from ctypes import * import unittest class X(Structure): _fields_ = [("a", c_int), ("b", c_int)] new_was_called = False def __new__(cls): result = super(X, cls).__new__(cls) result.new_was_called = True return result def __init__(self): self.a = 9 self.b = 12 class Y(Structure): _fields_ = [("x", X)] class InitTest(unittest.TestCase): def test_get(self): # make sure the only accessing a nested structure # doesn't call the structure's __new__ and __init__ y = Y() self.assertEqual((y.x.a, y.x.b), (0, 0)) self.assertEqual(y.x.new_was_called, False) # But explicitly creating an X structure calls __new__ and __init__, of course. x = X() self.assertEqual((x.a, x.b), (9, 12)) self.assertEqual(x.new_was_called, True) y.x = x self.assertEqual((y.x.a, y.x.b), (9, 12)) self.assertEqual(y.x.new_was_called, False) if __name__ == "__main__": unittest.main()