Dynamic function calling

[Burkhard Kloss]

> I'm wondering if it is possible to call functions just by having access
> to their name in a string value. Something similar to:
>
>   def test():
>      print "test function"
>
>   f = "test"
>   apply(f, ())
>
> This does not work of course, because f does not have the right type.
> Is there a way to get a function object from the name (string)?

If you are in the same module as the function you can call through locals:

locals() ['test'] ()

or, breaking down the steps

mydict = locals()
myfunc = mydict ['test']
myfunc ()

If it's in another module, say, foo, you just say:

foo.__dict__ ['test'] ()

HTH,

    Burkhard