Is there a way in python to execute all functions in a file without explicitly calling them?

Question

Is there a library or a python magic that allows me to execute all functions in a file without explicitly calling them. Something very similar to what pytest is doing - running all functions that start with 'test_...' without ever registering them anywhere.

For example assume I have a file a.py:

def f1():
    print "f1"

def f2():
    print "f2"

and assume I have file - my main file - main.py:

if __name__ == '__main__':
    some_magic()

so when I call:

python main.py

The output would be:

f1
f2

Seems like you might be interested in metaprogramming. I've never delved into it so I'd be the last person to tell you how to approach it. — Makoto
– Makoto, Commented Feb 21, 2015 at 8:14
You can use introspection to find all the functions in the globals and locals dictionary, possibly by going back through the call stack to find the caller's globals/locals. Look at the inspect module in the standard library. — cdarke
– cdarke, Commented Feb 21, 2015 at 8:25

Mark Tolonen · Accepted Answer · 2015-02-21 08:27:04Z

21

Here's a way:

def some_magic():
    import a
    for i in dir(a):
        item = getattr(a,i)
        if callable(item):
            item()

if __name__ == '__main__':
    some_magic()

dir(a) retrieves all the attributes of module a. If the attribute is a callable object, call it. This will call everything callable, so you may want to qualify it with and i.startswith('f').

answered Feb 21, 2015 at 8:27

Mark Tolonen

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apricity · Accepted Answer · 2015-02-21 10:36:47Z

1

Here's another way:

#!/usr/local/bin/python3
import inspect
import sys


def f1():
    print("f1")


def f2():
    print("f2")


def some_magic(mod):
    all_functions = inspect.getmembers(mod, inspect.isfunction)
    for key, value in all_functions:
        if str(inspect.signature(value)) == "()":
            value()

if __name__ == '__main__':
    some_magic(sys.modules[__name__])

It will only call functions that don't have any parameters by using inspect.signature(function).

answered Feb 21, 2015 at 10:36

apricity

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Zorglub29 · Accepted Answer · 2018-05-22 14:30:58Z

0

Have you tried callifile?

pip install callifile

and then, in your file:

from callifile.callifile import callifile as callifile
import sys

callifile(module=sys.modules[__name__], verbose=True)

Self-sufficient example:

In a file some_callify.py:

from callifile.callifile import callifile as callifile
import sys

def f_1():
    print "bla"

callifile(module=sys.modules[__name__], verbose=True)

Calling in terminal:

python some_callify.py

Gives me the terminal output:

Apply call_all_function_in_this_file on <module '__main__' from 'some_callify.py'>
See if should call callifile
See if should call f_1
Call f_1
bla

answered May 22, 2018 at 14:30

Zorglub29

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