Python global variable can't be accessed inside function

Question

I have encountered a problem I don't seem to understand.

video_path = "C:/Users/schwitzky/Downloads/Saul-goodman-3d nice res.mp4"

def open_customize_window():

    customize_layout = [[sg.Text('Search for a custom alarm video: '), sg.Button('Search', key='CUSTOM_VIDEO_BUTTON')],
                        [sg.Text('Custom Video Alarm: '), sg.Text(video_path, key='CUSTOM_VIDEO_PATH')]]
    
    customize_window = sg.Window('Customize Alarm', customize_layout, modal=True)

    while True:
        event, values = customize_window.read()
        if event == 'CUSTOM_VIDEO_BUTTON':
            video_path = filedialog.askopenfile()
            video_path = video_path.name
            customize_window['CUSTOM_VIDEO_PATH'].update(video_path)

As you can see in the above code, I have a global var video_path defined outside the function. In my function, which opens a new window, the user can select a new .mp4 file to choose for his custom alarm. When that happens, I want to set the value of video_path to that of the selected file.

But whenever I try to do that, Python doesn't seem to recognize my global var and instead thinks that the video_path I reference inside sg.Text(video_path, key='CUSTOM_VIDEO_PATH') is a new local variable.

How can I access the value of my global var inside the text element and set the value of my global var to the one chosen from the file dialog?

As a programmer you should try very, *very*, **very** hard not to use global variables. — quamrana, Jun 18 '23 at 11:17
@quamrana Do you have any suggestions what I should do instead of working with global variables? — schwitzky, Jun 18 '23 at 13:27

Python global variable can't be accessed inside function

0 Answers0