turning python output into string variable using exec()

Question

I want to turn python output into string variable using exec()

Something like this is the goal:

code = "print(3)"

string = exec(code) # string should then equal 3

Sorry if this was repeated. I couldn't find the solution anywhere. Thanks

You must explain why you absolutely need to use exec(), as solutions that do not use exec are almost always more elegant than those that do. — sleblanc
– sleblanc, Commented Sep 20, 2019 at 1:00

Chiheb Nexus · Accepted Answer · 2019-09-20 00:56:33Z

3

Actually contextlib provides a context manager that capture the stdout of your code called redirect_stdout.

Here is an example:

import io
from contextlib import redirect_stdout


func_str = 'print(3)'
stdout = io.StringIO()
with redirect_stdout(stdout):
    exec(func_str)

out = stdout.getvalue()
print(out, out.strip() == '3')

Output:

3
 True

PS: The code is inspired from contextlib.redirect_stdout documentation code example.

edited Sep 20, 2019 at 0:56

answered Sep 20, 2019 at 0:49

Chiheb Nexus

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1 Comment

sleblanc Over a year ago

Nice find! I was thinking about writing my swap_stdout function in my answer as a context manager, but I see there is already one in the stdlib that does it.

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