title: Python: Passing a class name as a parameter to a function?
body: <pre><code>class TestSpeedRetrieval(webapp.RequestHandler):
    """
    Test retrieval times of various important records in the BigTable database 
    """
    def get(self):
        commandValidated = True 
        beginTime = time()
        itemList = Subscriber.all().fetch(1000) 
  
        for item in itemList: 
            pass 
        endTime = time()
        self.response.out.write("&lt;br/&gt;Subscribers count=" + str(len(itemList)) + 
             " Duration=" + duration(beginTime,endTime)) 
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>How can I turn the above into a function where I pass the name of the class?
  In the above example, Subscriber (in the Subscriber.all().fetch statement) is a class name, which is how you define data tables in Google BigTable with Python.</p>
  
  <p>I want to do something like this: </p>
  
  <pre><code>       TestRetrievalOfClass(Subscriber)  
  or     TestRetrievalOfClass("Subscriber")  
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>Thanks,
  Neal Walters </p>