docs: def named_any(name):
      """
      Retrieve a Python object by its fully qualified name from the global Python
      module namespace.  The first part of the name, that describes a module,
      will be discovered and imported.  Each subsequent part of the name is
      treated as the name of an attribute of the object specified by all of the
      name which came before it.
      @param name: The name of the object to return.
      @return: the Python object identified by 'name'.
      """
      assert name, 'Empty module name'
      names = name.split('.')
  
      topLevelPackage = None
      moduleNames = names[:]
      while not topLevelPackage:
          if moduleNames:
              trialname = '.'.join(moduleNames)
              try:
                  topLevelPackage = __import__(trialname)
              except Exception, ex:
                  moduleNames.pop()
          else:
              if len(names) == 1:
                  raise Exception("No module named %r" % (name,))
              else:
                  raise Exception('%r does not name an object' % (name,))
  
      obj = topLevelPackage
      for n in names[1:]:
          obj = getattr(obj, n)
  
      return obj