How to call a method using the user's input in Python

Question

Let's say I have a class. Inside of this class are two methods. Outside of that class the script asks for the user's input. How can the user's input be used to call a method within the class? The reason I want to figure this out is in case I ever had multiple classes in a file and wanted the user's input to be able to interact with methods contained in each of the different classes.

I have tried using a list of commands that refer to the class in reference, but nothing I can think of seems to work. I have attempted to find an answer to this question, but everything I find relates to the user's input calling a function not in a class, which I know how to do.

Here is a quick example of what I am trying to do:

class Character:
        def __init__(self, attributes = [], *args):
                self.name = attributes[0]
                self.health = attributes[1]

        def HEAL(self):
                self.health = self.health + 5
                return(self.health)

Spell_List = ["HEAL"]

Command_List = {"HEAL":Character}

Player = Character("John", 25)

Command = raw_input("Select an action: ").upper()

for Spell in Spell_List:
        if (Command == Spell):
                Command_Result = Player.Command_List[Command]()
                print(Command_Result)
        else:
                print("Action Not Recognized")

If I were to execute the script and provide "heal" as the input, I would expect the script to call the HEAL method within the Character class. This would then print the number 30 for the following reasons:

1.) The Player variable states that the starting number is 25.

2.) The method would increase that number by 5.

However, with the way the script is written right now, the script errors out and states the following: "AttributeError: Character instance has no attribute 'Command_List'".

What are your thoughts?

Sayse · Accepted Answer · 2019-08-24 19:10:50Z

3

You can create a perform action function on your character class that you can then call from wherever you need it

def perform_action(self, action, *args, **kwargs):
    actions = { 'HEAL': self.HEAL }
    return actions[action](*args, **kwargs)

then from outside your class you just use Player.perform_action('HEAL').

Command_Result = Player.perform_action(Command)

_{Add error handling before usage}

answered Aug 24, 2019 at 19:10

Sayse

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3 Comments

DuckButterQ Over a year ago

Thank you so much for the quick reply. While trying your solution, I came across a realization. It appears that when the player variable calls the class, the self.health variable is treating the name as an array. So in reality, the script is seeing attributes[1] as the second character in the string "John". Not sure why this is happening, but it is interesting to the say the least. Once I figure it out I'll test your solution properly and let you know what happens.

Sayse Over a year ago

@DuckButterQ - Its because of how you pass in the params, you can fix it by doing Character(["John", 25]) but given how you're actually using it, you'd be better off defining them in your init as name, health instead of attributes=[] (although fixing that further would be better asked as a new question)

DuckButterQ Over a year ago

I fixed my newest issue, and your addition worked like a charm. Thank you for the help. I now have a better understanding of this type of problem.

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