does this exception mean something else?

[Alex Hall]

Changing the order so the function is first did it. Thanks. That is
what I get for working with Java all semester...

On 5/6/10, MRAB <python at mrabarnett.plus.com> wrote:
> Alex Hall wrote:
>> Hi all,
>> I have a file, pasted below for what good it will do, which makes a
>> couple conditional calls to a function called writeDefaults. However,
>> when I manually trigger a condition that causes the function to be
>> called, Python gives me a name error and says that my writeDefaults
>> does not exist. I am sure that it does, as I copied the text from the
>> call and pasted it into the text search of my editor, and it found the
>> line that defines the function, so the text in the call is obviously
>> correct. Sometimes, especially in a language like Javascript, one
>> error can mean something else or point to a problem other than the one
>> it claims to be about, so I wondered if the same thing could be
>> happening here? The error is on line 55, just after the if statement
>> that uses os.path.exists to ensure my ini file is really there. TIA!
>> BTW, speech is just a file that will output a given message through an
>> active screen reader; changing all calls to print will work just as
>> well.
>>
> You need to remember that 'def' and 'class' are _statements_, not
> declarations; they have the side-effect of adding a name to the current
> namespace.
>
> A Python script is run from the first line. If/when Python reaches line
> 55 the 'def' statement that defines the function 'writeDefaults' hasn't
> been run yet.
>
> BTW, you should avoid 'bare excepts' (an except clause that doesn't say
> which exception to catch) because they catch _every_ exception, even
> KeyboardInterrupt and NameError.
>
> You might also want to look at PEP 8:
>
>      http://www.python.org/dev/peps/pep-0008/
>
> which is the Style Guide for Python code.
> --
> http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
>


-- 
Have a great day,
Alex (msg sent from GMail website)
mehgcap at gmail.com; http://www.facebook.com/mehgcap