Access object attribute by String Name in Python

# Table of Contents

1. Access object attribute by String Name in Python
2. Specifying a default value for when the attribute doesn't exist
3. Accessing a method given a string name
4. Check if an object's attribute exists given a string name

# Access object attribute by String Name in Python

Use the getattr() function to access an object attribute by string.

The getattr() function returns the value of the provided attribute of the object.

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class Employee():
    def __init__(self, name, salary):
        self.name = name
        self.salary = salary

    def get_name(self):
        return self.name


emp1 = Employee('bobbyhadz', 100)

print(getattr(emp1, 'name'))  # 👉️ bobbyhadz
print(getattr(emp1, 'salary'))  # 👉️ 100

We used the getattr() function to access an object's attribute given a string name.

The getattr() function can also be used to access an object's method using a string name.

The getattr() function returns the value of the provided attribute of the object.

The function takes the following parameters:

# Specifying a default value for when the attribute doesn't exist

You can pass a third argument to the getattr() function if you need to specify a default value for when an attribute doesn't exist.

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class Employee():
    def __init__(self, name, salary):
        self.name = name
        self.salary = salary

    def get_name(self):
        return self.name


emp1 = Employee('bobbyhadz', 100)

print(getattr(emp1, 'another', None))  # 👉️ None

An attribute with the supplied name doesn't exist, so the default value of None is returned.

# Accessing a method given a string name

The same syntax can be used to access a method by providing a string name.

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class Employee():
    def __init__(self, name, salary):
        self.name = name
        self.salary = salary

    def get_name(self):
        return self.name


emp1 = Employee('bobbyhadz', 100)

method = getattr(emp1, 'get_name')
print(method())  # 👉️ bobbyhadz

The getattr() function returns the specified method, so we have to use another set of parentheses to call the method.

# Check if an object's attribute exists given a string name

You can use the hasattr() function if you need to check if an object's attribute exists given a string name.

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class Employee():
    def __init__(self, name, salary):
        self.name = name
        self.salary = salary

    def get_name(self):
        return self.name


emp1 = Employee('bobbyhadz', 100)

print(hasattr(emp1, 'another'))  # 👉️ False

if hasattr(emp1, 'salary'):
    print(getattr(emp1, 'salary')) # 👉️ 100

The hasattr() function takes the following 2 parameters:

You can use the delattr() function if you need to delete an object's attribute given a string name.

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class Employee():
    def __init__(self, name, salary):
        self.name = name
        self.salary = salary

    def get_name(self):
        return self.name


emp1 = Employee('bobbyhadz', 100)

delattr(emp1, 'salary')

print(hasattr(emp1, 'salary'))  # 👉️ False

The delattr() function deletes the given attribute from the object.

The delattr function takes the following 2 parameters:

# Additional Resources

You can learn more about the related topics by checking out the following tutorials:

• How to get all Attributes of an Object in Python
• Iterate over an Object's attributes in Python