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On 6/24/2013 2:03 PM, Terry Reedy wrote:
On 6/24/2013 12:23 PM, Andrew McNabb wrote:
Another use case where this would come in handy is with string formatting:
print('{spam} and {eggs}'.format(spam=spam, eggs=eggs))
I've seen people use an awful workaround for this:
print('{spam} and {eggs}'.format(locals()))
That should be print('{spam} and {eggs}'.format(**locals()))
or: print('{spam} and {eggs}'.format_map(locals())) which solves the inefficiency problem mentioned below.
Why do you see an intended usage as an 'awful workaround'?
If it is the inefficiency of unpacking and repacking a dict, that could be fixed. One possibility is for ** to just pass the mapping when the function only reads it, as is the case with .format (but how to know?). A direct solution for .format is to add a keyword-only mapping parameter:
print('{spam} and {eggs}'.format(map=locals()))
Today that would be: print('{map.spam} and {map.eggs}'.format(map=locals())) -- Eric.