Is there a method (similar to str() method in R) that can print the data structure in python?

[Robert Kern]

On 2009-09-26 09:32 AM, Peng Yu wrote:
> Hi,
>
> I am looking for a method in python that is similar to the function
> str() in R, if you are familiar with R,
>
> If you have no idea of R, what I want is to print the class
> information of an object and the values of its members. Overloading
> '__expr__' and '__repr__' then using 'print' can sort of do what I
> want. But not quite. For example, if I have a list of many elements, I
> don't want to print all the elements. R's str() function can
> automatically take care of this issue. It also has other advantages, I
> am wondering if there is something similar available in python?

I use Armin Ronacher's pretty.py as a pluggable pretty-printer. You can plug 
into its logic to implement these kinds of tools.

   http://dev.pocoo.org/hg/sandbox/file/tip/pretty

-- 
Robert Kern

"I have come to believe that the whole world is an enigma, a harmless enigma
  that is made terrible by our own mad attempt to interpret it as though it had
  an underlying truth."
   -- Umberto Eco