On 20 Mar 2006 12:46:43 -0800 in comp.lang.python, "J Rice" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>I'm sorry for such a basic question, but I haven't been able to phrase >a search that gets me an answer and my books are totally silent on >this. I have seen a number of python function defs that take >parameters of the form (**param1). Looks like a pointer... but my >books on python (basic as they are) don't make a mention. What is >this? It's a way of accepting a varying number of named arguments. In the function, the parameter becomes a dictionary with parameter names as the keys corresponding to the passed parameter values. It's harder to explain than understand. Try playing with the following function in the python interpreter: def test(a,b='b', *c, **d): print a,b,c,d A couple suggestions for tests: test(1,2,3,4) test(a=1,b=2,c=3,d=4) test(2,4,6,8,10,12,ralph=23,tony=45) See what happens. Should be mostly self-explanatory. Regards, -=Dave -- Change is inevitable, progress is not. -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list