rawattr 0.1.0a0

Low-level Python attribute access utilities that bypass the descriptor protocol.

What is it?

rawattr provides utilities for exploring, getting, setting, and deleting attributes exactly as they physically appear in the __dict__ of Python objects and their classes - without triggering properties, methods, or any descriptor logic. This makes it easy to introspect and manipulate attributes "raw", without Python's usual attribute access rules.

• No descriptor protocol: No property, method binding, or magic getters/setters—just pure dict lookups.
• Access class and instance dicts: Traverse instance, then all classes in MRO (method resolution order).
• Manipulate attributes on both instance and class-level, or just the instance.

Why?

Sometimes you want to see what is actually in the underlying attribute dicts, or manipulate attributes as stored, not as interpreted by Python's attribute machinery.

• See the actual keys and values present (including methods and slot descriptors).
• Set or delete attributes without triggering custom logic.
• Useful for introspection tools, dynamic manipulation, advanced class/instance hacking, and more.

Installation

pip install rawattr

Usage

# coding=utf-8
from rawattr import raw_getattr, raw_setattr, raw_hasattr, raw_delattr


class S(object):
    __slots__ = ('s',)


raw_getattr(S, 's')  # <member 's' of 'S' objects>
raw_getattr(S(), 's')  # <member 's' of 'S' objects>


class A(object):
    x = 42


class B(A):
    pass


b = B()
b.y = 100

raw_hasattr(b, 'x')  # True: sees A.x on the class
raw_hasattr(b, 'y')  # True

raw_getattr(b, 'x')  # 42: unbound, as stored in class __dict__
raw_getattr(b, 'y')  # 100

raw_setattr(b, 'y', 1000, add_to_instance=True)
raw_getattr(b, 'y')  # 1000

raw_delattr(b, 'y')  # Deletes b.y
raw_hasattr(b, 'y')  # False

# AttributeError: 'B' object has no attribute 'y'
try:
    raw_getattr(b, 'y')
except AttributeError:
    pass

# TypeError: 'dictproxy' object does not support item assignment (Python 2)
# TypeError: 'mappingproxy' object does not support item assignment (Python 3)
try:
    raw_setattr(b, 'x', 77, add_to_instance=False)
except TypeError:
    pass

# TypeError: 'dictproxy' object does not support item deletion (Python 2)
# TypeError: 'mappingproxy' object does not support item deletion (Python 3)
try:
    raw_delattr(b, 'x')
except TypeError:
    pass

API Reference

yield_dicts_and_owners(obj)

Yield pairs of (dict, owner) for the instance (__dict__, obj) and each class in its MRO (class __dict__, class), if a __dict__ exists.

raw_hasattr(obj, attr)

True if attr is present as a key in either the instance or any of its class __dict__s (no descriptors).

raw_getattr(obj, attr, default=NO_DEFAULT)

Fetches the raw value, or raises (or returns default), without triggering descriptors or attribute methods.

raw_setattr(obj, attr, value, add_to_instance=True)

Sets an attribute—by default, adds to the instance's __dict__; if add_to_instance=False, only updates the attribute in the first (instance/class) __dict__ where it is present in-place.

raw_delattr(obj, attr)

Deletes the key from the first (instance/class) __dict__ where it is present.

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please submit pull requests or open issues on the GitHub repository.

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License.