How to wrap built-in methods in Python? (or 'how to pass them by reference')

Question

I want to wrap the default open method with a wrapper that should also catch exceptions. Here's a test example that works:

truemethod = open
def fn(*args, **kwargs):
    try:
        return truemethod(*args, **kwargs)
    except (IOError, OSError):
        sys.exit('Can\'t open \'{0}\'. Error #{1[0]}: {1[1]}'.format(args[0], sys.exc_info()[1].args))

open = fn

I want to make a generic method of it:

def wrap(method, exceptions = (OSError, IOError)):
    truemethod = method
    def fn(*args, **kwargs):
        try:
            return truemethod(*args, **kwargs)
        except exceptions:
            sys.exit('Can\'t open \'{0}\'. Error #{1[0]}: {1[1]}'.format(args[0], sys.exc_info()[1].args))

    method = fn

But it doesn't work:

>>> wrap(open)
>>> open
<built-in function open>

Apparently, method is a copy of the parameter, not a reference as I expected. Any pythonic workaround?

Answer 1

The problem with your code is that inside wrap, your method = fn statement is simply changing the local value of method, it isn't changing the larger value of open. You'll have to assign to those names yourself:

def wrap(method, exceptions = (OSError, IOError)):
    def fn(*args, **kwargs):
        try:
            return method(*args, **kwargs)
        except exceptions:
            sys.exit('Can\'t open \'{0}\'. Error #{1[0]}: {1[1]}'.format(args[0], sys.exc_info()[1].args))

    return fn

open = wrap(open)
foo = wrap(foo)

Answer 2

Try adding global open. In the general case, you might want to look at this section of the manual:

This module provides direct access to all ‘built-in’ identifiers of Python; for example, __builtin__.open is the full name for the built-in function open(). See chapter Built-in Objects.

This module is not normally accessed explicitly by most applications, but can be useful in modules that provide objects with the same name as a built-in value, but in which the built-in of that name is also needed. For example, in a module that wants to implement an open() function that wraps the built-in open(), this module can be used directly:

import __builtin__

def open(path):
    f = __builtin__.open(path, 'r')
    return UpperCaser(f)

class UpperCaser:
    '''Wrapper around a file that converts output to upper-case.'''

    def __init__(self, f):
        self._f = f

    def read(self, count=-1):
        return self._f.read(count).upper()

    # ...

CPython implementation detail: Most modules have the name __builtins__ (note the 's') made available as part of their globals. The value of __builtins__ is normally either this module or the value of this modules’s __dict__ attribute. Since this is an implementation detail, it may not be used by alternate implementations of Python.