Function return a dictionary

[Boris Mok]

Hi all,

I'm doing a function which needs return an arrary -- or more specially a
dictionary data type.
I have a sample like this

def AFC():
v["a"] = 1
return v

v = AFC()
print v["a"]

with error
NameError: global name 'v' is not defined

how do I go about it?

Thanks in advance.
Boris Mok

[Ben Finney]

Boris Mok <bo******@iwow.com.sgwrites:

I'm doing a function which needs return an arrary -- or more specially
a dictionary data type.

Yes. Python doesn't have an "array" type natively, and it's confusing
to refer to a dict as an array because there *are* "array"s in PyNum.

I have a sample like this

def AFC():
v["a"] = 1
return v

Your function never specifies where 'v' comes from. So, when you first
attempt to access an item from 'v' as an existing dict, you get a
NameError.

If you want to create 'v' inside the function, you'll need to do so
before attempting to use it.

def foo():
bar = {"spam": 1}
return bar

cheeseburger = foo()
print cheeseburger["spam"]

To get a thorough grounding in basic concepts like this, please work
through the Python tutorial <URL:http://docs.python.org/tut/>, from
beginning to end, running every example and experimenting until you
understand why it does what it does, before moving onto the next.

--
\ "[T]he question of whether machines can think [...] is about as |
`\ relevant as the question of whether submarines can swim." |
_o__) —Edsger W. Dijkstra |
Ben Finney

[Duncan Booth]

Boris Mok <bo******@iwow.com.sgwrote:

Hi all,

I'm doing a function which needs return an arrary -- or more specially a
dictionary data type.
I have a sample like this

def AFC():
v["a"] = 1
return v

v = AFC()
print v["a"]

with error
NameError: global name 'v' is not defined

how do I go about it?

At some point you have to initialise v to a dictionary, Python isn't going
to guess for you. e.g.

def AFC():
v = {}
v["a"] = 1
return v