Import a module from a relative path

Question

How do I import a Python module given its relative path   For example  if dirFoo contains Foo py and dirBar  and dirBar contains Bar py  how do I import Bar py into Foo py   Here s a visual representation   dirFoo      Foo py     dirBar          Bar py   Foo wishes to include Bar  but restructuring the folder hierarchy is not an option

User · Answer

You could also add the subdirectory to your Python path so that it imports as a normal script   import sys sys path insert 0   lt path to dirFoo gt   import Bar

User · Answer

Another solution would be to install the py-require package and then use the following in Foo py  import require Bar   require    dirBar Bar

User · Answer

Relative sys path example      lib my module py    src test py   if   name         main    and   package   is None      sys path append os path abspath os path join os path dirname   file         lib     import my module   Based on this answer

User · Answer

The easiest way without any modification to your script is to set PYTHONPATH environment variable  Because sys path is initialized from these locations    The directory containing the input script  or the current directory   PYTHONPATH  a list of directory names  with the same syntax as the shell variable PATH   The installation-dependent default    Just run   export PYTHONPATH  absolute path to your module   You sys path will contains above path  as show below   print sys path         absolute path to your module     usr lib python2 7     usr lib python2 7 plat-linux2     usr lib python2 7 lib-tk     usr lib python2 7 lib-old     usr lib python2 7 lib-dynload     usr local lib python2 7 dist-packages     usr lib python2 7 dist-packages     usr lib python2 7 dist-packages PIL     usr lib python2 7 dist-packages gst-0 10     usr lib python2 7 dist-packages gtk-2 0     usr lib pymodules python2 7     usr lib python2 7 dist-packages ubuntu-sso-client     usr lib python2 7 dist-packages ubuntuone-client     usr lib python2 7 dist-packages ubuntuone-control-panel     usr lib python2 7 dist-packages ubuntuone-couch     usr lib python2 7 dist-packages ubuntuone-installer     usr lib python2 7 dist-packages ubuntuone-storage-protocol

User · Answer

You could also add the subdirectory to your Python path so that it imports as a normal script   import sys sys path insert 0   lt path to dirFoo gt   import Bar

User · Answer

Simply you can use  from Desktop filename import something  Example       given that the file is name test py in directory   Users user Desktop   and will import everthing    the code   from Desktop test import     But make sure you make an empty file  called    init   py  in that directory

User · Answer

Just do simple things to import the  py file from a different folder   Let s say you have a directory like   lib abc py   Then just keep an empty file in lib folder as named    init   py   And then use  from lib abc import  lt Your Module name gt    Keep the   init   py file in every folder of the hierarchy of the import module

User · Answer

Be sure that dirBar has the   init   py file -- this makes a directory into a Python package

User · Answer

This also works  and is much simpler than anything with the sys module   with open  C  yourpath foobar py   as f      eval f read

User · Answer

If you structure your project this way   src      init   py   main py   dirFoo        init   py     Foo py   dirBar        init   py     Bar py   Then from Foo py you should be able to do   import dirFoo Foo   Or   from dirFoo Foo import FooObject   Per Tom s comment  this does require that the src folder is accessible either via site packages or your search path  Also  as he mentions    init   py is implicitly imported when you first import a module in that package directory  Typically   init   py is simply an empty file

User · Answer

from  dirBar import Bar   instead of   from dirBar import Bar   just in case there could be another dirBar installed and confuse a foo py reader

User · Answer

This is the relevant PEP   http   www python org dev peps pep-0328   In particular  presuming dirFoo is a directory up from dirBar     In dirFoo Foo py   from   dirBar import Bar

User · Answer

If you structure your project this way   src      init   py   main py   dirFoo        init   py     Foo py   dirBar        init   py     Bar py   Then from Foo py you should be able to do   import dirFoo Foo   Or   from dirFoo Foo import FooObject   Per Tom s comment  this does require that the src folder is accessible either via site packages or your search path  Also  as he mentions    init   py is implicitly imported when you first import a module in that package directory  Typically   init   py is simply an empty file

User · Answer

I m not experienced about python  so if there is any wrong in my words  just tell me  If your file hierarchy arranged like this   project      module 1 py      module 2 py   module 1 py defines a function called func 1    module 2 py   from module 1 import func 1  def func 2        func 1    if   name         main         func 2     and you run python module 2 py in cmd  it will do run what func 1   defines  That s usually how we import same hierarchy files  But when you write from  module 1 import func 1 in module 2 py  python interpreter will say No module named    main   module 1      main    is not a package  So to fix this  we just keep the change we just make  and move both of the module to a package  and make a third module as a caller to run module 2 py   project      package 1          module 1 py         module 2 py     main py   main py   from package 1 module 2 import func 2  def func 3        func 2    if   name         main         func 3     But the reason we add a   before module 1 in module 2 py is that if we don t do that and run main py  python interpreter will say No module named  module 1   that s a little tricky  module 1 py is right beside module 2 py  Now I let func 1   in module 1 py do something   def func 1        print   name      that   name   records who calls func 1  Now we keep the   before module 1   run main py  it will print package 1 module 1  not module 1  It indicates that the one who calls func 1   is at the same hierarchy as main py  the   imply that module 1 is at the same hierarchy as module 2 py itself  So if there isn t a dot  main py will recognize module 1 at the same hierarchy as itself  it can recognize package 1  but not what  under  it   Now let s make it a bit complicated  You have a config ini and a module defines a function to read it at the same hierarchy as  main py    project      package 1          module 1 py         module 2 py     config py     config ini     main py   And for some unavoidable reason  you have to call it with module 2 py  so it has to import from upper hierarchy module 2 py    import   config  pass   Two dots means import from upper hierarchy  three dots access upper than upper and so on   Now we run main py  the interpreter will say ValueError attempted relative import beyond top-level package  The  top-level package  at here is main py  Just because config py is beside main py  they are at same hierarchy  config py isn t  under  main py  or it isn t  leaded  by main py  so it is beyond main py  To fix this  the simplest way is   project      package 1          module 1 py         module 2 py     config py     config ini main py   I think that is coincide with the principle of arrange project file hierarchy  you should arrange modules with different function in different folders  and just leave a top caller in the outside  and you can import how ever you want

User · Answer

Call me overly cautious  but I like to make mine more portable because it s unsafe to assume that files will always be in the same place on every computer  Personally I have the code look up the file path first  I use Linux so mine would look like this   import os  sys from subprocess import Popen  PIPE try      path   Popen  find   -name  file  -type f   shell True  stdout PIPE  stdout read   splitlines   0      if not sys path   contains   path           sys path append path  except IndexError      raise RuntimeError  You must have FILE to run this program      That is of course unless you plan to package these together  But if that s the case you don t really need two separate files anyway

User · Answer

The easiest method is to use sys path append     However  you may be also interested in the imp module  It provides access to internal import functions     mod name is the filename without the  py  pyc extention py mod   imp load source mod name filename path    Loads  py file py mod   imp load compiled mod name filename path    Loads  pyc file    This can be used to load modules dynamically when you don t know a module s name   I ve used this in the past to create a plugin type interface to an application  where the user would write a script with application specific functions  and just drop thier script in a specific directory   Also  these functions may be useful   imp find module name   path   imp load module name  file  pathname  description

User · Answer

The easiest method is to use sys path append     However  you may be also interested in the imp module  It provides access to internal import functions     mod name is the filename without the  py  pyc extention py mod   imp load source mod name filename path    Loads  py file py mod   imp load compiled mod name filename path    Loads  pyc file    This can be used to load modules dynamically when you don t know a module s name   I ve used this in the past to create a plugin type interface to an application  where the user would write a script with application specific functions  and just drop thier script in a specific directory   Also  these functions may be useful   imp find module name   path   imp load module name  file  pathname  description

User · Answer

Well  as you mention  usually you want to have access to a folder with your modules relative to where your main script is run  so you just import them   Solution   I have the script in D  Books MyBooks py and some modules  like oldies py   I need to import from subdirectory D  Books includes   import sys site site addsitedir sys path 0       includes   print  sys path     Just verify it is there import oldies   Place a print  done   in oldies py  so you verify everything is going OK   This way always works because by the Python definition sys path as initialized upon program startup  the first item of this list  path 0   is the directory containing the script that was used to invoke the Python interpreter   If the script directory is not available  e g  if the interpreter is invoked interactively or if the script is read from standard input   path 0  is the empty string  which directs Python to search modules in the current directory first  Notice that the script directory is inserted before the entries inserted as a result of PYTHONPATH

User · Answer

This is the relevant PEP   http   www python org dev peps pep-0328   In particular  presuming dirFoo is a directory up from dirBar     In dirFoo Foo py   from   dirBar import Bar

User · Answer

This is the relevant PEP   http   www python org dev peps pep-0328   In particular  presuming dirFoo is a directory up from dirBar     In dirFoo Foo py   from   dirBar import Bar

User · Answer

The easiest way without any modification to your script is to set PYTHONPATH environment variable  Because sys path is initialized from these locations    The directory containing the input script  or the current directory   PYTHONPATH  a list of directory names  with the same syntax as the shell variable PATH   The installation-dependent default    Just run   export PYTHONPATH  absolute path to your module   You sys path will contains above path  as show below   print sys path         absolute path to your module     usr lib python2 7     usr lib python2 7 plat-linux2     usr lib python2 7 lib-tk     usr lib python2 7 lib-old     usr lib python2 7 lib-dynload     usr local lib python2 7 dist-packages     usr lib python2 7 dist-packages     usr lib python2 7 dist-packages PIL     usr lib python2 7 dist-packages gst-0 10     usr lib python2 7 dist-packages gtk-2 0     usr lib pymodules python2 7     usr lib python2 7 dist-packages ubuntu-sso-client     usr lib python2 7 dist-packages ubuntuone-client     usr lib python2 7 dist-packages ubuntuone-control-panel     usr lib python2 7 dist-packages ubuntuone-couch     usr lib python2 7 dist-packages ubuntuone-installer     usr lib python2 7 dist-packages ubuntuone-storage-protocol

User · Answer

Be sure that dirBar has the   init   py file -- this makes a directory into a Python package

User · Answer

You could also add the subdirectory to your Python path so that it imports as a normal script   import sys sys path insert 0   lt path to dirFoo gt   import Bar

User · Answer

In my opinion the best choice is to put    init    py in the folder and call the file with  from dirBar Bar import     It is not recommended to use sys path append   because something might gone wrong if you use the same file name as the existing python package  I haven t test that but that will be ambiguous

User · Answer

You could also add the subdirectory to your Python path so that it imports as a normal script   import sys sys path insert 0   lt path to dirFoo gt   import Bar

User · Answer

The quick-and-dirty way for Linux users  If you are just tinkering around and don t care about deployment issues  you can use a symbolic link  assuming your filesystem supports it  to make the module or package directly visible in the folder of the requesting module   ln -s  path  module name py   or  ln -s  path  package name     Note  A  module  is any file with a  py extension and a  package  is any folder that contains the file   init   py  which can be an empty file    From a usage standpoint  modules and packages are identical -- both expose their contained  definitions and statements  as requested via the import command   See  http   docs python org 2 tutorial modules html

User · Answer

Here s a way to import a file from one level above  using the relative path   Basically  just move the working directory up a level  or any relative location   add that to your path  then move the working directory back where it started    to import from one level above  cwd   os getcwd   os chdir       below path    os getcwd   sys path append below path  os chdir cwd

User · Answer

Well  as you mention  usually you want to have access to a folder with your modules relative to where your main script is run  so you just import them   Solution   I have the script in D  Books MyBooks py and some modules  like oldies py   I need to import from subdirectory D  Books includes   import sys site site addsitedir sys path 0       includes   print  sys path     Just verify it is there import oldies   Place a print  done   in oldies py  so you verify everything is going OK   This way always works because by the Python definition sys path as initialized upon program startup  the first item of this list  path 0   is the directory containing the script that was used to invoke the Python interpreter   If the script directory is not available  e g  if the interpreter is invoked interactively or if the script is read from standard input   path 0  is the empty string  which directs Python to search modules in the current directory first  Notice that the script directory is inserted before the entries inserted as a result of PYTHONPATH

User · Answer

I m not experienced about python  so if there is any wrong in my words  just tell me  If your file hierarchy arranged like this   project      module 1 py      module 2 py   module 1 py defines a function called func 1    module 2 py   from module 1 import func 1  def func 2        func 1    if   name         main         func 2     and you run python module 2 py in cmd  it will do run what func 1   defines  That s usually how we import same hierarchy files  But when you write from  module 1 import func 1 in module 2 py  python interpreter will say No module named    main   module 1      main    is not a package  So to fix this  we just keep the change we just make  and move both of the module to a package  and make a third module as a caller to run module 2 py   project      package 1          module 1 py         module 2 py     main py   main py   from package 1 module 2 import func 2  def func 3        func 2    if   name         main         func 3     But the reason we add a   before module 1 in module 2 py is that if we don t do that and run main py  python interpreter will say No module named  module 1   that s a little tricky  module 1 py is right beside module 2 py  Now I let func 1   in module 1 py do something   def func 1        print   name      that   name   records who calls func 1  Now we keep the   before module 1   run main py  it will print package 1 module 1  not module 1  It indicates that the one who calls func 1   is at the same hierarchy as main py  the   imply that module 1 is at the same hierarchy as module 2 py itself  So if there isn t a dot  main py will recognize module 1 at the same hierarchy as itself  it can recognize package 1  but not what  under  it   Now let s make it a bit complicated  You have a config ini and a module defines a function to read it at the same hierarchy as  main py    project      package 1          module 1 py         module 2 py     config py     config ini     main py   And for some unavoidable reason  you have to call it with module 2 py  so it has to import from upper hierarchy module 2 py    import   config  pass   Two dots means import from upper hierarchy  three dots access upper than upper and so on   Now we run main py  the interpreter will say ValueError attempted relative import beyond top-level package  The  top-level package  at here is main py  Just because config py is beside main py  they are at same hierarchy  config py isn t  under  main py  or it isn t  leaded  by main py  so it is beyond main py  To fix this  the simplest way is   project      package 1          module 1 py         module 2 py     config py     config ini main py   I think that is coincide with the principle of arrange project file hierarchy  you should arrange modules with different function in different folders  and just leave a top caller in the outside  and you can import how ever you want

User · Answer

Just do simple things to import the  py file from a different folder   Let s say you have a directory like   lib abc py   Then just keep an empty file in lib folder as named    init   py   And then use  from lib abc import  lt Your Module name gt    Keep the   init   py file in every folder of the hierarchy of the import module

User · Answer

For this case to import Bar py into Foo py  first I d turn these folders into Python packages like so   dirFoo        init   py     Foo py     dirBar            init   py         Bar py   Then I would do it like this in Foo py   from  dirBar import Bar   If I wanted the namespacing to look like Bar whatever  or  from   import dirBar   If I wanted the namespacing dirBar Bar whatever  This second case is useful if you have more modules under the dirBar package

User · Answer

Add an   init   py file   dirFoo      Foo py     dirBar            init   py         Bar py   Then add this code to the start of Foo py   import sys sys path append  dirBar   import Bar

User · Answer

import os import sys lib path   os path abspath os path join   file                       lib    sys path append lib path   import mymodule

User · Answer

For this case to import Bar py into Foo py  first I d turn these folders into Python packages like so   dirFoo        init   py     Foo py     dirBar            init   py         Bar py   Then I would do it like this in Foo py   from  dirBar import Bar   If I wanted the namespacing to look like Bar whatever  or  from   import dirBar   If I wanted the namespacing dirBar Bar whatever  This second case is useful if you have more modules under the dirBar package

User · Answer

The quick-and-dirty way for Linux users  If you are just tinkering around and don t care about deployment issues  you can use a symbolic link  assuming your filesystem supports it  to make the module or package directly visible in the folder of the requesting module   ln -s  path  module name py   or  ln -s  path  package name     Note  A  module  is any file with a  py extension and a  package  is any folder that contains the file   init   py  which can be an empty file    From a usage standpoint  modules and packages are identical -- both expose their contained  definitions and statements  as requested via the import command   See  http   docs python org 2 tutorial modules html

User · Answer

Assuming that both your directories are real Python packages  do have the   init   py file inside them   here is a safe solution for inclusion of modules relatively to the location of the script   I assume that you want to do this  because you need to include a set of modules with your script  I use this in production in several products and works in many special scenarios like  scripts called from another directory or executed with python execute instead of opening a new interpreter    import os  sys  inspect    realpath   will make your script run  even if you symlink it     cmd folder   os path realpath os path abspath os path split inspect getfile  inspect currentframe      0     if cmd folder not in sys path       sys path insert 0  cmd folder      Use this if you want to include modules from a subfolder  cmd subfolder   os path realpath os path abspath os path join os path split inspect getfile  inspect currentframe      0   subfolder      if cmd subfolder not in sys path       sys path insert 0  cmd subfolder      Info     cmd folder   os path dirname os path abspath   file       DO NOT USE   file            file   fails if the script is called in different ways on Windows       file   fails if someone does os chdir   before     sys argv 0  also fails  because it doesn t not always contains the path    As a bonus  this approach does let you force Python to use your module instead of the ones installed on the system   Warning  I don t really know what is happening when current module is inside an egg file  It probably fails too

User · Answer

If you structure your project this way   src      init   py   main py   dirFoo        init   py     Foo py   dirBar        init   py     Bar py   Then from Foo py you should be able to do   import dirFoo Foo   Or   from dirFoo Foo import FooObject   Per Tom s comment  this does require that the src folder is accessible either via site packages or your search path  Also  as he mentions    init   py is implicitly imported when you first import a module in that package directory  Typically   init   py is simply an empty file

User · Answer

from  dirBar import Bar   instead of   from dirBar import Bar   just in case there could be another dirBar installed and confuse a foo py reader

User · Answer

Be sure that dirBar has the   init   py file -- this makes a directory into a Python package

User · Answer

Be sure that dirBar has the   init   py file -- this makes a directory into a Python package

User · Answer

Assuming that both your directories are real Python packages  do have the   init   py file inside them   here is a safe solution for inclusion of modules relatively to the location of the script   I assume that you want to do this  because you need to include a set of modules with your script  I use this in production in several products and works in many special scenarios like  scripts called from another directory or executed with python execute instead of opening a new interpreter    import os  sys  inspect    realpath   will make your script run  even if you symlink it     cmd folder   os path realpath os path abspath os path split inspect getfile  inspect currentframe      0     if cmd folder not in sys path       sys path insert 0  cmd folder      Use this if you want to include modules from a subfolder  cmd subfolder   os path realpath os path abspath os path join os path split inspect getfile  inspect currentframe      0   subfolder      if cmd subfolder not in sys path       sys path insert 0  cmd subfolder      Info     cmd folder   os path dirname os path abspath   file       DO NOT USE   file            file   fails if the script is called in different ways on Windows       file   fails if someone does os chdir   before     sys argv 0  also fails  because it doesn t not always contains the path    As a bonus  this approach does let you force Python to use your module instead of the ones installed on the system   Warning  I don t really know what is happening when current module is inside an egg file  It probably fails too

User · Answer

The easiest method is to use sys path append     However  you may be also interested in the imp module  It provides access to internal import functions     mod name is the filename without the  py  pyc extention py mod   imp load source mod name filename path    Loads  py file py mod   imp load compiled mod name filename path    Loads  pyc file    This can be used to load modules dynamically when you don t know a module s name   I ve used this in the past to create a plugin type interface to an application  where the user would write a script with application specific functions  and just drop thier script in a specific directory   Also  these functions may be useful   imp find module name   path   imp load module name  file  pathname  description

User · Answer

Here s a way to import a file from one level above  using the relative path   Basically  just move the working directory up a level  or any relative location   add that to your path  then move the working directory back where it started    to import from one level above  cwd   os getcwd   os chdir       below path    os getcwd   sys path append below path  os chdir cwd

User · Answer

This is the relevant PEP   http   www python org dev peps pep-0328   In particular  presuming dirFoo is a directory up from dirBar     In dirFoo Foo py   from   dirBar import Bar

User · Answer

The easiest method is to use sys path append     However  you may be also interested in the imp module  It provides access to internal import functions     mod name is the filename without the  py  pyc extention py mod   imp load source mod name filename path    Loads  py file py mod   imp load compiled mod name filename path    Loads  pyc file    This can be used to load modules dynamically when you don t know a module s name   I ve used this in the past to create a plugin type interface to an application  where the user would write a script with application specific functions  and just drop thier script in a specific directory   Also  these functions may be useful   imp find module name   path   imp load module name  file  pathname  description

User · Answer

In my opinion the best choice is to put    init    py in the folder and call the file with  from dirBar Bar import     It is not recommended to use sys path append   because something might gone wrong if you use the same file name as the existing python package  I haven t test that but that will be ambiguous

User · Answer

Simply you can use  from Desktop filename import something  Example       given that the file is name test py in directory   Users user Desktop   and will import everthing    the code   from Desktop test import     But make sure you make an empty file  called    init   py  in that directory

User · Answer

Relative sys path example      lib my module py    src test py   if   name         main    and   package   is None      sys path append os path abspath os path join os path dirname   file         lib     import my module   Based on this answer

User · Answer

This also works  and is much simpler than anything with the sys module   with open  C  yourpath foobar py   as f      eval f read

User · Answer

Another solution would be to install the py-require package and then use the following in Foo py  import require Bar   require    dirBar Bar

User · Answer

import os import sys lib path   os path abspath os path join   file                       lib    sys path append lib path   import mymodule

User · Answer

If you structure your project this way   src      init   py   main py   dirFoo        init   py     Foo py   dirBar        init   py     Bar py   Then from Foo py you should be able to do   import dirFoo Foo   Or   from dirFoo Foo import FooObject   Per Tom s comment  this does require that the src folder is accessible either via site packages or your search path  Also  as he mentions    init   py is implicitly imported when you first import a module in that package directory  Typically   init   py is simply an empty file

User · Answer

Add an   init   py file   dirFoo      Foo py     dirBar            init   py         Bar py   Then add this code to the start of Foo py   import sys sys path append  dirBar   import Bar

User · Answer

Call me overly cautious  but I like to make mine more portable because it s unsafe to assume that files will always be in the same place on every computer  Personally I have the code look up the file path first  I use Linux so mine would look like this   import os  sys from subprocess import Popen  PIPE try      path   Popen  find   -name  file  -type f   shell True  stdout PIPE  stdout read   splitlines   0      if not sys path   contains   path           sys path append path  except IndexError      raise RuntimeError  You must have FILE to run this program      That is of course unless you plan to package these together  But if that s the case you don t really need two separate files anyway

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