[python] How to get method parameter names?

Given the Python function:

def a_method(arg1, arg2):
    pass

How can I extract the number and names of the arguments. I.e., given that I have a reference to func, I want the func.[something] to return ("arg1", "arg2").

The usage scenario for this is that I have a decorator, and I wish to use the method arguments in the same order that they appear for the actual function as a key. I.e., how would the decorator look that printed "a,b" when I call a_method("a", "b")?

Returns a list of argument names, takes care of partials and regular functions:

def get_func_args(f):
    if hasattr(f, 'args'):
        return f.args
    else:
        return list(inspect.signature(f).parameters)

The Python 3 version is:

def _get_args_dict(fn, args, kwargs):
    args_names = fn.__code__.co_varnames[:fn.__code__.co_argcount]
    return {**dict(zip(args_names, args)), **kwargs}

The method returns a dictionary containing both args and kwargs.

To update a little bit Brian's answer, there is now a nice backport of inspect.signature that you can use in older python versions: funcsigs. So my personal preference would go for

try:  # python 3.3+
    from inspect import signature
except ImportError:
    from funcsigs import signature

def aMethod(arg1, arg2):
    pass

sig = signature(aMethod)
print(sig)

For fun, if you're interested in playing with Signature objects and even creating functions with random signatures dynamically you can have a look at my makefun project.

Returns a list of argument names, takes care of partials and regular functions:

def get_func_args(f):
    if hasattr(f, 'args'):
        return f.args
    else:
        return list(inspect.signature(f).parameters)

Here is something I think will work for what you want, using a decorator.

class LogWrappedFunction(object):
    def __init__(self, function):
        self.function = function

    def logAndCall(self, *arguments, **namedArguments):
        print "Calling %s with arguments %s and named arguments %s" %\
                      (self.function.func_name, arguments, namedArguments)
        self.function.__call__(*arguments, **namedArguments)

def logwrap(function):
    return LogWrappedFunction(function).logAndCall

@logwrap
def doSomething(spam, eggs, foo, bar):
    print "Doing something totally awesome with %s and %s." % (spam, eggs)


doSomething("beans","rice", foo="wiggity", bar="wack")

Run it, it will yield the following output:

C:\scripts>python decoratorExample.py
Calling doSomething with arguments ('beans', 'rice') and named arguments {'foo':
 'wiggity', 'bar': 'wack'}
Doing something totally awesome with beans and rice.

Update for Brian's answer:

If a function in Python 3 has keyword-only arguments, then you need to use inspect.getfullargspec:

def yay(a, b=10, *, c=20, d=30):
    pass
inspect.getfullargspec(yay)

yields this:

FullArgSpec(args=['a', 'b'], varargs=None, varkw=None, defaults=(10,), kwonlyargs=['c', 'd'], kwonlydefaults={'c': 20, 'd': 30}, annotations={})

To update a little bit Brian's answer, there is now a nice backport of inspect.signature that you can use in older python versions: funcsigs. So my personal preference would go for

try:  # python 3.3+
    from inspect import signature
except ImportError:
    from funcsigs import signature

def aMethod(arg1, arg2):
    pass

sig = signature(aMethod)
print(sig)

For fun, if you're interested in playing with Signature objects and even creating functions with random signatures dynamically you can have a look at my makefun project.

In CPython, the number of arguments is

a_method.func_code.co_argcount

and their names are in the beginning of

a_method.func_code.co_varnames

These are implementation details of CPython, so this probably does not work in other implementations of Python, such as IronPython and Jython.

One portable way to admit "pass-through" arguments is to define your function with the signature func(*args, **kwargs). This is used a lot in e.g. matplotlib, where the outer API layer passes lots of keyword arguments to the lower-level API.

Python 3.5+:

DeprecationWarning: inspect.getargspec() is deprecated, use inspect.signature() instead

So previously:

func_args = inspect.getargspec(function).args

Now:

func_args = list(inspect.signature(function).parameters.keys())

To test:

'arg' in list(inspect.signature(function).parameters.keys())

Given that we have function 'function' which takes argument 'arg', this will evaluate as True, otherwise as False.

Example from the Python console:

Python 3.6.0 (v3.6.0:41df79263a11, Dec 23 2016, 07:18:10) [MSC v.1900 32 bit (Intel)] on win32
>>> import inspect
>>> 'iterable' in list(inspect.signature(sum).parameters.keys())
True

What about dir() and vars() now?

Seems doing exactly what is being asked super simply…

Must be called from within the function scope.

But be wary that it will return all local variables so be sure to do it at the very beginning of the function if needed.

Also note that, as pointed out in the comments, this doesn't allow it to be done from outside the scope. So not exactly OP's scenario but still matches the question title. Hence my answer.

In a decorator method, you can list arguments of the original method in this way:

import inspect, itertools 

def my_decorator():

        def decorator(f):

            def wrapper(*args, **kwargs):

                # if you want arguments names as a list:
                args_name = inspect.getargspec(f)[0]
                print(args_name)

                # if you want names and values as a dictionary:
                args_dict = dict(itertools.izip(args_name, args))
                print(args_dict)

                # if you want values as a list:
                args_values = args_dict.values()
                print(args_values)

If the **kwargs are important for you, then it will be a bit complicated:

        def wrapper(*args, **kwargs):

            args_name = list(OrderedDict.fromkeys(inspect.getargspec(f)[0] + kwargs.keys()))
            args_dict = OrderedDict(list(itertools.izip(args_name, args)) + list(kwargs.iteritems()))
            args_values = args_dict.values()

Example:

@my_decorator()
def my_function(x, y, z=3):
    pass


my_function(1, y=2, z=3, w=0)
# prints:
# ['x', 'y', 'z', 'w']
# {'y': 2, 'x': 1, 'z': 3, 'w': 0}
# [1, 2, 3, 0]

Python 3.5+:

DeprecationWarning: inspect.getargspec() is deprecated, use inspect.signature() instead

So previously:

func_args = inspect.getargspec(function).args

Now:

func_args = list(inspect.signature(function).parameters.keys())

To test:

'arg' in list(inspect.signature(function).parameters.keys())

Given that we have function 'function' which takes argument 'arg', this will evaluate as True, otherwise as False.

Example from the Python console:

Python 3.6.0 (v3.6.0:41df79263a11, Dec 23 2016, 07:18:10) [MSC v.1900 32 bit (Intel)] on win32
>>> import inspect
>>> 'iterable' in list(inspect.signature(sum).parameters.keys())
True

I think what you're looking for is the locals method -

In [6]: def test(a, b):print locals()
   ...: 

In [7]: test(1,2)              
{'a': 1, 'b': 2}

In CPython, the number of arguments is

a_method.func_code.co_argcount

and their names are in the beginning of

a_method.func_code.co_varnames

These are implementation details of CPython, so this probably does not work in other implementations of Python, such as IronPython and Jython.

One portable way to admit "pass-through" arguments is to define your function with the signature func(*args, **kwargs). This is used a lot in e.g. matplotlib, where the outer API layer passes lots of keyword arguments to the lower-level API.

Here is something I think will work for what you want, using a decorator.

class LogWrappedFunction(object):
    def __init__(self, function):
        self.function = function

    def logAndCall(self, *arguments, **namedArguments):
        print "Calling %s with arguments %s and named arguments %s" %\
                      (self.function.func_name, arguments, namedArguments)
        self.function.__call__(*arguments, **namedArguments)

def logwrap(function):
    return LogWrappedFunction(function).logAndCall

@logwrap
def doSomething(spam, eggs, foo, bar):
    print "Doing something totally awesome with %s and %s." % (spam, eggs)


doSomething("beans","rice", foo="wiggity", bar="wack")

Run it, it will yield the following output:

C:\scripts>python decoratorExample.py
Calling doSomething with arguments ('beans', 'rice') and named arguments {'foo':
 'wiggity', 'bar': 'wack'}
Doing something totally awesome with beans and rice.

The Python 3 version is:

def _get_args_dict(fn, args, kwargs):
    args_names = fn.__code__.co_varnames[:fn.__code__.co_argcount]
    return {**dict(zip(args_names, args)), **kwargs}

The method returns a dictionary containing both args and kwargs.

inspect.signature is very slow. Fastest way is

def f(a, b=1, *args, c, d=1, **kwargs):
   pass

f_code = f.__code__
f_code.co_varnames[:f_code.co_argcount + f_code.co_kwonlyargcount]  # ('a', 'b', 'c', 'd')

In CPython, the number of arguments is

a_method.func_code.co_argcount

and their names are in the beginning of

a_method.func_code.co_varnames

These are implementation details of CPython, so this probably does not work in other implementations of Python, such as IronPython and Jython.

One portable way to admit "pass-through" arguments is to define your function with the signature func(*args, **kwargs). This is used a lot in e.g. matplotlib, where the outer API layer passes lots of keyword arguments to the lower-level API.

Here is something I think will work for what you want, using a decorator.

class LogWrappedFunction(object):
    def __init__(self, function):
        self.function = function

    def logAndCall(self, *arguments, **namedArguments):
        print "Calling %s with arguments %s and named arguments %s" %\
                      (self.function.func_name, arguments, namedArguments)
        self.function.__call__(*arguments, **namedArguments)

def logwrap(function):
    return LogWrappedFunction(function).logAndCall

@logwrap
def doSomething(spam, eggs, foo, bar):
    print "Doing something totally awesome with %s and %s." % (spam, eggs)


doSomething("beans","rice", foo="wiggity", bar="wack")

Run it, it will yield the following output:

C:\scripts>python decoratorExample.py
Calling doSomething with arguments ('beans', 'rice') and named arguments {'foo':
 'wiggity', 'bar': 'wack'}
Doing something totally awesome with beans and rice.

What about dir() and vars() now?

Seems doing exactly what is being asked super simply…

Must be called from within the function scope.

But be wary that it will return all local variables so be sure to do it at the very beginning of the function if needed.

Also note that, as pointed out in the comments, this doesn't allow it to be done from outside the scope. So not exactly OP's scenario but still matches the question title. Hence my answer.

In python 3, below is to make *args and **kwargs into a dict (use OrderedDict for python < 3.6 to maintain dict orders):

from functools import wraps

def display_param(func):
    @wraps(func)
    def wrapper(*args, **kwargs):

        param = inspect.signature(func).parameters
        all_param = {
            k: args[n] if n < len(args) else v.default
            for n, (k, v) in enumerate(param.items()) if k != 'kwargs'
        }
        all_param .update(kwargs)
        print(all_param)

        return func(**all_param)
    return wrapper

I think what you're looking for is the locals method -

In [6]: def test(a, b):print locals()
   ...: 

In [7]: test(1,2)              
{'a': 1, 'b': 2}

Here is another way to get the function parameters without using any module.

def get_parameters(func):
    keys = func.__code__.co_varnames[:func.__code__.co_argcount][::-1]
    sorter = {j: i for i, j in enumerate(keys[::-1])} 
    values = func.__defaults__[::-1]
    kwargs = {i: j for i, j in zip(keys, values)}
    sorted_args = tuple(
        sorted([i for i in keys if i not in kwargs], key=sorter.get)
    )
    sorted_kwargs = {
        i: kwargs[i] for i in sorted(kwargs.keys(), key=sorter.get)
    }   
    return sorted_args, sorted_kwargs


def f(a, b, c="hello", d="world"): var = a
    

print(get_parameters(f))

Output:

(('a', 'b'), {'c': 'hello', 'd': 'world'})

Update for Brian's answer:

If a function in Python 3 has keyword-only arguments, then you need to use inspect.getfullargspec:

def yay(a, b=10, *, c=20, d=30):
    pass
inspect.getfullargspec(yay)

yields this:

FullArgSpec(args=['a', 'b'], varargs=None, varkw=None, defaults=(10,), kwonlyargs=['c', 'd'], kwonlydefaults={'c': 20, 'd': 30}, annotations={})

In python 3, below is to make *args and **kwargs into a dict (use OrderedDict for python < 3.6 to maintain dict orders):

from functools import wraps

def display_param(func):
    @wraps(func)
    def wrapper(*args, **kwargs):

        param = inspect.signature(func).parameters
        all_param = {
            k: args[n] if n < len(args) else v.default
            for n, (k, v) in enumerate(param.items()) if k != 'kwargs'
        }
        all_param .update(kwargs)
        print(all_param)

        return func(**all_param)
    return wrapper

In Python 3.+ with the Signature object at hand, an easy way to get a mapping between argument names to values, is using the Signature's bind() method!

For example, here is a decorator for printing a map like that:

import inspect

def decorator(f):
    def wrapper(*args, **kwargs):
        bound_args = inspect.signature(f).bind(*args, **kwargs)
        bound_args.apply_defaults()
        print(dict(bound_args.arguments))

        return f(*args, **kwargs)

    return wrapper

@decorator
def foo(x, y, param_with_default="bars", **kwargs):
    pass

foo(1, 2, extra="baz")
# This will print: {'kwargs': {'extra': 'baz'}, 'param_with_default': 'bars', 'y': 2, 'x': 1}

Here is another way to get the function parameters without using any module.

def get_parameters(func):
    keys = func.__code__.co_varnames[:func.__code__.co_argcount][::-1]
    sorter = {j: i for i, j in enumerate(keys[::-1])} 
    values = func.__defaults__[::-1]
    kwargs = {i: j for i, j in zip(keys, values)}
    sorted_args = tuple(
        sorted([i for i in keys if i not in kwargs], key=sorter.get)
    )
    sorted_kwargs = {
        i: kwargs[i] for i in sorted(kwargs.keys(), key=sorter.get)
    }   
    return sorted_args, sorted_kwargs


def f(a, b, c="hello", d="world"): var = a
    

print(get_parameters(f))

Output:

(('a', 'b'), {'c': 'hello', 'd': 'world'})

In Python 3.+ with the Signature object at hand, an easy way to get a mapping between argument names to values, is using the Signature's bind() method!

For example, here is a decorator for printing a map like that:

import inspect

def decorator(f):
    def wrapper(*args, **kwargs):
        bound_args = inspect.signature(f).bind(*args, **kwargs)
        bound_args.apply_defaults()
        print(dict(bound_args.arguments))

        return f(*args, **kwargs)

    return wrapper

@decorator
def foo(x, y, param_with_default="bars", **kwargs):
    pass

foo(1, 2, extra="baz")
# This will print: {'kwargs': {'extra': 'baz'}, 'param_with_default': 'bars', 'y': 2, 'x': 1}

In a decorator method, you can list arguments of the original method in this way:

import inspect, itertools 

def my_decorator():

        def decorator(f):

            def wrapper(*args, **kwargs):

                # if you want arguments names as a list:
                args_name = inspect.getargspec(f)[0]
                print(args_name)

                # if you want names and values as a dictionary:
                args_dict = dict(itertools.izip(args_name, args))
                print(args_dict)

                # if you want values as a list:
                args_values = args_dict.values()
                print(args_values)

If the **kwargs are important for you, then it will be a bit complicated:

        def wrapper(*args, **kwargs):

            args_name = list(OrderedDict.fromkeys(inspect.getargspec(f)[0] + kwargs.keys()))
            args_dict = OrderedDict(list(itertools.izip(args_name, args)) + list(kwargs.iteritems()))
            args_values = args_dict.values()

Example:

@my_decorator()
def my_function(x, y, z=3):
    pass


my_function(1, y=2, z=3, w=0)
# prints:
# ['x', 'y', 'z', 'w']
# {'y': 2, 'x': 1, 'z': 3, 'w': 0}
# [1, 2, 3, 0]