Context Manager getting str instead of AttributeError instance

[Prasad, Ramit]

So I have a context manager used to catch errors

def __exit__( self, exceptionClass, exception, tracebackObject ):
    if isinstance( exception, self.exceptionClasses ):
         #do something here

Normally exception would be the exception instance, but for 
AttributeError it seems to be a string instead. 

1) Why is AttributeError different than the other built-ins
in this respect?
2) Are there other standard errors like this (I know
that SystemExit is different as well)?
3) Taking into account that I want to include subclasses of 
classes listed in self.exceptionClasses, Is there a better check I can use?

Ramit


Ramit Prasad | JPMorgan Chase Investment Bank | Currencies Technology
712 Main Street | Houston, TX 77002
work phone: 713 - 216 - 5423

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