Check for descriptors (in C)

[Alex Martelli]

Gabriel Genellina <gagsl-py2 at yahoo.com.ar> wrote:

> For most types, there are macros like PyXxxx_Check and
> PyXxxx_CheckExact. But not for descriptors, and I want to test if a
> certain object is a descriptor or not. May I define
> PyMethodDescr_Check, by example, along the lines of similar checks, or
> the fact that they are not already defined implies that they should
> not be tested that way?

"Being a descriptor" == "belonging to a type having a __get__ method",
more or less. There is NO relationship among such types, just a
commonality of methods they make available. Descriptor is a protocol,
common to a family of otherwise unrelated types, not a type. All of the
PyXXX_Check macros are instead based on *types*, not protocols.

> My actual use case: I want to check if an object (instance of a class
> that inherits from file) still uses the original write method or has
> overriden it.

I'd check for identity between type(o).write and file.write -- seems a
more direct expression of that thought (and implementable with the C-API
just as well as with pure Python).


Alex