func_code vs. string problem

[Filip Dreger]

I came up with a simpler description of the problem.
It's all in the simple source:

# we define 'print b' in three different ways: as a string,
# a bytecode and a function
string="print b"
code=compile(string,'string','exec')
def function():
    print b

# now we make functions that test if it is possible to execute 'print 
b'
# in some local scope

def execstring():
    b=5
    exec string

def execfunction():
    b=5
    exec function.func_code

def execcode():
    b=5
    exec code

execstring()   # works
execcode()     # works
execfunction() # throws name error exception...

My problem is that both 'string' and 'code' are references to code 
objects, so they _should_ behave in the same way... I am close to 
giving up...
I am trying to find a way of executing functions without creating a 
nested scope, so they can share local and global namespace (even if 
they are declared in some other module). I _could_ turn them into 
strings and pass around as compiled objects, butthis would be very 
ugly. I am sure Python has some better, cleaner way to do this.

regards,
Filip Dreger