How to copy a class instance in python?

Question

I would like to make a copy of a class instance in python. I tried copy.deepcopy but I get the error message:

RuntimeError: Only Variables cr

Answer 1

One way to do that is by implementing __copy__ in the C Class like so:

class A:
    def __init__(self):
        self.var1 = 1
        self.var2 = 2
        self.var3 = 3

class C(A):
    def __init__(self, a=None, b=None, **kwargs):
        super().__init__()
        self.a = a
        self.b = b
        for x, v in kwargs.items():
            setattr(self, x, v)

    def __copy__(self):
        self.normalizeArgs()
        return C(self.a, self.b, kwargs=self.kwargs)

    # THIS IS AN ADDITIONAL GATE-KEEPING METHOD TO ENSURE 
    # THAT EVEN WHEN PROPERTIES ARE DELETED, CLONED OBJECTS
    # STILL GETS DEFAULT VALUES (NONE, IN THIS CASE)
    def normalizeArgs(self):
        if not hasattr(self, "a"):
            self.a      = None
        if not hasattr(self, "b"):
            self.b      = None
        if not hasattr(self, "kwargs"):
            self.kwargs = {}

cMain   = C(a=4, b=5, kwargs={'r':2})

del cMain.b
cClone  = cMain.__copy__()

cMain.a = 11

del  cClone.b
cClone2 = cClone.__copy__()

print(vars(cMain))
print(vars(cClone))
print(vars(cClone2))