reverse() fails when used outside of a view function

[floguy]

Given a simple urls file:

from django.conf.urls.defaults import *
import views

urlpatterns = patterns('',
    url('myview', views.my_view, name="myview_named"),
)

...and a simple view function:

from django.http import HttpResponse
from django.core.urlresolvers import reverse

def my_view(request):
    my_view_url = reverse('myview_named') # This works
    return HttpResponse('Hello from my_view.')

my_view_url = reverse('myview_named') # This does not work.

Using reverse() inside the view works correctly, but in the global scope of the views file (as is very nice for a login_url argument to a decorator, for example) it fails with some very strange errors.

[James Bennett]

Using reverse() inside the view works correctly, but in the global scope of the views file (as is very nice for a login_url argument to a decorator, for example) it fails with some very strange errors.

And unless you tell us what those errors are, nobody will be able to help you track them down.

[Chris Beaven]

Needs more info. But I'd guess that it's due to the circular nature of importing the view in the URLconf.