python global name 'self' is not defined

Question

Just started learning python and I am sure its a stupid question but I am trying something like this:

    def setavalue(self):
        self.myname = "harry"

    def printaname():
        print "Name", self.myname     

    def main():
        printname()




    if __name__ == "__main__":
        main() 

The error I am getting is:

 NameError: global name 'self' is not defined

I saw this way of using the self statement to reference variables of different methods in some code I read that is working fine.

Thanks for the help

Answer 1

self is the self-reference in a Class. Your code is not in a class, you only have functions defined. You have to wrap your methods in a class, like below. To use the method main(), you first have to instantiate an object of your class and call the function on the object.

Further, your function setavalue should be in __init___, the method called when instantiating an object. The next step you probably should look at is supplying the name as an argument to init, so you can create arbitrarily named objects of the Name class ;)

class Name:
    def __init__(self):
        self.myname = "harry"

    def printaname(self):
        print "Name", self.myname     

    def main(self):
        self.printaname()

if __name__ == "__main__":
    objName = Name()
    objName.main() 

Have a look at the Classes chapter of the Python tutorial an at Dive into Python for further references.

Answer 2

In Python self is the conventional name given to the first argument of instance methods of classes, which is always the instance the method was called on:

class A(object):
  def f(self):
    print self

a = A()
a.f()

Will give you something like

<__main__.A object at 0x02A9ACF0>

Answer 3

If you come from a language such as Java maybe you can make some kind of association between self and this. self will be the reference to the object that called that method but you need to declare a class first. Try:

class MyClass(object)

    def __init__(self)
        #equivalent of constructor, can do initialisation and stuff


    def setavalue(self):
        self.myname = "harry"

    def printaname(self):
        print "Name", self.myname     

def main():
    #Now since you have self as parameter you need to create an object and then call the method for that object.
    my_obj = MyClass()
    my_obj.setavalue() #now my_obj is passed automatically as the self parameter in your method declaration
    my_obj.printname()


if __name__ == "__main__":
    main()

You can try some Python basic tutorial like here: Python guide

Answer 4

It should be something like:

class Person:
   def setavalue(self, name):         
      self.myname = name      
   def printaname(self):         
      print "Name", self.myname           

def main():
   p = Person()
   p.setavalue("harry")
   p.printaname()  

Answer 5

The self name is used as the instance reference in class instances. It is only used in class method definitions. Don't use it in functions.

You also cannot reference local variables from other functions or methods with it. You can only reference instance or class attributes using it.