How to get self object name from self method in Python

Question

I am trying to find a way to automatically print the object reference name with just a print object To be more specific. Lets say I have a class:

class A:
    def __init__(self):
        self.cards = []

    def __str__(self):
        # return a string representation of A
        return "A contains " ...
    ...

Now whenever i create an object

test = A()

and I use the print test it will get something like (do not mind the dots)

A contains ...

What I want to achieve is to automatically print the object reference name instead of the class name:

test contains ...

The self.__class__ or self.__name__ wont work since it returns a weird string like <class '__main__.A'>.

How should __str__ be implemented to achieve this? Thanks in advance.

are you trying to print the identifier of the variable your instance is bound to? if so, i don't think thats possible ( or wise ). consider an instance of class A that is not bound to any variable. what would you print then? or if it is bound to two or many variables? maybe you could pass a name for that object in the constructor and print that. — dsu
– dsu, Commented May 10, 2014 at 11:08
@Daenyth Well each time i use a print object to just print itself and not its class — BugShotGG
– BugShotGG, Commented May 10, 2014 at 11:32
Why are you trying to print the object? What goal are you trying to accomplish by that — Daenyth
– Daenyth, Commented May 10, 2014 at 12:57

sshashank124 · Accepted Answer · 2014-05-10 11:11:57Z

2

As the comments on your question have stated, it is not possible and also unwise, consider something along the lines of the following approach instead:

class A:
    def __init__(self, name):
        self.cards = []
        self.name = name

    def __str__(self):
        return '{} contains ...'.format(self.name)

>>> test = A('test')
>>> print test
test contains ...

>>> a = A('hello')
>>> print a
hello contains ...

answered May 10, 2014 at 11:11

sshashank124

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1 Comment

BugShotGG Over a year ago

Thanks for the reply. That is exactly what I want to avoid, passing the reference name on instantiation. If this is the only solution then I guess what I asked is not possible :|

Emre Özincegedik · Accepted Answer · 2022-11-01 10:42:02Z

1

I know I am replying too late but if anyone stumbles here like I do here is the solution:

type(self).__name__

your implementation would be:

class A:
    def __init__(self, name):
        self.cards = []
        self.name = name

    def __str__(self):
        return '{} contains...'.format(type(self).__name__)
a=A('test')
print(a)
# A contains ...

answered Nov 1, 2022 at 10:42

Emre Özincegedik

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1 Comment

Ben Grossmann Sep 19 at 13:49

This is not what the asker wanted. The desired output in this case is "test contains ...", not "A contains..."

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