How to get the formal args of a function object?

[Scott David Daniels]

kj wrote:
> Suppose that f is an object whose type is 'function'.
> 
> Is there a way to find out f's list of formal arguments?
> 
> The reason for this is that I'm trying to write a decorator and
> I'd like the wrapper to be able to check the number of arguments
> passed....but I'm missing something like the hypothetical attribute
> FORMAL_ARGS above.

I can write a wrapper now:

     def tracer(function):
         def internal(*args, **kwargs):
             print('calling %s(%s)' % (function.__name__,
                     ', '.join([repr(arg) for arg in args] +
                               ['%s=%r' % ka for ka in sorted(kwargs)])))
             result = function(*args, **kwargs)
             print('=> %r' % result)
         return internal

and call like so:
     tracer(math.sin)(3.1415 / 6)

     calling sin(0.5235833333333334)
     => 0.49998662654663256

What would your missing something be for tracer(math.sin)?

--Scott David Daniels
Scott.Daniels at Acm.Org