> First question, what sort of 'thing' is the file object, I need to > know that if I'm to look up ways of using it.
you can always use type(thing) to find out what type it is. > Second question, even if I know what sort of thing a file object > is, how do I find methods applicable to it and/or functions > applicable to it? If you don't have a web-connection under your finger tips, using dir(thing) help(thing) help(thing.method) will tell you most of what you need to know. There's the occasional gap, and it doesn't always work when the underlying object is out in C-land, rather than a pure Python object that's well-designed with doc-strings (personal complaint about mod_python's failure to return dir() contents last I checked). But for the most part I can just pull up a console debug-session with Python, enter enough to get an instance of the object in question, and then use the above commands. This for me is Python's chief selling point: dir()....dir() and help(). Python's two selling points are dir(), help(), and very readable code. Python's *three* selling points are dir(), help(), very readable code, and an almost fanatical devotion to the BFDL. Amongst Python's selling points are such elements as dir(), help()...I'll come in again. </python> > It's a common problem in all sorts of computer fields, if you know the > name of what you want it's easy to find out details of how to use it > but if you don't know its name (or even if it exists) it's much more > difficult to find. All Monty Python-quoting aside, Python has solved this (and gives 3rd-party library developers the tools to solve as well) problem of discoverability using dir() and help(). -tkc -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
