[PyQt] dip model types, properties, and syntax

[Phil Thompson]

On Mon, 9 Aug 2010 09:45:12 -0400, Darren Dale <dsdale24 at gmail.com> wrote:
> I have a question about using dip model attributes as properties. The
> documentation at
>
http://www.riverbankcomputing.com/static/Docs/dip/model_tutorial.html#attributes-are-properties
> gives an example:
> 
> class ExampleModel(Model):
> 
>     name = Str
> 
>     def _get_name(self):
>         return self._name
> 
>     def _set_name(self, value):
>         self._name = value
> 
>     # method taken from previous section in documentation:
>     def _default_name(self):
>         import name_database
>         return name_database.most_common_name()
> 
> 
> Would it be possible for dip's model types to support the property
> decorator syntax introduced in Python-2.6? If so, the above example
> could then be implemented as:
> 
> class ExampleModel(Model):
> 
>     name = Str
> 
>     @name.getter
>     def name(self):
>         return self._name
> 
>     @name.setter
>     def name(self, value):
>         self._name = value
> 
>     @name.default
>     def name(self):
>         import name_database
>         return name_database.most_common_name()
> 
> The virtue, aside from reusing an already familiar pattern in the
> standard library, is that the ExampleModel namespace has fewer exposed
> private methods, which is desirable for models intended to be used and
> inspected in an interactive python environment like IPython.

Hmm - interesting. It's more verbose but it is nicer. It could also
support observers and allow declarative observers across classes. It may
also be faster.

Phil