[FIXED] Utility function that tries to delete a variable not working when put in a module

Issue

I have a long ipynb file. I want to periodically clean namespace from variables that I do not need further in a notebook.

I wrote an utility function for that:

def clean_namespace(variables_to_delete):
    deleted = []
    for variable in variables_to_delete:
        if variable in globals():
            del globals()[variable]
            deleted.append(variable)
    return deleted

The function works fine, it deletes all existing variables from the given list of variable names.

If I want to use it in multiple jupyter notebooks, it is logical to put its definition in a module, lets say `my_utils.py'.

However, if I try:

from my_utils import clean_namespace
clean_namespace(['var1','var2'])

It does not delete anything, even if 'var1' exist in the notebook in the moment of calling.

I understood from @Steven Scott's comment on this answer that globals() gives variables defined in the module where a function resists, but I find convenient to have such a function in my toolbox and not to have to define it again in each notebook.

Is there an elegant way to have this functionality? Should I pass some additional argument?

Solution

I would rather pass the scope in the function. Modify the code like this:

def clean_namespace(scope, variables_to_delete):
    deleted = []
    for variable in variables_to_delete:
        if variable in scope:
            del scope[variable]
            deleted.append(variable)
    return deleted

Then I will call it like this:

from my_utils import clean_namespace
clean_namespace(globals(), ['var1','var2'])

This will ensure that your variables are cleaned up from the scope of your module only.

Answered By - Mukul Bindal