[Python-Dev] hasattr() and Unicode strings

[Guido van Rossum]

> hasattr(), getattr(), and doubtless other built-in functions
> don't accept Unicode strings at all:
> 
> >>> import sys
> >>> hasattr(sys, u'abc')
> Traceback (most recent call last):
>   File "<stdin>", line 1, in ?
> TypeError: hasattr, argument 2: expected string, unicode found
> 
> Is this a bug or a feature?  I'd say bug; the Unicode should be
> coerced using the default ASCII encoding, and an exception raised if
> that isn't possible.

Agreed.

There are probably a bunch of things that need to be changed before
thois works though; getattr() c.s. require a string, then call
PyObject_GetAttr() which also checks for a string unless the object
supports tp_getattro -- but that's only true for classes and
instances.

Also, should we convert the string to 8-bit, or should we allow
Unicode attribute names?

It seems there's no easy fix -- better address this after 2.0 is
released.

--Guido van Rossum (home page: http://www.pythonlabs.com/~guido/)