Referring to the org-babel src block name from within the script

Question

This is tangentially related to my previous question on dealing with asynchronous babel scripts. Currently I have to manually specify the name of the src block the babel function is in:

#+name: elisp-block-name
#+begin_src emacs-lisp :var src="elisp-block-name"
(format "My src-block is %s" src)
#+end_src

#+RESULTS: elisp-block-name
: My src-block is elisp-block-name

Obviously this is prone to error so it would be nice to generate it programmaticaly. Is there any environment/variables always passed to tangled block that indicates this or do I need to just call some elisp for my :var block?

Answer 1

You can use the org-babel-get-src-block-info function. I add a few examples to show that it indeed yields back the name of the block that is executing the code, even if called by other blocks.

I first define a block echoing its src block name

#+NAME: blockA
#+BEGIN_SRC emacs-lisp :results value
  (format "I am %s" (nth 4 (org-babel-get-src-block-info)))
#+END_SRC

#+RESULTS: blockA
: I am blockA

Now I use the org-sbe function to call blockA from within the lisp code of another block. The code running in blockA correctly identifies itself as blockA.

#+NAME: blockB
#+BEGIN_SRC emacs-lisp :results value
(org-sbe blockA)
#+END_SRC

#+RESULTS: blockB
: I am blockA

Org mode CALL syntax also yields the correct result...

#+CALL: blockB() :results value

#+RESULTS:
: I am blockA

... as does running the code in table formulas

#+NAME: tableA
| col1        | col2        |
|-------------+-------------|
| I am blockA | I am blockA |
#+TBLFM: @2$1='(org-sbe blockA)::@2$2='(org-sbe blockB)

Answer 2

I was not able to use org-babel-get-src-block-info to declare a variable from the header line. It did work using org-element-context however:

#+NAME: a-name
#+BEGIN_SRC emacs-lisp :var block-name=(org-element-property :name (org-element-context))
  block-name
#+END_SRC

#+RESULTS: a-name
: a-name

Calling that source code block from somewhere else results in the variable being set with the name from the new context:

#+NAME: another-name
#+CALL: a-name()

#+RESULTS: another-name
: another-name

If the code block is called without setting #+NAME:, the variable will be an empty string or nil.

#+CALL: a-name()

#+RESULTS:

This is different from the accepted answer but might be what some people are looking for.