Dynamically adding class methods to a class

class-method, metaprogramming, python

Solution

Use a closure to preserve the value of `kind`:

for type_tuple in FEED_TYPES:
    kind, name = type_tuple
    def make_notify(kind):
        def notify(self, **kwargs):
            print "notifying %s" % kind
            self.create(kind, **kwargs)
        return notify
    notify = make_notify(kind)
    notify.__name__ = "notify_%s" % kind
    setattr(cls, notify.__name__, classmethod(notify))

By the way, don't use `type` as a variable name since it shadows the builtin of the same name.

A more elegant way to modify `Feed` is to create a class decorator. This makes it clearer that you have code modifying the original definition of `Feed`.

FEED_TYPES = [
    ('fan_mail',     'Fan Mail'),
    ('review',       'Review'),
    ('tip',          'Tip'),
    ('fan_user',     'Fan User'),
    ('fan_song',     'Fan Song'),
    ('fan_album',    'Fan Album'),
    ('played_song',  'Played Song'),
    ('played_album', 'Played Album'),
    ('played_radio', 'Played Radio'),
    ('new_event',    'New Event'),
]

def add_feed_types(cls):
    for type_tuple in FEED_TYPES:
        kind, name = type_tuple
        def make_notify(kind):
            def notify(self, **kwargs):
                print "notifying %s" % kind
                self.create(kind, **kwargs)
            return notify
        notify = make_notify(kind)
        notify.__name__ = "notify_%s" % kind
        setattr(cls, notify.__name__, classmethod(notify))
    return cls

@add_feed_types
class Feed:
    @classmethod
    def do_create(cls, **kwargs):
        print kwargs

    @classmethod
    def create(cls, kind, **kwargs):
        kwargs['feed_type'] = kind
        cls.do_create(**kwargs)


Feed.create("FanMail", to_profile="Gerson", from_profile="Felipe")
Feed.notify_fan_mail(to_profile="Gerson2", from_profile="Felipe2")

Problem

Original source