Python

Python RSS

setting a string as a variable name

Thread Solved

•

Join Date: Feb 2008

Posts: 1

Reputation: jopeto is an unknown quantity at this point

Solved Threads: 0

jopeto

Offline

Newbie Poster

setting a string as a variable name

Feb 29th, 2008

I just started using python a couple of days ago, so I am a complete beginner. Basically what I am trying to do is the following. Imagine that I have a string variable such as:

food = 'bread'

I want to create another variable (integer or another type) so that its name is 'bread', in other words the new variable name should be the value of the string variable "food". How can I do such an assignment? My guess is that it should not take more than two or three lines. I read up and am thinking that I need to use a function called setattr, but am not able to figure out how to use it.

Thank you in advance.

•

Join Date: Oct 2006

Posts: 2,273

Reputation: sneekula has a spectacular aura about

Solved Threads: 175

sneekula

Offline

Nearly a Posting Maven

Re: setting a string as a variable name

Feb 29th, 2008

Probably the easiest way to do this is to use the local variable dictionary vars() to create new variables on the fly:

 Help with Code Tags 
 python Syntax (Toggle Plain Text) 
food = 'bread'
 
vars()[food] = 123
 
print bread  # --> 123
food = 'bread'

vars()[food] = 123

print bread  # --> 123

You can print out vars() to see what's going on.