function that modifies a string

[greenflame]

Jason wrote:
>
> You cannot do what you are trying to do directly.  Strings are
> immutable objects.  Once a string is created, that string cannot be
> modified.  When you operate on a string, you produce a different
> string.  Functions which operate on a string should return their value:
>
> >>> def thefunc(s):
> ...     return '||' + s + '>>'
> ...
> >>> s = 'Char'
> >>> s = thefunc(s)
> >>> s
> '||Char>>'
>
> There /are/ a few hacks which will do what you want.  However, if you
> really need it, then you probably need to rethink your program design.
> Remember, you can't change a string since a string is immutable!  You
> can change a variable to bind to another string.  In the following
> example, s gets rebound to the new string while t keeps the original
> string value:
>
> >>> def changeString(varName):
> ...     globalDict = globals()
> ...     globalDict[varName] = '||' + globalDict[varName] + '>>'
> ...     return
> ...
> >>> s = 'Char'
> >>> t = s
> >>> changeString('s')
> >>> s
> '||Char>>'
> >>> t
> 'Char'
>
> Further note that this only affects variables in the global scope.  I
> hope this helps!
>
>     --Jason

Ok so let me see if I understand. The globalDict is just a dictionary
containing the name of the global variables as the keys and their
values as the values of the dictionary? Thus the inputed variable is
treated like a global variable?