How to make a local variable (inside a function) global

Question:

I’m using functions so that my program won’t be a mess but I don’t know how to make a local variable into global.

Asked By: user1396297

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Source

Answers:

Simply declare your variable outside any function:

globalValue = 1

def f(x):
    print(globalValue + x)

If you need to assign to the global from within the function, use the global statement:

def f(x):
    global globalValue
    print(globalValue + x)
    globalValue += 1
Answered By: Greg Hewgill

Using globals will also make your program a mess – I suggest you try very hard to avoid them. That said, “global” is a keyword in python, so you can designate a particular variable as a global, like so:

def foo():
    global bar
    bar = 32

I should mention that it is extremely rare for the ‘global’ keyword to be used, so I seriously suggest rethinking your design.

Answered By: Arafangion

Here are two methods to achieve the same thing:

Using parameters and return (recommended)

def other_function(parameter):
    return parameter + 5

def main_function():
    x = 10
    print(x)    
    x = other_function(x)
    print(x)

When you run main_function, you’ll get the following output

>>> 10
>>> 15

Using globals (never do this)

x = 0   # The initial value of x, with global scope

def other_function():
    global x
    x = x + 5

def main_function():
    print(x)    # Just printing - no need to declare global yet
    global x   # So we can change the global x
    x = 10
    print(x)
    other_function()
    print(x)

Now you will get:

>>> 0    # Initial global value
>>> 10   # Now we've set it to 10 in `main_function()`
>>> 15   # Now we've added 5 in `other_function()`
Answered By: Alex L

If you need access to the internal states of a function, you’re possibly better off using a class. You can make a class instance behave like a function by making it a callable, which is done by defining __call__:

class StatefulFunction( object ):
    def __init__( self ):
        self.public_value = 'foo'

    def __call__( self ):
        return self.public_value


>> f = StatefulFunction()
>> f()
`foo`
>> f.public_value = 'bar'
>> f()
`bar`
Answered By: Matthew Trevor

You could use module scope. Say you have a module called utils:

f_value = 'foo'

def f():
    return f_value

f_value is a module attribute that can be modified by any other module that imports it. As modules are singletons, any change to utils from one module will be accessible to all other modules that have it imported:

>> import utils
>> utils.f()
'foo'
>> utils.f_value = 'bar'
>> utils.f()
'bar'

Note that you can import the function by name:

>> import utils
>> from utils import f
>> utils.f_value = 'bar'
>> f()
'bar'

But not the attribute:

>> from utils import f, f_value
>> f_value = 'bar'
>> f()
'foo'

This is because you’re labeling the object referenced by the module attribute as f_value in the local scope, but then rebinding it to the string bar, while the function f is still referring to the module attribute.

Answered By: Matthew Trevor