Python dir () function

You can use the built-in Dir () function to list an identifier for a defined object. For example, for a module, include functions, classes, and variables defined in the module.

When you provide a module name to Dir (), it returns a list of the names defined in that module. When no arguments are provided for it, it returns a list of the names defined in the current module.

An example of the Dir () function:
>>> Import SYS # get a list of properties, here is the list of properties for the SYS module

>>> dir (SYS)
[' __displayhook__ ', ' __doc__ ', ' __excepthook__ ', ' __name__ ', ' __package__ ', ' __stderr__ ', ' __stdin__ ', ' __stdout__ ', ' _clear_type_cache ', ' _compact_freelists ', ' _current_frames ', ' _getframe ', ' api_version ', ' argv ', ' Builtin_module_ ' Names ', ' byteorder ', ' call_tracing ', ' callstats ', ' copyright ', ' displayhook ', ' dllhandle ', ' dont_write_bytecode ', ' exc ' _info ', ' excepthook ', ' exec_prefix ', ' executable ', ' exit ', ' flags ', ' float_info ', ' getcheckinterval ', ' Getdefaultencoding ', ' getfilesystemencoding ', ' getprofile ', ' getrecursionlimit ', ' getrefcount ', ' getsizeof ', ' Gettrace ', ' getwindowsversion ', ' hexversion ', ' Intern ', ' maxsize ', ' maxunicode ', ' meta_path ', ' modules ', ' path ', ' Path_ Hooks ', ' path_importer_cache ', ' platform ', ' prefix ', ' ps1 ', ' ps2 ', ' setcheckinterval ', ' setprofile ', ' Setrecursionlimit ', ' settrace ', ' stderr ', ' stdin ', ' stdout ', ' subversion ', ' Version ', ' Version_info ', ' warnoptions ', ' Winver ']

>>> dir () # Get a list of properties for the current module
[' __builtins__ ', ' __doc__ ', ' __name__ ', ' __package__ ', ' sys ']

>>> A = 5 # Creates a new variable ' a '

>>> dir ()
[' __builtins__ ', ' __doc__ ', ' __name__ ', ' __package__ ', ' a ', ' sys ']

>>> del A # delete/remove a name

>>> dir ()
[' __builtins__ ', ' __doc__ ', ' __name__ ', ' __package__ ', ' sys ']

>>>

How it works:
First, we see that using Dir is used on the Import sys module. We can see the huge list of attributes that the module contains.

We then use the Dir function, which does not pass parameters. By default, it returns a list of the properties of the module. Note that the list of imported modules is still part of this list.

To see that dir is working, we define a new variable, assign it a value, and then check dir, and we find that a variable with the same name is added to the list. We use the DEL statement to remove the variable or property of the current module, and the change in the output of the Del function is reflected again.

A little note about Del-this statement is used to delete a variable/attribute, after the statement runs, here is del A, you can no longer access the variable a--as if it had never existed at all.

Note that the Dir () function works on any object. For example, run dir (' print ') to learn more about the properties of the print function, or run dir (str) to learn more about the properties of the Str class.

Python dir () function