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I have an enum in Python (backported enum package to 2.7) that is meant to be of only integers:

import enum
class MyEnum(enum.Enum):
  val = 0

Let's say I receive a PyObject * in a C extension pointing to MyEnum.val. I want the integer value associated with the PyObject *. How do I get it most succinctly?

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  • As far as I know, the enum34 package doesn't provide any special C representation or API, so you just have to call PyObject_GetAttr and friends, as with any other pure-Python type. Commented May 10, 2015 at 7:10
  • Does it provide anything that'd let me unify code-paths for handling them alongside objects x for which PyInt_Check(x) != 0? e.g. support for built-in protocols, something like PyNumber_Int(x) (if that actually worked). Commented May 10, 2015 at 7:13
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    Enum values are explicitly designed not to act like they're a subtype of int. IntEnum values are another story. You should be able to PyInt_Check those and PyInt_AsLong them. But for Enum, you shouldn't be able to, so you (at least should) need to get the value attr if you want to use them as ints, just as you do from Python. Commented May 10, 2015 at 7:18
  • Using enum.IntEnum on the Python-side instead of enum.Enum does seem to be the most convenient path to take then. Thanks. Commented May 10, 2015 at 7:21
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    Well, it's convenient if it's what you actually want. Two different IntEnum types' constants will compare equal to each other—e.g., Colors.red == Days.sunday will be true. The IntEnum docs explain why usually, that's not what you want… but of course sometimes it is, which is why they included it in the module. Commented May 10, 2015 at 7:24

1 Answer 1

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Looking at the source to the enum34 backport, just like the enum module in 3.4+, it's pure Python, and does nothing to expose a custom C API.

So, you just use PyObject_GetAttr and friends to access class attributes. In particular, if you have a MyEnum.val, you need to get its value attribute, which will be an int, which you can then PyInt_AsLong.

This is the same way things work in Python. If you try to use MyEnum.val where an int is expected, you should get a TypeError; if you try to explicitly call int(MyEnum.val), you will definitely get a TypeError. So, although I haven't tested it, PyInt_AsLong directly on the constant instead of its value should raise a TypeError and return -1.

If you want enumeration constants that act like subtypes of int, then, as the enum docs explain, you want IntEnum. Usually, that isn't really what you want (as the docs explain), but if it is, of course it works. And you should be able to PyInt_Check and PyInt_AsLong an IntEnum value (although, again, I haven't tested).

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