How can you print a variable name in python? [duplicate]

Answer 1

To answer your original question:

def namestr(obj, namespace):
    return [name for name in namespace if namespace[name] is obj]

Example:

>>> a = 'some var'
>>> namestr(a, globals())
['a']

As @rbright already pointed out whatever you do there are probably better ways to do it.

Answer 2

If you are trying to do this, it means you are doing something wrong. Consider using a dict instead.

def show_val(vals, name):
    print "Name:", name, "val:", vals[name]

vals = {'a': 1, 'b': 2}
show_val(vals, 'b')

Output:

Name: b val: 2

Answer 3

Will something like this work for you?

>>> def namestr(**kwargs):
...     for k,v in kwargs.items():
...       print "%s = %s" % (k, repr(v))
...
>>> namestr(a=1, b=2)
a = 1
b = 2

And in your example:

>>> choice = {'key': 24; 'data': None}
>>> namestr(choice=choice)
choice = {'data': None, 'key': 24}
>>> printvars(**globals())
__builtins__ = <module '__builtin__' (built-in)>
__name__ = '__main__'
__doc__ = None
namestr = <function namestr at 0xb7d8ec34>
choice = {'data': None, 'key': 24}

Answer 4

You can't, as there are no variables in Python but only names.

For example:

> a = [1,2,3]
> b = a
> a is b
True

Which of those two is now the correct variable? There's no difference between a and b.

There's been a similar question before.

Answer 5

For the revised question of how to read in configuration parameters, I'd strongly recommend saving yourself some time and effort and use ConfigParser or (my preferred tool) ConfigObj.

They can do everything you need, they're easy to use, and someone else has already worried about how to get them to work properly!

Answer 6

Rather than ask for details to a specific solution, I recommend describing the problem you face; I think you'll get better answers. I say this since there's almost certainly a better way to do whatever it is you're trying to do. Accessing variable names in this way is not commonly needed to solve problems in any language.

That said, all of your variable names are already in dictionaries which are accessible through the built-in functions locals and globals. Use the correct one for the scope you are inspecting.

One of the few common idioms for inspecting these dictionaries is for easy string interpolation:

>>> first = 'John'
>>> last = 'Doe'
>>> print '%(first)s %(last)s' % globals()
John Doe

This sort of thing tends to be a bit more readable than the alternatives even though it requires inspecting variables by name.