I keep getting the following error "local variable 'total_results' referenced before assignment"

Question

I am new to django and python, I am following a django tutorial and I keep getting the following error

UnboundLocalError at /blog/search/
local variable 'total_results' referenced before assignment

heres my code

 def post_search(request):
        form = SearchForm()
        if 'query' in request.GET:
            form = SearchForm(request.GET)
            if form.is_valid():
                cd = form.cleaned_data
                results = SearchQuerySet().models(Post)\
                    .filter(content=cd['query']).load_all()
                # count total results
                total_results = results.count()
        template = 'blog/post/search.html'
        context = {
           'form': form,
           'cd': cd,
           'results': results,
           'total_results': total_results
        }
        return render(request, template, context)

I also tried it like this origanally because that's how the tutorial had it

 return render(request, template, {
    'form': form,
    'cd': cd,
    'results': results,
    'total_results': total_results
  })

but that also didn't work

I understand what the error message is saying but this is how the tutorial has it. What's the proper syntax to make this work. all guidance is welcome

EDIT: here is the template code

   {% extends "blog/base.html" %}
       {% block title %}Search{% endblock %}
       {% block content %}
         {% if "query" in request.GET %}
           <h1>Posts containing "{{ cd.query }}"</h1>
           <h3>Found {{ total_results }} result{{ total_results|pluralize}}</h3>
           {% for result in results %}
             {% with post=result.object %}
               <h4><a href="{{ post.get_absolute_url }}">{{ post.title }}</a></h4>
               {{ post.body|truncatewords:5 }}
             {% endwith %}
     {% empty %}
    <p>There are no results for your query.</p>
           {% endfor %}
           <p><a href="{% url 'blog:post_search' %}">Search again</a></p>
         {% else %}
           <h1>Search for posts</h1>
           <form action="." method="get">
             {{ form.as_p }}
             <input type="submit" value="Search">
           </form>
         {% endif %}
       {% endblock %}

Answer 1

If there would not be query GET parameter passed, or the form would not pass validation - in this case total_results and results would not be defined. You need to either provide the default values for that case, e.g.:

def post_search(request):
    results = []
    total_results = 0

    form = SearchForm()
    if 'query' in request.GET:
        form = SearchForm(request.GET)
        if form.is_valid():
            cd = form.cleaned_data
            results = SearchQuerySet().models(Post)\
                .filter(content=cd['query']).load_all()
            # count total results
            total_results = results.count()
    template = 'blog/post/search.html'
    context = {
       'form': form,
       'cd': cd,
       'results': results,
       'total_results': total_results
    }
    return render(request, template, context)

Or, throw a specific "validation" error in case there is no query parameter or form is not valid.