Here's an approach with some different characteristics I find valuable:
- allows > and < comparison based on order in enum, not lexical order
- can address item by name, property or index: x.a, x['a'] or x[0]
- supports slicing operations like [:] or [-1]
and most importantly prevents comparisons between enums of different types!
Based closely on http://code.activestate.com/recipes/413486-first-class-enums-in-python.
Many doctests included here to illustrate what's different about this approach.
def enum(*names):
"""
SYNOPSIS
Well-behaved enumerated type, easier than creating custom classes
DESCRIPTION
Create a custom type that implements an enumeration. Similar in concept
to a C enum but with some additional capabilities and protections. See
http://code.activestate.com/recipes/413486-first-class-enums-in-python/.
PARAMETERS
names Ordered list of names. The order in which names are given
will be the sort order in the enum type. Duplicate names
are not allowed. Unicode names are mapped to ASCII.
RETURNS
Object of type enum, with the input names and the enumerated values.
EXAMPLES
>>> letters = enum('a','e','i','o','u','b','c','y','z')
>>> letters.a < letters.e
True
## index by property
>>> letters.a
a
## index by position
>>> letters[0]
a
## index by name, helpful for bridging string inputs to enum
>>> letters['a']
a
## sorting by order in the enum() create, not character value
>>> letters.u < letters.b
True
## normal slicing operations available
>>> letters[-1]
z
## error since there are not 100 items in enum
>>> letters[99]
Traceback (most recent call last):
...
IndexError: tuple index out of range
## error since name does not exist in enum
>>> letters['ggg']
Traceback (most recent call last):
...
ValueError: tuple.index(x): x not in tuple
## enums must be named using valid Python identifiers
>>> numbers = enum(1,2,3,4)
Traceback (most recent call last):
...
AssertionError: Enum values must be string or unicode
>>> a = enum('-a','-b')
Traceback (most recent call last):
...
TypeError: Error when calling the metaclass bases
__slots__ must be identifiers
## create another enum
>>> tags = enum('a','b','c')
>>> tags.a
a
>>> letters.a
a
## can't compare values from different enums
>>> letters.a == tags.a
Traceback (most recent call last):
...
AssertionError: Only values from the same enum are comparable
>>> letters.a < tags.a
Traceback (most recent call last):
...
AssertionError: Only values from the same enum are comparable
## can't update enum after create
>>> letters.a = 'x'
Traceback (most recent call last):
...
AttributeError: 'EnumClass' object attribute 'a' is read-only
## can't update enum after create
>>> del letters.u
Traceback (most recent call last):
...
AttributeError: 'EnumClass' object attribute 'u' is read-only
## can't have non-unique enum values
>>> x = enum('a','b','c','a')
Traceback (most recent call last):
...
AssertionError: Enums must not repeat values
## can't have zero enum values
>>> x = enum()
Traceback (most recent call last):
...
AssertionError: Empty enums are not supported
## can't have enum values that look like special function names
## since these could collide and lead to non-obvious errors
>>> x = enum('a','b','c','__cmp__')
Traceback (most recent call last):
...
AssertionError: Enum values beginning with __ are not supported
LIMITATIONS
Enum values of unicode type are not preserved, mapped to ASCII instead.
"""
## must have at least one enum value
assert names, 'Empty enums are not supported'
## enum values must be strings
assert len([i for i in names if not isinstance(i, types.StringTypes) and not \
isinstance(i, unicode)]) == 0, 'Enum values must be string or unicode'
## enum values must not collide with special function names
assert len([i for i in names if i.startswith("__")]) == 0,\
'Enum values beginning with __ are not supported'
## each enum value must be unique from all others
assert names == uniquify(names), 'Enums must not repeat values'
class EnumClass(object):
""" See parent function for explanation """
__slots__ = names
def __iter__(self):
return iter(constants)
def __len__(self):
return len(constants)
def __getitem__(self, i):
## this makes xx['name'] possible
if isinstance(i, types.StringTypes):
i = names.index(i)
## handles the more normal xx[0]
return constants[i]
def __repr__(self):
return 'enum' + str(names)
def __str__(self):
return 'enum ' + str(constants)
def index(self, i):
return names.index(i)
class EnumValue(object):
""" See parent function for explanation """
__slots__ = ('__value')
def __init__(self, value):
self.__value = value
value = property(lambda self: self.__value)
enumtype = property(lambda self: enumtype)
def __hash__(self):
return hash(self.__value)
def __cmp__(self, other):
assert self.enumtype is other.enumtype, 'Only values from the same enum are comparable'
return cmp(self.value, other.value)
def __invert__(self):
return constants[maximum - self.value]
def __nonzero__(self):
## return bool(self.value)
## Original code led to bool(x[0])==False, not correct
return True
def __repr__(self):
return str(names[self.value])
maximum = len(names) - 1
constants = [None] * len(names)
for i, each in enumerate(names):
val = EnumValue(i)
setattr(EnumClass, each, val)
constants[i] = val
constants = tuple(constants)
enumtype = EnumClass()
return enumtype
