Blender 2.6: Select object by name through Python

import bpy

def returnObjectByName (passedName= ""):
    r = None
    obs = bpy.data.objects
    for ob in obs:
        if ob.name == passedName:
            r = ob
    return r

obs = bpy.data.objects

bpy.ops.object.select_all(action='DESELECT')

for ob in obs:
    print (ob.name)
    myObj = returnObjectByName(ob.name)
    if myObj != None:
        print (dir(myObj))
        myObj.selected = True
        myObj.location[2] = 10
        myObj.selected = False

Not my code, not guaranteed to work.

Source

bpy.ops.object.select_name() has been replaced by bpy.ops.object.select_pattern() (around 2.62, I think?), which is a more powerful version (it can select an exact name, but also use patterns with wildcards, be case-insensitive, etc.):

bpy.ops.object.select_pattern(pattern="Cube")

bpy.data.objects['OBJECT'].select = True

---

Selection data is contained within the individual objects. You can read and write them as shown. In a slightly more readable form:

object = bpy.data.objects['OBJECT']
object.select = True