Noobie python shell question

[Tim Chase]

tuxsun wrote:
> I've been working in the shell on and off all day, and need to see if
> a function I defined earlier is defined in the current shell I'm
> working in.
> 
> Is there a shell command to get of list of functions I've defined?

yesish...you can use dir() from the prompt to see the bound names 
in a given scope:

  >>>  dir()
  ['__builtins__', '__doc__', '__name__']
  >>> def hello(who='world'):
  ...     print "Hello, %s" % who
  ...
  >>> dir()
  ['__builtins__', '__doc__', '__name__', 'hello']
  >>> x = 42
  >>> dir()
  ['__builtins__', '__doc__', '__name__', 'hello', 'x']

however AFAIK, there's no readily accessible way to get the 
*definition* of that function back (other than scrolling back 
through your buffer or readline history) and it takes a bit more 
work to determine whether it's a callable function, or some other 
data-type.

  >>> callable(x)
  False
  >>> callable(hello)
  True

(as an aside, is there a way to get a local/global variable from 
a string like one can fetch a variable from a class/object with 
getattr()?  Something like getattr(magic_namespace_here, "hello") 
used in the above context?  I know it can be done with eval(), 
but that's generally considered unsafe unless you vet your input 
thoroughly)

-tkc