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387 lines
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ReStructuredText
387 lines
15 KiB
ReStructuredText
.. highlight:: c
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.. _common-structs:
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Common Object Structures
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========================
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There are a large number of structures which are used in the definition of
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object types for Python. This section describes these structures and how they
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are used.
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Base object types and macros
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----------------------------
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All Python objects ultimately share a small number of fields at the beginning
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of the object's representation in memory. These are represented by the
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:c:type:`PyObject` and :c:type:`PyVarObject` types, which are defined, in turn,
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by the expansions of some macros also used, whether directly or indirectly, in
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the definition of all other Python objects.
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.. c:type:: PyObject
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All object types are extensions of this type. This is a type which
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contains the information Python needs to treat a pointer to an object as an
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object. In a normal "release" build, it contains only the object's
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reference count and a pointer to the corresponding type object.
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Nothing is actually declared to be a :c:type:`PyObject`, but every pointer
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to a Python object can be cast to a :c:type:`PyObject*`. Access to the
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members must be done by using the macros :c:macro:`Py_REFCNT` and
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:c:macro:`Py_TYPE`.
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.. c:type:: PyVarObject
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This is an extension of :c:type:`PyObject` that adds the :attr:`ob_size`
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field. This is only used for objects that have some notion of *length*.
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This type does not often appear in the Python/C API.
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Access to the members must be done by using the macros
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:c:macro:`Py_REFCNT`, :c:macro:`Py_TYPE`, and :c:macro:`Py_SIZE`.
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.. c:macro:: PyObject_HEAD
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This is a macro used when declaring new types which represent objects
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without a varying length. The PyObject_HEAD macro expands to::
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PyObject ob_base;
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See documentation of :c:type:`PyObject` above.
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.. c:macro:: PyObject_VAR_HEAD
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This is a macro used when declaring new types which represent objects
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with a length that varies from instance to instance.
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The PyObject_VAR_HEAD macro expands to::
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PyVarObject ob_base;
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See documentation of :c:type:`PyVarObject` above.
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.. c:macro:: Py_TYPE(o)
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This macro is used to access the :attr:`ob_type` member of a Python object.
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It expands to::
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(((PyObject*)(o))->ob_type)
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.. c:macro:: Py_REFCNT(o)
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This macro is used to access the :attr:`ob_refcnt` member of a Python
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object.
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It expands to::
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(((PyObject*)(o))->ob_refcnt)
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.. c:macro:: Py_SIZE(o)
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This macro is used to access the :attr:`ob_size` member of a Python object.
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It expands to::
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(((PyVarObject*)(o))->ob_size)
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.. c:macro:: PyObject_HEAD_INIT(type)
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This is a macro which expands to initialization values for a new
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:c:type:`PyObject` type. This macro expands to::
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_PyObject_EXTRA_INIT
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1, type,
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.. c:macro:: PyVarObject_HEAD_INIT(type, size)
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This is a macro which expands to initialization values for a new
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:c:type:`PyVarObject` type, including the :attr:`ob_size` field.
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This macro expands to::
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_PyObject_EXTRA_INIT
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1, type, size,
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Implementing functions and methods
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----------------------------------
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.. c:type:: PyCFunction
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Type of the functions used to implement most Python callables in C.
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Functions of this type take two :c:type:`PyObject\*` parameters and return
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one such value. If the return value is *NULL*, an exception shall have
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been set. If not *NULL*, the return value is interpreted as the return
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value of the function as exposed in Python. The function must return a new
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reference.
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.. c:type:: PyCFunctionWithKeywords
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Type of the functions used to implement Python callables in C
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with signature :const:`METH_VARARGS | METH_KEYWORDS`.
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.. c:type:: _PyCFunctionFast
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Type of the functions used to implement Python callables in C
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with signature :const:`METH_FASTCALL`.
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.. c:type:: _PyCFunctionFastWithKeywords
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Type of the functions used to implement Python callables in C
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with signature :const:`METH_FASTCALL | METH_KEYWORDS`.
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.. c:type:: PyMethodDef
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Structure used to describe a method of an extension type. This structure has
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four fields:
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+------------------+---------------+-------------------------------+
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| Field | C Type | Meaning |
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+==================+===============+===============================+
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| :attr:`ml_name` | const char \* | name of the method |
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+------------------+---------------+-------------------------------+
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| :attr:`ml_meth` | PyCFunction | pointer to the C |
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| | | implementation |
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+------------------+---------------+-------------------------------+
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| :attr:`ml_flags` | int | flag bits indicating how the |
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| | | call should be constructed |
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+------------------+---------------+-------------------------------+
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| :attr:`ml_doc` | const char \* | points to the contents of the |
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| | | docstring |
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+------------------+---------------+-------------------------------+
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The :attr:`ml_meth` is a C function pointer. The functions may be of different
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types, but they always return :c:type:`PyObject\*`. If the function is not of
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the :c:type:`PyCFunction`, the compiler will require a cast in the method table.
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Even though :c:type:`PyCFunction` defines the first parameter as
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:c:type:`PyObject\*`, it is common that the method implementation uses the
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specific C type of the *self* object.
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The :attr:`ml_flags` field is a bitfield which can include the following flags.
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The individual flags indicate either a calling convention or a binding
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convention.
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There are four basic calling conventions for positional arguments
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and two of them can be combined with :const:`METH_KEYWORDS` to support
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also keyword arguments. So there are a total of 6 calling conventions:
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.. data:: METH_VARARGS
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This is the typical calling convention, where the methods have the type
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:c:type:`PyCFunction`. The function expects two :c:type:`PyObject\*` values.
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The first one is the *self* object for methods; for module functions, it is
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the module object. The second parameter (often called *args*) is a tuple
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object representing all arguments. This parameter is typically processed
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using :c:func:`PyArg_ParseTuple` or :c:func:`PyArg_UnpackTuple`.
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.. data:: METH_VARARGS | METH_KEYWORDS
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Methods with these flags must be of type :c:type:`PyCFunctionWithKeywords`.
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The function expects three parameters: *self*, *args*, *kwargs* where
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*kwargs* is a dictionary of all the keyword arguments or possibly *NULL*
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if there are no keyword arguments. The parameters are typically processed
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using :c:func:`PyArg_ParseTupleAndKeywords`.
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.. data:: METH_FASTCALL
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Fast calling convention supporting only positional arguments.
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The methods have the type :c:type:`_PyCFunctionFast`.
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The first parameter is *self*, the second parameter is a C array
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of :c:type:`PyObject\*` values indicating the arguments and the third
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parameter is the number of arguments (the length of the array).
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This is not part of the :ref:`limited API <stable>`.
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.. versionadded:: 3.7
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.. data:: METH_FASTCALL | METH_KEYWORDS
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Extension of :const:`METH_FASTCALL` supporting also keyword arguments,
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with methods of type :c:type:`_PyCFunctionFastWithKeywords`.
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Keyword arguments are passed the same way as in the vectorcall protocol:
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there is an additional fourth :c:type:`PyObject\*` parameter
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which is a tuple representing the names of the keyword arguments
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(which are guaranteed to be strings)
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or possibly *NULL* if there are no keywords. The values of the keyword
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arguments are stored in the *args* array, after the positional arguments.
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This is not part of the :ref:`limited API <stable>`.
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.. versionadded:: 3.7
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.. data:: METH_NOARGS
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Methods without parameters don't need to check whether arguments are given if
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they are listed with the :const:`METH_NOARGS` flag. They need to be of type
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:c:type:`PyCFunction`. The first parameter is typically named *self* and will
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hold a reference to the module or object instance. In all cases the second
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parameter will be *NULL*.
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.. data:: METH_O
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Methods with a single object argument can be listed with the :const:`METH_O`
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flag, instead of invoking :c:func:`PyArg_ParseTuple` with a ``"O"`` argument.
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They have the type :c:type:`PyCFunction`, with the *self* parameter, and a
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:c:type:`PyObject\*` parameter representing the single argument.
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These two constants are not used to indicate the calling convention but the
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binding when use with methods of classes. These may not be used for functions
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defined for modules. At most one of these flags may be set for any given
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method.
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.. data:: METH_CLASS
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.. index:: builtin: classmethod
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The method will be passed the type object as the first parameter rather
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than an instance of the type. This is used to create *class methods*,
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similar to what is created when using the :func:`classmethod` built-in
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function.
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.. data:: METH_STATIC
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.. index:: builtin: staticmethod
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The method will be passed *NULL* as the first parameter rather than an
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instance of the type. This is used to create *static methods*, similar to
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what is created when using the :func:`staticmethod` built-in function.
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One other constant controls whether a method is loaded in place of another
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definition with the same method name.
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.. data:: METH_COEXIST
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The method will be loaded in place of existing definitions. Without
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*METH_COEXIST*, the default is to skip repeated definitions. Since slot
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wrappers are loaded before the method table, the existence of a
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*sq_contains* slot, for example, would generate a wrapped method named
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:meth:`__contains__` and preclude the loading of a corresponding
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PyCFunction with the same name. With the flag defined, the PyCFunction
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will be loaded in place of the wrapper object and will co-exist with the
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slot. This is helpful because calls to PyCFunctions are optimized more
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than wrapper object calls.
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Accessing attributes of extension types
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---------------------------------------
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.. c:type:: PyMemberDef
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Structure which describes an attribute of a type which corresponds to a C
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struct member. Its fields are:
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+------------------+---------------+-------------------------------+
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| Field | C Type | Meaning |
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+==================+===============+===============================+
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| :attr:`name` | const char \* | name of the member |
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+------------------+---------------+-------------------------------+
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| :attr:`!type` | int | the type of the member in the |
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| | | C struct |
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+------------------+---------------+-------------------------------+
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| :attr:`offset` | Py_ssize_t | the offset in bytes that the |
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| | | member is located on the |
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| | | type's object struct |
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+------------------+---------------+-------------------------------+
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| :attr:`flags` | int | flag bits indicating if the |
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| | | field should be read-only or |
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| | | writable |
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+------------------+---------------+-------------------------------+
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| :attr:`doc` | const char \* | points to the contents of the |
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| | | docstring |
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+------------------+---------------+-------------------------------+
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:attr:`!type` can be one of many ``T_`` macros corresponding to various C
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types. When the member is accessed in Python, it will be converted to the
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equivalent Python type.
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=============== ==================
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Macro name C type
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=============== ==================
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T_SHORT short
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T_INT int
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T_LONG long
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T_FLOAT float
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T_DOUBLE double
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T_STRING const char \*
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T_OBJECT PyObject \*
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T_OBJECT_EX PyObject \*
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T_CHAR char
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T_BYTE char
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T_UBYTE unsigned char
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T_UINT unsigned int
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T_USHORT unsigned short
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T_ULONG unsigned long
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T_BOOL char
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T_LONGLONG long long
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T_ULONGLONG unsigned long long
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T_PYSSIZET Py_ssize_t
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=============== ==================
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:c:macro:`T_OBJECT` and :c:macro:`T_OBJECT_EX` differ in that
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:c:macro:`T_OBJECT` returns ``None`` if the member is *NULL* and
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:c:macro:`T_OBJECT_EX` raises an :exc:`AttributeError`. Try to use
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:c:macro:`T_OBJECT_EX` over :c:macro:`T_OBJECT` because :c:macro:`T_OBJECT_EX`
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handles use of the :keyword:`del` statement on that attribute more correctly
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than :c:macro:`T_OBJECT`.
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:attr:`flags` can be ``0`` for write and read access or :c:macro:`READONLY` for
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read-only access. Using :c:macro:`T_STRING` for :attr:`type` implies
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:c:macro:`READONLY`. :c:macro:`T_STRING` data is interpreted as UTF-8.
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Only :c:macro:`T_OBJECT` and :c:macro:`T_OBJECT_EX`
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members can be deleted. (They are set to *NULL*).
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.. c:type:: PyGetSetDef
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Structure to define property-like access for a type. See also description of
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the :c:member:`PyTypeObject.tp_getset` slot.
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+-------------+------------------+-----------------------------------+
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| Field | C Type | Meaning |
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+=============+==================+===================================+
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| name | const char \* | attribute name |
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+-------------+------------------+-----------------------------------+
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| get | getter | C Function to get the attribute |
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+-------------+------------------+-----------------------------------+
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| set | setter | optional C function to set or |
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| | | delete the attribute, if omitted |
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| | | the attribute is readonly |
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+-------------+------------------+-----------------------------------+
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| doc | const char \* | optional docstring |
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+-------------+------------------+-----------------------------------+
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| closure | void \* | optional function pointer, |
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| | | providing additional data for |
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| | | getter and setter |
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+-------------+------------------+-----------------------------------+
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The ``get`` function takes one :c:type:`PyObject\*` parameter (the
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instance) and a function pointer (the associated ``closure``)::
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typedef PyObject *(*getter)(PyObject *, void *);
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It should return a new reference on success or *NULL* with a set exception
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on failure.
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``set`` functions take two :c:type:`PyObject\*` parameters (the instance and
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the value to be set) and a function pointer (the associated ``closure``)::
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typedef int (*setter)(PyObject *, PyObject *, void *);
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In case the attribute should be deleted the second parameter is *NULL*.
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Should return ``0`` on success or ``-1`` with a set exception on failure.
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