python library not defined in user defined function

[johnEmScott]

Why doesn't this work?

def main(): import os fileName = "text.txt" userfunction(fileName) def userfunction(fileName): os.path.exists(fileName) main()

I get the following error:

Error:
NameError: name 'os' is not defined

[ndc85430]

Because the import is local to your main function. Imports should go at the top of the file, as per PEP 8.

[DT2000]

As mentioned above by ndc85430 you need to import your modules before the actual code functions are executed.

import os def main(): fileName = "text.txt" userfunction(fileName) def userfunction(fileName): os.path.exists(fileName) main()