gdbm objects not iterable?

[Laszlo Nagy]

Hi All,

gdbm objects have a "firstkey" and a "nextkey" method. So if I want
iterate through the keys (which I often do) then I have to do this:

def itergdbmkeys(gd bm_obj):
key = gdbm_obj.firstk ey()
if key is None:
raise StopIteration
yield key
while True:
key = gdbm_obj.nextke y(key)
if key is None:
raise StopIteration
yield key

Then I can do this:

for key in itergdbmkeys(gd bm_obj):
process(key,gdb m_obj)

I wonder why we do not have a "next()" method, which could return an
iterator instantly. I don't think that it would be harmful, but
definitely it would be useful. Then we could do this:

for key in gdbm_obj:
process(key,obj )

I know that this is a very small change, but it can make gdbm objects
look more like dictionaries.

Please make comments. :-)

Laszlo