python: Accessing an instance variable using a name containing a variable

Unsure quite what you want, but I think getattr(obj, 'name') might help. See http://docs.python.org/library/functions.html#getattr

You can refer to instance variable called name of object obj this way:

obj.__dict__['name']

Therefore, if you have another variable prop which holds the name of the instance variable you'd like to refer to, you can do it this way:

obj.__dict__[prop]

If you find yourself needing this functionality, you should ask yourself whether it isn't in fact a good circumstance to use an instance of dict instead.

I would suggest you create an extra User-Object, which you pass to the appropriate Objects or functions as needed. You are being extremly vague, so it's hard to give you a more practical advice.

Example:

class User:
   def __init__(self, name, uid=None, remote=None, dir=None):
       self.name = name
       self.uid = uid
       self.remote = remote
       self.directory = dir

   def get_X(self)
       ...

   def create_some_curios_String(self):
       """ for uid = 'joe', remote='localhost' and directory = '/mnt/srv'
           this method would return the string:
           'joe@localhost://mnt/srv'
       """
       return '%s@%s:/%s' % (self.uid, self.remote, self.directory)


class AnotherClass:
    def __init__(self, user_obj):
        self.user = user_obj

class YetAnotherClass:
    def getServiceOrFunctionalityForUser(self, user):
        doWhatEverNeedsToBeDoneWithUser(user)
        doWhatEverNeedsToBeDoneWithUserUIDandRemote(user.uid, user.remote)

joe = User('Joe Smith', 'joe', 'localhost', '/mnt/srv')
srv_service = ServerService(joe.create_some_curios_String())
srv_service.do_something_super_important()