Setting a global python variable within a function

Question

I have a restful variable that I want to set to a global variable in python.

This code works. It allows the rest of the script to read the_api global the_api

auth = tweepy.OAuthHandler(consumer_key, consumer_secret)
auth.set_access_token(access_token, access_token_secret)
the_api = tweepy.API(auth)
print(the_api)

This code does set the_api, but in other functions the_api is undefined... Why can't I vset the_api from within a function in python.

def initTweepy():
    auth = tweepy.OAuthHandler(consumer_key, consumer_secret)
    auth.set_access_token(access_token, access_token_secret)
    the_api = tweepy.API(auth)
    print(the_api)

You can always read globals out of scope, but you must precede any assignment of the variable with `global [my_var]` if you want your changes to be effective outside of the current scope. — Alexander, Sep 12 '15 at 19:34

Ciaran Liedeman · Answer 1 · 2015-09-12T19:37:46.920

1

You need to use the global keyword otherwise python will create a new local variable shadowing the global variable.

def initTweepy():
    auth = tweepy.OAuthHandler(consumer_key, consumer_secret)
    auth.set_access_token(access_token, access_token_secret)
    global the_api
    the_api = tweepy.API(auth)
    print(the_api)

edited Sep 12 '15 at 19:37

answered Sep 12 '15 at 19:29

Ciaran Liedeman

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Setting a global python variable within a function

1 Answers1