Thank you for your help. I will post the problem in more detail if I find that I cannot avoid using exec.
Shankar ----- Original Message ----- From: Michael Chermside <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Date: Friday, June 10, 2005 3:49 pm Subject: RE: a question from a newcomer to this language > Shankar writes: > > Is there any way to convert a string into an instruction that > will be > > executed? > > Short answer: > Yes. The exec statement does what you want: > > >>> x = 3 > >>> y = 4 > >>> exec "z = x * y" > >>> print z > 12 > > HOWEVER... the long answer is that you almost certainly do NOT want > to use exec. Nearly everything that can be done with exec can be > done without it and the solution that does NOT use exec is faster, > more understandable, and has better security features. Often the > solution that does not use exec will be simpleer and more elegant > as well. > > If you look at a problem and are nearly certain that it needs to be > solved using exec, try posting it here... the people on this newsgroup > are very good at solving challenges like that. But try it yourself > first... you may learn something. > > -- Michael Chermside > > -- > http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list > -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
