title: passing a variable with colon in function python
body: <p>I am using this api.. whose function call looks like:</p>
  
  <pre><code>g.vertices.index.lookup(identifier="value")
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>Now note that idenitifier is a variable which I have not defined but is resoluted by api and value is a string.</p>
  
  <p>Something similar  happens in pymongo api:
  <a href="http://api.mongodb.org/python/current/tutorial.html" rel="nofollow">http://api.mongodb.org/python/current/tutorial.html</a></p>
  
  <pre><code>db = client.test_database
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>is equal to </p>
  
  <pre><code>db = client["test_database"]
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>test_database in first case, even though user hasnt defined that variable.. but is understood by mongo that in my datastore, do i have a database called test_database or not..</p>
  
  <p>Now, the issue I have is this:
  I have a colon in my datastore..</p>
  
  <p>Which is to say it is like:</p>
  
  <pre><code>g.vertices.index.lookup(bad:identifier="value")
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>See.. the colon in the query..</p>
  
  <p>And this api doesnt have that mongo type dictionary implementation..</p>
  
  <p>I know, I should resolve this as in why I am getting this colon.. but this is what I am stuck at right now..</p>
  
  <p>And the issue is because of that colon, I get</p>
  
  <pre><code>g.vertices.index.lookup(bad:identifier="value")
                             ^
  SyntaxError: invalid syntax
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>How do i resolve this</p>