Question

Given a function within a function, how do I call the inner function from an external function?

ex.

def a():
    print 'a'
    def b():
        print 'b'
        def c():
            print 'c'

def d():
    # how would I now call a, b and c from here?
    def e():
        # how would I call a, b and c from here as well?

Yes I know it’s horrible code structure and should not be done – but how do you do it?

Edit: Any way to do this using decorators?

Answer 1

You cannot. b and c are local variables inside a and do not exist except while a is executing.

(Since these are constants, you can technically access them via a.__code__.co_consts, but this is not a real solution even if you’re okay with horrible code structure. You would have to execute the function with exec and you can’t pass arguments to it.)