Python code works outside function, but doesn't work inside function

Question

I'm working with some data, and just writing lines in sequence works fine and gives me the results I want (to extract a row of data from the date from the dataframe 'restaurant'):

orders = restaurant[(restaurant.index == date)]

However, when I put this into a function, it no longer is able to look it up by date, and instead just gives me a blank data frame:

def datesearch(date)   
    orders = restaurant[(restaurant.index == date)]
    return orders

I can't seem to figure out why it's fine outside the function, but for some reason, it can't search by the date when I put it in a function.

I'm very sorry, but what does that mean? Do I need to write date = date into my function first? — serphaes
– serphaes, Commented Sep 12, 2014 at 21:07
You'd call datesearch as datesearch(date). Are you getting an error message? — Kevin London
– Kevin London, Commented Sep 12, 2014 at 21:07
No - I don't get an error. Instead, I get a blank dataframe. It seems like my function is unable to locate the "date" row. — serphaes
– serphaes, Commented Sep 12, 2014 at 21:08
Hm, okay. Are you catching the return value from the function? In other words, orders = datesearch(date)? — Kevin London
– Kevin London, Commented Sep 12, 2014 at 21:09

Kevin London · Accepted Answer · 2014-09-12 21:16:51Z

1

I think restaurant is a global variable, so it might not be using the correct data. Try this:

def datesearch(date) 
    global restaurant  
    orders = restaurant[(restaurant.index == date)]
    return orders

answered Sep 12, 2014 at 21:16

Kevin London

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1 Comment

kindall Over a year ago

I don't understand how this could possibly solve the problem, since you only need to declare a name global if you are modifying it.

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