introspection - Find functions explicitly defined in a module (python)

23
votes

Ok I know you can use the dir() method to list everything in a module, but is there any way to see only the functions that are defined in that module? For example, assume my module looks like this:

from datetime import date, datetime

def test():
    return "This is a real method"

Even if i use inspect() to filter out the builtins, I'm still left with anything that was imported. E.g I'll see:

['date', 'datetime', 'test']

Is there any way to exclude imports? Or another way to find out what's defined in a module?

5
pythonintrospection
What's wrong with reading the source? - S.Lott
In Python, "method" is generally only used to refer to functions that are attributes of a class. Your test() is better referred to as a "function". - Miles
Does this answer your question? Getting a list of locally-defined functions in python - ggorlen

5 Answers

30
votes

Are you looking for something like this?

import sys, inspect

def is_mod_function(mod, func):
    return inspect.isfunction(func) and inspect.getmodule(func) == mod

def list_functions(mod):
    return [func.__name__ for func in mod.__dict__.itervalues() 
            if is_mod_function(mod, func)]


print 'functions in current module:\n', list_functions(sys.modules[__name__])
print 'functions in inspect module:\n', list_functions(inspect)

EDIT: Changed variable names from 'meth' to 'func' to avoid confusion (we're dealing with functions, not methods, here).

4
votes

How about the following:

grep ^def my_module.py
2
votes

You can check __module__ attribute of the function in question. I say "function" because a method belongs to a class usually ;-).

BTW, a class actually also has __module__ attribute.

1
votes

Every class in python has a __module__ attribute. You can use its value to perform filtering. Take a look at example 6.14 in dive into python

0
votes

the python inspect module is probably what you're looking for here.

import inspect
if inspect.ismethod(methodInQuestion):
    pass # It's a method