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<section class="tex2jax_ignore mathjax_ignore" id="attributes">
<h1>Attributes<a class="headerlink" href="#attributes" title="Permalink to this headline"></a></h1>
<div class="literal-block-wrapper docutils container" id="id1">
<div class="code-block-caption"><span class="caption-text">In-game</span><a class="headerlink" href="#id1" title="Permalink to this code"></a></div>
<div class="highlight-default notranslate"><div class="highlight"><pre><span></span><span class="o">&gt;</span> <span class="nb">set</span> <span class="n">obj</span><span class="o">/</span><span class="n">myattr</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="s2">&quot;test&quot;</span>
</pre></div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="literal-block-wrapper docutils container" id="id2">
<div class="code-block-caption"><span class="caption-text">In-code</span><a class="headerlink" href="#id2" title="Permalink to this code"></a></div>
<div class="highlight-python notranslate"><div class="highlight"><pre><span></span><span class="n">obj</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">db</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">foo</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="p">[</span><span class="mi">1</span><span class="p">,</span><span class="mi">2</span><span class="p">,</span><span class="mi">3</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="s2">&quot;bar&quot;</span><span class="p">]</span>
<span class="n">value</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="n">obj</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">db</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">foo</span>
<span class="n">obj</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">attributes</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">add</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="s2">&quot;myattr&quot;</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="mi">1234</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="n">category</span><span class="o">=</span><span class="s2">&quot;bar&quot;</span><span class="p">)</span>
<span class="n">value</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="n">attributes</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">get</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="s2">&quot;myattr&quot;</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="n">category</span><span class="o">=</span><span class="s2">&quot;bar&quot;</span><span class="p">)</span>
</pre></div>
</div>
</div>
<p><em>Attributes</em> allow you to to store arbitrary data on objects and make sure the data survives a
server reboot. An Attribute can store pretty much any
Python data structure and data type, like numbers, strings, lists, dicts etc. You can also
store (references to) database objects like characters and rooms.</p>
<ul class="simple">
<li><p><a class="reference internal" href="#what-types-of-data-can-i-save-in-an-attribute"><span class="std std-doc">What can be stored in an Attribute</span></a> is a must-read
also for experienced developers, to avoid getting surprised. Attributes can store <em>almost</em> everything
but you need to know the quirks.</p></li>
<li><p><a class="reference internal" href="#in-memory-attributes-nattributes"><span class="std std-doc">NAttributes</span></a> are the in-memory, non-persistent
siblings of Attributes.</p></li>
<li><p><a class="reference internal" href="#managing-attributes-in-game"><span class="std std-doc">Managing Attributes In-game</span></a> for in-game builder commands.</p></li>
</ul>
<section id="managing-attributes-in-code">
<h2>Managing Attributes in Code<a class="headerlink" href="#managing-attributes-in-code" title="Permalink to this headline"></a></h2>
<p>Attributes are usually handled in code. All <a class="reference internal" href="Typeclasses.html"><span class="doc std std-doc">Typeclassed</span></a> entities
(<a class="reference internal" href="Accounts.html"><span class="doc std std-doc">Accounts</span></a>, <a class="reference internal" href="Objects.html"><span class="doc std std-doc">Objects</span></a>, <a class="reference internal" href="Scripts.html"><span class="doc std std-doc">Scripts</span></a> and
<a class="reference internal" href="Channels.html"><span class="doc std std-doc">Channels</span></a>) all can (and usually do) have Attributes associated with them. There
are three ways to manage Attributes, all of which can be mixed.</p>
<ul class="simple">
<li><p><a class="reference internal" href="#using-db"><span class="std std-doc">Using the <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">.db</span></code> property shortcut</span></a></p></li>
<li><p><a class="reference internal" href="#using-attributes"><span class="std std-doc">Using the <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">.attributes</span></code> manager (<code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">AttributeManager</span></code>)</span></a></p></li>
<li><p><a class="reference internal" href="#using-attributeproperty"><span class="std std-doc">Using <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">AttributeProperty</span></code> for assigning Attributes in a way similar to Django fields</span></a></p></li>
</ul>
<section id="using-db">
<h3>Using .db<a class="headerlink" href="#using-db" title="Permalink to this headline"></a></h3>
<p>The simplest way to get/set Attributes is to use the <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">.db</span></code> shortcut:</p>
<div class="highlight-python notranslate"><div class="highlight"><pre><span></span><span class="kn">import</span> <span class="nn">evennia</span>
<span class="n">obj</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="n">evennia</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">create_object</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">key</span><span class="o">=</span><span class="s2">&quot;Foo&quot;</span><span class="p">)</span>
<span class="n">obj</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">db</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">foo1</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="mi">1234</span>
<span class="n">obj</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">db</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">foo2</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="p">[</span><span class="mi">1</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="mi">2</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="mi">3</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="mi">4</span><span class="p">]</span>
<span class="n">obj</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">db</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">weapon</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="s2">&quot;sword&quot;</span>
<span class="n">obj</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">db</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">self_reference</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="n">obj</span> <span class="c1"># stores a reference to the obj</span>
<span class="c1"># (let&#39;s assume a rose exists in-game)</span>
<span class="n">rose</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="n">evennia</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">search_object</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">key</span><span class="o">=</span><span class="s2">&quot;rose&quot;</span><span class="p">)[</span><span class="mi">0</span><span class="p">]</span> <span class="c1"># returns a list, grab 0th element</span>
<span class="n">rose</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">db</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">has_thorns</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="kc">True</span>
<span class="c1"># retrieving </span>
<span class="n">val1</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="n">obj</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">db</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">foo1</span>
<span class="n">val2</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="n">obj</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">db</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">foo2</span>
<span class="n">weap</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="n">obj</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">db</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">weapon</span>
<span class="n">myself</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="n">obj</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">db</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">self_reference</span> <span class="c1"># retrieve reference from db, get object back</span>
<span class="n">is_ouch</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="n">rose</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">db</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">has_thorns</span>
<span class="c1"># this will return None, not AttributeError!</span>
<span class="n">not_found</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="n">obj</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">db</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">jiwjpowiwwerw</span>
<span class="c1"># returns all Attributes on the object </span>
<span class="n">obj</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">db</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">all</span>
<span class="c1"># delete an Attribute</span>
<span class="k">del</span> <span class="n">obj</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">db</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">foo2</span>
</pre></div>
</div>
<p>Trying to access a non-existing Attribute will never lead to an <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">AttributeError</span></code>. Instead
you will get <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">None</span></code> back. The special <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">.db.all</span></code> will return a list of all Attributes on
the object. You can replace this with your own Attribute <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">all</span></code> if you want, it will replace the
default <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">all</span></code> functionality until you delete it again.</p>
</section>
<section id="using-attributes">
<h3>Using .attributes<a class="headerlink" href="#using-attributes" title="Permalink to this headline"></a></h3>
<p>If you dont know the name of the Attribute beforehand you can also use
the <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">AttributeHandler</span></code>, available as <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">.attributes</span></code>. With no extra keywords this is identical
to using the <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">.db</span></code> shortcut (<code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">.db</span></code> is actually using the <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">AttributeHandler</span></code> internally):</p>
<div class="highlight-python notranslate"><div class="highlight"><pre><span></span><span class="n">is_ouch</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="n">rose</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">attributes</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">get</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="s2">&quot;has_thorns&quot;</span><span class="p">)</span>
<span class="n">obj</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">attributes</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">add</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="s2">&quot;helmet&quot;</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="s2">&quot;Knight&#39;s helmet&quot;</span><span class="p">)</span>
<span class="n">helmet</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="n">obj</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">attributes</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">get</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="s2">&quot;helmet&quot;</span><span class="p">)</span>
<span class="c1"># you can give space-separated Attribute-names (can&#39;t do that with .db)</span>
<span class="n">obj</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">attributes</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">add</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="s2">&quot;my game log&quot;</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="s2">&quot;long text about ...&quot;</span><span class="p">)</span>
</pre></div>
</div>
<p>With the <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">AttributeHandler</span></code> you can also give Attributes a <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">category</span></code>. By using a category you can
separate same-named Attributes on the same object which can help organization:</p>
<div class="highlight-python notranslate"><div class="highlight"><pre><span></span><span class="c1"># store (let&#39;s say we have gold_necklace and ringmail_armor from before)</span>
<span class="n">obj</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">attributes</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">add</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="s2">&quot;neck&quot;</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="n">gold_necklace</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="n">category</span><span class="o">=</span><span class="s2">&quot;clothing&quot;</span><span class="p">)</span>
<span class="n">obj</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">attributes</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">add</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="s2">&quot;neck&quot;</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="n">ringmail_armor</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="n">category</span><span class="o">=</span><span class="s2">&quot;armor&quot;</span><span class="p">)</span>
<span class="c1"># retrieve later - we&#39;ll get back gold_necklace and ringmail_armor</span>
<span class="n">neck_clothing</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="n">obj</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">attributes</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">get</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="s2">&quot;neck&quot;</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="n">category</span><span class="o">=</span><span class="s2">&quot;clothing&quot;</span><span class="p">)</span>
<span class="n">neck_armor</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="n">obj</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">attributes</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">get</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="s2">&quot;neck&quot;</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="n">category</span><span class="o">=</span><span class="s2">&quot;armor&quot;</span><span class="p">)</span>
</pre></div>
</div>
<p>If you dont specify a category, the Attributes <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">category</span></code> will be <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">None</span></code>. Note that
<code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">None</span></code> is also considered a category of its own, so you wont find <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">None</span></code>-category Attributes mixed
with <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">Attributes</span></code> having categories.</p>
<blockquote>
<div><p>When using <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">.db</span></code>, you will always use the <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">None</span></code> category.</p>
</div></blockquote>
<p>Here are the methods of the <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">AttributeHandler</span></code>. See
the <a class="reference internal" href="../api/evennia.typeclasses.attributes.html#evennia.typeclasses.attributes.AttributeHandler" title="evennia.typeclasses.attributes.AttributeHandler"><span class="xref myst py py-class">AttributeHandler API</span></a> for more details.</p>
<ul class="simple">
<li><p><code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">has(...)</span></code> - this checks if the object has an Attribute with this key. This is equivalent
to doing <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">obj.db.attrname</span></code> except you can also check for a specific `category.</p></li>
<li><p><code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">get(...)</span></code> - this retrieves the given Attribute. You can also provide a <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">default</span></code> value to return
if the Attribute is not defined (instead of None). By supplying an
<code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">accessing_object</span></code> to the call one can also make sure to check permissions before modifying
anything. The <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">raise_exception</span></code> kwarg allows you to raise an <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">AttributeError</span></code> instead of returning
<code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">None</span></code> when you access a non-existing <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">Attribute</span></code>. The <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">strattr</span></code> kwarg tells the system to store
the Attribute as a raw string rather than to pickle it. While an optimization this should usually
not be used unless the Attribute is used for some particular, limited purpose.</p></li>
<li><p><code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">add(...)</span></code> - this adds a new Attribute to the object. An optional <a class="reference internal" href="Locks.html"><span class="doc std std-doc">lockstring</span></a> can be
supplied here to restrict future access and also the call itself may be checked against locks.</p></li>
<li><p><code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">remove(...)</span></code> - Remove the given Attribute. This can optionally be made to check for permission
before performing the deletion. - <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">clear(...)</span></code> - removes all Attributes from object.</p></li>
<li><p><code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">all(category=None)</span></code> - returns all Attributes (of the given category) attached to this object.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>Examples:</p>
<div class="highlight-python notranslate"><div class="highlight"><pre><span></span><span class="k">try</span><span class="p">:</span>
<span class="c1"># raise error if Attribute foo does not exist </span>
<span class="n">val</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="n">obj</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">attributes</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">get</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="s2">&quot;foo&quot;</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="n">raise_exception</span><span class="o">=</span><span class="kc">True</span><span class="p">):</span>
<span class="k">except</span> <span class="ne">AttributeError</span><span class="p">:</span>
<span class="c1"># ...</span>
<span class="c1"># return default value if foo2 doesn&#39;t exist</span>
<span class="n">val2</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="n">obj</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">attributes</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">get</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="s2">&quot;foo2&quot;</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="n">default</span><span class="o">=</span><span class="p">[</span><span class="mi">1</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="mi">2</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="mi">3</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="s2">&quot;bar&quot;</span><span class="p">])</span>
<span class="c1"># delete foo if it exists (will silently fail if unset, unless</span>
<span class="c1"># raise_exception is set)</span>
<span class="n">obj</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">attributes</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">remove</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="s2">&quot;foo&quot;</span><span class="p">)</span>
<span class="c1"># view all clothes on obj</span>
<span class="n">all_clothes</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="n">obj</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">attributes</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">all</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">category</span><span class="o">=</span><span class="s2">&quot;clothes&quot;</span><span class="p">)</span>
</pre></div>
</div>
</section>
<section id="using-attributeproperty">
<h3>Using AttributeProperty<a class="headerlink" href="#using-attributeproperty" title="Permalink to this headline"></a></h3>
<p>There is a third way to set up an Attribute, and that is by setting up an <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">AttributeProperty</span></code>. This
is done on the <em>class level</em> of your typeclass and allows you to treat Attributes a bit like Django
database Fields.</p>
<div class="highlight-python notranslate"><div class="highlight"><pre><span></span><span class="c1"># mygame/typeclasses/characters.py</span>
<span class="kn">from</span> <span class="nn">evennia</span> <span class="kn">import</span> <span class="n">DefaultCharacter</span>
<span class="kn">from</span> <span class="nn">evennia.typeclasses.attributes</span> <span class="kn">import</span> <span class="n">AttributeProperty</span>
<span class="k">class</span> <span class="nc">Character</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">DefaultCharacter</span><span class="p">):</span>
<span class="n">strength</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="n">AttributeProperty</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">default</span><span class="o">=</span><span class="mi">10</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="n">category</span><span class="o">=</span><span class="s1">&#39;stat&#39;</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="n">autocreate</span><span class="o">=</span><span class="kc">True</span><span class="p">)</span>
<span class="n">constitution</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="n">AttributeProperty</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">default</span><span class="o">=</span><span class="mi">10</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="n">category</span><span class="o">=</span><span class="s1">&#39;stat&#39;</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="n">autocreate</span><span class="o">=</span><span class="kc">True</span><span class="p">)</span>
<span class="n">agility</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="n">AttributeProperty</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">default</span><span class="o">=</span><span class="mi">10</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="n">category</span><span class="o">=</span><span class="s1">&#39;stat&#39;</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="n">autocreate</span><span class="o">=</span><span class="kc">True</span><span class="p">)</span>
<span class="n">magic</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="n">AttributeProperty</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">default</span><span class="o">=</span><span class="mi">10</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="n">category</span><span class="o">=</span><span class="s1">&#39;stat&#39;</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="n">autocreate</span><span class="o">=</span><span class="kc">True</span><span class="p">)</span>
<span class="n">sleepy</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="n">AttributeProperty</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">default</span><span class="o">=</span><span class="kc">False</span><span class="p">)</span>
<span class="n">poisoned</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="n">AttributeProperty</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">default</span><span class="o">=</span><span class="kc">False</span><span class="p">)</span>
<span class="k">def</span> <span class="nf">at_object_creation</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="bp">self</span><span class="p">):</span>
<span class="c1"># ... </span>
</pre></div>
</div>
<p>These “Attribute-properties” will be made available to all instances of the class.</p>
<div class="admonition important">
<p class="admonition-title">Important</p>
<p>If you change the <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">default</span></code> of an <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">AttributeProperty</span></code> (and reload), it will
change the default for <em>all</em> instances of that class (it will not override
explicitly changed values).</p>
</div>
<div class="highlight-python notranslate"><div class="highlight"><pre><span></span><span class="n">char</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="n">evennia</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">search_object</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">Character</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="n">key</span><span class="o">=</span><span class="s2">&quot;Bob&quot;</span><span class="p">)[</span><span class="mi">0</span><span class="p">]</span> <span class="c1"># returns list, get 0th element</span>
<span class="c1"># get defaults </span>
<span class="n">strength</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="n">char</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">strength</span> <span class="c1"># will get the default value 10</span>
<span class="c1"># assign new values (this will create/update new Attributes)</span>
<span class="n">char</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">strength</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="mi">12</span>
<span class="n">char</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">constitution</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="mi">16</span>
<span class="n">char</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">agility</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="mi">8</span>
<span class="n">char</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">magic</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="mi">2</span>
<span class="c1"># you can also do arithmetic etc </span>
<span class="n">char</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">magic</span> <span class="o">+=</span> <span class="mi">2</span> <span class="c1"># char.magic is now 4</span>
<span class="c1"># check Attributes </span>
<span class="n">strength</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="n">char</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">strength</span> <span class="c1"># this is now 12</span>
<span class="n">is_sleepy</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="n">char</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">sleepy</span>
<span class="n">is_poisoned</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="n">char</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">poisoned</span>
<span class="k">del</span> <span class="n">char</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">strength</span> <span class="c1"># wipes the Attribute</span>
<span class="n">strength</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="n">char</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">strengh</span> <span class="c1"># back to the default (10) again</span>
</pre></div>
</div>
<p>See the <a class="reference internal" href="../api/evennia.typeclasses.attributes.html#evennia.typeclasses.attributes.AttributeProperty" title="evennia.typeclasses.attributes.AttributeProperty"><span class="xref myst py py-class">AttributeProperty</span></a> docs for more
details on arguments.</p>
<p>An <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">AttributeProperty</span></code> will <em>not</em> create an <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">Attribute</span></code> by default. A new <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">Attribute</span></code> will be created
(or an existing one retrieved/updated) will happen differently depending on how the <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">autocreate</span></code>
keyword:</p>
<ul class="simple">
<li><p>If <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">autocreate=False</span></code> (default), an <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">Attribute</span></code> will be created only if the field is explicitly
assigned a value (even if the value is the same as the default, such as <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">char.strength</span> <span class="pre">=</span> <span class="pre">10</span></code>).</p></li>
<li><p>If <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">autocreate=True</span></code>, an <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">Attribute</span></code> will be created as soon as the field is <em>accessed</em> in
any way (So both <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">strength</span> <span class="pre">=</span> <span class="pre">char.strength</span></code> and <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">char.strength</span> <span class="pre">=</span> <span class="pre">10</span></code> will both make sure that
an <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">Attribute</span></code> exists.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>Example:</p>
<div class="highlight-python notranslate"><div class="highlight"><pre><span></span><span class="c1"># in mygame/typeclasses/objects.py </span>
<span class="kn">from</span> <span class="nn">evennia</span> <span class="kn">import</span> <span class="n">create_object</span>
<span class="kn">from</span> <span class="nn">evennia</span> <span class="kn">import</span> <span class="n">DefaultObject</span>
<span class="kn">from</span> <span class="nn">evennia.typeclasses.attributes</span> <span class="kn">import</span> <span class="n">AttributeProperty</span>
<span class="k">class</span> <span class="nc">Object</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">DefaultObject</span><span class="p">):</span>
<span class="n">value_a</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="n">AttributeProperty</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">default</span><span class="o">=</span><span class="s2">&quot;foo&quot;</span><span class="p">)</span>
<span class="n">value_b</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="n">AttributeProperty</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">default</span><span class="o">=</span><span class="s2">&quot;bar&quot;</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="n">autocreate</span><span class="o">=</span><span class="kc">True</span><span class="p">)</span>
<span class="n">obj</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="n">evennia</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">create_object</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">key</span><span class="o">=</span><span class="s2">&quot;Dummy&quot;</span><span class="p">)</span>
<span class="c1"># these will find NO Attributes! </span>
<span class="n">obj</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">db</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">value_a</span>
<span class="n">obj</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">attributes</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">get</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="s2">&quot;value_a&quot;</span><span class="p">)</span>
<span class="n">obj</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">db</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">value_b</span>
<span class="n">obj</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">attributes</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">get</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="s2">&quot;value_b&quot;</span><span class="p">)</span>
<span class="c1"># get data from attribute-properties</span>
<span class="n">vala</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="n">obj</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">value_a</span> <span class="c1"># returns &quot;foo&quot;</span>
<span class="n">valb</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="n">obj</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">value_b</span> <span class="c1"># return &quot;bar&quot; AND creates the Attribute (autocreate)</span>
<span class="c1"># the autocreate property will now be found </span>
<span class="n">obj</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">db</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">value_a</span> <span class="c1"># still not found </span>
<span class="n">obj</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">attributes</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">get</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="s2">&quot;value_a&quot;</span><span class="p">)</span> <span class="c1"># &#39;&#39;</span>
<span class="n">obj</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">db</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">value_b</span> <span class="c1"># now returns &quot;bar&quot; </span>
<span class="n">obj</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">attributes</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">get</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="s2">&quot;value_b&quot;</span><span class="p">)</span> <span class="c1"># &#39;&#39;</span>
<span class="c1"># assign new values </span>
<span class="n">obj</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">value_a</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="mi">10</span> <span class="c1"># will now create a new Attribute </span>
<span class="n">obj</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">value_b</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="mi">12</span> <span class="c1"># will update the existing Attribute </span>
<span class="c1"># both are now found as Attributes </span>
<span class="n">obj</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">db</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">value_a</span> <span class="c1"># now returns 10</span>
<span class="n">obj</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">attributes</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">get</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="s2">&quot;value_a&quot;</span><span class="p">)</span> <span class="c1"># &#39;&#39;</span>
<span class="n">obj</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">db</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">value_b</span> <span class="c1"># now returns 12</span>
<span class="n">obj</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">attributes</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">get</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="s2">&quot;value_b&quot;</span><span class="p">)</span> <span class="c1"># &#39;&#39;</span>
</pre></div>
</div>
<p>If you always access your Attributes via the <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">AttributeProperty</span></code> this does not matter that much
(its also a bit of an optimization to not create an actual database <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">Attribute</span></code> unless the value changed).
But until an <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">Attribute</span></code> has been created, <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">AttributeProperty</span></code> fields will <em>not</em> show up with the
<code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">examine</span></code> command or by using the <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">.db</span></code> or <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">.attributes</span></code> handlers - so this is a bit inconsistent.
If this is important, you need to initialize them by accessing them at least once … something
like this:</p>
<div class="highlight-python notranslate"><div class="highlight"><pre><span></span><span class="c1"># ... </span>
<span class="k">class</span> <span class="nc">Character</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">DefaultCharacter</span><span class="p">):</span>
<span class="n">strength</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="n">AttributeProperty</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="mi">12</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="n">autocreate</span><span class="o">=</span><span class="kc">True</span><span class="p">)</span>
<span class="n">agility</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="n">AttributeProperty</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="mi">12</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="n">autocreate</span><span class="o">=</span><span class="kc">True</span><span class="p">)</span>
<span class="k">def</span> <span class="nf">at_object_creation</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="bp">self</span><span class="p">):</span>
<span class="c1"># initializing </span>
<span class="bp">self</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">strength</span> <span class="c1"># by accessing it, the Attribute is auto-created</span>
<span class="bp">self</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">agility</span> <span class="c1"># &#39;&#39;</span>
</pre></div>
</div>
<div class="admonition important">
<p class="admonition-title">Important</p>
<p>If you created your <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">AttributeProperty</span></code> with a <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">category</span></code>, you <em>must</em> specify the
category in <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">.attributes.get()</span></code> if you want to find it this way. Remember that
<code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">.db</span></code> always uses a <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">category</span></code> of <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">None</span></code>.</p>
</div>
</section>
</section>
<section id="managing-attributes-in-game">
<h2>Managing Attributes in-game<a class="headerlink" href="#managing-attributes-in-game" title="Permalink to this headline"></a></h2>
<p>Attributes are mainly used by code. But one can also allow the builder to use Attributes to
turn knobs in-game. For example a builder could want to manually tweak the “level” Attribute of an
enemy NPC to lower its difficuly.</p>
<p>When setting Attributes this way, you are severely limited in what can be stored - this is because
giving players (even builders) the ability to store arbitrary Python would be a severe security
problem.</p>
<p>In game you can set an Attribute like this:</p>
<div class="highlight-none notranslate"><div class="highlight"><pre><span></span>set myobj/foo = &quot;bar&quot;
</pre></div>
</div>
<p>To view, do</p>
<div class="highlight-none notranslate"><div class="highlight"><pre><span></span>set myobj/foo
</pre></div>
</div>
<p>or see them together with all object-info with</p>
<div class="highlight-none notranslate"><div class="highlight"><pre><span></span>examine myobj
</pre></div>
</div>
<p>The first <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">set</span></code>-example will store a new Attribute <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">foo</span></code> on the object <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">myobj</span></code> and give it the
value “bar”.
You can store numbers, booleans, strings, tuples, lists and dicts this way. But if
you store a list/tuple/dict they must be proper Python structures and may <em>only</em> contain strings
or numbers. If you try to insert an unsupported structure, the input will be converted to a
string.</p>
<div class="highlight-none notranslate"><div class="highlight"><pre><span></span>set myobj/mybool = True
set myobj/mybool = True
set myobj/mytuple = (1, 2, 3, &quot;foo&quot;)
set myobj/mylist = [&quot;foo&quot;, &quot;bar&quot;, 2]
set myobj/mydict = {&quot;a&quot;: 1, &quot;b&quot;: 2, 3: 4}
set mypobj/mystring = [1, 2, foo] # foo is invalid Python (no quotes)
</pre></div>
</div>
<p>For the last line youll get a warning and the value instead will be saved as a string <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">&quot;[1,</span> <span class="pre">2,</span> <span class="pre">foo]&quot;</span></code>.</p>
</section>
<section id="locking-and-checking-attributes">
<h2>Locking and checking Attributes<a class="headerlink" href="#locking-and-checking-attributes" title="Permalink to this headline"></a></h2>
<p>While the <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">set</span></code> command is limited to builders, individual Attributes are usually not
locked down. You may want to lock certain sensitive Attributes, in particular for games
where you allow player building. You can add such limitations by adding a <a class="reference internal" href="Locks.html"><span class="doc std std-doc">lock string</span></a>
to your Attribute. A NAttribute have no locks.</p>
<p>The relevant lock types are</p>
<ul class="simple">
<li><p><code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">attrread</span></code> - limits who may read the value of the Attribute</p></li>
<li><p><code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">attredit</span></code> - limits who may set/change this Attribute</p></li>
</ul>
<p>You must use the <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">AttributeHandler</span></code> to assign the lockstring to the Attribute:</p>
<div class="highlight-python notranslate"><div class="highlight"><pre><span></span><span class="n">lockstring</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="s2">&quot;attread:all();attredit:perm(Admins)&quot;</span>
<span class="n">obj</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">attributes</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">add</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="s2">&quot;myattr&quot;</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="s2">&quot;bar&quot;</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="n">lockstring</span><span class="o">=</span><span class="n">lockstring</span><span class="p">)</span><span class="s2">&quot;</span>
</pre></div>
</div>
<p>If you already have an Attribute and want to add a lock in-place you can do so
by having the <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">AttributeHandler</span></code> return the <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">Attribute</span></code> object itself (rather than
its value) and then assign the lock to it directly:</p>
<div class="highlight-python notranslate"><div class="highlight"><pre><span></span> <span class="n">lockstring</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="s2">&quot;attread:all();attredit:perm(Admins)&quot;</span>
<span class="n">obj</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">attributes</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">get</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="s2">&quot;myattr&quot;</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="n">return_obj</span><span class="o">=</span><span class="kc">True</span><span class="p">)</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">locks</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">add</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">lockstring</span><span class="p">)</span>
</pre></div>
</div>
<p>Note the <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">return_obj</span></code> keyword which makes sure to return the <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">Attribute</span></code> object so its LockHandler
could be accessed.</p>
<p>A lock is no good if nothing checks it and by default Evennia does not check locks on Attributes.
To check the <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">lockstring</span></code> you provided, make sure you include <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">accessing_obj</span></code> and set
<code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">default_access=False</span></code> as you make a <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">get</span></code> call.</p>
<div class="highlight-python notranslate"><div class="highlight"><pre><span></span> <span class="c1"># in some command code where we want to limit</span>
<span class="c1"># setting of a given attribute name on an object</span>
<span class="n">attr</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="n">obj</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">attributes</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">get</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">attrname</span><span class="p">,</span>
<span class="n">return_obj</span><span class="o">=</span><span class="kc">True</span><span class="p">,</span>
<span class="n">accessing_obj</span><span class="o">=</span><span class="n">caller</span><span class="p">,</span>
<span class="n">default</span><span class="o">=</span><span class="kc">None</span><span class="p">,</span>
<span class="n">default_access</span><span class="o">=</span><span class="kc">False</span><span class="p">)</span>
<span class="k">if</span> <span class="ow">not</span> <span class="n">attr</span><span class="p">:</span>
<span class="n">caller</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">msg</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="s2">&quot;You cannot edit that Attribute!&quot;</span><span class="p">)</span>
<span class="k">return</span>
<span class="c1"># edit the Attribute here</span>
</pre></div>
</div>
<p>The same keywords are available to use with <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">obj.attributes.set()</span></code> and <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">obj.attributes.remove()</span></code>,
those will check for the <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">attredit</span></code> lock type.</p>
</section>
<section id="what-types-of-data-can-i-save-in-an-attribute">
<h2>What types of data can I save in an Attribute?<a class="headerlink" href="#what-types-of-data-can-i-save-in-an-attribute" title="Permalink to this headline"></a></h2>
<p>The database doesnt know anything about Python objects, so Evennia must <em>serialize</em> Attribute
values into a string representation before storing it to the database. This is done using the
<a class="reference external" href="https://docs.python.org/library/pickle.html">pickle</a> module of Python.</p>
<blockquote>
<div><p>The only exception is if you use the <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">strattr</span></code> keyword of the
<code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">AttributeHandler</span></code> to save to the <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">strvalue</span></code> field of the Attribute. In that case you can <em>only</em> save
<em>strings</em> and those will not be pickled).</p>
</div></blockquote>
<section id="storing-single-objects">
<h3>Storing single objects<a class="headerlink" href="#storing-single-objects" title="Permalink to this headline"></a></h3>
<p>With a single object, we mean anything that is <em>not iterable</em>, like numbers, strings or custom class
instances without the <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">__iter__</span></code> method.</p>
<ul class="simple">
<li><p>You can generally store any non-iterable Python entity that can be pickled.</p></li>
<li><p>Single database objects/typeclasses can be stored, despite them normally not being possible
to pickle. Evennia wil convert them to an internal representation using their classname,
database-id and creation-date with a microsecond precision. When retrieving, the object
instance will be re-fetched from the database using this information.</p></li>
<li><p>To convert the database object, Evennia must know its there. If you <em>hide</em> a database object
inside a non-iterable class, you will run into errors - this is not supported!</p></li>
</ul>
<div class="literal-block-wrapper docutils container" id="id3">
<div class="code-block-caption"><span class="caption-text">Valid assignments</span><a class="headerlink" href="#id3" title="Permalink to this code"></a></div>
<div class="highlight-python notranslate"><div class="highlight"><pre><span></span><span class="c1"># Examples of valid single-value attribute data:</span>
<span class="n">obj</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">db</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">test1</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="mi">23</span>
<span class="n">obj</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">db</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">test1</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="kc">False</span>
<span class="c1"># a database object (will be stored as an internal representation)</span>
<span class="n">obj</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">db</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">test2</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="n">myobj</span>
</pre></div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="literal-block-wrapper docutils container" id="id4">
<div class="code-block-caption"><span class="caption-text">Invalid, hidden dbobject</span><a class="headerlink" href="#id4" title="Permalink to this code"></a></div>
<div class="highlight-python notranslate"><div class="highlight"><pre><span></span><span class="c1"># example of an invalid, &quot;hidden&quot; dbobject</span>
<span class="k">class</span> <span class="nc">Container</span><span class="p">:</span>
<span class="k">def</span> <span class="fm">__init__</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="bp">self</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="n">mydbobj</span><span class="p">):</span>
<span class="c1"># no way for Evennia to know this is a database object!</span>
<span class="bp">self</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">mydbobj</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="n">mydbobj</span>
<span class="n">container</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="n">Container</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">myobj</span><span class="p">)</span>
<span class="n">obj</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">db</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">invalid</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="n">container</span> <span class="c1"># will cause error!</span>
</pre></div>
</div>
</div>
</section>
<section id="storing-multiple-objects">
<h3>Storing multiple objects<a class="headerlink" href="#storing-multiple-objects" title="Permalink to this headline"></a></h3>
<p>This means storing objects in a collection of some kind and are examples of <em>iterables</em>, pickle-able
entities you can loop over in a for-loop. Attribute-saving supports the following iterables:</p>
<ul class="simple">
<li><p><a class="reference external" href="https://docs.python.org/2/library/functions.html#tuple">Tuples</a>, like <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">(1,2,&quot;test&quot;,</span> <span class="pre">&lt;dbobj&gt;)</span></code>.</p></li>
<li><p><a class="reference external" href="https://docs.python.org/2/tutorial/datastructures.html#more-on-lists">Lists</a>, like <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">[1,2,&quot;test&quot;,</span> <span class="pre">&lt;dbobj&gt;]</span></code>.</p></li>
<li><p><a class="reference external" href="https://docs.python.org/2/tutorial/datastructures.html#dictionaries">Dicts</a>, like <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">{1:2,</span> <span class="pre">&quot;test&quot;:&lt;dbobj&gt;]</span></code>.</p></li>
<li><p><a class="reference external" href="https://docs.python.org/2/tutorial/datastructures.html#sets">Sets</a>, like <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">{1,2,&quot;test&quot;,&lt;dbobj&gt;}</span></code>.</p></li>
<li><p><a class="reference external" href="https://docs.python.org/2/library/collections.html#collections.OrderedDict">collections.OrderedDict</a>,
like <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">OrderedDict((1,2),</span> <span class="pre">(&quot;test&quot;,</span> <span class="pre">&lt;dbobj&gt;))</span></code>.</p></li>
<li><p><a class="reference external" href="https://docs.python.org/2/library/collections.html#collections.deque">collections.Deque</a>, like
<code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">deque((1,2,&quot;test&quot;,&lt;dbobj&gt;))</span></code>.</p></li>
<li><p><em>Nestings</em> of any combinations of the above, like lists in dicts or an OrderedDict of tuples, each
containing dicts, etc.</p></li>
<li><p>All other iterables (i.e. entities with the <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">__iter__</span></code> method) will be converted to a <em>list</em>.
Since you can use any combination of the above iterables, this is generally not much of a
limitation.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>Any entity listed in the <a class="reference internal" href="#storing-single-objects"><span class="std std-doc">Single object</span></a> section above can be
stored in the iterable.</p>
<blockquote>
<div><p>As mentioned in the previous section, database entities (aka typeclasses) are not possible to
pickle. So when storing an iterable, Evennia must recursively traverse the iterable <em>and all its
nested sub-iterables</em> in order to find eventual database objects to convert. This is a very fast
process but for efficiency you may want to avoid too deeply nested structures if you can.</p>
</div></blockquote>
<div class="highlight-python notranslate"><div class="highlight"><pre><span></span><span class="c1"># examples of valid iterables to store</span>
<span class="n">obj</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">db</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">test3</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="p">[</span><span class="n">obj1</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="mi">45</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="n">obj2</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="mi">67</span><span class="p">]</span>
<span class="c1"># a dictionary</span>
<span class="n">obj</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">db</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">test4</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="p">{</span><span class="s1">&#39;str&#39;</span><span class="p">:</span><span class="mi">34</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="s1">&#39;dex&#39;</span><span class="p">:</span><span class="mi">56</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="s1">&#39;agi&#39;</span><span class="p">:</span><span class="mi">22</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="s1">&#39;int&#39;</span><span class="p">:</span><span class="mi">77</span><span class="p">}</span>
<span class="c1"># a mixed dictionary/list</span>
<span class="n">obj</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">db</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">test5</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="p">{</span><span class="s1">&#39;members&#39;</span><span class="p">:</span> <span class="p">[</span><span class="n">obj1</span><span class="p">,</span><span class="n">obj2</span><span class="p">,</span><span class="n">obj3</span><span class="p">],</span> <span class="s1">&#39;enemies&#39;</span><span class="p">:[</span><span class="n">obj4</span><span class="p">,</span><span class="n">obj5</span><span class="p">]}</span>
<span class="c1"># a tuple with a list in it</span>
<span class="n">obj</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">db</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">test6</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="p">(</span><span class="mi">1</span><span class="p">,</span><span class="mi">3</span><span class="p">,</span><span class="mi">4</span><span class="p">,</span><span class="mi">8</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="p">[</span><span class="s2">&quot;test&quot;</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="s2">&quot;test2&quot;</span><span class="p">],</span> <span class="mi">9</span><span class="p">)</span>
<span class="c1"># a set</span>
<span class="n">obj</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">db</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">test7</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="nb">set</span><span class="p">([</span><span class="mi">1</span><span class="p">,</span><span class="mi">2</span><span class="p">,</span><span class="mi">3</span><span class="p">,</span><span class="mi">4</span><span class="p">,</span><span class="mi">5</span><span class="p">])</span>
<span class="c1"># in-situ manipulation</span>
<span class="n">obj</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">db</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">test8</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="p">[</span><span class="mi">1</span><span class="p">,</span><span class="mi">2</span><span class="p">,{</span><span class="s2">&quot;test&quot;</span><span class="p">:</span><span class="mi">1</span><span class="p">}]</span>
<span class="n">obj</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">db</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">test8</span><span class="p">[</span><span class="mi">0</span><span class="p">]</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="mi">4</span>
<span class="n">obj</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">db</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">test8</span><span class="p">[</span><span class="mi">2</span><span class="p">][</span><span class="s2">&quot;test&quot;</span><span class="p">]</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="mi">5</span>
<span class="c1"># test8 is now [4,2,{&quot;test&quot;:5}]</span>
</pre></div>
</div>
</section>
<section id="retrieving-mutable-objects">
<h3>Retrieving Mutable objects<a class="headerlink" href="#retrieving-mutable-objects" title="Permalink to this headline"></a></h3>
<p>A side effect of the way Evennia stores Attributes is that <em>mutable</em> iterables (iterables that can
be modified in-place after they were created, which is everything except tuples) are handled by
custom objects called <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">_SaverList</span></code>, <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">_SaverDict</span></code> etc. These <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">_Saver...</span></code> classes behave just like the
normal variant except that they are aware of the database and saves to it whenever new data gets
assigned to them. This is what allows you to do things like <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">self.db.mylist[7]</span> <span class="pre">=</span> <span class="pre">val</span></code> and be sure
that the new version of list is saved. Without this you would have to load the list into a temporary
variable, change it and then re-assign it to the Attribute in order for it to save.</p>
<p>There is however an important thing to remember. If you retrieve your mutable iterable into another
variable, e.g. <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">mylist2</span> <span class="pre">=</span> <span class="pre">obj.db.mylist</span></code>, your new variable (<code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">mylist2</span></code>) will <em>still</em> be a
<code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">_SaverList</span></code>. This means it will continue to save itself to the database whenever it is updated!</p>
<div class="highlight-python notranslate"><div class="highlight"><pre><span></span> <span class="n">obj</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">db</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">mylist</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="p">[</span><span class="mi">1</span><span class="p">,</span><span class="mi">2</span><span class="p">,</span><span class="mi">3</span><span class="p">,</span><span class="mi">4</span><span class="p">]</span>
<span class="n">mylist</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="n">obj</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">db</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">mylist</span>
<span class="n">mylist</span><span class="p">[</span><span class="mi">3</span><span class="p">]</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="mi">5</span> <span class="c1"># this will also update database</span>
<span class="nb">print</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">mylist</span><span class="p">)</span> <span class="c1"># this is now [1,2,3,5]</span>
<span class="nb">print</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">obj</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">db</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">mylist</span><span class="p">)</span> <span class="c1"># this is also [1,2,3,5]</span>
</pre></div>
</div>
<p>To “disconnect” your extracted mutable variable from the database you simply need to convert the
<code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">_Saver...</span></code> iterable to a normal Python structure. So to convert a <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">_SaverList</span></code>, you use the
<code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">list()</span></code> function, for a <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">_SaverDict</span></code> you use <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">dict()</span></code> and so on.</p>
<div class="highlight-python notranslate"><div class="highlight"><pre><span></span> <span class="n">obj</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">db</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">mylist</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="p">[</span><span class="mi">1</span><span class="p">,</span><span class="mi">2</span><span class="p">,</span><span class="mi">3</span><span class="p">,</span><span class="mi">4</span><span class="p">]</span>
<span class="n">mylist</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="nb">list</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">obj</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">db</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">mylist</span><span class="p">)</span> <span class="c1"># convert to normal list</span>
<span class="n">mylist</span><span class="p">[</span><span class="mi">3</span><span class="p">]</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="mi">5</span>
<span class="nb">print</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">mylist</span><span class="p">)</span> <span class="c1"># this is now [1,2,3,5]</span>
<span class="nb">print</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">obj</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">db</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">mylist</span><span class="p">)</span> <span class="c1"># this is still [1,2,3,4]</span>
</pre></div>
</div>
<p>A further problem comes with <em>nested mutables</em>, like a dict containing lists of dicts or something
like that. Each of these nested mutables would be <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">_Saver*</span></code> structures connected to the database and
disconnecting the outermost one of them would not disconnect those nested within. To make really
sure you disonnect a nested structure entirely from the database, Evennia provides a special
function <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">evennia.utils.dbserialize.deserialize</span></code>:</p>
<div class="highlight-default notranslate"><div class="highlight"><pre><span></span><span class="kn">from</span> <span class="nn">evennia.utils.dbserialize</span> <span class="kn">import</span> <span class="n">deserialize</span>
<span class="n">decoupled_mutables</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="n">deserialize</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">nested_mutables</span><span class="p">)</span>
</pre></div>
</div>
<p>The result of this operation will be a structure only consisting of normal Python mutables (<code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">list</span></code>
instead of <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">_SaverList</span></code> and so on).</p>
<p>Remember, this is only valid for <em>mutable</em> iterables.
<a class="reference external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immutable">Immutable</a> objects (strings, numbers, tuples etc) are
already disconnected from the database from the onset.</p>
<div class="highlight-python notranslate"><div class="highlight"><pre><span></span> <span class="n">obj</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">db</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">mytup</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="p">(</span><span class="mi">1</span><span class="p">,</span><span class="mi">2</span><span class="p">,[</span><span class="mi">3</span><span class="p">,</span><span class="mi">4</span><span class="p">])</span>
<span class="n">obj</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">db</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">mytup</span><span class="p">[</span><span class="mi">0</span><span class="p">]</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="mi">5</span> <span class="c1"># this fails since tuples are immutable</span>
<span class="c1"># this works but will NOT update database since outermost is a tuple</span>
<span class="n">obj</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">db</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">mytup</span><span class="p">[</span><span class="mi">2</span><span class="p">][</span><span class="mi">1</span><span class="p">]</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="mi">5</span>
<span class="nb">print</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">obj</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">db</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">mytup</span><span class="p">[</span><span class="mi">2</span><span class="p">][</span><span class="mi">1</span><span class="p">])</span> <span class="c1"># this still returns 4, not 5</span>
<span class="n">mytup1</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="n">obj</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">db</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">mytup</span> <span class="c1"># mytup1 is already disconnected from database since outermost</span>
<span class="c1"># iterable is a tuple, so we can edit the internal list as we want</span>
<span class="c1"># without affecting the database.</span>
</pre></div>
</div>
</section>
</section>
<section id="properties-of-attributes">
<h2>Properties of Attributes<a class="headerlink" href="#properties-of-attributes" title="Permalink to this headline"></a></h2>
<p>An <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">Attribute</span></code> object is stored in the database. It has the following properties:</p>
<ul class="simple">
<li><p><code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">key</span></code> - the name of the Attribute. When doing e.g. <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">obj.db.attrname</span> <span class="pre">=</span> <span class="pre">value</span></code>, this property is set
to <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">attrname</span></code>.</p></li>
<li><p><code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">value</span></code> - this is the value of the Attribute. This value can be anything which can be pickled -
objects, lists, numbers or what have you (see
<a class="reference internal" href="#what-types-of-data-can-i-save-in-an-attribute"><span class="std std-doc">this section</span></a> for more info). In the
example
<code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">obj.db.attrname</span> <span class="pre">=</span> <span class="pre">value</span></code>, the <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">value</span></code> is stored here.</p></li>
<li><p><code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">category</span></code> - this is an optional property that is set to None for most Attributes. Setting this
allows to use Attributes for different functionality. This is usually not needed unless you want
to use Attributes for very different functionality (<a class="reference internal" href="Nicks.html"><span class="doc std std-doc">Nicks</span></a> is an example of using
Attributes in this way). To modify this property you need to use the <a class="reference internal" href="#attributes"><span class="std std-doc">Attribute Handler</span></a></p></li>
<li><p><code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">strvalue</span></code> - this is a separate value field that only accepts strings. This severely limits the
data possible to store, but allows for easier database lookups. This property is usually not used
except when re-using Attributes for some other purpose (<a class="reference internal" href="Nicks.html"><span class="doc std std-doc">Nicks</span></a> use it). It is only
accessible via the <a class="reference internal" href="#attributes"><span class="std std-doc">Attribute Handler</span></a>.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>There are also two special properties:</p>
<ul class="simple">
<li><p><code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">attrtype</span></code> - this is used internally by Evennia to separate <a class="reference internal" href="Nicks.html"><span class="doc std std-doc">Nicks</span></a>, from Attributes (Nicks
use Attributes behind the scenes).</p></li>
<li><p><code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">model</span></code> - this is a <em>natural-key</em> describing the model this Attribute is attached to. This is on
the form <em>appname.modelclass</em>, like <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">objects.objectdb</span></code>. It is used by the Attribute and
NickHandler to quickly sort matches in the database. Neither this nor <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">attrtype</span></code> should normally
need to be modified.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>Non-database attributes are not stored in the database and have no equivalence
to <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">category</span></code> nor <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">strvalue</span></code>, <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">attrtype</span></code> or <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">model</span></code>.</p>
</section>
</section>
<section class="tex2jax_ignore mathjax_ignore" id="in-memory-attributes-nattributes">
<h1>In-memory Attributes (NAttributes)<a class="headerlink" href="#in-memory-attributes-nattributes" title="Permalink to this headline"></a></h1>
<p><em>NAttributes</em> (short of Non-database Attributes) mimic Attributes in most things except they
are <strong>non-persistent</strong> - they will <em>not</em> survive a server reload.</p>
<ul class="simple">
<li><p>Instead of <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">.db</span></code> use <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">.ndb</span></code>.</p></li>
<li><p>Instead of <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">.attributes</span></code> use <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">.nattributes</span></code></p></li>
<li><p>Instead of <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">AttributeProperty</span></code>, use <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">NAttributeProperty</span></code>.</p></li>
</ul>
<div class="highlight-python notranslate"><div class="highlight"><pre><span></span> <span class="n">rose</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">ndb</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">has_thorns</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="kc">True</span>
<span class="n">is_ouch</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="n">rose</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">ndb</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">has_thorns</span>
<span class="n">rose</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">nattributes</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">add</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="s2">&quot;has_thorns&quot;</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="kc">True</span><span class="p">)</span>
<span class="n">is_ouch</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="n">rose</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">nattributes</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">get</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="s2">&quot;has_thorns&quot;</span><span class="p">)</span>
</pre></div>
</div>
<p>Differences between <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">Attributes</span></code> and <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">NAttributes</span></code>:</p>
<ul class="simple">
<li><p><code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">NAttribute</span></code>s are always wiped on a server reload.</p></li>
<li><p>They only exist in memory and never involve the database at all, making them faster to
access and edit than <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">Attribute</span></code>s.</p></li>
<li><p><code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">NAttribute</span></code>s can store <em>any</em> Python structure (and database object) without limit.</p></li>
<li><p>They can <em>not</em> be set with the standard <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">set</span></code> command (but they are visible with <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">examine</span></code>)</p></li>
</ul>
<p>There are some important reasons we recommend using <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">ndb</span></code> to store temporary data rather than
the simple alternative of just storing a variable directly on an object:</p>
<ul class="simple">
<li><p>NAttributes are tracked by Evennia and will not be purged in various cache-cleanup operations
the server may do. So using them guarantees that theyll remain available at least as long as
the server lives.</p></li>
<li><p>Its a consistent style - <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">.db/.attributes</span></code> and <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">.ndb/.nattributes</span></code> makes for clean-looking code
where its clear how long-lived (or not) your data is to be.</p></li>
</ul>
<section id="persistent-vs-non-persistent">
<h2>Persistent vs non-persistent<a class="headerlink" href="#persistent-vs-non-persistent" title="Permalink to this headline"></a></h2>
<p>So <em>persistent</em> data means that your data will survive a server reboot, whereas with
<em>non-persistent</em> data it will not …</p>
<p>… So why would you ever want to use non-persistent data? The answer is, you dont have to. Most of
the time you really want to save as much as you possibly can. Non-persistent data is potentially
useful in a few situations though.</p>
<ul class="simple">
<li><p>You are worried about database performance. Since Evennia caches Attributes very aggressively,
this is not an issue unless you are reading <em>and</em> writing to your Attribute very often (like many
times per second). Reading from an already cached Attribute is as fast as reading any Python
property. But even then this is not likely something to worry about: Apart from Evennias own
caching, modern database systems themselves also cache data very efficiently for speed. Our
default
database even runs completely in RAM if possible, alleviating much of the need to write to disk
during heavy loads.</p></li>
<li><p>A more valid reason for using non-persistent data is if you <em>want</em> to lose your state when logging
off. Maybe you are storing throw-away data that are re-initialized at server startup. Maybe you
are implementing some caching of your own. Or maybe you are testing a buggy <a class="reference internal" href="Scripts.html"><span class="doc std std-doc">Script</span></a> that
does potentially harmful stuff to your character object. With non-persistent storage you can be
sure that whatever is messed up, its nothing a server reboot cant clear up.</p></li>
<li><p><code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">NAttribute</span></code>s have no restrictions at all on what they can store, since they
dont need to worry about being saved to the database - they work very well for temporary storage.</p></li>
<li><p>You want to implement a fully or partly <em>non-persistent world</em>. Who are we to argue with your
grand vision!</p></li>
</ul>
</section>
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<p><h3><a href="../index.html">Table of Contents</a></h3>
<ul>
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#">Attributes</a><ul>
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#managing-attributes-in-code">Managing Attributes in Code</a><ul>
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#using-db">Using .db</a></li>
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#using-attributes">Using .attributes</a></li>
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#using-attributeproperty">Using AttributeProperty</a></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#managing-attributes-in-game">Managing Attributes in-game</a></li>
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#locking-and-checking-attributes">Locking and checking Attributes</a></li>
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#what-types-of-data-can-i-save-in-an-attribute">What types of data can I save in an Attribute?</a><ul>
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#storing-single-objects">Storing single objects</a></li>
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#storing-multiple-objects">Storing multiple objects</a></li>
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#retrieving-mutable-objects">Retrieving Mutable objects</a></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#properties-of-attributes">Properties of Attributes</a></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#in-memory-attributes-nattributes">In-memory Attributes (NAttributes)</a><ul>
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#persistent-vs-non-persistent">Persistent vs non-persistent</a></li>
</ul>
</li>
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