Python: locals() function

Last update on May 28 2022 12:41:28 (UTC/GMT +8 hours)

locals()

The locals() function is used to get the local symbol table as a dictionary. Free variables are returned by locals() when it is called in function blocks, but not in class blocks.

Note: The contents of this dictionary should not be modified; changes may not affect the values of local and free variables used by the interpreter.

Version:

(Python 3.2.5)

Syntax:

locals()

Return value:

dictionary representing the current local symbol table

Example: Python locals()

print(locals())

Output:

{'__builtins__': <module 'builtins' (built-in)>, '__loader__': <_frozen_importlib_external.SourceFileLoader object at 0x7f778c2ac3c8>, '__spec__': None, '__name__': '__main__', '__file__': '/tmp/sessions/5fae3ce520bc4911/main.py', '__doc__': None, '__cached__': None, '__package__': None}

Example: Python locals() function with Dictionary

def localsExample():
    Example = True
    print(Example)
    locals()['Example'] = False;
    print(Example)

localsExample()

Output:

True
True

Python Code Editor:

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Find current directory and file's directory:

To get the full path to the directory a Python file is contained in, write this in that file:

import os 
dir_path = os.path.dirname(os.path.realpath(__file__))

(Note that the incantation above won't work if you've already used os.chdir() to change your current working directory, since the value of the __file__ constant is relative to the current working directory and is not changed by an os.chdir() call.)

To get the current working directory use

import os
cwd = os.getcwd()

Documentation references for the modules, constants and functions used above:

The os and os.path modules.
The __file__ constant
os.path.realpath(path) (returns "the canonical path of the specified filename, eliminating any symbolic links encountered in the path")
os.path.dirname(path) (returns "the directory name of pathname path")
os.getcwd() (returns "a string representing the current working directory")
os.chdir(path) ("change the current working directory to path")

Ref: https://bit.ly/3fy0R6m