Accessing a local variable whose name comes from user input

Question

i need to access strings using raw_input.

list1 = ["one","Two","three"]

list2 = ["1","2","3"]

while True:

        ip = raw_input("enter list: ")
        for i  in  ip:
                    print i
        break

When "list1" is given as input, it takes as string but not as list. I need to access the list defined above. I need a way to access the lists and print the list.

I think that what you are describing is [`eval`](https://docs.python.org/2/library/functions.html#eval). — khelwood, Dec 18 '14 at 00:23
You should not use `eval` instead of that use `literal eval`. http://stackoverflow.com/questions/15197673/using-pythons-eval-vs-ast-literal-eval — Tanveer Alam, Dec 18 '14 at 00:34
@TanveerAlam: even literal_eval with user supplied input can be bad for security (in the best case leak a lot of information). — Paulo Scardine, Dec 18 '14 at 00:37
I wanted to make sure that they use literal eval instead of eval but in this case that is bad idea. Thanks Paulo. — Tanveer Alam, Dec 18 '14 at 00:41

score 1 · Accepted Answer · answered Dec 18 '14 at 00:27

1

Use a dict:

lists = {
    "list1": ["one","Two","three"],
    "list2": ["1","2","3"],       
}

while True:
    choice = raw_input("enter the list name: ")
    try:
        for item in lists[choice]:
            print item
    except KeyError:
        print "I never heard of any list named '{}'! Try again.".format(choice)
    else:
        break

answered Dec 18 '14 at 00:27

Paulo Scardine

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Thanks Paulo for the answer. – kiran6 Dec 18 '14 at 00:42

Accessing a local variable whose name comes from user input

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