SyntaxError: unqualified exec is not allowed in ... ?

[j vickroy]

OK-- never fails -- puzzle over something for a long period of time -- post
message to group -- see cause of error soon after posting.

There is a lambda expression further down the line in the function where the
syntax error is raised.

Sorry for the needless posting.

"j vickroy" <jim.vickroy at noaa.gov> wrote in message
news:bm1doh$if7$1 at boulder.noaa.gov...
> Could someone help me understand the following Python 2.3 error message:
>
> SyntaxError: unqualified exec is not allowed in function 'load' it
contains
> a nested function with free variables
>
> in the following context:
>
> class Spam(object): pass
>
> class Spammer(object):
>     ...
>     def load(self):
>         ...
>         exec 'o = %s()' % Spam.__name__
>         ...
>
>
> Thanks.
>
> P.S.
> I would provide a simple script demonstrating the problem, but, so far, I
> have not been able to reproduce the error in a simple context.
>
>