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How to Fix - UnboundLocalError: Local variable Referenced Before Assignment in Python

Developers often encounter the  UnboundLocalError Local Variable Referenced Before Assignment error in Python. In this article, we will see what is local variable referenced before assignment error in Python and how to fix it by using different approaches.

What is UnboundLocalError: Local variable Referenced Before Assignment?

This error occurs when a local variable is referenced before it has been assigned a value within a function or method. This error typically surfaces when utilizing try-except blocks to handle exceptions, creating a puzzle for developers trying to comprehend its origins and find a solution.

Below, are the reasons by which UnboundLocalError: Local variable Referenced Before Assignment error occurs in  Python :

Nested Function Variable Access

Global variable modification.

In this code, the outer_function defines a variable 'x' and a nested inner_function attempts to access it, but encounters an UnboundLocalError due to a local 'x' being defined later in the inner_function.

In this code, the function example_function tries to increment the global variable 'x', but encounters an UnboundLocalError since it's treated as a local variable due to the assignment operation within the function.

Solution for Local variable Referenced Before Assignment in Python

Below, are the approaches to solve “Local variable Referenced Before Assignment”.

In this code, example_function successfully modifies the global variable 'x' by declaring it as global within the function, incrementing its value by 1, and then printing the updated value.

In this code, the outer_function defines a local variable 'x', and the inner_function accesses and modifies it as a nonlocal variable, allowing changes to the outer function's scope from within the inner function.

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How to fix UnboundLocalError: local variable 'x' referenced before assignment in Python

by Nathan Sebhastian

Posted on May 26, 2023

Reading time: 2 minutes

One error you might encounter when running Python code is:

This error commonly occurs when you reference a variable inside a function without first assigning it a value.

You could also see this error when you forget to pass the variable as an argument to your function.

Let me show you an example that causes this error and how I fix it in practice.

How to reproduce this error

Suppose you have a variable called name declared in your Python code as follows:

Next, you created a function that uses the name variable as shown below:

When you execute the code above, you’ll get this error:

This error occurs because you both assign and reference a variable called name inside the function.

Python thinks you’re trying to assign the local variable name to name , which is not the case here because the original name variable we declared is a global variable.

How to fix this error

To resolve this error, you can change the variable’s name inside the function to something else. For example, name_with_title should work:

As an alternative, you can specify a name parameter in the greet() function to indicate that you require a variable to be passed to the function.

When calling the function, you need to pass a variable as follows:

This code allows Python to know that you intend to use the name variable which is passed as an argument to the function as part of the newly declared name variable.

Still, I would say that you need to use a different name when declaring a variable inside the function. Using the same name might confuse you in the future.

Here’s the best solution to the error:

Now it’s clear that we’re using the name variable given to the function as part of the value assigned to name_with_title . Way to go!

The UnboundLocalError: local variable 'x' referenced before assignment occurs when you reference a variable inside a function before declaring that variable.

To resolve this error, you need to use a different variable name when referencing the existing variable, or you can also specify a parameter for the function.

I hope this tutorial is useful. See you in other tutorials.

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[SOLVED] Local Variable Referenced Before Assignment

Python treats variables referenced only inside a function as global variables. Any variable assigned to a function’s body is assumed to be a local variable unless explicitly declared as global.

Why Does This Error Occur?

Unboundlocalerror: local variable referenced before assignment occurs when a variable is used before its created. Python does not have the concept of variable declarations. Hence it searches for the variable whenever used. When not found, it throws the error.

Before we hop into the solutions, let’s have a look at what is the global and local variables.

Local Variable Declarations vs. Global Variable Declarations

Local Variable Referenced Before Assignment Error with Explanation

Try these examples yourself using our Online Compiler.

Let’s look at the following function:

Explanation

The variable myVar has been assigned a value twice. Once before the declaration of myFunction and within myFunction itself.

Using Global Variables

Passing the variable as global allows the function to recognize the variable outside the function.

Create Functions that Take in Parameters

Instead of initializing myVar as a global or local variable, it can be passed to the function as a parameter. This removes the need to create a variable in memory.

UnboundLocalError: local variable ‘DISTRO_NAME’

This error may occur when trying to launch the Anaconda Navigator in Linux Systems.

Upon launching Anaconda Navigator, the opening screen freezes and doesn’t proceed to load.

Try and update your Anaconda Navigator with the following command.

If solution one doesn’t work, you have to edit a file located at

After finding and opening the Python file, make the following changes:

In the function on line 159, simply add the line:

DISTRO_NAME = None

Save the file and re-launch Anaconda Navigator.

DJANGO – Local Variable Referenced Before Assignment [Form]

The program takes information from a form filled out by a user. Accordingly, an email is sent using the information.

Upon running you get the following error:

We have created a class myForm that creates instances of Django forms. It extracts the user’s name, email, and message to be sent.

A function GetContact is created to use the information from the Django form and produce an email. It takes one request parameter. Prior to sending the email, the function verifies the validity of the form. Upon True , .get() function is passed to fetch the name, email, and message. Finally, the email sent via the send_mail function

Why does the error occur?

We are initializing form under the if request.method == “POST” condition statement. Using the GET request, our variable form doesn’t get defined.

Local variable Referenced before assignment but it is global

This is a common error that happens when we don’t provide a value to a variable and reference it. This can happen with local variables. Global variables can’t be assigned.

This error message is raised when a variable is referenced before it has been assigned a value within the local scope of a function, even though it is a global variable.

Here’s an example to help illustrate the problem:

In this example, x is a global variable that is defined outside of the function my_func(). However, when we try to print the value of x inside the function, we get a UnboundLocalError with the message “local variable ‘x’ referenced before assignment”.

This is because the += operator implicitly creates a local variable within the function’s scope, which shadows the global variable of the same name. Since we’re trying to access the value of x before it’s been assigned a value within the local scope, the interpreter raises an error.

To fix this, you can use the global keyword to explicitly refer to the global variable within the function’s scope:

However, in the above example, the global keyword tells Python that we want to modify the value of the global variable x, rather than creating a new local variable. This allows us to access and modify the global variable within the function’s scope, without causing any errors.

Local variable ‘version’ referenced before assignment ubuntu-drivers

This error occurs with Ubuntu version drivers. To solve this error, you can re-specify the version information and give a split as 2 –

Here, p_name means package name.

With the help of the threading module, you can avoid using global variables in multi-threading. Make sure you lock and release your threads correctly to avoid the race condition.

When a variable that is created locally is called before assigning, it results in Unbound Local Error in Python. The interpreter can’t track the variable.

Therefore, we have examined the local variable referenced before the assignment Exception in Python. The differences between a local and global variable declaration have been explained, and multiple solutions regarding the issue have been provided.

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How to Fix Local Variable Referenced Before Assignment Error in Python

Table of Contents

Fixing local variable referenced before assignment error.

In Python , when you try to reference a variable that hasn't yet been given a value (assigned), it will throw an error.

That error will look like this:

In this post, we'll see examples of what causes this and how to fix it.

Let's begin by looking at an example of this error:

If you run this code, you'll get

The issue is that in this line:

We are defining a local variable called value and then trying to use it before it has been assigned a value, instead of using the variable that we defined in the first line.

If we want to refer the variable that was defined in the first line, we can make use of the global keyword.

The global keyword is used to refer to a variable that is defined outside of a function.

Let's look at how using global can fix our issue here:

Global variables have global scope, so you can referenced them anywhere in your code, thus avoiding the error.

If you run this code, you'll get this output:

In this post, we learned at how to avoid the local variable referenced before assignment error in Python.

The error stems from trying to refer to a variable without an assigned value, so either make use of a global variable using the global keyword, or assign the variable a value before using it.

Thanks for reading!

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