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Prametarising python function methods [duplicate]

How do I call a function, using a string with the function's name? For example:
import foo
func_name = "bar"
call(foo, func_name) # calls foo.bar()

Given a module foo with method bar:
import foo
bar = getattr(foo, 'bar')
result = bar()
getattr can similarly be used on class instance bound methods, module-level methods, class methods... the list goes on.

Using locals(), which returns a dictionary with the current local symbol table:
locals()["myfunction"]()
Using globals(), which returns a dictionary with the global symbol table:
globals()["myfunction"]()

Based on Patrick's solution, to get the module dynamically as well, import it using:
module = __import__('foo')
func = getattr(module, 'bar')
func()

Just a simple contribution. If the class that we need to instance is in the same file, we can use something like this:
# Get class from globals and create an instance
m = globals()['our_class']()
# Get the function (from the instance) that we need to call
func = getattr(m, 'function_name')
# Call it
func()
For example:
class A:
def __init__(self):
pass
def sampleFunc(self, arg):
print('you called sampleFunc({})'.format(arg))
m = globals()['A']()
func = getattr(m, 'sampleFunc')
func('sample arg')
# Sample, all on one line
getattr(globals()['A'](), 'sampleFunc')('sample arg')
And, if not a class:
def sampleFunc(arg):
print('you called sampleFunc({})'.format(arg))
globals()['sampleFunc']('sample arg')

Given a string, with a complete python path to a function, this is how I went about getting the result of said function:
import importlib
function_string = 'mypackage.mymodule.myfunc'
mod_name, func_name = function_string.rsplit('.',1)
mod = importlib.import_module(mod_name)
func = getattr(mod, func_name)
result = func()

The best answer according to the Python programming FAQ would be:
functions = {'myfoo': foo.bar}
mystring = 'myfoo'
if mystring in functions:
functions[mystring]()
The primary advantage of this technique is that the strings do not need to match the names of the functions. This is also the primary technique used to emulate a case construct

The answer (I hope) no one ever wanted
Eval like behavior
getattr(locals().get("foo") or globals().get("foo"), "bar")()
Why not add auto-importing
getattr(
locals().get("foo") or
globals().get("foo") or
__import__("foo"),
"bar")()
In case we have extra dictionaries we want to check
getattr(next((x for x in (f("foo") for f in
[locals().get, globals().get,
self.__dict__.get, __import__])
if x)),
"bar")()
We need to go deeper
getattr(next((x for x in (f("foo") for f in
([locals().get, globals().get, self.__dict__.get] +
[d.get for d in (list(dd.values()) for dd in
[locals(),globals(),self.__dict__]
if isinstance(dd,dict))
if isinstance(d,dict)] +
[__import__]))
if x)),
"bar")()

For what it's worth, if you needed to pass the function (or class) name and app name as a string, then you could do this:
myFnName = "MyFn"
myAppName = "MyApp"
app = sys.modules[myAppName]
fn = getattr(app,myFnName)

Try this. While this still uses eval, it only uses it to summon the function from the current context. Then, you have the real function to use as you wish.
The main benefit for me from this is that you will get any eval-related errors at the point of summoning the function. Then you will get only the function-related errors when you call.
def say_hello(name):
print 'Hello {}!'.format(name)
# get the function by name
method_name = 'say_hello'
method = eval(method_name)
# call it like a regular function later
args = ['friend']
kwargs = {}
method(*args, **kwargs)

As this question How to dynamically call methods within a class using method-name assignment to a variable [duplicate] marked as a duplicate as this one, I am posting a related answer here:
The scenario is, a method in a class want to call another method on the same class dynamically, I have added some details to original example which offers some wider scenario and clarity:
class MyClass:
def __init__(self, i):
self.i = i
def get(self):
func = getattr(MyClass, 'function{}'.format(self.i))
func(self, 12) # This one will work
# self.func(12) # But this does NOT work.
def function1(self, p1):
print('function1: {}'.format(p1))
# do other stuff
def function2(self, p1):
print('function2: {}'.format(p1))
# do other stuff
if __name__ == "__main__":
class1 = MyClass(1)
class1.get()
class2 = MyClass(2)
class2.get()
Output (Python 3.7.x)
function1: 12
function2: 12

none of what was suggested helped me. I did discover this though.
<object>.__getattribute__(<string name>)(<params>)
I am using python 2.66
Hope this helps

Although getattr() is elegant (and about 7x faster) method, you can get return value from the function (local, class method, module) with eval as elegant as x = eval('foo.bar')(). And when you implement some error handling then quite securely (the same principle can be used for getattr). Example with module import and class:
# import module, call module function, pass parameters and print retured value with eval():
import random
bar = 'random.randint'
randint = eval(bar)(0,100)
print(randint) # will print random int from <0;100)
# also class method returning (or not) value(s) can be used with eval:
class Say:
def say(something='nothing'):
return something
bar = 'Say.say'
print(eval(bar)('nice to meet you too')) # will print 'nice to meet you'
When module or class does not exist (typo or anything better) then NameError is raised. When function does not exist, then AttributeError is raised. This can be used to handle errors:
# try/except block can be used to catch both errors
try:
eval('Say.talk')() # raises AttributeError because function does not exist
eval('Says.say')() # raises NameError because the class does not exist
# or the same with getattr:
getattr(Say, 'talk')() # raises AttributeError
getattr(Says, 'say')() # raises NameError
except AttributeError:
# do domething or just...
print('Function does not exist')
except NameError:
# do domething or just...
print('Module does not exist')

In python3, you can use the __getattribute__ method. See following example with a list method name string:
func_name = 'reverse'
l = [1, 2, 3, 4]
print(l)
>> [1, 2, 3, 4]
l.__getattribute__(func_name)()
print(l)
>> [4, 3, 2, 1]

Nobody mentioned operator.attrgetter yet:
>>> from operator import attrgetter
>>> l = [1, 2, 3]
>>> attrgetter('reverse')(l)()
>>> l
[3, 2, 1]
>>>

getattr calls method by name from an object.
But this object should be parent of calling class.
The parent class can be got by super(self.__class__, self)
class Base:
def call_base(func):
"""This does not work"""
def new_func(self, *args, **kwargs):
name = func.__name__
getattr(super(self.__class__, self), name)(*args, **kwargs)
return new_func
def f(self, *args):
print(f"BASE method invoked.")
def g(self, *args):
print(f"BASE method invoked.")
class Inherit(Base):
#Base.call_base
def f(self, *args):
"""function body will be ignored by the decorator."""
pass
#Base.call_base
def g(self, *args):
"""function body will be ignored by the decorator."""
pass
Inherit().f() # The goal is to print "BASE method invoked."

i'm facing the similar problem before, which is to convert a string to a function. but i can't use eval() or ast.literal_eval(), because i don't want to execute this code immediately.
e.g. i have a string "foo.bar", and i want to assign it to x as a function name instead of a string, which means i can call the function by x() ON DEMAND.
here's my code:
str_to_convert = "foo.bar"
exec(f"x = {str_to_convert}")
x()
as for your question, you only need to add your module name foo and . before {} as follows:
str_to_convert = "bar"
exec(f"x = foo.{str_to_convert}")
x()
WARNING!!! either eval() or exec() is a dangerous method, you should confirm the safety.
WARNING!!! either eval() or exec() is a dangerous method, you should confirm the safety.
WARNING!!! either eval() or exec() is a dangerous method, you should confirm the safety.

You means get the pointer to an inner function from a module
import foo
method = foo.bar
executed = method(parameter)
This is not a better pythonic way indeed is possible for punctual cases

This is a simple answer, this will allow you to clear the screen for example. There are two examples below, with eval and exec, that will print 0 at the top after cleaning (if you're using Windows, change clear to cls, Linux and Mac users leave as is for example) or just execute it, respectively.
eval("os.system(\"clear\")")
exec("os.system(\"clear\")")

python API using function defined as 'lambda' conflicting with intrinsic python function [duplicate]

How do I call a function, using a string with the function's name? For example:
import foo
func_name = "bar"
call(foo, func_name) # calls foo.bar()

Given a module foo with method bar:
import foo
bar = getattr(foo, 'bar')
result = bar()
getattr can similarly be used on class instance bound methods, module-level methods, class methods... the list goes on.

Using locals(), which returns a dictionary with the current local symbol table:
locals()["myfunction"]()
Using globals(), which returns a dictionary with the global symbol table:
globals()["myfunction"]()

Based on Patrick's solution, to get the module dynamically as well, import it using:
module = __import__('foo')
func = getattr(module, 'bar')
func()

Just a simple contribution. If the class that we need to instance is in the same file, we can use something like this:
# Get class from globals and create an instance
m = globals()['our_class']()
# Get the function (from the instance) that we need to call
func = getattr(m, 'function_name')
# Call it
func()
For example:
class A:
def __init__(self):
pass
def sampleFunc(self, arg):
print('you called sampleFunc({})'.format(arg))
m = globals()['A']()
func = getattr(m, 'sampleFunc')
func('sample arg')
# Sample, all on one line
getattr(globals()['A'](), 'sampleFunc')('sample arg')
And, if not a class:
def sampleFunc(arg):
print('you called sampleFunc({})'.format(arg))
globals()['sampleFunc']('sample arg')

Given a string, with a complete python path to a function, this is how I went about getting the result of said function:
import importlib
function_string = 'mypackage.mymodule.myfunc'
mod_name, func_name = function_string.rsplit('.',1)
mod = importlib.import_module(mod_name)
func = getattr(mod, func_name)
result = func()

The best answer according to the Python programming FAQ would be:
functions = {'myfoo': foo.bar}
mystring = 'myfoo'
if mystring in functions:
functions[mystring]()
The primary advantage of this technique is that the strings do not need to match the names of the functions. This is also the primary technique used to emulate a case construct

The answer (I hope) no one ever wanted
Eval like behavior
getattr(locals().get("foo") or globals().get("foo"), "bar")()
Why not add auto-importing
getattr(
locals().get("foo") or
globals().get("foo") or
__import__("foo"),
"bar")()
In case we have extra dictionaries we want to check
getattr(next((x for x in (f("foo") for f in
[locals().get, globals().get,
self.__dict__.get, __import__])
if x)),
"bar")()
We need to go deeper
getattr(next((x for x in (f("foo") for f in
([locals().get, globals().get, self.__dict__.get] +
[d.get for d in (list(dd.values()) for dd in
[locals(),globals(),self.__dict__]
if isinstance(dd,dict))
if isinstance(d,dict)] +
[__import__]))
if x)),
"bar")()

For what it's worth, if you needed to pass the function (or class) name and app name as a string, then you could do this:
myFnName = "MyFn"
myAppName = "MyApp"
app = sys.modules[myAppName]
fn = getattr(app,myFnName)

Try this. While this still uses eval, it only uses it to summon the function from the current context. Then, you have the real function to use as you wish.
The main benefit for me from this is that you will get any eval-related errors at the point of summoning the function. Then you will get only the function-related errors when you call.
def say_hello(name):
print 'Hello {}!'.format(name)
# get the function by name
method_name = 'say_hello'
method = eval(method_name)
# call it like a regular function later
args = ['friend']
kwargs = {}
method(*args, **kwargs)

As this question How to dynamically call methods within a class using method-name assignment to a variable [duplicate] marked as a duplicate as this one, I am posting a related answer here:
The scenario is, a method in a class want to call another method on the same class dynamically, I have added some details to original example which offers some wider scenario and clarity:
class MyClass:
def __init__(self, i):
self.i = i
def get(self):
func = getattr(MyClass, 'function{}'.format(self.i))
func(self, 12) # This one will work
# self.func(12) # But this does NOT work.
def function1(self, p1):
print('function1: {}'.format(p1))
# do other stuff
def function2(self, p1):
print('function2: {}'.format(p1))
# do other stuff
if __name__ == "__main__":
class1 = MyClass(1)
class1.get()
class2 = MyClass(2)
class2.get()
Output (Python 3.7.x)
function1: 12
function2: 12

none of what was suggested helped me. I did discover this though.
<object>.__getattribute__(<string name>)(<params>)
I am using python 2.66
Hope this helps

Although getattr() is elegant (and about 7x faster) method, you can get return value from the function (local, class method, module) with eval as elegant as x = eval('foo.bar')(). And when you implement some error handling then quite securely (the same principle can be used for getattr). Example with module import and class:
# import module, call module function, pass parameters and print retured value with eval():
import random
bar = 'random.randint'
randint = eval(bar)(0,100)
print(randint) # will print random int from <0;100)
# also class method returning (or not) value(s) can be used with eval:
class Say:
def say(something='nothing'):
return something
bar = 'Say.say'
print(eval(bar)('nice to meet you too')) # will print 'nice to meet you'
When module or class does not exist (typo or anything better) then NameError is raised. When function does not exist, then AttributeError is raised. This can be used to handle errors:
# try/except block can be used to catch both errors
try:
eval('Say.talk')() # raises AttributeError because function does not exist
eval('Says.say')() # raises NameError because the class does not exist
# or the same with getattr:
getattr(Say, 'talk')() # raises AttributeError
getattr(Says, 'say')() # raises NameError
except AttributeError:
# do domething or just...
print('Function does not exist')
except NameError:
# do domething or just...
print('Module does not exist')

In python3, you can use the __getattribute__ method. See following example with a list method name string:
func_name = 'reverse'
l = [1, 2, 3, 4]
print(l)
>> [1, 2, 3, 4]
l.__getattribute__(func_name)()
print(l)
>> [4, 3, 2, 1]

Nobody mentioned operator.attrgetter yet:
>>> from operator import attrgetter
>>> l = [1, 2, 3]
>>> attrgetter('reverse')(l)()
>>> l
[3, 2, 1]
>>>

getattr calls method by name from an object.
But this object should be parent of calling class.
The parent class can be got by super(self.__class__, self)
class Base:
def call_base(func):
"""This does not work"""
def new_func(self, *args, **kwargs):
name = func.__name__
getattr(super(self.__class__, self), name)(*args, **kwargs)
return new_func
def f(self, *args):
print(f"BASE method invoked.")
def g(self, *args):
print(f"BASE method invoked.")
class Inherit(Base):
#Base.call_base
def f(self, *args):
"""function body will be ignored by the decorator."""
pass
#Base.call_base
def g(self, *args):
"""function body will be ignored by the decorator."""
pass
Inherit().f() # The goal is to print "BASE method invoked."

i'm facing the similar problem before, which is to convert a string to a function. but i can't use eval() or ast.literal_eval(), because i don't want to execute this code immediately.
e.g. i have a string "foo.bar", and i want to assign it to x as a function name instead of a string, which means i can call the function by x() ON DEMAND.
here's my code:
str_to_convert = "foo.bar"
exec(f"x = {str_to_convert}")
x()
as for your question, you only need to add your module name foo and . before {} as follows:
str_to_convert = "bar"
exec(f"x = foo.{str_to_convert}")
x()
WARNING!!! either eval() or exec() is a dangerous method, you should confirm the safety.
WARNING!!! either eval() or exec() is a dangerous method, you should confirm the safety.
WARNING!!! either eval() or exec() is a dangerous method, you should confirm the safety.

You means get the pointer to an inner function from a module
import foo
method = foo.bar
executed = method(parameter)
This is not a better pythonic way indeed is possible for punctual cases

This is a simple answer, this will allow you to clear the screen for example. There are two examples below, with eval and exec, that will print 0 at the top after cleaning (if you're using Windows, change clear to cls, Linux and Mac users leave as is for example) or just execute it, respectively.
eval("os.system(\"clear\")")
exec("os.system(\"clear\")")

Using a String in Place of a Class to Access a Method, Function, or Attribute Inside of It? [duplicate]

How do I call a function, using a string with the function's name? For example:
import foo
func_name = "bar"
call(foo, func_name) # calls foo.bar()

Given a module foo with method bar:
import foo
bar = getattr(foo, 'bar')
result = bar()
getattr can similarly be used on class instance bound methods, module-level methods, class methods... the list goes on.

Using locals(), which returns a dictionary with the current local symbol table:
locals()["myfunction"]()
Using globals(), which returns a dictionary with the global symbol table:
globals()["myfunction"]()

Based on Patrick's solution, to get the module dynamically as well, import it using:
module = __import__('foo')
func = getattr(module, 'bar')
func()

Just a simple contribution. If the class that we need to instance is in the same file, we can use something like this:
# Get class from globals and create an instance
m = globals()['our_class']()
# Get the function (from the instance) that we need to call
func = getattr(m, 'function_name')
# Call it
func()
For example:
class A:
def __init__(self):
pass
def sampleFunc(self, arg):
print('you called sampleFunc({})'.format(arg))
m = globals()['A']()
func = getattr(m, 'sampleFunc')
func('sample arg')
# Sample, all on one line
getattr(globals()['A'](), 'sampleFunc')('sample arg')
And, if not a class:
def sampleFunc(arg):
print('you called sampleFunc({})'.format(arg))
globals()['sampleFunc']('sample arg')

Given a string, with a complete python path to a function, this is how I went about getting the result of said function:
import importlib
function_string = 'mypackage.mymodule.myfunc'
mod_name, func_name = function_string.rsplit('.',1)
mod = importlib.import_module(mod_name)
func = getattr(mod, func_name)
result = func()

The best answer according to the Python programming FAQ would be:
functions = {'myfoo': foo.bar}
mystring = 'myfoo'
if mystring in functions:
functions[mystring]()
The primary advantage of this technique is that the strings do not need to match the names of the functions. This is also the primary technique used to emulate a case construct

The answer (I hope) no one ever wanted
Eval like behavior
getattr(locals().get("foo") or globals().get("foo"), "bar")()
Why not add auto-importing
getattr(
locals().get("foo") or
globals().get("foo") or
__import__("foo"),
"bar")()
In case we have extra dictionaries we want to check
getattr(next((x for x in (f("foo") for f in
[locals().get, globals().get,
self.__dict__.get, __import__])
if x)),
"bar")()
We need to go deeper
getattr(next((x for x in (f("foo") for f in
([locals().get, globals().get, self.__dict__.get] +
[d.get for d in (list(dd.values()) for dd in
[locals(),globals(),self.__dict__]
if isinstance(dd,dict))
if isinstance(d,dict)] +
[__import__]))
if x)),
"bar")()

For what it's worth, if you needed to pass the function (or class) name and app name as a string, then you could do this:
myFnName = "MyFn"
myAppName = "MyApp"
app = sys.modules[myAppName]
fn = getattr(app,myFnName)

Try this. While this still uses eval, it only uses it to summon the function from the current context. Then, you have the real function to use as you wish.
The main benefit for me from this is that you will get any eval-related errors at the point of summoning the function. Then you will get only the function-related errors when you call.
def say_hello(name):
print 'Hello {}!'.format(name)
# get the function by name
method_name = 'say_hello'
method = eval(method_name)
# call it like a regular function later
args = ['friend']
kwargs = {}
method(*args, **kwargs)

As this question How to dynamically call methods within a class using method-name assignment to a variable [duplicate] marked as a duplicate as this one, I am posting a related answer here:
The scenario is, a method in a class want to call another method on the same class dynamically, I have added some details to original example which offers some wider scenario and clarity:
class MyClass:
def __init__(self, i):
self.i = i
def get(self):
func = getattr(MyClass, 'function{}'.format(self.i))
func(self, 12) # This one will work
# self.func(12) # But this does NOT work.
def function1(self, p1):
print('function1: {}'.format(p1))
# do other stuff
def function2(self, p1):
print('function2: {}'.format(p1))
# do other stuff
if __name__ == "__main__":
class1 = MyClass(1)
class1.get()
class2 = MyClass(2)
class2.get()
Output (Python 3.7.x)
function1: 12
function2: 12

none of what was suggested helped me. I did discover this though.
<object>.__getattribute__(<string name>)(<params>)
I am using python 2.66
Hope this helps

Although getattr() is elegant (and about 7x faster) method, you can get return value from the function (local, class method, module) with eval as elegant as x = eval('foo.bar')(). And when you implement some error handling then quite securely (the same principle can be used for getattr). Example with module import and class:
# import module, call module function, pass parameters and print retured value with eval():
import random
bar = 'random.randint'
randint = eval(bar)(0,100)
print(randint) # will print random int from <0;100)
# also class method returning (or not) value(s) can be used with eval:
class Say:
def say(something='nothing'):
return something
bar = 'Say.say'
print(eval(bar)('nice to meet you too')) # will print 'nice to meet you'
When module or class does not exist (typo or anything better) then NameError is raised. When function does not exist, then AttributeError is raised. This can be used to handle errors:
# try/except block can be used to catch both errors
try:
eval('Say.talk')() # raises AttributeError because function does not exist
eval('Says.say')() # raises NameError because the class does not exist
# or the same with getattr:
getattr(Say, 'talk')() # raises AttributeError
getattr(Says, 'say')() # raises NameError
except AttributeError:
# do domething or just...
print('Function does not exist')
except NameError:
# do domething or just...
print('Module does not exist')

In python3, you can use the __getattribute__ method. See following example with a list method name string:
func_name = 'reverse'
l = [1, 2, 3, 4]
print(l)
>> [1, 2, 3, 4]
l.__getattribute__(func_name)()
print(l)
>> [4, 3, 2, 1]

Nobody mentioned operator.attrgetter yet:
>>> from operator import attrgetter
>>> l = [1, 2, 3]
>>> attrgetter('reverse')(l)()
>>> l
[3, 2, 1]
>>>

getattr calls method by name from an object.
But this object should be parent of calling class.
The parent class can be got by super(self.__class__, self)
class Base:
def call_base(func):
"""This does not work"""
def new_func(self, *args, **kwargs):
name = func.__name__
getattr(super(self.__class__, self), name)(*args, **kwargs)
return new_func
def f(self, *args):
print(f"BASE method invoked.")
def g(self, *args):
print(f"BASE method invoked.")
class Inherit(Base):
#Base.call_base
def f(self, *args):
"""function body will be ignored by the decorator."""
pass
#Base.call_base
def g(self, *args):
"""function body will be ignored by the decorator."""
pass
Inherit().f() # The goal is to print "BASE method invoked."

i'm facing the similar problem before, which is to convert a string to a function. but i can't use eval() or ast.literal_eval(), because i don't want to execute this code immediately.
e.g. i have a string "foo.bar", and i want to assign it to x as a function name instead of a string, which means i can call the function by x() ON DEMAND.
here's my code:
str_to_convert = "foo.bar"
exec(f"x = {str_to_convert}")
x()
as for your question, you only need to add your module name foo and . before {} as follows:
str_to_convert = "bar"
exec(f"x = foo.{str_to_convert}")
x()
WARNING!!! either eval() or exec() is a dangerous method, you should confirm the safety.
WARNING!!! either eval() or exec() is a dangerous method, you should confirm the safety.
WARNING!!! either eval() or exec() is a dangerous method, you should confirm the safety.

You means get the pointer to an inner function from a module
import foo
method = foo.bar
executed = method(parameter)
This is not a better pythonic way indeed is possible for punctual cases

This is a simple answer, this will allow you to clear the screen for example. There are two examples below, with eval and exec, that will print 0 at the top after cleaning (if you're using Windows, change clear to cls, Linux and Mac users leave as is for example) or just execute it, respectively.
eval("os.system(\"clear\")")
exec("os.system(\"clear\")")

How can I call a function inside this function with parameters, if I don't have both name and args/kwargs? [duplicate]

I can access a python function's attribute inside of function itself by below code:
def aa():
print aa.__name__
print aa.__hash__
# other simliar
However, if above aa() function is a template for write other code, say bb(), I have to write:
def bb():
print bb.__name__
print bb.__hash__
# other simliar
Is there a "pointer" similar to the self argument in a class method so I could write code like this?
def whatever():
print self.__name__
print self.__hash__
# other simliar
I searched and found someone said to use the class to solve this problem, but that may be a trouble to redefine all the existing functions. Any suggestions?

There is no generic way for a function to refer to itself. Consider using a decorator instead. If all you want as you indicated was to print information about the function that can be done easily with a decorator:
from functools import wraps
def showinfo(f):
#wraps(f)
def wrapper(*args, **kwds):
print(f.__name__, f.__hash__)
return f(*args, **kwds)
return wrapper
#showinfo
def aa():
pass
If you really do need to reference the function, then just add it to the function arguments:
def withself(f):
#wraps(f)
def wrapper(*args, **kwds):
return f(f, *args, **kwds)
return wrapper
#withself
def aa(self):
print(self.__name__)
# etc.
Edit to add alternate decorator:
You can also write a simpler (and probably faster) decorator that will make the wrapped function work correctly with Python's introspection:
def bind(f):
"""Decorate function `f` to pass a reference to the function
as the first argument"""
return f.__get__(f, type(f))
#bind
def foo(self, x):
"This is a bound function!"
print(self, x)
>>> foo(42)
<function foo at 0x02A46030> 42
>>> help(foo)
Help on method foo in module __main__:
foo(self, x) method of builtins.function instance
This is a bound function!
This leverages Python's descriptor protocol: functions have a __get__ method that is used to create bound methods. The decorator simply uses the existing method to make the function a bound method of itself. It will only work for standalone functions, if you wanted a method to be able to reference itself you would have to do something more like the original solution.

http://docs.python.org/library/inspect.html looks promising:
import inspect
def foo():
felf = globals()[inspect.getframeinfo(inspect.currentframe()).function]
print felf.__name__, felf.__doc__
you can also use the sys module to get the name of the current function:
import sys
def bar():
felf = globals()[sys._getframe().f_code.co_name]
print felf.__name__, felf.__doc__

You can at least say self = bb in the first line, and then you only need to change that line when you change the function name, instead of every other reference.
My code editor highlights the variable self the same way it does for classes, too.

How about a quick hack to make your own "self" name, like this:
>>> def f():
... self = f
... print "My name is ", self.__name__, "and I am", self.__hash__
...
>>> f()
My name is f and I am <method-wrapper '__hash__' of function object at 0x00B50F30>
>>> x = f
>>> x()
My name is f and I am <method-wrapper '__hash__' of function object at 0x00B50F30>
>>>

Calling a function of a module by using its name (a string)

How do I call a function, using a string with the function's name? For example:
import foo
func_name = "bar"
call(foo, func_name) # calls foo.bar()

Given a module foo with method bar:
import foo
bar = getattr(foo, 'bar')
result = bar()
getattr can similarly be used on class instance bound methods, module-level methods, class methods... the list goes on.

Using locals(), which returns a dictionary with the current local symbol table:
locals()["myfunction"]()
Using globals(), which returns a dictionary with the global symbol table:
globals()["myfunction"]()

Based on Patrick's solution, to get the module dynamically as well, import it using:
module = __import__('foo')
func = getattr(module, 'bar')
func()

Just a simple contribution. If the class that we need to instance is in the same file, we can use something like this:
# Get class from globals and create an instance
m = globals()['our_class']()
# Get the function (from the instance) that we need to call
func = getattr(m, 'function_name')
# Call it
func()
For example:
class A:
def __init__(self):
pass
def sampleFunc(self, arg):
print('you called sampleFunc({})'.format(arg))
m = globals()['A']()
func = getattr(m, 'sampleFunc')
func('sample arg')
# Sample, all on one line
getattr(globals()['A'](), 'sampleFunc')('sample arg')
And, if not a class:
def sampleFunc(arg):
print('you called sampleFunc({})'.format(arg))
globals()['sampleFunc']('sample arg')

Given a string, with a complete python path to a function, this is how I went about getting the result of said function:
import importlib
function_string = 'mypackage.mymodule.myfunc'
mod_name, func_name = function_string.rsplit('.',1)
mod = importlib.import_module(mod_name)
func = getattr(mod, func_name)
result = func()

The best answer according to the Python programming FAQ would be:
functions = {'myfoo': foo.bar}
mystring = 'myfoo'
if mystring in functions:
functions[mystring]()
The primary advantage of this technique is that the strings do not need to match the names of the functions. This is also the primary technique used to emulate a case construct

The answer (I hope) no one ever wanted
Eval like behavior
getattr(locals().get("foo") or globals().get("foo"), "bar")()
Why not add auto-importing
getattr(
locals().get("foo") or
globals().get("foo") or
__import__("foo"),
"bar")()
In case we have extra dictionaries we want to check
getattr(next((x for x in (f("foo") for f in
[locals().get, globals().get,
self.__dict__.get, __import__])
if x)),
"bar")()
We need to go deeper
getattr(next((x for x in (f("foo") for f in
([locals().get, globals().get, self.__dict__.get] +
[d.get for d in (list(dd.values()) for dd in
[locals(),globals(),self.__dict__]
if isinstance(dd,dict))
if isinstance(d,dict)] +
[__import__]))
if x)),
"bar")()

For what it's worth, if you needed to pass the function (or class) name and app name as a string, then you could do this:
myFnName = "MyFn"
myAppName = "MyApp"
app = sys.modules[myAppName]
fn = getattr(app,myFnName)

Try this. While this still uses eval, it only uses it to summon the function from the current context. Then, you have the real function to use as you wish.
The main benefit for me from this is that you will get any eval-related errors at the point of summoning the function. Then you will get only the function-related errors when you call.
def say_hello(name):
print 'Hello {}!'.format(name)
# get the function by name
method_name = 'say_hello'
method = eval(method_name)
# call it like a regular function later
args = ['friend']
kwargs = {}
method(*args, **kwargs)

As this question How to dynamically call methods within a class using method-name assignment to a variable [duplicate] marked as a duplicate as this one, I am posting a related answer here:
The scenario is, a method in a class want to call another method on the same class dynamically, I have added some details to original example which offers some wider scenario and clarity:
class MyClass:
def __init__(self, i):
self.i = i
def get(self):
func = getattr(MyClass, 'function{}'.format(self.i))
func(self, 12) # This one will work
# self.func(12) # But this does NOT work.
def function1(self, p1):
print('function1: {}'.format(p1))
# do other stuff
def function2(self, p1):
print('function2: {}'.format(p1))
# do other stuff
if __name__ == "__main__":
class1 = MyClass(1)
class1.get()
class2 = MyClass(2)
class2.get()
Output (Python 3.7.x)
function1: 12
function2: 12

none of what was suggested helped me. I did discover this though.
<object>.__getattribute__(<string name>)(<params>)
I am using python 2.66
Hope this helps

Although getattr() is elegant (and about 7x faster) method, you can get return value from the function (local, class method, module) with eval as elegant as x = eval('foo.bar')(). And when you implement some error handling then quite securely (the same principle can be used for getattr). Example with module import and class:
# import module, call module function, pass parameters and print retured value with eval():
import random
bar = 'random.randint'
randint = eval(bar)(0,100)
print(randint) # will print random int from <0;100)
# also class method returning (or not) value(s) can be used with eval:
class Say:
def say(something='nothing'):
return something
bar = 'Say.say'
print(eval(bar)('nice to meet you too')) # will print 'nice to meet you'
When module or class does not exist (typo or anything better) then NameError is raised. When function does not exist, then AttributeError is raised. This can be used to handle errors:
# try/except block can be used to catch both errors
try:
eval('Say.talk')() # raises AttributeError because function does not exist
eval('Says.say')() # raises NameError because the class does not exist
# or the same with getattr:
getattr(Say, 'talk')() # raises AttributeError
getattr(Says, 'say')() # raises NameError
except AttributeError:
# do domething or just...
print('Function does not exist')
except NameError:
# do domething or just...
print('Module does not exist')

In python3, you can use the __getattribute__ method. See following example with a list method name string:
func_name = 'reverse'
l = [1, 2, 3, 4]
print(l)
>> [1, 2, 3, 4]
l.__getattribute__(func_name)()
print(l)
>> [4, 3, 2, 1]

Nobody mentioned operator.attrgetter yet:
>>> from operator import attrgetter
>>> l = [1, 2, 3]
>>> attrgetter('reverse')(l)()
>>> l
[3, 2, 1]
>>>

getattr calls method by name from an object.
But this object should be parent of calling class.
The parent class can be got by super(self.__class__, self)
class Base:
def call_base(func):
"""This does not work"""
def new_func(self, *args, **kwargs):
name = func.__name__
getattr(super(self.__class__, self), name)(*args, **kwargs)
return new_func
def f(self, *args):
print(f"BASE method invoked.")
def g(self, *args):
print(f"BASE method invoked.")
class Inherit(Base):
#Base.call_base
def f(self, *args):
"""function body will be ignored by the decorator."""
pass
#Base.call_base
def g(self, *args):
"""function body will be ignored by the decorator."""
pass
Inherit().f() # The goal is to print "BASE method invoked."

i'm facing the similar problem before, which is to convert a string to a function. but i can't use eval() or ast.literal_eval(), because i don't want to execute this code immediately.
e.g. i have a string "foo.bar", and i want to assign it to x as a function name instead of a string, which means i can call the function by x() ON DEMAND.
here's my code:
str_to_convert = "foo.bar"
exec(f"x = {str_to_convert}")
x()
as for your question, you only need to add your module name foo and . before {} as follows:
str_to_convert = "bar"
exec(f"x = foo.{str_to_convert}")
x()
WARNING!!! either eval() or exec() is a dangerous method, you should confirm the safety.
WARNING!!! either eval() or exec() is a dangerous method, you should confirm the safety.
WARNING!!! either eval() or exec() is a dangerous method, you should confirm the safety.

You means get the pointer to an inner function from a module
import foo
method = foo.bar
executed = method(parameter)
This is not a better pythonic way indeed is possible for punctual cases

This is a simple answer, this will allow you to clear the screen for example. There are two examples below, with eval and exec, that will print 0 at the top after cleaning (if you're using Windows, change clear to cls, Linux and Mac users leave as is for example) or just execute it, respectively.
eval("os.system(\"clear\")")
exec("os.system(\"clear\")")