Code to check if an object is a list of lists python
Question: I was review how to check if something is a list of lists from here [List of
Lists check](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/5251663/determine-if-a-list-
contains-other-lists).

But When I use the code, it appears to fail. It should not print 'asdf' in
this case since `lst` is a list of strings. What am I doing wrong?

    
    
    ` lst = wikiinfo_df.Data.ix[2]
    
    print lst
    
    OUT: 
    ['NYSE', ':&#160;', 'GS', '\n', 'Dow Jones Industrial Average Component', '\n', 'S&amp;P 500 Component']
    
    if all(isinstance(i, list) for i in lst): 
        print 'asdf'
    
    OUT:
    asdf
    

UPDATE - output of print `__builtins__` and `dir(__builtins__)`, pandas
versions, all module

    
    
    print numpy.core.fromnumeric
        numpy.core.fromnumeric
    
    pandas: 0.12.0 
    
    python: 2.7.5 |Anaconda 1.8.0 (x86_64)| (default, Oct 24 2013, 07:02:20) [GCC 4.0.1 (Apple Inc. build 5493)]
    
    {'bytearray': <type 'bytearray'>, 'IndexError': <type 'exceptions.IndexError'>, 'all': <built-in function all>, 'help': Type help() for interactive help, or help(object) for help about object., 'vars': <built-in function vars>, 'SyntaxError': <type 'exceptions.SyntaxError'>, '__IPYTHON__active': 'Deprecated, check for __IPYTHON__', 'unicode': <type 'unicode'>, 'UnicodeDecodeError': <type 'exceptions.UnicodeDecodeError'>, 'memoryview': <type 'memoryview'>, 'isinstance': <built-in function isinstance>, 'copyright': Copyright (c) 2001-2013 Python Software Foundation.
    All Rights Reserved.
    
    Copyright (c) 2000 BeOpen.com.
    All Rights Reserved.
    
    Copyright (c) 1995-2001 Corporation for National Research Initiatives.
    All Rights Reserved.
    
    Copyright (c) 1991-1995 Stichting Mathematisch Centrum, Amsterdam.
    All Rights Reserved., 'NameError': <type 'exceptions.NameError'>, 'BytesWarning': <type 'exceptions.BytesWarning'>, 'dict': <type 'dict'>, 'input': <function <lambda> at 0x12c3adb90>, 'oct': <built-in function oct>, 'bin': <built-in function bin>, 'SystemExit': <type 'exceptions.SystemExit'>, 'StandardError': <type 'exceptions.StandardError'>, 'format': <built-in function format>, 'repr': <built-in function repr>, 'sorted': <built-in function sorted>, 'False': False, 'RuntimeWarning': <type 'exceptions.RuntimeWarning'>, 'list': <type 'list'>, 'iter': <built-in function iter>, 'reload': <built-in function reload>, 'Warning': <type 'exceptions.Warning'>, '__package__': None, 'round': <built-in function round>, 'dir': <built-in function dir>, 'cmp': <built-in function cmp>, 'set': <type 'set'>, 'bytes': <type 'str'>, 'reduce': <built-in function reduce>, 'intern': <built-in function intern>, 'issubclass': <built-in function issubclass>, 'Ellipsis': Ellipsis, 'EOFError': <type 'exceptions.EOFError'>, 'locals': <built-in function locals>, 'BufferError': <type 'exceptions.BufferError'>, 'slice': <type 'slice'>, 'FloatingPointError': <type 'exceptions.FloatingPointError'>, 'sum': <built-in function sum>, 'getattr': <built-in function getattr>, 'abs': <built-in function abs>, 'print': <built-in function print>, 'True': True, 'FutureWarning': <type 'exceptions.FutureWarning'>, 'ImportWarning': <type 'exceptions.ImportWarning'>, 'None': None, 'hash': <built-in function hash>, 'ReferenceError': <type 'exceptions.ReferenceError'>, 'len': <built-in function len>, 'credits':     Thanks to CWI, CNRI, BeOpen.com, Zope Corporation and a cast of thousands
        for supporting Python development.  See www.python.org for more information., 'frozenset': <type 'frozenset'>, '__name__': '__builtin__', 'ord': <built-in function ord>, 'super': <type 'super'>, 'TypeError': <type 'exceptions.TypeError'>, 'license': Type license() to see the full license text, 'KeyboardInterrupt': <type 'exceptions.KeyboardInterrupt'>, 'UserWarning': <type 'exceptions.UserWarning'>, 'filter': <built-in function filter>, 'range': <built-in function range>, 'staticmethod': <type 'staticmethod'>, 'SystemError': <type 'exceptions.SystemError'>, 'BaseException': <type 'exceptions.BaseException'>, 'pow': <built-in function pow>, 'RuntimeError': <type 'exceptions.RuntimeError'>, 'float': <type 'float'>, 'MemoryError': <type 'exceptions.MemoryError'>, 'StopIteration': <type 'exceptions.StopIteration'>, 'globals': <built-in function globals>, 'divmod': <built-in function divmod>, 'enumerate': <type 'enumerate'>, 'apply': <built-in function apply>, 'LookupError': <type 'exceptions.LookupError'>, 'open': <built-in function open>, 'basestring': <type 'basestring'>, 'UnicodeError': <type 'exceptions.UnicodeError'>, 'zip': <built-in function zip>, 'hex': <built-in function hex>, 'long': <type 'long'>, 'next': <built-in function next>, 'ImportError': <type 'exceptions.ImportError'>, 'chr': <built-in function chr>, 'xrange': <type 'xrange'>, 'type': <type 'type'>, '__doc__': "Built-in functions, exceptions, and other objects.\n\nNoteworthy: None is the `nil' object; Ellipsis represents `...' in slices.", 'Exception': <type 'exceptions.Exception'>, '__IPYTHON__': True, 'tuple': <type 'tuple'>, 'UnicodeTranslateError': <type 'exceptions.UnicodeTranslateError'>, 'reversed': <type 'reversed'>, 'UnicodeEncodeError': <type 'exceptions.UnicodeEncodeError'>, 'IOError': <type 'exceptions.IOError'>, 'hasattr': <built-in function hasattr>, 'delattr': <built-in function delattr>, 'setattr': <built-in function setattr>, 'raw_input': <function <lambda> at 0x12c3ad230>, 'SyntaxWarning': <type 'exceptions.SyntaxWarning'>, 'compile': <built-in function compile>, 'ArithmeticError': <type 'exceptions.ArithmeticError'>, 'str': <type 'str'>, 'property': <type 'property'>, 'dreload': <function reload at 0x1022b8c08>, 'GeneratorExit': <type 'exceptions.GeneratorExit'>, 'int': <type 'int'>, '__import__': <built-in function __import__>, 'KeyError': <type 'exceptions.KeyError'>, 'coerce': <built-in function coerce>, 'PendingDeprecationWarning': <type 'exceptions.PendingDeprecationWarning'>, 'file': <type 'file'>, 'EnvironmentError': <type 'exceptions.EnvironmentError'>, 'unichr': <built-in function unichr>, 'id': <built-in function id>, 'OSError': <type 'exceptions.OSError'>, 'DeprecationWarning': <type 'exceptions.DeprecationWarning'>, 'min': <built-in function min>, 'UnicodeWarning': <type 'exceptions.UnicodeWarning'>, 'execfile': <built-in function execfile>, 'any': <built-in function any>, 'complex': <type 'complex'>, 'bool': <type 'bool'>, 'get_ipython': <bound method ZMQInteractiveShell.get_ipython of <IPython.kernel.zmq.zmqshell.ZMQInteractiveShell object at 0x1022b9dd0>>, 'ValueError': <type 'exceptions.ValueError'>, 'NotImplemented': NotImplemented, 'map': <built-in function map>, 'buffer': <type 'buffer'>, 'max': <built-in function max>, 'object': <type 'object'>, 'TabError': <type 'exceptions.TabError'>, 'callable': <built-in function callable>, 'ZeroDivisionError': <type 'exceptions.ZeroDivisionError'>, 'eval': <built-in function eval>, '__debug__': True, 'IndentationError': <type 'exceptions.IndentationError'>, 'AssertionError': <type 'exceptions.AssertionError'>, 'classmethod': <type 'classmethod'>, 'UnboundLocalError': <type 'exceptions.UnboundLocalError'>, 'NotImplementedError': <type 'exceptions.NotImplementedError'>, 'AttributeError': <type 'exceptions.AttributeError'>, 'OverflowError': <type 'exceptions.OverflowError'>}
    ['__class__', '__cmp__', '__contains__', '__delattr__', '__delitem__', '__doc__', '__eq__', '__format__', '__ge__', '__getattribute__', '__getitem__', '__gt__', '__hash__', '__init__', '__iter__', '__le__', '__len__', '__lt__', '__ne__', '__new__', '__reduce__', '__reduce_ex__', '__repr__', '__setattr__', '__setitem__', '__sizeof__', '__str__', '__subclasshook__', 'clear', 'copy', 'fromkeys', 'get', 'has_key', 'items', 'iteritems', 'iterkeys', 'itervalues', 'keys', 'pop', 'popitem', 'setdefault', 'update', 'values', 'viewitems', 'viewkeys', 'viewvalues']
    UPDATE to the concern that all or isinstance has been redefined.
    

when I tab `all()` I get:

    
    
    all(a, axis=None, out=None, keepdims=False)
    Test whether all array elements along a given axis evaluate to True.
    

It is weird that it prints 'asdf' in the second example in the screenshot
![enter image description here](http://i.stack.imgur.com/QOEKf.png)

UPDATE to concern that each item in list is a list, even though it appears to
be a strong: It's a bit difficult to reproduce the code for wikiinfo_df
because it includes getting data off freebase.

    
    
    for i in test:
        print type(i)
    
    
    <type 'str'>
    <type 'str'>
    <type 'str'>
    <type 'str'>
    <type 'str'>
    <type 'str'>
    <type 'str'>
    


Answer: In python 2.7 (assumed because of `print lst`) you should have result of
[`help(all)`](https://docs.python.org/2/library/functions.html#all) like this:

    
    
    all(iterable) -> bool
    
     Return True if bool(x) is True for all values x in the iterable.
     If the iterable is empty, return True.
    

So you probably load some module or code that replaces it, try using:

    
    
    if __builtins__.all(isinstance(i, list) for i in lst):
        ...
    

