Self Referencing Class Definition in python

Question

is there any way to reference a class name from within the class declaration? an example follows:

class Plan(SiloBase):
    cost = DataField(int)
    start = DataField(System.DateTime)
    name = DataField(str)
    items = DataCollection(int)
    subPlan = ReferenceField(Plan)

i've got a metaclass that reads this information and does some setup, and the base class implements some common saving stuff. i would love to be able to create recursive definitions like this, but so far in my experimentation i have been unable to get the effect i desire, usually running into a "Plan is not defined" error. I understand what is happening, the name of the class isn't in scope inside the class.

Answer 1

Try this:

class Plan(SiloBase):
    cost = DataField(int)
    start = DataField(System.DateTime)
    name = DataField(str)
    items = DataCollection(int)

Plan.subPlan = ReferenceField(Plan)

OR use __new__ like this:

class Plan(SiloBase):

    def __new__(cls, *args, **kwargs):
        cls.cost = DataField(int)
        cls.start = DataField(System.DateTime)
        cls.name = DataField(str)
        cls.items = DataCollection(int)
        cls.subPlan = ReferenceField(cls)
        return object.__new__(cls, *args, **kwargs)