[ python-Bugs-925537 ] dir(mod) OK or use vars(mod).keys()?

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Bugs item #925537, was opened at 2004-03-29 14:28
Message generated for change (Settings changed) made by jimjjewett
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Category: Python Library
Group: Python 2.4
Status: Open
Resolution: None
>Priority: 4
Submitted By: Jim Jewett (jimjjewett)
Assigned to: Nobody/Anonymous (nobody)
Summary: dir(mod) OK or use vars(mod).keys()?

Initial Comment:
The documentation on dir() notes that its behavior may 
change across releases.

Several library modules use dir(x) in ways that might 
break if it changed too much. 

Should these be changed to use vars(obj).keys() (and 
possibly sort()), or should the note on dir() be removed?

My own preference would just be to provide some 
guidance, such as "The output of dir() will always include 
all public variables which do not have a magic meaning."

I realize that the standard library itself could be updated 
if dir() changes in an uncomfortable way.  My real 
concern is which spelling to use in my own code.  The 
library examples suggest a simpler (and clearer) dir(), but 
the documentation still says otherwise.

A quick search for modules using dir() showed possible 
trouble in at least cgitb, cmd, FCNTL, inspect, optparse, 
os, pickle, rlcompleter, SimpleXMLRPCServer, TERMIOS, 
tokenize, unittest, and urllib2.


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Comment By: Jim Jewett (jimjjewett)
Date: 2004-03-29 14:58

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Correction:  "The output of dir (module) will always include ..."

The most common use is figuring out what to do with (import 
from) a module.

Symmetry suggests the same for a no-argument call or a class 
or type object, but object instances do not use their __dict__ 
for their attributes; the results are already different there.

-jJ


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Comment By: Jim Jewett (jimjjewett)
Date: 2004-03-29 14:39

Message:
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If there concern is over attributes that are "public" but don't 
exist until called, then most uses of dir and vars are already 
broken.  An alternative reasonable promise would be

The output of dir(obj) will always include all (public?, 
non-magical?) names in vars(obj).keys().


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