1 files changed, 20 insertions, 12 deletions
diff --git a/factory/utils.py b/factory/utils.py
index f845f46..fb8cfef 100644
--- a/factory/utils.py
+++ b/factory/utils.py
@@ -58,20 +58,16 @@ def extract_dict(prefix, kwargs, pop=True, exclude=()):
     return extracted
 
 
-def declength_compare(a, b):
-    """Compare objects, choosing longest first."""
-    if len(a) > len(b):
-        return -1
-    elif len(a) < len(b):
-        return 1
-    else:
-        return cmp(a, b)
-
-
 def multi_extract_dict(prefixes, kwargs, pop=True, exclude=()):
     """Extracts all values from a given list of prefixes.
 
-    Arguments have the same meaning as for extract_dict.
+    Extraction will start with longer prefixes.
+
+    Args:
+        prefixes (str list): the prefixes to use for lookups
+        kwargs (dict): the dict from which values should be extracted
+        pop (bool): whether to use pop (True) or get (False)
+        exclude (iterable): list of prefixed keys that shouldn't be extracted
 
     Returns:
         dict(str => dict): a dict mapping each prefix to the dict of extracted
@@ -79,10 +75,22 @@ def multi_extract_dict(prefixes, kwargs, pop=True, exclude=()):
     """
     results = {}
     exclude = list(exclude)
-    for prefix in sorted(prefixes, cmp=declength_compare):
+    for prefix in sorted(prefixes, key=lambda x: -len(x)):
         extracted = extract_dict(prefix, kwargs, pop=pop, exclude=exclude)
         results[prefix] = extracted
         exclude.extend(
             ['%s%s%s' % (prefix, ATTR_SPLITTER, key) for key in extracted])
 
     return results
+
+
+def import_object(module_name, attribute_name):
+    """Import an object from its absolute path.
+
+    Example:
+        >>> import_object('datetime', 'datetime')
+        <type 'datetime.datetime'>
+    """
+    module = __import__(module_name, {}, {}, [attribute_name], 0)
+    return getattr(module, attribute_name)
+