                 Person.population += 1
> 
> 	def sayHi(self):
>                 '''Method sayHi greets the other person.
>                 Really, that's all it does.'''
>                 print 'Hi, my name is %s.' % self.name
> 
>         
>         def howMany(self):
>                 '''Prints the current population.'''
>                 # There will always be atleast one person
>                 if Person.population == 1:
>                         print 'I am the only person here.'
>                 else:
>                         print 'We have %s persons here.' % \
>                         Person.population
> 
> 	def sayDie(self):
> 		'''when a person dies,
> 		   she reduces the population by one,
> 		   but she is still remembered.'''
> 		print self.name, 'has died.'
> 		Person.population -= 1
> 	
> 		
> 
> swaroop = Person('Swaroop')
> swaroop.sayHi()
> swaroop.howMany()
> 
> kalam   = Person('Abdul Kalam')
> kalam.sayHi()
> kalam.howMany()
> 
> swaroop.sayHi()
> swaroop.howMany()
> 
> kalam.sayDie()
> kalam.howMany()
> #kalam.__del__('Abdul Kalam')
> abdul = Person('Abdul')
> abdul.sayHi()
> abdul.howMany()
> print kalam.sayHi.__doc__
> print Person.__doc__