Viewing Local Variables in Spyder's Variable Explorer

Question

I'm new to python and am using Spyder's IDE. One feature I appreciate about it is it's variable explorer. However, based on some research, I found that it only shows global variables. A workaround that I found for that is by using the inspect module:

import inspect

local_vars = {}

def main():
    global local_vars
    a = 2
    b = 4
    c = a+b
    local_vars = inspect.currentframe().f_locals
    return c

main()

This works well, however, I have other functions that are called from within main() and I'd like to see those variables in the variable explorer as well. I mimicked what was done for the variables in the main function and the dict does not appear. I noticed that when I disable the setting to "exclude unsupported data types" in Spyder's variable explorer options, the second dict appears with the right size attribute, however, I am unable to open/view it. Any ideas on a possible work around? This is my first time posting BTW.

Thanks!!

Here is a working example of my issue and I've traced it down to pylab subplots.

import inspect, pylab

mainVars = {}

def main():
    global mainVars

    a = 1
    b = 2

    fig = pylab.figure()
    subPlot = fig.add_subplot(211)    ## line of interest

    pylab.close('all')

    mainVars = inspect.currentframe().f_locals

main()

When the line of interest is commented out, the dict is created successfully and can be viewed. It appears that the object created using fig.add_subplot() is not being handled properly by the dict. It seems to be an unsupported datatype.

Hope this helps clarify the issue.

Thanks again.

(*Spyder dev here*) Please post an example that really reflects what you want to get from the Variable Explorer, so we can test it and see what we could do about it. — Carlos Cordoba, Jul 22 '14 at 13:46
@CarlosCordoba Please view the edit made to my OP as it has a better example and it shows exactly where the problem lies. — Mike L, Jul 22 '14 at 16:50
I can confirm this behaviour whether or not within a function: a dictionary containing a subplot instance is not shown in the variable explorer if only showing supported types. — mdurant, Jul 22 '14 at 17:09
@CarlosCordoba Is there a way to view the contents of the dict despite there being an unsupported object within it? — Mike L, Jul 22 '14 at 17:47
Yes, there is a workaround. I posted it below as an answer. Thanks for the full explanation, things were clearer for me then. — Carlos Cordoba, Jul 22 '14 at 18:59

Carlos Cordoba · Accepted Answer · 2017-08-03T20:36:20.587

14

To view the contents of local variables when some of them are unsupported, you have to follow these steps:

Go to the options menu of the Variable Explorer (the last icon from left to right on it).
Select the option called Exclude unsupported data types.

Then you'll see all local variables saved in the f_locals dict, even if you're unable to double click on it.

edited Aug 03 '17 at 20:36

answered Jul 22 '14 at 18:58

Carlos Cordoba

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Close. I see a preview of the contents under the value column. – Mike L Jul 22 '14 at 19:09
That's all we can provide =) To resize the preview and see all contents is step *3* meant for. – Carlos Cordoba Jul 22 '14 at 19:23
If the answer was helpful to you, please mark it as so by clicking on the green check sign. It's just for my points :-) – Carlos Cordoba Jul 22 '14 at 19:53
1

@CarlosCordoba, Is this still possible in 3.1.4? I don's see Show collection contents in the options under preferences for the variable explorer or when clicking on the gear icon. – Austin Downey Aug 03 '17 at 09:45
Thanks a lot! This helped! – Aidos Jan 18 '18 at 11:07

score 3 · Answer 2 · answered Jul 22 '14 at 17:21

3

All of these workarounds are making your code significantly harder to read for outsiders. You have two options to inspect the values of the variables inside your function. First, you could just return the variables you are interested in:

def main():
    a = 2
    b = 4
    c = a+b

    return a, b, c

a, b, c = main()

Second, if you just want to check that the function works as expected or debug it, you can debug the function and step into it. So select Run|Debug from the menu instead of running the file directly. Then you can step into the function - the values of the variables will be visible in the variable explorer when the execution is inside the function.

answered Jul 22 '14 at 17:21

chthonicdaemon

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You're totally right. That's what I proposed in the answer the OP took the `inspect` code from. But it seems people prefers the easy way out =) – Carlos Cordoba Jul 22 '14 at 18:43
1

I get that there are other ways of seeing the values of variables. I just felt that the variable explorer should be able to handle these exceptions. It's an extremely convenient feature....when it works properly. – Mike L Jul 22 '14 at 19:16
We are working to improve this situation in `2.4` so that all object types can viewed within the Variable Explorer. – Carlos Cordoba Jul 22 '14 at 19:52

Viewing Local Variables in Spyder's Variable Explorer

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