How do I get the raw value of a variable?

Question

It's a little hard to explain what I want to do because I don't know much python programming terminology.

Basically I want to be able to do something like this this:

var = list("blah blah")
print(str(var))

And get this:

Output:

list("blah blah")

And not this:

Output:

['b', 'l', 'a', 'h', ' ', 'b', 'l', 'a', 'h']

Or do something like this:

a = str(4+(6*3)) + " Test"
print(str(a))

And get this:

Output:

str(4+(6*3)) + " Test"

And not this:

Output:

22 Test

There is probably a simple answer to this question I am just too much of a rookie to find out what it is — Zeeen, Sep 07 '20 at 18:43
It depends on what context you want to use this in. [This](https://stackoverflow.com/q/427453/3000206) may work in some cases if the code is wrapped in a function. Generally though, you'd need a macro that views the code before it's evaluated. — Carcigenicate, Sep 07 '20 at 18:47
It seems like you're basically in https://stackoverflow.com/q/2749796/3001761 territory. Python evaluates the expression and stores the *result* in `var`. What's the *context* - what problem are you trying to solve? — jonrsharpe, Sep 07 '20 at 18:48
@jonrsharpe Yeah like trying to get the original variable name, but instead trying to get the original variable value. — Zeeen, Sep 07 '20 at 18:49
Do you know at which line in the file the variable is being assigned? — shreyasm-dev, Sep 07 '20 at 18:54
Why not store everything in a string and evaluate it later, assuming you need it evaluated at all? — OneCricketeer, Sep 07 '20 at 19:30
I guess I could store it in a string but it would be preferable to just get the raw value of something — Zeeen, Sep 08 '20 at 01:03

shreyasm-dev · Accepted Answer · 2020-09-07T19:18:26.557

You can do it like so:

import re # 0
# 1
l = list('list') # 2

filecontent = open(__file__, "r").read()

varline = re.sub('\s*#.*$', '', re.split('\s*=\s*', filecontent.split('\n')[2])[1])
print(varline)

Explanation:

import re # Line 0 - import the regex module

l = list('list') # Line 2 - set the variable l

filecontent = open(__file__, "r").read() - read the current file's content

varline = re.sub('\s*#.*$', '', re.split('\s*=\s*', filecontent.split('\n')[2])[1]) - Get the 3rd line's content (where the variable is being declared) and filter it to only include the variable's content, and not even comments

print(varline) - print the content

I guess this works, I wish there was some library that made this less complex or something but this will have to do. Thank you. — Zeeen, Sep 08 '20 at 01:04

How do I get the raw value of a variable?

1 Answers1