# Is it possible to check if a function has been called with a keyword argument explicitly?
**URL:** https://discourse.julialang.org/t/is-it-possible-to-check-if-a-function-has-been-called-with-a-keyword-argument-explicitly/90812
**Category:** General Usage
**Created:** [November 25, 2022, 2:39pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/is-it-possible-to-check-if-a-function-has-been-called-with-a-keyword-argument-explicitly/90812 "2022-11-25T14:39:04Z")
**Posts on this page:** 4
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@sylvaticus](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/sylvaticus)
#### Post date: [November 25, 2022, 2:39pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/is-it-possible-to-check-if-a-function-has-been-called-with-a-keyword-argument-explicitly/90812/1 "2022-11-25T14:39:04Z")
Is there a way to determine if a keyword argument with a default value has been explicitly given or the default has been used ?
```julia
function foo(;karg1::Int64=3)
# if foo has been called with karg1 explicitly then... else...
end
```
I know I can use `kwargs...` and then check the dictionary, but my actual function has several default keyword arguments and I am interested in checking just one…
(I bet “no” but… never know!)
---
### Author:  [@colleybrb](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/colleybrb)
#### Post date: [November 25, 2022, 4:39pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/is-it-possible-to-check-if-a-function-has-been-called-with-a-keyword-argument-explicitly/90812/2 "2022-11-25T16:39:37Z")
If I’m getting the jist of what you want. I think multiple dispatch with varied input defined as different functions should meet your requirements.
---
### Author:  [@halleysfifthinc](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/halleysfifthinc)
#### Post date: [November 25, 2022, 4:48pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/is-it-possible-to-check-if-a-function-has-been-called-with-a-keyword-argument-explicitly/90812/3 "2022-11-25T16:48:35Z")
My suggestion [here](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/concise-call-keyword-arg-with-default-by-conditional/90716/3) would allow this, but could be considered to make your function “messier”.
```julia
function A(x; karg1=nothing)
if isnothing(karg1)
karg1 = 3
else
# karg1 was explicitly given
end
# rest of function
end
```
And you could even disambiguate whether the keyword argument was explicitly given with the default value, e.g.
```julia
function A(x; karg1=nothing)
if isnothing(karg1)
karg1 = 3
elseif karg1 == 3
# karg1 was explicitly given as the default value
end
# rest of function
end
```
---
### Author:  [@sylvaticus](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/sylvaticus)
#### Post date: [November 25, 2022, 4:51pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/is-it-possible-to-check-if-a-function-has-been-called-with-a-keyword-argument-explicitly/90812/4 "2022-11-25T16:51:46Z")
yep, that’s exactly the “solution” I ended up using…