Create a Python Module: session

Packages are directories that contain the __init.py__ file and some number of Python files called modules. This section will guide you through creating the first Python module which will handle the session functionality.

Python Modules

Modules in Python are simply Python files with a .py extension. The name of the module will be the name of the file. A Python module can have a set of functions, classes or variables defined and implemented.

Reference: https://www.learnpython.org/en/Modules_and_Packages

Create the Module File

STEP 1. CREATE a file named session.py in the dnac folder

This Python file (module) will sub-class the requests.Session class and serve as our object to handle all things related to the HTTP(S) session with DNA Center.

Read More About Class Inheritance in Python

Real Python 'Super Change Your Classes with super()'

STEP 2. ADD the base session text (copy and paste the code below)

Note

The requests package is the de facto standard Python package for making HTTP requests. You can read more about the Python package requests

#!/usr/bin/env python

import requests


class dnaCenterSession(requests.Session):
    """DNA Center Session Object

    Args:
        requests (Session): Sub-classes requests.Session
    """

    def __init__(self, *args: list, **kwargs: dict):
        """
        Initialize dnaCenterSession
        """
        super(dnaCenterSession, self).__init__(*args, **kwargs)

        self.headers.update(
            {
                'Content-Type': 'application/json'
            }
        )

    def set_basic_auth(self, username: str, password: str):
        """Set the credentials for Basic Auth on the session object

        Args:
            username (str): username for basic auth
            password (str): password for basic auth
        """
        self.auth = (username, password)

    def set_verify(self, verify: bool):
        """Sets the verify boolean of a request.Session object

        Args:
            verify (bool): Boolean for validating certificates
        """
        self.verify = verify

STEP 3 . SAVE the file

What does this do?

This Python module illustrates the use of sub-classing, a key concept in object-oriented programming, to utilize all of the existing functionality in the requests package while providing the ability to customize settings for our specific use case.

The __init__ method calls the __init__ method of the parent class (requests.sessions.Session) using the super() function and sets a header value for all calls.

The set_basic_auth method sets the attribute named auth of the Session object.

The set_verify method sets the boolean value for checking the validity of certificates or not during session establishment.

This simple example illustrates the power and simplicity of object oriented programming.

See requests documentation for more info on the library.