[Python-Dev] PyPy, Jython, & IronPython: Enum convenience function and pickleablity

[Eli Bendersky]

On Thu, May 2, 2013 at 1:39 PM, Guido van Rossum <guido at python.org> wrote:

> On Thu, May 2, 2013 at 1:18 PM, fwierzbicki at gmail.com
> <fwierzbicki at gmail.com> wrote:
> > On Thu, May 2, 2013 at 12:07 PM, Ethan Furman <ethan at stoneleaf.us>
> wrote:
> >> In order for the Enum convenience function to be pickleable, we have
> this
> >> line of code in the metaclass:
> >>
> >>     enum_class.__module__ = sys._getframe(1).f_globals['__name__']
> >>
> >> This works fine for Cpython, but what about the others?
> > This should work for Jython, but I can't say I like it. I believe
> > IronPython has a sort of speedup mode that disallows the use of
> > _getframe, and I'd like to add this to Jython someday.
>
> This particular function is typically only called at module load time,
> so speeding it up isn't worth it.
>
> FWIW, as Eli pointed out, namedtuple() does the same thing (since
> Python 2.6), so we'll just copy that code (refactoring it doesn't have
> to hold up the PEP). The only other alternative I find acceptable is
> not to have the convenience API at all. That's Eli's call.
>

I really prefer having the convenience API and acknowledging that it has
some limitations (i.e. picking enums that were created with the convenience
API and are nested in classes).


>
> [Eli]
> > Would nesting the non-convenience Enum in a function or a class allow
> one to
> > pickle it? I think programmers who want their libraries to be pickle-able
> > already have to be aware of some restrictions about what can and cannot
> be
> > pickled.
>
> Apparently it hasn't been a problem for namedtuple. Calling
> namedtuple() or Enum() in another function is similar to a class
> statement inside a function -- the resulting class isn't picklable.
>
> (But from this, don't conclude that it's not important for
> namedtuple() or Enum() to return a picklable class. It is important.
> It is just not important to try to make it work when they are called
> through some other wrapper -- there's just not much use for such a
> pattern.)
>

I agree.

Eli
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