[Python-Dev] PySet API (original) (raw)

Greg Ewing greg.ewing at canterbury.ac.nz
Tue Mar 28 07:28:57 CEST 2006

Barry Warsaw wrote:

My PySetClear() raises a SystemError and returns -1 when the object is a frozen set.

Isn't SystemError a bit drastic? TypeError would be sufficient here, surely.

If PyObjectClear() is implemented something like int PyObjectClear(PyObject *o) { return (o->obtype->tpclear ? o->obtype->tpclear(o) : -1); } then you /would/ be able to clear a frozen set.

Hmmm, the problem here, I think, is that tp_clear is really only designed for use by the garbage collector. Giving anything else access to it is probably wrong.

Clearability is not a general feature in Python land -- a few types have a clear() method, but this is an ad hoc feature of the type concerned. I don't think it makes sense to have a general PyObject_Clear function at all.

-- Greg

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