How to get the returned value of a function, called by exec() in python?

Question

I have a function called 'somefunc' :

def somefunc():
    return "ok"

And i wanted to run it with exec() like :

exec("somefunc()")

That works great. But the problem is, i can't get the returned value "ok". I've tried to do this:

a = exec("somefunc()")
print (a)

But i've got nothing. how can i get the returned value?

exec("a = somefunc()") https://stackoverflow.com/questions/23917776/how-do-i-get-the-return-value-when-using-python-exec-on-the-code-object-of-a-fun — slick_reaper, Jun 07 '20 at 10:00
You could create a dictionary of functions keyed by their names if you need to dynamically invoke functions by a string variable. `exec` solutions are seldom optimal. — John Coleman, Jun 07 '20 at 10:11

score 3 · Accepted Answer · answered Jun 07 '20 at 10:09

If you want to use exactly the exec() function, the answer by @Leo Arad is okay.

But I think you misunderstood exec() and eval() functions. If so, then:

a = exec("somefunc()")
print (a)

It'd work when you'd use eval():

a = eval("somefunc()")
print(a)

score 2 · Answer 2 · answered Jun 07 '20 at 10:00

You need to store the function output straight to a

def somefunc():
    return "ok"

exec("a = somefunc()")
print(a)

Output

ok

exec() is executing the statement that you provide it as text so in this case, the exec will store the return value the a variable.

2 Answers2