How do I bring a value out of a function?

Question

def xdgt(x):
    if x is "m":
        a = True
        print(a)
    else:
        a = False
        print(a)

x = input("Are you Male or Female? please only input m or f:")    
xdgt(x)
print(a)

Result:

Traceback (most recent call last): File "/tmp/sessions/dd8fb527f68c80d1/main.py", line 10, in print(a) NameError: name 'a' is not defined

Its hard to comment without knowing how you have formatted your python code. — shuberman, May 19 '20 at 05:12
Don’t use `is` to compare strings, use `==`. In short, your function should be written as `return x == 'm'`. — deceze, May 19 '20 at 05:36

score 2 · Answer 1 · answered May 19 '20 at 05:14

2

Add a return a to your function

def xdgt(x):

  if x is "m":

    a = True

  else:

    a = False
  return a

a = xdgt(x)
print(a)

answered May 19 '20 at 05:14

Yi Hang Tay

166
8

Precisely to the point, thank you – Michael Vu May 19 '20 at 05:42

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered May 19 '20 at 05:18

It seems like you want the function to return the value. In which case you can change your code as follows:

def xdgt(x):
    if x is "m":
        a = True
    else:
        a = False
    return a

x = input("Are you Male or Female? please only input m or f:")

return_val= xdgt(x)
print(return_val)

Takeaway here:

Instead of printing the value inside the function you should return it and store it in a variable so that you can use it to perform functions you desire like printing the value in this case.

Yes this is exactly what I need. Thank you – Michael Vu May 19 '20 at 05:40 — Michael Vu, May 19 '20 at 05:40

score -2 · Accepted Answer · answered May 19 '20 at 05:15

-2

If you want to use local variable a outside of the function, use global.

def xdgt(x):
    global a
    if x == 'm':
        a = True
    else:
        a = False

x = input("Are you Male or Female? please only input m or f:")

xdgt(x)

print(a)

answered May 19 '20 at 05:15

Gilseung Ahn

2,598
1
4
11

How do I bring a value out of a function?

3 Answers3