7.11. Dataclass Helpers

  • fields() - Returns a tuple of Field objects

  • asdict() - converts the dataclass to a dict

  • astuple() - converts the dataclass to a tuple

  • make_dataclass() - creates a new dataclass

  • replace() - replaces field of a dataclass

  • is_dataclass() - checks if argument is a dataclass

7.11.1. SetUp

>>> from dataclasses import dataclass

7.11.2. Fields

  • fields(class_or_instance)

Returns a tuple of Field objects that define the fields for this Data Class. Accepts either a Data Class, or an instance of a Data Class. Raises ValueError if not passed a Data Class or instance of one. Does not return pseudo-fields which are ClassVar or InitVar.

Import:

>>> from dataclasses import fields

Definition:

>>> @dataclass
... class Mission:
...     year: int
...     name: str
>>>
>>> @dataclass
... class Astronaut:
...     firstname: str
...     lastname: str
...     missions: list[Mission]

Use:

>>> astro = Astronaut('Mark', 'Watney', missions=[Mission(2035, 'Ares3')])
>>>
>>> fields(Astronaut)  
(Field(name='firstname',type=<class 'str'>,default=<dataclasses._MISSING_TYPE object at 0x...>,default_factory=<dataclasses._MISSING_TYPE object at 0x...>,init=True,repr=True,hash=None,compare=True,metadata=mappingproxy({}),kw_only=False,_field_type=_FIELD),
 Field(name='lastname',type=<class 'str'>,default=<dataclasses._MISSING_TYPE object at 0x...>,default_factory=<dataclasses._MISSING_TYPE object at 0x...>,init=True,repr=True,hash=None,compare=True,metadata=mappingproxy({}),kw_only=False,_field_type=_FIELD),
 Field(name='missions',type=list[__main__.Mission],default=<dataclasses._MISSING_TYPE object at 0x...>,default_factory=<dataclasses._MISSING_TYPE object at 0x...>,init=True,repr=True,hash=None,compare=True,metadata=mappingproxy({}),kw_only=False,_field_type=_FIELD))

7.11.3. As Dict

  • asdict(instance, *, dict_factory=dict)

Converts the Data Class instance to a dict (by using the factory function dict_factory). As dict does the conversion recursively.

Import:

>>> from dataclasses import asdict

Definition:

>>> @dataclass
... class Mission:
...     year: int
...     name: str
>>>
>>> @dataclass
... class Astronaut:
...     firstname: str
...     lastname: str
...     missions: list[Mission]
>>>
>>>
>>> astro = Astronaut('Mark', 'Watney', missions=[Mission(2035, 'Ares3')])

Use:

>>> asdict(astro)  
{'firstname': 'Mark',
 'lastname': 'Watney',
 'missions': [{'year': 2035, 'name': 'Ares3'}]}

>>> vars(astro)  
{'firstname': 'Mark',
 'lastname': 'Watney',
 'missions': [Mission(year=2035, name='Ares3')]}

>>> dict(astro)
Traceback (most recent call last):
TypeError: 'Astronaut' object is not iterable

7.11.4. As Tuple

  • astuple(*, tuple_factory=tuple)

Converts the Data Class instance to a tuple (by using the factory function tuple_factory). Each Data Class is converted to a tuple of its field values. Data Classes, dicts, lists, and tuples are recursed into.

Import:

>>> from dataclasses import astuple

Definition:

>>> @dataclass
... class Mission:
...     year: int
...     name: str
>>>
>>> @dataclass
... class Astronaut:
...     firstname: str
...     lastname: str
...     missions: list[Mission]

Use:

>>> astro = Astronaut('Mark', 'Watney', missions=[Mission(2035, 'Ares3')])
>>>
>>> astuple(astro)
('Mark', 'Watney', [(2035, 'Ares3')])

7.11.5. Make Dataclass

  • make_dataclass(cls_name, fields, *, bases=(), namespace=None)

Creates a new Data Class with name cls_name, fields as defined in fields, base classes as given in bases, and initialized with a namespace as given in namespace.

7.11.6. Replace

  • replace(instance, **changes)

Creates a new object of the same type of instance, replacing fields with values from changes. If instance is not a Data Class, raises TypeError. If values in changes do not specify fields, raises TypeError.

7.11.7. Is Dataclass

  • is_dataclass(class_or_instance)

Returns True if its parameter is a dataclass or an instance of one, otherwise returns False.

Import:

>>> from dataclasses import is_dataclass

Use:

>>> @dataclass
... class Astronaut:
...     firstname: str
...     lastname: str
>>>
>>>
>>> astro = Astronaut('Mark', 'Watney')
>>>
>>> is_dataclass(Astronaut)
True
>>>
>>> is_dataclass(astro)
True

Normal class:

>>> class Astronaut:
...     firstname: str
...     lastname: str
...
...     def __init__(self, firstname, lastname):
...         self.firstname = firstname
...         self.lastname = lastname
>>>
>>>
>>> astro = Astronaut('Mark', 'Watney')
>>>
>>> is_dataclass(Astronaut)
False
>>>
>>> is_dataclass(astro)
False