Why does `getattr` not support consecutive attribute retrievals?

Question

class A(): pass

a = A()
b = A()

a.b = b
b.c = 1

a.b     # this is b
getattr(a, \"b\") # so is this

a.b.c   # this is 1   
getattr(a, \"b.c\") # this raises an Attrib         


        

Answer 1

Because getattr doesn't work that way. getattr gets attribute of a given object (first argument) with a given name (second argument). So your code:

getattr(a, "b.c") # this raises an AttributeError

means: Access "b.c" attribute of object referenced by "a". Obviously your object doesn't have attribute called "b.c".

To get "c" attribute you must use two getattr calls:

getattr(getattr(a, "b"), "c")

Let's unwrap it for better understanding:

b = getattr(a, "b")
c = getattr(b, "c")