def multi_getattr(obj, attr, default = None):
"""
Get a named attribute from an object; multi_getattr(x, 'a.b.c.d') is
equivalent to x.a.b.c.d. When a default argument is given, it is
returned when any attribute in the chain doesn't exist; without
it, an exception is raised when a missing attribute is encountered.
"""
attributes = attr.split(".")
for i in attributes:
try:
obj = getattr(obj, i)
except AttributeError:
if default:
return default
else:
raise
return obj
# Example usage
obj = [1,2,3]
attr = "append.__doc__.capitalize.__doc__"
multi_getattr(obj, attr) #Will return the docstring for the
#capitalize method of the builtin string
#object