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[Python-Dev] Extending types in C

[Python-Dev] Extending types in C - help needed

Thomas Heller thomas.heller@ion-tof.com
Wed, 6 Feb 2002 21:53:08 +0100 
> I have thought about this a little more and come to the conclusion
> that you cannot define a metaclass that creates type objects that have
> more C slots than the standard type object lay-out.  It would be the
> same as trying to add a C slot to the instances of a string subtype:
> there's variable-length data at the end, and you cannot place anything
> *before* that variable-length data because all the C code that works
> with the base type knows where the variable length data start; you
> cannot place anything *after* that variable-lenth data because there's
> no way to address it from C.
> 


It's a pity, isn't it?

> A better solution is to store additional information in the __dict__.

You loose nice features: access these (new) slots from Python
by providing tp_members entries for them (for example).

Are you planning to address this issue in the future?

Thanks,

Thomas