Python __index__() Magic Method

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Python’s __index__(self) method is called on an object to get its associated integer value. The returned integer is used in slicing or as the basis for the conversion in the built-in functions bin(), hex(), and oct(). The __index__() method is also used as a fallback for int(), float(), and complex() functions when their corresponding magic methods are not defined.

Syntax

object.__index__(self)

We call this a “Dunder Method” for “Double Underscore Method” (also called “magic method”). To get a list of all dunder methods with explanation, check out our dunder cheat sheet article on this blog.

Example Custom __index__()

In the following example, you create a custom class Data and overwrite the __index__() magic method so that it returns an integer 2 on a custom Data object. We then print the result of the function calls of six built-in functions that all rely on __index__().

class Data:
    def __index__(self):
        return 2


x = Data()

# All those functions may use __index__():
print(bin(x))
print(oct(x))
print(hex(x))
print(complex(x))
print(int(x))
print(float(x))

The output of those functions shows that all use the value 2 for their conversions, returned by the __index__() method:

0b10
0o2
0x2
(2+0j)
2
2.0

You can see the same output when passing the integer value 2 directly into those functions:

>>> bin(2)
'0b10'
>>> oct(2)
'0o2'
>>> hex(2)
'0x2'
>>> complex(2)
(2+0j)
>>> int(2)
2
>>> float(2)
2.0

How to Use __index__() for Slicing and Indexing

You can use the magic method __index__() on a custom class to make it possible for objects of this class to be used in a slicing or indexing operation on an iterable. Python will internally call the __index__() method to obtain the integer associated with the custom object. This integer is then used as the basis for the slicing and indexing operation.

See this example where we create a custom class My_Integer and use objects of this class as arguments for the slicing operation on a specific list my_list.

class My_Integer:
    def __init__(self, i):
        self.i = i
        
    def __index__(self):
        return self.i


x = My_Integer(1)
y = My_Integer(8)
z = My_Integer(3)

my_list = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]

print(my_list[x])
# 2

print(my_list[y])
# 9

print(my_list[x:y:z])
# [2, 5, 8]

The objects x, y, z are of type My_Integer but they can still be used for the indexing and slicing operations as shown in the last three print statements.

How to Fix “TypeError: __index__ returned non-int (type …)”

If you override the __index__() method so that it returns a non-integer type x, Python will raise a TypeError: __index__ returned non-int (type ...x).

You can see this in the following example:

class Data:
    def __index__(self):
        return 'finxter'


x = Data()
print(int(x))

Output:

Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "C:\Users\xcent\Desktop\code.py", line 8, in <module>
    print(int(x))
TypeError: __index__ returned non-int (type str)

To fix this error, simply return an integer value from the __index__() method like so:

class Data:
    def __index__(self):
        return 42


x = Data()
print(int(x))
# 42

References:

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