PyCodeWriterToolkitBuilder

Overview

PyCodeWriterToolkitBuilder is a class developed for interacting with the PythonWriter API. The class provides functionality to modify python code with the help of built-in methods that can create or update existing python modules. Class’s initialization requires an instance of PyCodeWriter and a boolean variable do_write deciding whether to write these changes to disk.

Important methods contained in this class include build, _update_existing_module, and _create_new_module. The build method generates a toolkit that includes two functionalities: updating existing python code and creating a new python module. If a required object doesn’t exist in the module being modified, it is created automatically. If it already exists, the existing code is modified. To create a new module, the complete code is provided as a parameter.

Related Symbols

• automata.tools.builders.AgentToolkitBuilder

• automata.tools.builder.PyCodeWriter

Example

The following examples demonstrate how to use PyCodeWriterToolkitBuilder for modifying an existing python module and creating a new python module.

from automata.tools.builders.py_writer_builder import PyCodeWriterToolkitBuilder
from automata.tools.writer import PyCodeWriter

py_writer = PyCodeWriter()
py_writer_builder_toolkit = PyCodeWriterToolkitBuilder(py_writer)

update_module_tool = py_writer_builder_toolkit.build()[0]
result = update_module_tool.function('my_folder.my_file.MyClass', 'def my_method():\n   "My Method"\n    print("hello world")\n')

create_module_tool = py_writer_builder_toolkit.build()[1]
result = create_module_tool.function('my_folder.my_new_file', 'import math\ndef my_method():\n   "My Method"\n    print(math.sqrt(4))\n')

Limitations

The primary limitation is that PyCodeWriterToolkitBuilder can only modify the python code of an existing module or create a new module with provided complete code. This toolkit has no context outside of the passed arguments. Any additional statements, especially any import statements that the code block may depend upon, should be included within the code block itself.

Also, Error handling within the toolkit can return generic exceptions which might not provide a clear understanding of the exact issue limiting the ease of debugging.

Follow-up Questions:

• Could we provide a way to have better error handling or return more specific exceptions? Would that help usability in large projects?

• Can we provide the ability to read and write the changes on the go as per user requirements?

• Is there a possibility to add a feature that can directly modify code within the actual Project’s structure itself?