# How to define a function(x) to print the name and value of a variable?
**URL:** https://discourse.julialang.org/t/how-to-define-a-function-x-to-print-the-name-and-value-of-a-variable/3348
**Category:** New to Julia
**Created:** [April 23, 2017, 5:39pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/how-to-define-a-function-x-to-print-the-name-and-value-of-a-variable/3348 "2017-04-23T17:39:23Z")
**Posts on this page:** 3
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@askvorts](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/askvorts)
#### Post date: [April 23, 2017, 5:39pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/how-to-define-a-function-x-to-print-the-name-and-value-of-a-variable/3348/1 "2017-04-23T17:39:23Z")
I would like to replicate the following behavior with a function
`data = [1;2]`
`macro Name(arg) string(arg) end`
`print(@Name(data), " <- ", data)`
`> data <- [1,2]`
`function flow(arg) flow(data)`
`> data <- [1,2]`
Most likely this should be very simple, but yet I didn’t find an easy way (or otherwise) to get: `data<-[1,2]`
Thank you!
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### Author:  [@ChrisRackauckas](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/ChrisRackauckas)
#### Post date: [April 23, 2017, 5:43pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/how-to-define-a-function-x-to-print-the-name-and-value-of-a-variable/3348/2 "2017-04-23T17:43:52Z")
I think this needs to be done with a macro. A function does not have access to “the name of a variable”. This is a function on the expression, not on the values, so it should be a macro. For the same reason, `@show` is a macro.
Have you considered using `@show` for this?
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### Author:  [@askvorts](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/askvorts)
#### Post date: [April 24, 2017, 1:16pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/how-to-define-a-function-x-to-print-the-name-and-value-of-a-variable/3348/3 "2017-04-24T13:16:03Z")
> [@ChrisRackauckas](#):
>
> I think this needs to be done with a macro.
Thank you for the explanation why it cannot be done with a function