When python struggles: Attribute Errors

[matt]

I have a problem where the code:

# ------ begin code ------
class DBInitializer:
    def init(self, db_name, host, user="", password=""):
        # Connect to host
        if not self.status("Connecting to host: %s..." % host, \
                           self.connect(host, user, password)):
            ...
        self.cursor = self.db.cursor()
	...

    def connect(self, host, user, password):
        try:
            self.db = MySQLdb.connect(host, user, password)
        ...
# ------ end code ------

raises an Attribute Error.

I tried putting "self.db=None" just before the self.status call but
this only raised another Attribute Error complaining that "None" has
no attribute "cursor".

The problem is that I can't instantiate the result of
MySQLdb.connect() without the possibility or raising an error which i
intend to catch in the self.connect method.

It's frustrating because if i were using C++ i could simply type "db =
(MySQLdb_Connection*)0;" (or whatever the connection object would be
called).

Can anyone think of a way to get around this while retaining the
connect method within self.status.

Any Ideas?

Thanks in advance,
  -- matt (matt at greenroom.com.au)