function not returning string values

Question

I would like to return the string values of m & t from my message function to use in cipher function to perform a while loop and once false print the message reverse. The error message I am receiving is "NameError: name 'm' is not defined", but 'm' has been defined in message which i am attempting to return for use in cipher along with 't'.

def main():
 message()
 cipher(m, t)
def message():
 m = input("Enter your message: ")
 t = ''
 return m, t
def cipher(m, t):
 i = len(m) - 1
 while i >= 0:
 t = t + m[i]
 i -= 1
 print(t)
if __name__ == '__main__': main()

• Stephen Rauch: m is not defined in main()

Answer 1

When you call your message() function, you need to store the return values.

def main():
 m, t = message()
 cipher(m, t)

• user3574939: That worked! Thank You. Whenever I want to return a value from a function in python will I need to do this ?
• kingkupps: You could also do cipher(message()). Functions only return values. Variables declared in functions do not leave the scope of the function they are called in. Scope is a really important concept in all programming languages that I know of. python-textbok.readthedocs.io/en/1.0/Variables_and_Scope.html