The server-side mapping for interfaces provides an up-call API for the Ice run time: by implementing methods in a servant class, you provide the hook that gets the thread of control from the Ice server-side run time into your application code.

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Skeleton Classes in Python

On the client side, interfaces map to proxy classes. On the server side, interfaces map to skeleton classes. A skeleton is an abstract base class from which you derive your servant class and define a method for each operation on the corresponding interface. For example, consider our Slice definition for the Node interface:

module Filesystem
{
    interface Node
    {
        idempotent string name();
    }
    // ...
}

The Python mapping generates the following definition for this interface:

class Node(Ice.Object):
    def __init__(self):
        # ...

    #
    # Operation signatures.
    #
    # def name(self, current=None):

The important points to note here are:

• As for the client side, Slice modules are mapped to Python modules with the same name, so the skeleton class definitions are part of the Filesystem module.
• The name of the skeleton class is the same as the Slice interface (Node).
• The skeleton class contains a comment summarizing the method signature of each operation in the Slice interface.
• The skeleton class is an abstract base class because its constructor prevents direct instantiation of the class.
• The skeleton class inherits from Ice.Object (which forms the root of the Ice object hierarchy).

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Ice.Object Base Class for Python Servants

Object is mapped to the Ice.Object class in Python:

class Object(object):
    def ice_isA(self, id, current=None):
        # ...
    def ice_ping(self, current=None):
        # ...
    def ice_ids(self, current=None):
        # ...
    def ice_id(self, current=None):
        # ...
        
    @staticmethod
    def ice_staticId():
        # ...

The methods of Ice.Object behave as follows:

• ice_isA
  This method returns true if target object implements the given type ID, and false otherwise.

• ice_ping
ice_ping provides a basic reachability test for the servant.

• ice_ids
  This method returns a string array representing all of the type IDs implemented by this servant, including ::Ice::Object.

• ice_id
  This method returns the type ID of the most-derived interface implemented by this servant.
  
  
• ice_staticID
  This static method returns the type ID of the target class: ::Ice::Object when called on Ice.Object.

Servant Classes in Python

In order to provide an implementation for an Ice object, you must create a servant class that inherits from the corresponding skeleton class. For example, to create a servant for the Node interface, you could write:

import Filesystem

class NodeI(Filesystem.Node):
    def __init__(self, name):
        self._name = name

    def name(self, current=None):
        return self._name

By convention, servant classes have the name of their interface with an I-suffix, so the servant class for the Node interface is called NodeI. (This is a convention only: as far as the Ice run time is concerned, you can choose any name you prefer for your servant classes.) Note that NodeI extends Filesystem._NodeDisp, that is, it derives from its skeleton class.

As far as Ice is concerned, the NodeI class must implement only a single method: the name method that is defined in the Node interface. This makes the servant class a concrete class that can be instantiated. You can add other member functions and data members as you see fit to support your implementation. For example, in the preceding definition, we added a _name member and a constructor. (Obviously, the constructor initializes the _name member and the name function returns its value.)

Server-Side Normal and idempotent Operations in Python

Whether an operation is an ordinary operation or an idempotent operation has no influence on the way the operation is mapped. To illustrate this, consider the following interface:

interface Example
{
               void normalOp();
    idempotent void idempotentOp();
}

The mapping for this interface is shown below:

class Example(Ice.Object):
    # ...

    #
    # Operation signatures.
    #
    # def normalOp(self, current=None):
    # def idempotentOp(self, current=None):

Note that the signatures of the methods are unaffected by the idempotent qualifier.

See Also

• Slice for a Simple File System
• Python Mapping for Interfaces
• Parameter Passing in Python
• Raising Exceptions in Python