[solved] Python inline scripts: Global functions

Comments

• Xophmeister

  July 2015 edited July 2015

  I think I've answered this myself. (Apologies for the asynchrony: I'm not able to experiment with OpenSesame while at work!)

  If you define functions or classes (or whatever) in the prepare section of an inline script item, they will still be in scope in subsequent inline script items (for both their prepare and run phases).

  This is pretty handy, but it does mean introducing global state, which is a bit of an engineering faux pas! One could namespace custom functions using the @staticmethod decorator to get around that:

  class myMethods(object):
    @staticmethod
    def doSomethingCool():
      # something cool
  

  Then use in subsequent inline scripts as myMethods.doSomethingCool() (without having to instantiate an object).

  Alternatively, you could create a module in your file pool and import it:

  import imp
  myModule = imp.load_source('myModule', exp.get_file('myModuleSource.py'))
  

  Hopefully this will be useful to others
• sebastiaan

  July 2015 edited 10:49AM

  Thanks for sharing!

  If you define functions or classes (or whatever) in the prepare section of an inline script item, they will still be in scope in subsequent inline script items (for both their prepare and run phases).

  Yes indeed. All inline_script items use the same Python workspace, or, in Python speak, they share a globals dict.

  • http://osdoc.cogsci.nl/python/about/#sharing-variables-and-modules-between-inline_scripts

  This is pretty handy, but it does mean introducing global state, which is a bit of an engineering faux pas! One could namespace custom functions using the @staticmethod decorator to get around that.

  That works, but it's purely aesthetics. But I agree that for complex experiments it can make sense to use this kind of conceptual (but non-functional) modularization.

  Alternatively, you could create a module in your file pool and import it.

  That might actually make a nice plug-in ... I can see how this would come in handy for many people.

  Cheers!
  Sebastiaan

  
  
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