python NameError: global name '__file__' is not defined

Question

When I run this code in python 2.7, I get this error:

Traceback (most recent call last):
File \"C:\\Python26\\Lib\\site-packages\\pyutilib.subprocess-3.5.4\\         


        

Answer 1

What you can do is to use the following

import os
if '__file__' in vars():
    wk_dir = os.path.dirname(os.path.realpath('__file__'))
else:
    print('We are running the script interactively')

Note here that using the string '__file__' does indeed refer to the actual variable __file__. You can test this out yourself of course..

The added bonus of this solution is the flexibilty when you are running a script partly interactively (e.g. to test/develop it), and can run it via the commandline