>>> import struct >>> dir() # show the names in the module namespace ['__builtins__', '__doc__', '__name__', 'struct'] >>> dir(struct) # show the names in the struct module ['Struct', '__builtins__', '__doc__', '__file__', '__name__', '__package__', '_clearcache', 'calcsize', 'error', 'pack', 'pack_into', 'unpack', 'unpack_from'] >>> class Shape(object): def __dir__(self): return ['area', 'perimeter', 'location'] >>> s = Shape() >>> dir(s) ['area', 'perimeter', 'location'] https://docs.python.org/2/library/functions.html#dir