Note: Python 2.7 has reached end of support on January 31, 2024. Your existing Python 2.7 applications will continue to run and receive traffic. However, App Engine might block re-deployment of applications that use runtimes after their end of support date. We recommend that you migrate to the latest supported version of Python.

Messages Module Functions

The protorpc.messages package provides the following positional utility function:

find_definition(name, relative_to=None)

Find definition by name in module-space.

The find algorithm finds definitions by name relative to a message definition or by fully qualified name. If no definition is found relative to the relative_to parameter, it searches against the container of relative_to. If relative_to is a nested Message, it searches its message_definition(). If that message has no message_definition(), it searches its module. If relative_to is a module, the find algorithm searches for the containing module and searches relative to it. If the module is a top-level module, the find algorithm searches for the a message using a fully qualified name. If it still finds no message, the search fails and the method raises a DefinitionNotFoundError.

For example, when looking for any definition foo.bar.ADefinition relative to an actual message definition abc.xyz.SomeMessage:

find_definition('foo.bar.ADefinition', SomeMessage)

The arguments to this method follow a pattern similar to a search for fully qualified names:

abc.xyz.SomeMessage. foo.bar.ADefinition
abc.xyz. foo.bar.ADefinition
abc. foo.bar.ADefinition
foo.bar.ADefinition

When resolving the name relative to Message definitions and modules, the algorithm searches any Messages or sub-modules found in its path, ignoring non-Message values.

A name that begins with '.' is considered to be a fully qualified name. The find algorithm begins searching from the topmost package. For example, assume two message types:

abc.xyz.SomeMessage
xyz.SomeMessage

Searching for .xyz.SomeMessage relative to abc resolves to xyz.SomeMessage and not abc.xyz.SomeMessage. For this kind of name, the relative_to parameter is effectively ignored and always set to None.

For more information about package name resolution, please see the Protocol Buffers Package specifier.

Arguments

name: Name of a definition to find. May be fully qualified or relative.
relative_to: Searches for a definition relative to the message definition or module. If None, causes a fully qualified name search.

Returns an Enum or Message class definition associated with the name.

raises a DefinitionNotFoundError if no definition is found in any search path.