generating method names 'dynamically'

[Steve Holden]

Daniel Nogradi wrote:
>>Here you go:
>>
>>  >>> database = {
>>  ...     "Alice": 24,
>>  ...     "Bob":25}
>>  ...
>>  >>> class Lookup(object):
>>  ...     def __catcher(self, name):
>>  ...         try:
>>  ...             print "Hello my name is %s and I'm %s" % (name,
>>database[name])
>>  ...         except KeyError:
>>  ...             print "There was an error"
>>  ...     def __getattr__(self, attr):
>>  ...         return lambda:self.__catcher(attr)
>>  ...
>>  >>> inst = Lookup()
>>  >>> inst.Alice()
>>  Hello my name is Alice and I'm 24
>>  >>> inst.Bob()
>>  Hello my name is Bob and I'm 25
>>  >>> inst.John()
>>  There was an error
>>  >>>
>>
> 
> 
> Great, that was exactly what I was asking, thank you very much.

While I hesitate to rain on this little parade, I would caution you 
against adopting this solution as a generic programming tool. If people 
just need to interact with the database in an ad hoc way then this will 
let them do it, but it's a very poor recipe for general database search, 
since the content of your database determines the text of your program.

You might well find, on thinking about it a little more, that it mught 
be more straightforward to adopt a system more like this:

name = raw_input("Who do you want to know today: ")
inst = Lookup(name)
inst.show()

regards
  Steve
-- 
Steve Holden       +44 150 684 7255  +1 800 494 3119
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