Variables that are defined in your main program can be used everywhere; for this reason, they are known as global variables. You can use a global variable inside a function, if you like:

def FtoC():
        degc = (degf - 32) / 1.8
        return degc

degf = 98.6
temperature = FtoC()

Here, the function converts the value of the global variable degf to Celsius.

Another option is to use global to indicate that the variable being assigned to is a global variable, not a local variable:

def FtoC(degf):
        global degc
        degc = (degf - 32) / 1.8

FtoC(98.6)
print degc

Here, degc is a global variable, and the print statement works as expected.

	For information on how to access the global variables that are defined in the top-level Python module that is included with Chameleon and Iguana, see Accessing the Top-Level Python Module.