How to import a module given the full path?












875















How can I load a Python module given its full path? Note that the file can be anywhere in the filesystem, as it is a configuration option.










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    875















    How can I load a Python module given its full path? Note that the file can be anywhere in the filesystem, as it is a configuration option.










    share|improve this question



























      875












      875








      875


      304






      How can I load a Python module given its full path? Note that the file can be anywhere in the filesystem, as it is a configuration option.










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      How can I load a Python module given its full path? Note that the file can be anywhere in the filesystem, as it is a configuration option.







      python configuration python-import python-module






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      edited Feb 16 '14 at 15:36









      ferkulat

      1,99421630




      1,99421630










      asked Sep 15 '08 at 22:30









      derfredderfred

      5,49231821




      5,49231821
























          26 Answers
          26






          active

          oldest

          votes


















          1006














          For Python 3.5+ use:



          import importlib.util
          spec = importlib.util.spec_from_file_location("module.name", "/path/to/file.py")
          foo = importlib.util.module_from_spec(spec)
          spec.loader.exec_module(foo)
          foo.MyClass()


          For Python 3.3 and 3.4 use:



          from importlib.machinery import SourceFileLoader

          foo = SourceFileLoader("module.name", "/path/to/file.py").load_module()
          foo.MyClass()


          (Although this has been deprecated in Python 3.4.)



          Python 2 use:



          import imp

          foo = imp.load_source('module.name', '/path/to/file.py')
          foo.MyClass()


          There are equivalent convenience functions for compiled Python files and DLLs.



          See also. http://bugs.python.org/issue21436.






          share|improve this answer





















          • 34





            If I knew the namespace - 'module.name' - I would already use __import__.

            – Sridhar Ratnakumar
            Aug 10 '09 at 21:54






          • 50





            @SridharRatnakumar the value of the first argument of imp.load_source only sets the .__name__ of the returned module. it doesn't effect loading.

            – Dan D.
            Dec 14 '11 at 4:51






          • 15





            @DanD. — the first argument of imp.load_source() determines the key of the new entry created in the sys.modules dictionary, so the first argument does indeed affect loading.

            – Brandon Rhodes
            Apr 21 '13 at 16:32






          • 8





            The imp module is deprecated since version 3.4: The imp package is pending deprecation in favor of importlib.

            – Chiel ten Brinke
            Dec 8 '13 at 11:20








          • 123





            One might think that python imports are getting more and more complicated with each new version.

            – AXO
            Mar 8 '16 at 13:32





















          343














          The advantage of adding a path to sys.path (over using imp) is that it simplifies things when importing more than one module from a single package. For example:



          import sys
          # the mock-0.3.1 dir contains testcase.py, testutils.py & mock.py
          sys.path.append('/foo/bar/mock-0.3.1')

          from testcase import TestCase
          from testutils import RunTests
          from mock import Mock, sentinel, patch





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          • 7





            How do we use sys.path.append to point to a single python file instead of a directory?

            – Phani
            Jan 13 '14 at 17:46






          • 20





            :-) Perhaps your question would be better suited as a StackOverflow question, not a comment on an answer.

            – Daryl Spitzer
            Mar 6 '15 at 0:12






          • 2





            To all people who were trying to include a file to their path... by definition "the shell path is a colon delimited list of directories". I'm relatively new to python, but the python path also follows the unix design principle from what I have seen. Please correct me if I am wrong.

            – Michael Baptist
            Apr 15 '15 at 5:37






          • 2





            The python path can contain zip archives, "eggs" (a complex kind of zip archives), etc. Modules can be imported out of them. So the path elements are indeed containers of files, but they are not necessarily directories.

            – alexis
            Apr 30 '15 at 21:21






          • 7





            Beware of the fact that Python caches import statements. In the rare case that you have two different folders sharing a single class name (classX), the approach of adding a path to sys.path, importing classX, removing the path and repeating for the reamaining paths won't work. Python will always load the class from the first path from its cache. In my case I aimed at creating a plugin system where all plugins implement a specific classX. I ended up using SourceFileLoader, note that its deprecation is controversial.

            – ComFreek
            Jul 3 '15 at 17:18





















          19














          You can also do something like this and add the directory that the configuration file is sitting in to the Python load path, and then just do a normal import, assuming you know the name of the file in advance, in this case "config".



          Messy, but it works.



          configfile = '~/config.py'

          import os
          import sys

          sys.path.append(os.path.dirname(os.path.expanduser(configfile)))

          import config





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            19














            It sounds like you don't want to specifically import the configuration file (which has a whole lot of side effects and additional complications involved), you just want to run it, and be able to access the resulting namespace. The standard library provides an API specifically for that in the form of runpy.run_path:



            from runpy import run_path
            settings = run_path("/path/to/file.py")


            That interface is available in Python 2.7 and Python 3.2+






            share|improve this answer
























            • I like this method but when I get the result of run_path its a dictionary which I cannot seem to access?

              – Stephen Ellwood
              Sep 11 '18 at 9:00











            • What do you mean by "cannot access"? You can't import from it (that's why this is only a good option when import-style access isn't actually required), but the contents should be available via the regular dict API (result[name], result.get('name', default_value), etc)

              – ncoghlan
              Sep 13 '18 at 3:16



















            16














            You can use the



            load_source(module_name, path_to_file) 


            method from imp module.






            share|improve this answer


























            • ... and imp.load_dynamic(module_name, path_to_file) for DLLs

              – HEKTO
              Dec 16 '15 at 19:03








            • 26





              heads up that imp is deprecated now.

              – t1m0
              Apr 6 '16 at 18:11





















            12














            I have come up with a slightly modified version of @SebastianRittau's wonderful answer (for Python > 3.4 I think), which will allow you to load a file with any extension as a module using spec_from_loader instead of spec_from_file_location:



            from importlib.util import spec_from_loader, module_from_spec
            from importlib.machinery import SourceFileLoader

            spec = spec_from_loader("module.name", SourceFileLoader("module.name", "/path/to/file.py"))
            mod = module_from_spec(spec)
            spec.loader.exec_module(mod)


            The advantage of encoding the path in an explicit SourceFileLoader is that the machinery will not try to figure out the type of the file from the extension. This means that you can load something like a .txt file using this method, but you could not do it with spec_from_file_location without specifying the loader because .txt is not in importlib.machinery.SOURCE_SUFFIXES.






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              10














              def import_file(full_path_to_module):
              try:
              import os
              module_dir, module_file = os.path.split(full_path_to_module)
              module_name, module_ext = os.path.splitext(module_file)
              save_cwd = os.getcwd()
              os.chdir(module_dir)
              module_obj = __import__(module_name)
              module_obj.__file__ = full_path_to_module
              globals()[module_name] = module_obj
              os.chdir(save_cwd)
              except:
              raise ImportError

              import_file('/home/somebody/somemodule.py')





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              • 36





                Why write 14 lines of buggy code when this is already addressed by the standard library? You haven't done error checking on format or content of full_path_to_module or the os.whatever operations; and using a catch-all except: clause is rarely a good idea.

                – Chris Johnson
                Jun 7 '13 at 19:17











              • You should use more "try-finally"s in here. E.g. save_cwd = os.getcwd() try: … finally: os.chdir(save_cwd)

                – kay
                Sep 21 '14 at 1:33








              • 9





                @ChrisJohnson this is already addressed by the standard library yeah, but python has nasty habit of not being backward-compatible... as the checked answer says there're 2 different ways before and after 3.3. In that case I'd rather like to write my own universal function than check version on the fly. And yes, maybe this code isn't too well error-protected, but it shows an idea (which is os.chdir(), I haven't though about it), basing on which I can write a better code. Hence +1.

                – Sushi271
                May 15 '15 at 10:27





















              10














              Here is some code that works in all Python versions, from 2.7-3.5 and probably even others.



              config_file = "/tmp/config.py"
              with open(config_file) as f:
              code = compile(f.read(), config_file, 'exec')
              exec(code, globals(), locals())


              I tested it. It may be ugly but so far is the only one that works in all versions.






              share|improve this answer
























              • This answer worked for me where load_source did not because it imports the script and provides the script access to the modules and globals at the time of importing.

                – Klik
                Nov 22 '17 at 19:13



















              10














              Do you mean load or import?



              You can manipulate the sys.path list specify the path to your module, then import your module. For example, given a module at:



              /foo/bar.py


              You could do:



              import sys
              sys.path[0:0] = ['/foo'] # puts the /foo directory at the start of your path
              import bar





              share|improve this answer


























              • @Wheat Why sys.path[0:0] instead of sys.path[0]?

                – user618677
                Jan 9 '12 at 6:56






              • 4





                B/c sys.path[0] = xy overwrites the first path item while path[0:0] =xy is equivalent to path.insert(0, xy)

                – dom0
                Nov 15 '12 at 14:16






              • 2





                hm the path.insert worked for me but the [0:0] trick did not.

                – jsh
                Sep 30 '13 at 3:18






              • 10





                sys.path[0:0] = ['/foo']

                – Kevin Edwards
                Apr 1 '15 at 17:00



















              9














              If your top-level module is not a file but is packaged as a directory with __init__.py, then the accepted solution almost works, but not quite. In Python 3.5+ the following code is needed (note the added line that begins with 'sys.modules'):



              MODULE_PATH = "/path/to/your/module/__init__.py"
              MODULE_NAME = "mymodule"
              spec = importlib.util.spec_from_file_location(MODULE_NAME, MODULE_PATH)
              module = importlib.util.module_from_spec(spec)
              sys.modules[spec.name] = module
              spec.loader.exec_module(module)


              Without this line, when exec_module is executed, it tries to bind relative imports in your top level __init__.py to the top level module name -- in this case "mymodule". But "mymodule" isn't loaded yet so you'll get the error "SystemError: Parent module 'mymodule' not loaded, cannot perform relative import". So you need to bind the name before you load it. The reason for this is the fundamental invariant of the relative import system: "The invariant holding is that if you have sys.modules['spam'] and sys.modules['spam.foo'] (as you would after the above import), the latter must appear as the foo attribute of the former" as discussed here.






              share|improve this answer





















              • 1





                This is exactly what I was missing! Thanks! (This also correctly answers Proper way to dynamically import a module with relative imports?)

                – mforbes
                Jul 14 '18 at 7:30













              • Any idea how to do this with python 2?

                – mforbes
                Jul 16 '18 at 0:57



















              8














              I believe you can use imp.find_module() and imp.load_module() to load the specified module. You'll need to split the module name off of the path, i.e. if you wanted to load /home/mypath/mymodule.py you'd need to do:



              imp.find_module('mymodule', '/home/mypath/')


              ...but that should get the job done.






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                7














                To import your module, you need to add its directory to the environment variable, either temporarily or permanently.



                Temporarily



                import sys
                sys.path.append("/path/to/my/modules/")
                import my_module


                Permanently



                Adding the following line to your .bashrc file (in linux) and excecute source ~/.bashrc in the terminal:



                export PYTHONPATH="${PYTHONPATH}:/path/to/my/modules/"


                Credit/Source: saarrrr, another stackexchange question






                share|improve this answer
























                • This "temp" solution is a great answer if you want to prod a project around in a jupyter notebook elsewhere.

                  – fordy
                  Nov 16 '18 at 17:20



















                3














                This should work



                path = os.path.join('./path/to/folder/with/py/files', '*.py')
                for infile in glob.glob(path):
                basename = os.path.basename(infile)
                basename_without_extension = basename[:-3]

                # http://docs.python.org/library/imp.html?highlight=imp#module-imp
                imp.load_source(basename_without_extension, infile)





                share|improve this answer





















                • 4





                  A more general way to cut the extension out is: name, ext = os.path.splitext(os.path.basename(infile)). Your method works because the previous restriction to .py extension. Also, you should probably import the module to some variable/dictionary entry.

                  – ReneSac
                  Dec 6 '12 at 13:16





















                3














                This area of Python 3.4 seems to be extremely tortuous to understand! However with a bit of hacking using the code from Chris Calloway as a start I managed to get something working. Here's the basic function.



                def import_module_from_file(full_path_to_module):
                """
                Import a module given the full path/filename of the .py file

                Python 3.4

                """

                module = None

                try:

                # Get module name and path from full path
                module_dir, module_file = os.path.split(full_path_to_module)
                module_name, module_ext = os.path.splitext(module_file)

                # Get module "spec" from filename
                spec = importlib.util.spec_from_file_location(module_name,full_path_to_module)

                module = spec.loader.load_module()

                except Exception as ec:
                # Simple error printing
                # Insert "sophisticated" stuff here
                print(ec)

                finally:
                return module


                This appears to use non-deprecated modules from Python 3.4. I don't pretend to understand why, but it seems to work from within a program. I found Chris' solution worked on the command line but not from inside a program.






                share|improve this answer































                  3














                  I'm not saying that it is better, but for the sake of completeness, I wanted to suggest the exec function, available in both python 2 and 3.
                  exec allows you to execute arbitrary code in either the global scope, or in an internal scope, provided as a dictionary.



                  For example, if you have a module stored in "/path/to/module" with the function foo(), you could run it by doing the following:



                  module = dict()
                  with open("/path/to/module") as f:
                  exec(f.read(), module)
                  module['foo']()


                  This makes it a bit more explicit that you're loading code dynamically, and grants you some additional power, such as the ability to provide custom builtins.



                  And if having access through attributes, instead of keys is important to you, you can design a custom dict class for the globals, that provides such access, e.g.:



                  class MyModuleClass(dict):
                  def __getattr__(self, name):
                  return self.__getitem__(name)





                  share|improve this answer



















                  • 2





                    execfile(), also

                    – crowder
                    Jun 20 '15 at 4:13



















                  3














                  To import a module from a given filename, you can temporarily extend the path, and restore the system path in the finally block reference:



                  filename = "directory/module.py"

                  directory, module_name = os.path.split(filename)
                  module_name = os.path.splitext(module_name)[0]

                  path = list(sys.path)
                  sys.path.insert(0, directory)
                  try:
                  module = __import__(module_name)
                  finally:
                  sys.path[:] = path # restore





                  share|improve this answer































                    2














                    I made a package that uses imp for you. I call it import_file and this is how it's used:



                    >>>from import_file import import_file
                    >>>mylib = import_file('c:\mylib.py')
                    >>>another = import_file('relative_subdir/another.py')


                    You can get it at:



                    http://pypi.python.org/pypi/import_file



                    or at



                    http://code.google.com/p/import-file/






                    share|improve this answer



















                    • 1





                      os.chdir ? (minimal characters to approve comment).

                      – ychaouche
                      Oct 14 '12 at 10:46











                    • I've spent all day troubleshooting an import bug in a pyinstaller generated exe. In the end this is the only thing that worked for me. Thank you so much for making this!

                      – frakman1
                      Nov 29 '18 at 22:12



















                    2














                    Import package modules at runtime (Python recipe)



                    http://code.activestate.com/recipes/223972/



                    ###################
                    ## #
                    ## classloader.py #
                    ## #
                    ###################

                    import sys, types

                    def _get_mod(modulePath):
                    try:
                    aMod = sys.modules[modulePath]
                    if not isinstance(aMod, types.ModuleType):
                    raise KeyError
                    except KeyError:
                    # The last [''] is very important!
                    aMod = __import__(modulePath, globals(), locals(), [''])
                    sys.modules[modulePath] = aMod
                    return aMod

                    def _get_func(fullFuncName):
                    """Retrieve a function object from a full dotted-package name."""

                    # Parse out the path, module, and function
                    lastDot = fullFuncName.rfind(u".")
                    funcName = fullFuncName[lastDot + 1:]
                    modPath = fullFuncName[:lastDot]

                    aMod = _get_mod(modPath)
                    aFunc = getattr(aMod, funcName)

                    # Assert that the function is a *callable* attribute.
                    assert callable(aFunc), u"%s is not callable." % fullFuncName

                    # Return a reference to the function itself,
                    # not the results of the function.
                    return aFunc

                    def _get_class(fullClassName, parentClass=None):
                    """Load a module and retrieve a class (NOT an instance).

                    If the parentClass is supplied, className must be of parentClass
                    or a subclass of parentClass (or None is returned).
                    """
                    aClass = _get_func(fullClassName)

                    # Assert that the class is a subclass of parentClass.
                    if parentClass is not None:
                    if not issubclass(aClass, parentClass):
                    raise TypeError(u"%s is not a subclass of %s" %
                    (fullClassName, parentClass))

                    # Return a reference to the class itself, not an instantiated object.
                    return aClass


                    ######################
                    ## Usage ##
                    ######################

                    class StorageManager: pass
                    class StorageManagerMySQL(StorageManager): pass

                    def storage_object(aFullClassName, allOptions={}):
                    aStoreClass = _get_class(aFullClassName, StorageManager)
                    return aStoreClass(allOptions)





                    share|improve this answer

































                      2














                      You can use the pkgutil module (specifically the walk_packages method) to get a list of the packages in the current directory. From there it's trivial to use the importlib machinery to import the modules you want:



                      import pkgutil
                      import importlib

                      packages = pkgutil.walk_packages(path='.')
                      for importer, name, is_package in packages:
                      mod = importlib.import_module(name)
                      # do whatever you want with module now, it's been imported!





                      share|improve this answer

































                        2














                        In Linux, adding a symbolic link in the directory your python script is located works.



                        ie:



                        ln -s /absolute/path/to/module/module.py /absolute/path/to/script/module.py


                        python will create /absolute/path/to/script/module.pyc and will update it if you change the contents of /absolute/path/to/module/module.py



                        then include the following in mypythonscript.py



                        from module import *





                        share|improve this answer





















                        • 1





                          This is the hack I used, and it has caused me some problems. One of the more painful ones was that IDEA has an issue where it doesn't pickup altered code from within the link, but yet attempts to save what it thinks is there. A race condition where the last to save is what sticks... I lost a decent amount of work because of this.

                          – Gripp
                          Jun 16 '15 at 23:23













                        • @Gripp not sure if I am understanding your issue, but I frequently (almost exclusively) edit my scripts on a remote server from my desktop via SFTP with a client like CyberDuck, and in that case as well it is a bad idea to try and edit the symlinked file, instead its much safer to edit the original file. You can catch some of these issues by using git and checking your git status to verify that your changes to the script are actually making it back to the source document and not getting lost in the ether.

                          – user5359531
                          Aug 1 '17 at 19:39





















                        1














                        quite simple way: suppose you want import file with relative path ../../MyLibs/pyfunc.py




                        libPath = '../../MyLibs'
                        import sys
                        if not libPath in sys.path: sys.path.append(libPath)
                        import pyfunc as pf


                        But if you make it without a guard you can finally get a very long path






                        share|improve this answer































                          1














                          A simple solution using importlib instead of the imp package (tested for Python 2.7, although it should work for Python 3 too):



                          import importlib

                          dirname, basename = os.path.split(pyfilepath) # pyfilepath: '/my/path/mymodule.py'
                          sys.path.append(dirname) # only directories should be added to PYTHONPATH
                          module_name = os.path.splitext(basename)[0] # '/my/path/mymodule.py' --> 'mymodule'
                          module = importlib.import_module(module_name) # name space of defined module (otherwise we would literally look for "module_name")


                          Now you can directly use the namespace of the imported module, like this:



                          a = module.myvar
                          b = module.myfunc(a)


                          The advantage of this solution is that we don't even need to know the actual name of the module we would like to import, in order to use it in our code. This is useful, e.g. in case the path of the module is a configurable argument.






                          share|improve this answer


























                          • This way you are modifying the sys.path, which does not fit every use case.

                            – bgusach
                            Jul 19 '18 at 14:26











                          • @bgusach This may be true, but it is also desirable in some cases (adding a path to sys.path simplifies things when importing more than one module from a single package). At any rate, if this not desirable, one can immediately afterwards do sys.path.pop()

                            – Ataxias
                            Jul 20 '18 at 16:38





















                          1














                          Create python module test.py



                          import sys
                          sys.path.append("<project-path>/lib/")
                          from tes1 import Client1
                          from tes2 import Client2
                          import tes3


                          Create python module test_check.py



                          from test import Client1
                          from test import Client2
                          from test import test3


                          We can import the imported module from module.






                          share|improve this answer































                            0














                            Adding this to the list of answers as I couldn't find anything that worked. This will allow imports of compiled (pyd) python modules in 3.4:



                            import sys
                            import importlib.machinery

                            def load_module(name, filename):
                            # If the Loader finds the module name in this list it will use
                            # module_name.__file__ instead so we need to delete it here
                            if name in sys.modules:
                            del sys.modules[name]
                            loader = importlib.machinery.ExtensionFileLoader(name, filename)
                            module = loader.load_module()
                            locals()[name] = module
                            globals()[name] = module

                            load_module('something', r'C:PathTosomething.pyd')
                            something.do_something()





                            share|improve this answer































                              0














                              This answer is a supplement to Sebastian Rittau's answer responding to the comment: "but what if you don't have the module name?" This is a quick and dirty way of getting the likely python module name given a filename -- it just goes up the tree until it finds a directory without an __init__.py file and then turns it back into a filename. For Python 3.4+ (uses pathlib), which makes sense since Py2 people can use "imp" or other ways of doing relative imports:



                              import pathlib

                              def likely_python_module(filename):
                              '''
                              Given a filename or Path, return the "likely" python module name. That is, iterate
                              the parent directories until it doesn't contain an __init__.py file.

                              :rtype: str
                              '''
                              p = pathlib.Path(filename).resolve()
                              paths =
                              if p.name != '__init__.py':
                              paths.append(p.stem)
                              while True:
                              p = p.parent
                              if not p:
                              break
                              if not p.is_dir():
                              break

                              inits = [f for f in p.iterdir() if f.name == '__init__.py']
                              if not inits:
                              break

                              paths.append(p.stem)

                              return '.'.join(reversed(paths))


                              There are certainly possibilities for improvement, and the optional __init__.py files might necessitate other changes, but if you have __init__.py in general, this does the trick.






                              share|improve this answer































                                -1














                                The best way, I think, is from the official documentation (29.1. imp — Access the import internals):



                                import imp
                                import sys

                                def __import__(name, globals=None, locals=None, fromlist=None):
                                # Fast path: see if the module has already been imported.
                                try:
                                return sys.modules[name]
                                except KeyError:
                                pass

                                # If any of the following calls raises an exception,
                                # there's a problem we can't handle -- let the caller handle it.

                                fp, pathname, description = imp.find_module(name)

                                try:
                                return imp.load_module(name, fp, pathname, description)
                                finally:
                                # Since we may exit via an exception, close fp explicitly.
                                if fp:
                                fp.close()





                                share|improve this answer



















                                • 1





                                  This solution does not allow you to provide the path, which is what the question asks for.

                                  – Micah Smith
                                  Apr 11 '18 at 17:20










                                protected by tripleee Jul 11 '15 at 12:01



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                                active

                                oldest

                                votes






                                active

                                oldest

                                votes









                                1006














                                For Python 3.5+ use:



                                import importlib.util
                                spec = importlib.util.spec_from_file_location("module.name", "/path/to/file.py")
                                foo = importlib.util.module_from_spec(spec)
                                spec.loader.exec_module(foo)
                                foo.MyClass()


                                For Python 3.3 and 3.4 use:



                                from importlib.machinery import SourceFileLoader

                                foo = SourceFileLoader("module.name", "/path/to/file.py").load_module()
                                foo.MyClass()


                                (Although this has been deprecated in Python 3.4.)



                                Python 2 use:



                                import imp

                                foo = imp.load_source('module.name', '/path/to/file.py')
                                foo.MyClass()


                                There are equivalent convenience functions for compiled Python files and DLLs.



                                See also. http://bugs.python.org/issue21436.






                                share|improve this answer





















                                • 34





                                  If I knew the namespace - 'module.name' - I would already use __import__.

                                  – Sridhar Ratnakumar
                                  Aug 10 '09 at 21:54






                                • 50





                                  @SridharRatnakumar the value of the first argument of imp.load_source only sets the .__name__ of the returned module. it doesn't effect loading.

                                  – Dan D.
                                  Dec 14 '11 at 4:51






                                • 15





                                  @DanD. — the first argument of imp.load_source() determines the key of the new entry created in the sys.modules dictionary, so the first argument does indeed affect loading.

                                  – Brandon Rhodes
                                  Apr 21 '13 at 16:32






                                • 8





                                  The imp module is deprecated since version 3.4: The imp package is pending deprecation in favor of importlib.

                                  – Chiel ten Brinke
                                  Dec 8 '13 at 11:20








                                • 123





                                  One might think that python imports are getting more and more complicated with each new version.

                                  – AXO
                                  Mar 8 '16 at 13:32


















                                1006














                                For Python 3.5+ use:



                                import importlib.util
                                spec = importlib.util.spec_from_file_location("module.name", "/path/to/file.py")
                                foo = importlib.util.module_from_spec(spec)
                                spec.loader.exec_module(foo)
                                foo.MyClass()


                                For Python 3.3 and 3.4 use:



                                from importlib.machinery import SourceFileLoader

                                foo = SourceFileLoader("module.name", "/path/to/file.py").load_module()
                                foo.MyClass()


                                (Although this has been deprecated in Python 3.4.)



                                Python 2 use:



                                import imp

                                foo = imp.load_source('module.name', '/path/to/file.py')
                                foo.MyClass()


                                There are equivalent convenience functions for compiled Python files and DLLs.



                                See also. http://bugs.python.org/issue21436.






                                share|improve this answer





















                                • 34





                                  If I knew the namespace - 'module.name' - I would already use __import__.

                                  – Sridhar Ratnakumar
                                  Aug 10 '09 at 21:54






                                • 50





                                  @SridharRatnakumar the value of the first argument of imp.load_source only sets the .__name__ of the returned module. it doesn't effect loading.

                                  – Dan D.
                                  Dec 14 '11 at 4:51






                                • 15





                                  @DanD. — the first argument of imp.load_source() determines the key of the new entry created in the sys.modules dictionary, so the first argument does indeed affect loading.

                                  – Brandon Rhodes
                                  Apr 21 '13 at 16:32






                                • 8





                                  The imp module is deprecated since version 3.4: The imp package is pending deprecation in favor of importlib.

                                  – Chiel ten Brinke
                                  Dec 8 '13 at 11:20








                                • 123





                                  One might think that python imports are getting more and more complicated with each new version.

                                  – AXO
                                  Mar 8 '16 at 13:32
















                                1006












                                1006








                                1006







                                For Python 3.5+ use:



                                import importlib.util
                                spec = importlib.util.spec_from_file_location("module.name", "/path/to/file.py")
                                foo = importlib.util.module_from_spec(spec)
                                spec.loader.exec_module(foo)
                                foo.MyClass()


                                For Python 3.3 and 3.4 use:



                                from importlib.machinery import SourceFileLoader

                                foo = SourceFileLoader("module.name", "/path/to/file.py").load_module()
                                foo.MyClass()


                                (Although this has been deprecated in Python 3.4.)



                                Python 2 use:



                                import imp

                                foo = imp.load_source('module.name', '/path/to/file.py')
                                foo.MyClass()


                                There are equivalent convenience functions for compiled Python files and DLLs.



                                See also. http://bugs.python.org/issue21436.






                                share|improve this answer















                                For Python 3.5+ use:



                                import importlib.util
                                spec = importlib.util.spec_from_file_location("module.name", "/path/to/file.py")
                                foo = importlib.util.module_from_spec(spec)
                                spec.loader.exec_module(foo)
                                foo.MyClass()


                                For Python 3.3 and 3.4 use:



                                from importlib.machinery import SourceFileLoader

                                foo = SourceFileLoader("module.name", "/path/to/file.py").load_module()
                                foo.MyClass()


                                (Although this has been deprecated in Python 3.4.)



                                Python 2 use:



                                import imp

                                foo = imp.load_source('module.name', '/path/to/file.py')
                                foo.MyClass()


                                There are equivalent convenience functions for compiled Python files and DLLs.



                                See also. http://bugs.python.org/issue21436.







                                share|improve this answer














                                share|improve this answer



                                share|improve this answer








                                edited Dec 7 '15 at 14:31

























                                answered Sep 15 '08 at 22:41









                                Sebastian RittauSebastian Rittau

                                12.1k32021




                                12.1k32021








                                • 34





                                  If I knew the namespace - 'module.name' - I would already use __import__.

                                  – Sridhar Ratnakumar
                                  Aug 10 '09 at 21:54






                                • 50





                                  @SridharRatnakumar the value of the first argument of imp.load_source only sets the .__name__ of the returned module. it doesn't effect loading.

                                  – Dan D.
                                  Dec 14 '11 at 4:51






                                • 15





                                  @DanD. — the first argument of imp.load_source() determines the key of the new entry created in the sys.modules dictionary, so the first argument does indeed affect loading.

                                  – Brandon Rhodes
                                  Apr 21 '13 at 16:32






                                • 8





                                  The imp module is deprecated since version 3.4: The imp package is pending deprecation in favor of importlib.

                                  – Chiel ten Brinke
                                  Dec 8 '13 at 11:20








                                • 123





                                  One might think that python imports are getting more and more complicated with each new version.

                                  – AXO
                                  Mar 8 '16 at 13:32
















                                • 34





                                  If I knew the namespace - 'module.name' - I would already use __import__.

                                  – Sridhar Ratnakumar
                                  Aug 10 '09 at 21:54






                                • 50





                                  @SridharRatnakumar the value of the first argument of imp.load_source only sets the .__name__ of the returned module. it doesn't effect loading.

                                  – Dan D.
                                  Dec 14 '11 at 4:51






                                • 15





                                  @DanD. — the first argument of imp.load_source() determines the key of the new entry created in the sys.modules dictionary, so the first argument does indeed affect loading.

                                  – Brandon Rhodes
                                  Apr 21 '13 at 16:32






                                • 8





                                  The imp module is deprecated since version 3.4: The imp package is pending deprecation in favor of importlib.

                                  – Chiel ten Brinke
                                  Dec 8 '13 at 11:20








                                • 123





                                  One might think that python imports are getting more and more complicated with each new version.

                                  – AXO
                                  Mar 8 '16 at 13:32










                                34




                                34





                                If I knew the namespace - 'module.name' - I would already use __import__.

                                – Sridhar Ratnakumar
                                Aug 10 '09 at 21:54





                                If I knew the namespace - 'module.name' - I would already use __import__.

                                – Sridhar Ratnakumar
                                Aug 10 '09 at 21:54




                                50




                                50





                                @SridharRatnakumar the value of the first argument of imp.load_source only sets the .__name__ of the returned module. it doesn't effect loading.

                                – Dan D.
                                Dec 14 '11 at 4:51





                                @SridharRatnakumar the value of the first argument of imp.load_source only sets the .__name__ of the returned module. it doesn't effect loading.

                                – Dan D.
                                Dec 14 '11 at 4:51




                                15




                                15





                                @DanD. — the first argument of imp.load_source() determines the key of the new entry created in the sys.modules dictionary, so the first argument does indeed affect loading.

                                – Brandon Rhodes
                                Apr 21 '13 at 16:32





                                @DanD. — the first argument of imp.load_source() determines the key of the new entry created in the sys.modules dictionary, so the first argument does indeed affect loading.

                                – Brandon Rhodes
                                Apr 21 '13 at 16:32




                                8




                                8





                                The imp module is deprecated since version 3.4: The imp package is pending deprecation in favor of importlib.

                                – Chiel ten Brinke
                                Dec 8 '13 at 11:20







                                The imp module is deprecated since version 3.4: The imp package is pending deprecation in favor of importlib.

                                – Chiel ten Brinke
                                Dec 8 '13 at 11:20






                                123




                                123





                                One might think that python imports are getting more and more complicated with each new version.

                                – AXO
                                Mar 8 '16 at 13:32







                                One might think that python imports are getting more and more complicated with each new version.

                                – AXO
                                Mar 8 '16 at 13:32















                                343














                                The advantage of adding a path to sys.path (over using imp) is that it simplifies things when importing more than one module from a single package. For example:



                                import sys
                                # the mock-0.3.1 dir contains testcase.py, testutils.py & mock.py
                                sys.path.append('/foo/bar/mock-0.3.1')

                                from testcase import TestCase
                                from testutils import RunTests
                                from mock import Mock, sentinel, patch





                                share|improve this answer



















                                • 7





                                  How do we use sys.path.append to point to a single python file instead of a directory?

                                  – Phani
                                  Jan 13 '14 at 17:46






                                • 20





                                  :-) Perhaps your question would be better suited as a StackOverflow question, not a comment on an answer.

                                  – Daryl Spitzer
                                  Mar 6 '15 at 0:12






                                • 2





                                  To all people who were trying to include a file to their path... by definition "the shell path is a colon delimited list of directories". I'm relatively new to python, but the python path also follows the unix design principle from what I have seen. Please correct me if I am wrong.

                                  – Michael Baptist
                                  Apr 15 '15 at 5:37






                                • 2





                                  The python path can contain zip archives, "eggs" (a complex kind of zip archives), etc. Modules can be imported out of them. So the path elements are indeed containers of files, but they are not necessarily directories.

                                  – alexis
                                  Apr 30 '15 at 21:21






                                • 7





                                  Beware of the fact that Python caches import statements. In the rare case that you have two different folders sharing a single class name (classX), the approach of adding a path to sys.path, importing classX, removing the path and repeating for the reamaining paths won't work. Python will always load the class from the first path from its cache. In my case I aimed at creating a plugin system where all plugins implement a specific classX. I ended up using SourceFileLoader, note that its deprecation is controversial.

                                  – ComFreek
                                  Jul 3 '15 at 17:18


















                                343














                                The advantage of adding a path to sys.path (over using imp) is that it simplifies things when importing more than one module from a single package. For example:



                                import sys
                                # the mock-0.3.1 dir contains testcase.py, testutils.py & mock.py
                                sys.path.append('/foo/bar/mock-0.3.1')

                                from testcase import TestCase
                                from testutils import RunTests
                                from mock import Mock, sentinel, patch





                                share|improve this answer



















                                • 7





                                  How do we use sys.path.append to point to a single python file instead of a directory?

                                  – Phani
                                  Jan 13 '14 at 17:46






                                • 20





                                  :-) Perhaps your question would be better suited as a StackOverflow question, not a comment on an answer.

                                  – Daryl Spitzer
                                  Mar 6 '15 at 0:12






                                • 2





                                  To all people who were trying to include a file to their path... by definition "the shell path is a colon delimited list of directories". I'm relatively new to python, but the python path also follows the unix design principle from what I have seen. Please correct me if I am wrong.

                                  – Michael Baptist
                                  Apr 15 '15 at 5:37






                                • 2





                                  The python path can contain zip archives, "eggs" (a complex kind of zip archives), etc. Modules can be imported out of them. So the path elements are indeed containers of files, but they are not necessarily directories.

                                  – alexis
                                  Apr 30 '15 at 21:21






                                • 7





                                  Beware of the fact that Python caches import statements. In the rare case that you have two different folders sharing a single class name (classX), the approach of adding a path to sys.path, importing classX, removing the path and repeating for the reamaining paths won't work. Python will always load the class from the first path from its cache. In my case I aimed at creating a plugin system where all plugins implement a specific classX. I ended up using SourceFileLoader, note that its deprecation is controversial.

                                  – ComFreek
                                  Jul 3 '15 at 17:18
















                                343












                                343








                                343







                                The advantage of adding a path to sys.path (over using imp) is that it simplifies things when importing more than one module from a single package. For example:



                                import sys
                                # the mock-0.3.1 dir contains testcase.py, testutils.py & mock.py
                                sys.path.append('/foo/bar/mock-0.3.1')

                                from testcase import TestCase
                                from testutils import RunTests
                                from mock import Mock, sentinel, patch





                                share|improve this answer













                                The advantage of adding a path to sys.path (over using imp) is that it simplifies things when importing more than one module from a single package. For example:



                                import sys
                                # the mock-0.3.1 dir contains testcase.py, testutils.py & mock.py
                                sys.path.append('/foo/bar/mock-0.3.1')

                                from testcase import TestCase
                                from testutils import RunTests
                                from mock import Mock, sentinel, patch






                                share|improve this answer












                                share|improve this answer



                                share|improve this answer










                                answered Sep 24 '08 at 19:36









                                Daryl SpitzerDaryl Spitzer

                                52.6k59144162




                                52.6k59144162








                                • 7





                                  How do we use sys.path.append to point to a single python file instead of a directory?

                                  – Phani
                                  Jan 13 '14 at 17:46






                                • 20





                                  :-) Perhaps your question would be better suited as a StackOverflow question, not a comment on an answer.

                                  – Daryl Spitzer
                                  Mar 6 '15 at 0:12






                                • 2





                                  To all people who were trying to include a file to their path... by definition "the shell path is a colon delimited list of directories". I'm relatively new to python, but the python path also follows the unix design principle from what I have seen. Please correct me if I am wrong.

                                  – Michael Baptist
                                  Apr 15 '15 at 5:37






                                • 2





                                  The python path can contain zip archives, "eggs" (a complex kind of zip archives), etc. Modules can be imported out of them. So the path elements are indeed containers of files, but they are not necessarily directories.

                                  – alexis
                                  Apr 30 '15 at 21:21






                                • 7





                                  Beware of the fact that Python caches import statements. In the rare case that you have two different folders sharing a single class name (classX), the approach of adding a path to sys.path, importing classX, removing the path and repeating for the reamaining paths won't work. Python will always load the class from the first path from its cache. In my case I aimed at creating a plugin system where all plugins implement a specific classX. I ended up using SourceFileLoader, note that its deprecation is controversial.

                                  – ComFreek
                                  Jul 3 '15 at 17:18
















                                • 7





                                  How do we use sys.path.append to point to a single python file instead of a directory?

                                  – Phani
                                  Jan 13 '14 at 17:46






                                • 20





                                  :-) Perhaps your question would be better suited as a StackOverflow question, not a comment on an answer.

                                  – Daryl Spitzer
                                  Mar 6 '15 at 0:12






                                • 2





                                  To all people who were trying to include a file to their path... by definition "the shell path is a colon delimited list of directories". I'm relatively new to python, but the python path also follows the unix design principle from what I have seen. Please correct me if I am wrong.

                                  – Michael Baptist
                                  Apr 15 '15 at 5:37






                                • 2





                                  The python path can contain zip archives, "eggs" (a complex kind of zip archives), etc. Modules can be imported out of them. So the path elements are indeed containers of files, but they are not necessarily directories.

                                  – alexis
                                  Apr 30 '15 at 21:21






                                • 7





                                  Beware of the fact that Python caches import statements. In the rare case that you have two different folders sharing a single class name (classX), the approach of adding a path to sys.path, importing classX, removing the path and repeating for the reamaining paths won't work. Python will always load the class from the first path from its cache. In my case I aimed at creating a plugin system where all plugins implement a specific classX. I ended up using SourceFileLoader, note that its deprecation is controversial.

                                  – ComFreek
                                  Jul 3 '15 at 17:18










                                7




                                7





                                How do we use sys.path.append to point to a single python file instead of a directory?

                                – Phani
                                Jan 13 '14 at 17:46





                                How do we use sys.path.append to point to a single python file instead of a directory?

                                – Phani
                                Jan 13 '14 at 17:46




                                20




                                20





                                :-) Perhaps your question would be better suited as a StackOverflow question, not a comment on an answer.

                                – Daryl Spitzer
                                Mar 6 '15 at 0:12





                                :-) Perhaps your question would be better suited as a StackOverflow question, not a comment on an answer.

                                – Daryl Spitzer
                                Mar 6 '15 at 0:12




                                2




                                2





                                To all people who were trying to include a file to their path... by definition "the shell path is a colon delimited list of directories". I'm relatively new to python, but the python path also follows the unix design principle from what I have seen. Please correct me if I am wrong.

                                – Michael Baptist
                                Apr 15 '15 at 5:37





                                To all people who were trying to include a file to their path... by definition "the shell path is a colon delimited list of directories". I'm relatively new to python, but the python path also follows the unix design principle from what I have seen. Please correct me if I am wrong.

                                – Michael Baptist
                                Apr 15 '15 at 5:37




                                2




                                2





                                The python path can contain zip archives, "eggs" (a complex kind of zip archives), etc. Modules can be imported out of them. So the path elements are indeed containers of files, but they are not necessarily directories.

                                – alexis
                                Apr 30 '15 at 21:21





                                The python path can contain zip archives, "eggs" (a complex kind of zip archives), etc. Modules can be imported out of them. So the path elements are indeed containers of files, but they are not necessarily directories.

                                – alexis
                                Apr 30 '15 at 21:21




                                7




                                7





                                Beware of the fact that Python caches import statements. In the rare case that you have two different folders sharing a single class name (classX), the approach of adding a path to sys.path, importing classX, removing the path and repeating for the reamaining paths won't work. Python will always load the class from the first path from its cache. In my case I aimed at creating a plugin system where all plugins implement a specific classX. I ended up using SourceFileLoader, note that its deprecation is controversial.

                                – ComFreek
                                Jul 3 '15 at 17:18







                                Beware of the fact that Python caches import statements. In the rare case that you have two different folders sharing a single class name (classX), the approach of adding a path to sys.path, importing classX, removing the path and repeating for the reamaining paths won't work. Python will always load the class from the first path from its cache. In my case I aimed at creating a plugin system where all plugins implement a specific classX. I ended up using SourceFileLoader, note that its deprecation is controversial.

                                – ComFreek
                                Jul 3 '15 at 17:18













                                19














                                You can also do something like this and add the directory that the configuration file is sitting in to the Python load path, and then just do a normal import, assuming you know the name of the file in advance, in this case "config".



                                Messy, but it works.



                                configfile = '~/config.py'

                                import os
                                import sys

                                sys.path.append(os.path.dirname(os.path.expanduser(configfile)))

                                import config





                                share|improve this answer






























                                  19














                                  You can also do something like this and add the directory that the configuration file is sitting in to the Python load path, and then just do a normal import, assuming you know the name of the file in advance, in this case "config".



                                  Messy, but it works.



                                  configfile = '~/config.py'

                                  import os
                                  import sys

                                  sys.path.append(os.path.dirname(os.path.expanduser(configfile)))

                                  import config





                                  share|improve this answer




























                                    19












                                    19








                                    19







                                    You can also do something like this and add the directory that the configuration file is sitting in to the Python load path, and then just do a normal import, assuming you know the name of the file in advance, in this case "config".



                                    Messy, but it works.



                                    configfile = '~/config.py'

                                    import os
                                    import sys

                                    sys.path.append(os.path.dirname(os.path.expanduser(configfile)))

                                    import config





                                    share|improve this answer















                                    You can also do something like this and add the directory that the configuration file is sitting in to the Python load path, and then just do a normal import, assuming you know the name of the file in advance, in this case "config".



                                    Messy, but it works.



                                    configfile = '~/config.py'

                                    import os
                                    import sys

                                    sys.path.append(os.path.dirname(os.path.expanduser(configfile)))

                                    import config






                                    share|improve this answer














                                    share|improve this answer



                                    share|improve this answer








                                    edited Jan 17 '14 at 22:38









                                    Peter Mortensen

                                    13.7k1986112




                                    13.7k1986112










                                    answered Sep 15 '08 at 22:44









                                    ctcherryctcherry

                                    23.9k45366




                                    23.9k45366























                                        19














                                        It sounds like you don't want to specifically import the configuration file (which has a whole lot of side effects and additional complications involved), you just want to run it, and be able to access the resulting namespace. The standard library provides an API specifically for that in the form of runpy.run_path:



                                        from runpy import run_path
                                        settings = run_path("/path/to/file.py")


                                        That interface is available in Python 2.7 and Python 3.2+






                                        share|improve this answer
























                                        • I like this method but when I get the result of run_path its a dictionary which I cannot seem to access?

                                          – Stephen Ellwood
                                          Sep 11 '18 at 9:00











                                        • What do you mean by "cannot access"? You can't import from it (that's why this is only a good option when import-style access isn't actually required), but the contents should be available via the regular dict API (result[name], result.get('name', default_value), etc)

                                          – ncoghlan
                                          Sep 13 '18 at 3:16
















                                        19














                                        It sounds like you don't want to specifically import the configuration file (which has a whole lot of side effects and additional complications involved), you just want to run it, and be able to access the resulting namespace. The standard library provides an API specifically for that in the form of runpy.run_path:



                                        from runpy import run_path
                                        settings = run_path("/path/to/file.py")


                                        That interface is available in Python 2.7 and Python 3.2+






                                        share|improve this answer
























                                        • I like this method but when I get the result of run_path its a dictionary which I cannot seem to access?

                                          – Stephen Ellwood
                                          Sep 11 '18 at 9:00











                                        • What do you mean by "cannot access"? You can't import from it (that's why this is only a good option when import-style access isn't actually required), but the contents should be available via the regular dict API (result[name], result.get('name', default_value), etc)

                                          – ncoghlan
                                          Sep 13 '18 at 3:16














                                        19












                                        19








                                        19







                                        It sounds like you don't want to specifically import the configuration file (which has a whole lot of side effects and additional complications involved), you just want to run it, and be able to access the resulting namespace. The standard library provides an API specifically for that in the form of runpy.run_path:



                                        from runpy import run_path
                                        settings = run_path("/path/to/file.py")


                                        That interface is available in Python 2.7 and Python 3.2+






                                        share|improve this answer













                                        It sounds like you don't want to specifically import the configuration file (which has a whole lot of side effects and additional complications involved), you just want to run it, and be able to access the resulting namespace. The standard library provides an API specifically for that in the form of runpy.run_path:



                                        from runpy import run_path
                                        settings = run_path("/path/to/file.py")


                                        That interface is available in Python 2.7 and Python 3.2+







                                        share|improve this answer












                                        share|improve this answer



                                        share|improve this answer










                                        answered May 20 '16 at 6:52









                                        ncoghlanncoghlan

                                        26.6k85466




                                        26.6k85466













                                        • I like this method but when I get the result of run_path its a dictionary which I cannot seem to access?

                                          – Stephen Ellwood
                                          Sep 11 '18 at 9:00











                                        • What do you mean by "cannot access"? You can't import from it (that's why this is only a good option when import-style access isn't actually required), but the contents should be available via the regular dict API (result[name], result.get('name', default_value), etc)

                                          – ncoghlan
                                          Sep 13 '18 at 3:16



















                                        • I like this method but when I get the result of run_path its a dictionary which I cannot seem to access?

                                          – Stephen Ellwood
                                          Sep 11 '18 at 9:00











                                        • What do you mean by "cannot access"? You can't import from it (that's why this is only a good option when import-style access isn't actually required), but the contents should be available via the regular dict API (result[name], result.get('name', default_value), etc)

                                          – ncoghlan
                                          Sep 13 '18 at 3:16

















                                        I like this method but when I get the result of run_path its a dictionary which I cannot seem to access?

                                        – Stephen Ellwood
                                        Sep 11 '18 at 9:00





                                        I like this method but when I get the result of run_path its a dictionary which I cannot seem to access?

                                        – Stephen Ellwood
                                        Sep 11 '18 at 9:00













                                        What do you mean by "cannot access"? You can't import from it (that's why this is only a good option when import-style access isn't actually required), but the contents should be available via the regular dict API (result[name], result.get('name', default_value), etc)

                                        – ncoghlan
                                        Sep 13 '18 at 3:16





                                        What do you mean by "cannot access"? You can't import from it (that's why this is only a good option when import-style access isn't actually required), but the contents should be available via the regular dict API (result[name], result.get('name', default_value), etc)

                                        – ncoghlan
                                        Sep 13 '18 at 3:16











                                        16














                                        You can use the



                                        load_source(module_name, path_to_file) 


                                        method from imp module.






                                        share|improve this answer


























                                        • ... and imp.load_dynamic(module_name, path_to_file) for DLLs

                                          – HEKTO
                                          Dec 16 '15 at 19:03








                                        • 26





                                          heads up that imp is deprecated now.

                                          – t1m0
                                          Apr 6 '16 at 18:11


















                                        16














                                        You can use the



                                        load_source(module_name, path_to_file) 


                                        method from imp module.






                                        share|improve this answer


























                                        • ... and imp.load_dynamic(module_name, path_to_file) for DLLs

                                          – HEKTO
                                          Dec 16 '15 at 19:03








                                        • 26





                                          heads up that imp is deprecated now.

                                          – t1m0
                                          Apr 6 '16 at 18:11
















                                        16












                                        16








                                        16







                                        You can use the



                                        load_source(module_name, path_to_file) 


                                        method from imp module.






                                        share|improve this answer















                                        You can use the



                                        load_source(module_name, path_to_file) 


                                        method from imp module.







                                        share|improve this answer














                                        share|improve this answer



                                        share|improve this answer








                                        edited Nov 11 '14 at 7:07









                                        twasbrillig

                                        6,66252652




                                        6,66252652










                                        answered Sep 15 '08 at 22:41









                                        zuberzuber

                                        2,52321917




                                        2,52321917













                                        • ... and imp.load_dynamic(module_name, path_to_file) for DLLs

                                          – HEKTO
                                          Dec 16 '15 at 19:03








                                        • 26





                                          heads up that imp is deprecated now.

                                          – t1m0
                                          Apr 6 '16 at 18:11





















                                        • ... and imp.load_dynamic(module_name, path_to_file) for DLLs

                                          – HEKTO
                                          Dec 16 '15 at 19:03








                                        • 26





                                          heads up that imp is deprecated now.

                                          – t1m0
                                          Apr 6 '16 at 18:11



















                                        ... and imp.load_dynamic(module_name, path_to_file) for DLLs

                                        – HEKTO
                                        Dec 16 '15 at 19:03







                                        ... and imp.load_dynamic(module_name, path_to_file) for DLLs

                                        – HEKTO
                                        Dec 16 '15 at 19:03






                                        26




                                        26





                                        heads up that imp is deprecated now.

                                        – t1m0
                                        Apr 6 '16 at 18:11







                                        heads up that imp is deprecated now.

                                        – t1m0
                                        Apr 6 '16 at 18:11













                                        12














                                        I have come up with a slightly modified version of @SebastianRittau's wonderful answer (for Python > 3.4 I think), which will allow you to load a file with any extension as a module using spec_from_loader instead of spec_from_file_location:



                                        from importlib.util import spec_from_loader, module_from_spec
                                        from importlib.machinery import SourceFileLoader

                                        spec = spec_from_loader("module.name", SourceFileLoader("module.name", "/path/to/file.py"))
                                        mod = module_from_spec(spec)
                                        spec.loader.exec_module(mod)


                                        The advantage of encoding the path in an explicit SourceFileLoader is that the machinery will not try to figure out the type of the file from the extension. This means that you can load something like a .txt file using this method, but you could not do it with spec_from_file_location without specifying the loader because .txt is not in importlib.machinery.SOURCE_SUFFIXES.






                                        share|improve this answer






























                                          12














                                          I have come up with a slightly modified version of @SebastianRittau's wonderful answer (for Python > 3.4 I think), which will allow you to load a file with any extension as a module using spec_from_loader instead of spec_from_file_location:



                                          from importlib.util import spec_from_loader, module_from_spec
                                          from importlib.machinery import SourceFileLoader

                                          spec = spec_from_loader("module.name", SourceFileLoader("module.name", "/path/to/file.py"))
                                          mod = module_from_spec(spec)
                                          spec.loader.exec_module(mod)


                                          The advantage of encoding the path in an explicit SourceFileLoader is that the machinery will not try to figure out the type of the file from the extension. This means that you can load something like a .txt file using this method, but you could not do it with spec_from_file_location without specifying the loader because .txt is not in importlib.machinery.SOURCE_SUFFIXES.






                                          share|improve this answer




























                                            12












                                            12








                                            12







                                            I have come up with a slightly modified version of @SebastianRittau's wonderful answer (for Python > 3.4 I think), which will allow you to load a file with any extension as a module using spec_from_loader instead of spec_from_file_location:



                                            from importlib.util import spec_from_loader, module_from_spec
                                            from importlib.machinery import SourceFileLoader

                                            spec = spec_from_loader("module.name", SourceFileLoader("module.name", "/path/to/file.py"))
                                            mod = module_from_spec(spec)
                                            spec.loader.exec_module(mod)


                                            The advantage of encoding the path in an explicit SourceFileLoader is that the machinery will not try to figure out the type of the file from the extension. This means that you can load something like a .txt file using this method, but you could not do it with spec_from_file_location without specifying the loader because .txt is not in importlib.machinery.SOURCE_SUFFIXES.






                                            share|improve this answer















                                            I have come up with a slightly modified version of @SebastianRittau's wonderful answer (for Python > 3.4 I think), which will allow you to load a file with any extension as a module using spec_from_loader instead of spec_from_file_location:



                                            from importlib.util import spec_from_loader, module_from_spec
                                            from importlib.machinery import SourceFileLoader

                                            spec = spec_from_loader("module.name", SourceFileLoader("module.name", "/path/to/file.py"))
                                            mod = module_from_spec(spec)
                                            spec.loader.exec_module(mod)


                                            The advantage of encoding the path in an explicit SourceFileLoader is that the machinery will not try to figure out the type of the file from the extension. This means that you can load something like a .txt file using this method, but you could not do it with spec_from_file_location without specifying the loader because .txt is not in importlib.machinery.SOURCE_SUFFIXES.







                                            share|improve this answer














                                            share|improve this answer



                                            share|improve this answer








                                            edited Sep 19 '18 at 18:13

























                                            answered Apr 25 '17 at 5:45









                                            Mad PhysicistMad Physicist

                                            38k1674107




                                            38k1674107























                                                10














                                                def import_file(full_path_to_module):
                                                try:
                                                import os
                                                module_dir, module_file = os.path.split(full_path_to_module)
                                                module_name, module_ext = os.path.splitext(module_file)
                                                save_cwd = os.getcwd()
                                                os.chdir(module_dir)
                                                module_obj = __import__(module_name)
                                                module_obj.__file__ = full_path_to_module
                                                globals()[module_name] = module_obj
                                                os.chdir(save_cwd)
                                                except:
                                                raise ImportError

                                                import_file('/home/somebody/somemodule.py')





                                                share|improve this answer



















                                                • 36





                                                  Why write 14 lines of buggy code when this is already addressed by the standard library? You haven't done error checking on format or content of full_path_to_module or the os.whatever operations; and using a catch-all except: clause is rarely a good idea.

                                                  – Chris Johnson
                                                  Jun 7 '13 at 19:17











                                                • You should use more "try-finally"s in here. E.g. save_cwd = os.getcwd() try: … finally: os.chdir(save_cwd)

                                                  – kay
                                                  Sep 21 '14 at 1:33








                                                • 9





                                                  @ChrisJohnson this is already addressed by the standard library yeah, but python has nasty habit of not being backward-compatible... as the checked answer says there're 2 different ways before and after 3.3. In that case I'd rather like to write my own universal function than check version on the fly. And yes, maybe this code isn't too well error-protected, but it shows an idea (which is os.chdir(), I haven't though about it), basing on which I can write a better code. Hence +1.

                                                  – Sushi271
                                                  May 15 '15 at 10:27


















                                                10














                                                def import_file(full_path_to_module):
                                                try:
                                                import os
                                                module_dir, module_file = os.path.split(full_path_to_module)
                                                module_name, module_ext = os.path.splitext(module_file)
                                                save_cwd = os.getcwd()
                                                os.chdir(module_dir)
                                                module_obj = __import__(module_name)
                                                module_obj.__file__ = full_path_to_module
                                                globals()[module_name] = module_obj
                                                os.chdir(save_cwd)
                                                except:
                                                raise ImportError

                                                import_file('/home/somebody/somemodule.py')





                                                share|improve this answer



















                                                • 36





                                                  Why write 14 lines of buggy code when this is already addressed by the standard library? You haven't done error checking on format or content of full_path_to_module or the os.whatever operations; and using a catch-all except: clause is rarely a good idea.

                                                  – Chris Johnson
                                                  Jun 7 '13 at 19:17











                                                • You should use more "try-finally"s in here. E.g. save_cwd = os.getcwd() try: … finally: os.chdir(save_cwd)

                                                  – kay
                                                  Sep 21 '14 at 1:33








                                                • 9





                                                  @ChrisJohnson this is already addressed by the standard library yeah, but python has nasty habit of not being backward-compatible... as the checked answer says there're 2 different ways before and after 3.3. In that case I'd rather like to write my own universal function than check version on the fly. And yes, maybe this code isn't too well error-protected, but it shows an idea (which is os.chdir(), I haven't though about it), basing on which I can write a better code. Hence +1.

                                                  – Sushi271
                                                  May 15 '15 at 10:27
















                                                10












                                                10








                                                10







                                                def import_file(full_path_to_module):
                                                try:
                                                import os
                                                module_dir, module_file = os.path.split(full_path_to_module)
                                                module_name, module_ext = os.path.splitext(module_file)
                                                save_cwd = os.getcwd()
                                                os.chdir(module_dir)
                                                module_obj = __import__(module_name)
                                                module_obj.__file__ = full_path_to_module
                                                globals()[module_name] = module_obj
                                                os.chdir(save_cwd)
                                                except:
                                                raise ImportError

                                                import_file('/home/somebody/somemodule.py')





                                                share|improve this answer













                                                def import_file(full_path_to_module):
                                                try:
                                                import os
                                                module_dir, module_file = os.path.split(full_path_to_module)
                                                module_name, module_ext = os.path.splitext(module_file)
                                                save_cwd = os.getcwd()
                                                os.chdir(module_dir)
                                                module_obj = __import__(module_name)
                                                module_obj.__file__ = full_path_to_module
                                                globals()[module_name] = module_obj
                                                os.chdir(save_cwd)
                                                except:
                                                raise ImportError

                                                import_file('/home/somebody/somemodule.py')






                                                share|improve this answer












                                                share|improve this answer



                                                share|improve this answer










                                                answered Sep 16 '08 at 1:43









                                                Chris CallowayChris Calloway

                                                1,0681712




                                                1,0681712








                                                • 36





                                                  Why write 14 lines of buggy code when this is already addressed by the standard library? You haven't done error checking on format or content of full_path_to_module or the os.whatever operations; and using a catch-all except: clause is rarely a good idea.

                                                  – Chris Johnson
                                                  Jun 7 '13 at 19:17











                                                • You should use more "try-finally"s in here. E.g. save_cwd = os.getcwd() try: … finally: os.chdir(save_cwd)

                                                  – kay
                                                  Sep 21 '14 at 1:33








                                                • 9





                                                  @ChrisJohnson this is already addressed by the standard library yeah, but python has nasty habit of not being backward-compatible... as the checked answer says there're 2 different ways before and after 3.3. In that case I'd rather like to write my own universal function than check version on the fly. And yes, maybe this code isn't too well error-protected, but it shows an idea (which is os.chdir(), I haven't though about it), basing on which I can write a better code. Hence +1.

                                                  – Sushi271
                                                  May 15 '15 at 10:27
















                                                • 36





                                                  Why write 14 lines of buggy code when this is already addressed by the standard library? You haven't done error checking on format or content of full_path_to_module or the os.whatever operations; and using a catch-all except: clause is rarely a good idea.

                                                  – Chris Johnson
                                                  Jun 7 '13 at 19:17











                                                • You should use more "try-finally"s in here. E.g. save_cwd = os.getcwd() try: … finally: os.chdir(save_cwd)

                                                  – kay
                                                  Sep 21 '14 at 1:33








                                                • 9





                                                  @ChrisJohnson this is already addressed by the standard library yeah, but python has nasty habit of not being backward-compatible... as the checked answer says there're 2 different ways before and after 3.3. In that case I'd rather like to write my own universal function than check version on the fly. And yes, maybe this code isn't too well error-protected, but it shows an idea (which is os.chdir(), I haven't though about it), basing on which I can write a better code. Hence +1.

                                                  – Sushi271
                                                  May 15 '15 at 10:27










                                                36




                                                36





                                                Why write 14 lines of buggy code when this is already addressed by the standard library? You haven't done error checking on format or content of full_path_to_module or the os.whatever operations; and using a catch-all except: clause is rarely a good idea.

                                                – Chris Johnson
                                                Jun 7 '13 at 19:17





                                                Why write 14 lines of buggy code when this is already addressed by the standard library? You haven't done error checking on format or content of full_path_to_module or the os.whatever operations; and using a catch-all except: clause is rarely a good idea.

                                                – Chris Johnson
                                                Jun 7 '13 at 19:17













                                                You should use more "try-finally"s in here. E.g. save_cwd = os.getcwd() try: … finally: os.chdir(save_cwd)

                                                – kay
                                                Sep 21 '14 at 1:33







                                                You should use more "try-finally"s in here. E.g. save_cwd = os.getcwd() try: … finally: os.chdir(save_cwd)

                                                – kay
                                                Sep 21 '14 at 1:33






                                                9




                                                9





                                                @ChrisJohnson this is already addressed by the standard library yeah, but python has nasty habit of not being backward-compatible... as the checked answer says there're 2 different ways before and after 3.3. In that case I'd rather like to write my own universal function than check version on the fly. And yes, maybe this code isn't too well error-protected, but it shows an idea (which is os.chdir(), I haven't though about it), basing on which I can write a better code. Hence +1.

                                                – Sushi271
                                                May 15 '15 at 10:27







                                                @ChrisJohnson this is already addressed by the standard library yeah, but python has nasty habit of not being backward-compatible... as the checked answer says there're 2 different ways before and after 3.3. In that case I'd rather like to write my own universal function than check version on the fly. And yes, maybe this code isn't too well error-protected, but it shows an idea (which is os.chdir(), I haven't though about it), basing on which I can write a better code. Hence +1.

                                                – Sushi271
                                                May 15 '15 at 10:27













                                                10














                                                Here is some code that works in all Python versions, from 2.7-3.5 and probably even others.



                                                config_file = "/tmp/config.py"
                                                with open(config_file) as f:
                                                code = compile(f.read(), config_file, 'exec')
                                                exec(code, globals(), locals())


                                                I tested it. It may be ugly but so far is the only one that works in all versions.






                                                share|improve this answer
























                                                • This answer worked for me where load_source did not because it imports the script and provides the script access to the modules and globals at the time of importing.

                                                  – Klik
                                                  Nov 22 '17 at 19:13
















                                                10














                                                Here is some code that works in all Python versions, from 2.7-3.5 and probably even others.



                                                config_file = "/tmp/config.py"
                                                with open(config_file) as f:
                                                code = compile(f.read(), config_file, 'exec')
                                                exec(code, globals(), locals())


                                                I tested it. It may be ugly but so far is the only one that works in all versions.






                                                share|improve this answer
























                                                • This answer worked for me where load_source did not because it imports the script and provides the script access to the modules and globals at the time of importing.

                                                  – Klik
                                                  Nov 22 '17 at 19:13














                                                10












                                                10








                                                10







                                                Here is some code that works in all Python versions, from 2.7-3.5 and probably even others.



                                                config_file = "/tmp/config.py"
                                                with open(config_file) as f:
                                                code = compile(f.read(), config_file, 'exec')
                                                exec(code, globals(), locals())


                                                I tested it. It may be ugly but so far is the only one that works in all versions.






                                                share|improve this answer













                                                Here is some code that works in all Python versions, from 2.7-3.5 and probably even others.



                                                config_file = "/tmp/config.py"
                                                with open(config_file) as f:
                                                code = compile(f.read(), config_file, 'exec')
                                                exec(code, globals(), locals())


                                                I tested it. It may be ugly but so far is the only one that works in all versions.







                                                share|improve this answer












                                                share|improve this answer



                                                share|improve this answer










                                                answered Jun 3 '16 at 10:04









                                                sorinsorin

                                                75.6k116372582




                                                75.6k116372582













                                                • This answer worked for me where load_source did not because it imports the script and provides the script access to the modules and globals at the time of importing.

                                                  – Klik
                                                  Nov 22 '17 at 19:13



















                                                • This answer worked for me where load_source did not because it imports the script and provides the script access to the modules and globals at the time of importing.

                                                  – Klik
                                                  Nov 22 '17 at 19:13

















                                                This answer worked for me where load_source did not because it imports the script and provides the script access to the modules and globals at the time of importing.

                                                – Klik
                                                Nov 22 '17 at 19:13





                                                This answer worked for me where load_source did not because it imports the script and provides the script access to the modules and globals at the time of importing.

                                                – Klik
                                                Nov 22 '17 at 19:13











                                                10














                                                Do you mean load or import?



                                                You can manipulate the sys.path list specify the path to your module, then import your module. For example, given a module at:



                                                /foo/bar.py


                                                You could do:



                                                import sys
                                                sys.path[0:0] = ['/foo'] # puts the /foo directory at the start of your path
                                                import bar





                                                share|improve this answer


























                                                • @Wheat Why sys.path[0:0] instead of sys.path[0]?

                                                  – user618677
                                                  Jan 9 '12 at 6:56






                                                • 4





                                                  B/c sys.path[0] = xy overwrites the first path item while path[0:0] =xy is equivalent to path.insert(0, xy)

                                                  – dom0
                                                  Nov 15 '12 at 14:16






                                                • 2





                                                  hm the path.insert worked for me but the [0:0] trick did not.

                                                  – jsh
                                                  Sep 30 '13 at 3:18






                                                • 10





                                                  sys.path[0:0] = ['/foo']

                                                  – Kevin Edwards
                                                  Apr 1 '15 at 17:00
















                                                10














                                                Do you mean load or import?



                                                You can manipulate the sys.path list specify the path to your module, then import your module. For example, given a module at:



                                                /foo/bar.py


                                                You could do:



                                                import sys
                                                sys.path[0:0] = ['/foo'] # puts the /foo directory at the start of your path
                                                import bar





                                                share|improve this answer


























                                                • @Wheat Why sys.path[0:0] instead of sys.path[0]?

                                                  – user618677
                                                  Jan 9 '12 at 6:56






                                                • 4





                                                  B/c sys.path[0] = xy overwrites the first path item while path[0:0] =xy is equivalent to path.insert(0, xy)

                                                  – dom0
                                                  Nov 15 '12 at 14:16






                                                • 2





                                                  hm the path.insert worked for me but the [0:0] trick did not.

                                                  – jsh
                                                  Sep 30 '13 at 3:18






                                                • 10





                                                  sys.path[0:0] = ['/foo']

                                                  – Kevin Edwards
                                                  Apr 1 '15 at 17:00














                                                10












                                                10








                                                10







                                                Do you mean load or import?



                                                You can manipulate the sys.path list specify the path to your module, then import your module. For example, given a module at:



                                                /foo/bar.py


                                                You could do:



                                                import sys
                                                sys.path[0:0] = ['/foo'] # puts the /foo directory at the start of your path
                                                import bar





                                                share|improve this answer















                                                Do you mean load or import?



                                                You can manipulate the sys.path list specify the path to your module, then import your module. For example, given a module at:



                                                /foo/bar.py


                                                You could do:



                                                import sys
                                                sys.path[0:0] = ['/foo'] # puts the /foo directory at the start of your path
                                                import bar






                                                share|improve this answer














                                                share|improve this answer



                                                share|improve this answer








                                                edited Dec 2 '18 at 1:05









                                                Jason Orendorff

                                                30.8k34984




                                                30.8k34984










                                                answered Sep 15 '08 at 22:46









                                                WheatWheat

                                                63239




                                                63239













                                                • @Wheat Why sys.path[0:0] instead of sys.path[0]?

                                                  – user618677
                                                  Jan 9 '12 at 6:56






                                                • 4





                                                  B/c sys.path[0] = xy overwrites the first path item while path[0:0] =xy is equivalent to path.insert(0, xy)

                                                  – dom0
                                                  Nov 15 '12 at 14:16






                                                • 2





                                                  hm the path.insert worked for me but the [0:0] trick did not.

                                                  – jsh
                                                  Sep 30 '13 at 3:18






                                                • 10





                                                  sys.path[0:0] = ['/foo']

                                                  – Kevin Edwards
                                                  Apr 1 '15 at 17:00



















                                                • @Wheat Why sys.path[0:0] instead of sys.path[0]?

                                                  – user618677
                                                  Jan 9 '12 at 6:56






                                                • 4





                                                  B/c sys.path[0] = xy overwrites the first path item while path[0:0] =xy is equivalent to path.insert(0, xy)

                                                  – dom0
                                                  Nov 15 '12 at 14:16






                                                • 2





                                                  hm the path.insert worked for me but the [0:0] trick did not.

                                                  – jsh
                                                  Sep 30 '13 at 3:18






                                                • 10





                                                  sys.path[0:0] = ['/foo']

                                                  – Kevin Edwards
                                                  Apr 1 '15 at 17:00

















                                                @Wheat Why sys.path[0:0] instead of sys.path[0]?

                                                – user618677
                                                Jan 9 '12 at 6:56





                                                @Wheat Why sys.path[0:0] instead of sys.path[0]?

                                                – user618677
                                                Jan 9 '12 at 6:56




                                                4




                                                4





                                                B/c sys.path[0] = xy overwrites the first path item while path[0:0] =xy is equivalent to path.insert(0, xy)

                                                – dom0
                                                Nov 15 '12 at 14:16





                                                B/c sys.path[0] = xy overwrites the first path item while path[0:0] =xy is equivalent to path.insert(0, xy)

                                                – dom0
                                                Nov 15 '12 at 14:16




                                                2




                                                2





                                                hm the path.insert worked for me but the [0:0] trick did not.

                                                – jsh
                                                Sep 30 '13 at 3:18





                                                hm the path.insert worked for me but the [0:0] trick did not.

                                                – jsh
                                                Sep 30 '13 at 3:18




                                                10




                                                10





                                                sys.path[0:0] = ['/foo']

                                                – Kevin Edwards
                                                Apr 1 '15 at 17:00





                                                sys.path[0:0] = ['/foo']

                                                – Kevin Edwards
                                                Apr 1 '15 at 17:00











                                                9














                                                If your top-level module is not a file but is packaged as a directory with __init__.py, then the accepted solution almost works, but not quite. In Python 3.5+ the following code is needed (note the added line that begins with 'sys.modules'):



                                                MODULE_PATH = "/path/to/your/module/__init__.py"
                                                MODULE_NAME = "mymodule"
                                                spec = importlib.util.spec_from_file_location(MODULE_NAME, MODULE_PATH)
                                                module = importlib.util.module_from_spec(spec)
                                                sys.modules[spec.name] = module
                                                spec.loader.exec_module(module)


                                                Without this line, when exec_module is executed, it tries to bind relative imports in your top level __init__.py to the top level module name -- in this case "mymodule". But "mymodule" isn't loaded yet so you'll get the error "SystemError: Parent module 'mymodule' not loaded, cannot perform relative import". So you need to bind the name before you load it. The reason for this is the fundamental invariant of the relative import system: "The invariant holding is that if you have sys.modules['spam'] and sys.modules['spam.foo'] (as you would after the above import), the latter must appear as the foo attribute of the former" as discussed here.






                                                share|improve this answer





















                                                • 1





                                                  This is exactly what I was missing! Thanks! (This also correctly answers Proper way to dynamically import a module with relative imports?)

                                                  – mforbes
                                                  Jul 14 '18 at 7:30













                                                • Any idea how to do this with python 2?

                                                  – mforbes
                                                  Jul 16 '18 at 0:57
















                                                9














                                                If your top-level module is not a file but is packaged as a directory with __init__.py, then the accepted solution almost works, but not quite. In Python 3.5+ the following code is needed (note the added line that begins with 'sys.modules'):



                                                MODULE_PATH = "/path/to/your/module/__init__.py"
                                                MODULE_NAME = "mymodule"
                                                spec = importlib.util.spec_from_file_location(MODULE_NAME, MODULE_PATH)
                                                module = importlib.util.module_from_spec(spec)
                                                sys.modules[spec.name] = module
                                                spec.loader.exec_module(module)


                                                Without this line, when exec_module is executed, it tries to bind relative imports in your top level __init__.py to the top level module name -- in this case "mymodule". But "mymodule" isn't loaded yet so you'll get the error "SystemError: Parent module 'mymodule' not loaded, cannot perform relative import". So you need to bind the name before you load it. The reason for this is the fundamental invariant of the relative import system: "The invariant holding is that if you have sys.modules['spam'] and sys.modules['spam.foo'] (as you would after the above import), the latter must appear as the foo attribute of the former" as discussed here.






                                                share|improve this answer





















                                                • 1





                                                  This is exactly what I was missing! Thanks! (This also correctly answers Proper way to dynamically import a module with relative imports?)

                                                  – mforbes
                                                  Jul 14 '18 at 7:30













                                                • Any idea how to do this with python 2?

                                                  – mforbes
                                                  Jul 16 '18 at 0:57














                                                9












                                                9








                                                9







                                                If your top-level module is not a file but is packaged as a directory with __init__.py, then the accepted solution almost works, but not quite. In Python 3.5+ the following code is needed (note the added line that begins with 'sys.modules'):



                                                MODULE_PATH = "/path/to/your/module/__init__.py"
                                                MODULE_NAME = "mymodule"
                                                spec = importlib.util.spec_from_file_location(MODULE_NAME, MODULE_PATH)
                                                module = importlib.util.module_from_spec(spec)
                                                sys.modules[spec.name] = module
                                                spec.loader.exec_module(module)


                                                Without this line, when exec_module is executed, it tries to bind relative imports in your top level __init__.py to the top level module name -- in this case "mymodule". But "mymodule" isn't loaded yet so you'll get the error "SystemError: Parent module 'mymodule' not loaded, cannot perform relative import". So you need to bind the name before you load it. The reason for this is the fundamental invariant of the relative import system: "The invariant holding is that if you have sys.modules['spam'] and sys.modules['spam.foo'] (as you would after the above import), the latter must appear as the foo attribute of the former" as discussed here.






                                                share|improve this answer















                                                If your top-level module is not a file but is packaged as a directory with __init__.py, then the accepted solution almost works, but not quite. In Python 3.5+ the following code is needed (note the added line that begins with 'sys.modules'):



                                                MODULE_PATH = "/path/to/your/module/__init__.py"
                                                MODULE_NAME = "mymodule"
                                                spec = importlib.util.spec_from_file_location(MODULE_NAME, MODULE_PATH)
                                                module = importlib.util.module_from_spec(spec)
                                                sys.modules[spec.name] = module
                                                spec.loader.exec_module(module)


                                                Without this line, when exec_module is executed, it tries to bind relative imports in your top level __init__.py to the top level module name -- in this case "mymodule". But "mymodule" isn't loaded yet so you'll get the error "SystemError: Parent module 'mymodule' not loaded, cannot perform relative import". So you need to bind the name before you load it. The reason for this is the fundamental invariant of the relative import system: "The invariant holding is that if you have sys.modules['spam'] and sys.modules['spam.foo'] (as you would after the above import), the latter must appear as the foo attribute of the former" as discussed here.







                                                share|improve this answer














                                                share|improve this answer



                                                share|improve this answer








                                                edited Oct 17 '18 at 16:49









                                                Hadrien TOMA

                                                8351221




                                                8351221










                                                answered May 17 '18 at 15:23









                                                Sam GrondahlSam Grondahl

                                                1,03611223




                                                1,03611223








                                                • 1





                                                  This is exactly what I was missing! Thanks! (This also correctly answers Proper way to dynamically import a module with relative imports?)

                                                  – mforbes
                                                  Jul 14 '18 at 7:30













                                                • Any idea how to do this with python 2?

                                                  – mforbes
                                                  Jul 16 '18 at 0:57














                                                • 1





                                                  This is exactly what I was missing! Thanks! (This also correctly answers Proper way to dynamically import a module with relative imports?)

                                                  – mforbes
                                                  Jul 14 '18 at 7:30













                                                • Any idea how to do this with python 2?

                                                  – mforbes
                                                  Jul 16 '18 at 0:57








                                                1




                                                1





                                                This is exactly what I was missing! Thanks! (This also correctly answers Proper way to dynamically import a module with relative imports?)

                                                – mforbes
                                                Jul 14 '18 at 7:30







                                                This is exactly what I was missing! Thanks! (This also correctly answers Proper way to dynamically import a module with relative imports?)

                                                – mforbes
                                                Jul 14 '18 at 7:30















                                                Any idea how to do this with python 2?

                                                – mforbes
                                                Jul 16 '18 at 0:57





                                                Any idea how to do this with python 2?

                                                – mforbes
                                                Jul 16 '18 at 0:57











                                                8














                                                I believe you can use imp.find_module() and imp.load_module() to load the specified module. You'll need to split the module name off of the path, i.e. if you wanted to load /home/mypath/mymodule.py you'd need to do:



                                                imp.find_module('mymodule', '/home/mypath/')


                                                ...but that should get the job done.






                                                share|improve this answer






























                                                  8














                                                  I believe you can use imp.find_module() and imp.load_module() to load the specified module. You'll need to split the module name off of the path, i.e. if you wanted to load /home/mypath/mymodule.py you'd need to do:



                                                  imp.find_module('mymodule', '/home/mypath/')


                                                  ...but that should get the job done.






                                                  share|improve this answer




























                                                    8












                                                    8








                                                    8







                                                    I believe you can use imp.find_module() and imp.load_module() to load the specified module. You'll need to split the module name off of the path, i.e. if you wanted to load /home/mypath/mymodule.py you'd need to do:



                                                    imp.find_module('mymodule', '/home/mypath/')


                                                    ...but that should get the job done.






                                                    share|improve this answer















                                                    I believe you can use imp.find_module() and imp.load_module() to load the specified module. You'll need to split the module name off of the path, i.e. if you wanted to load /home/mypath/mymodule.py you'd need to do:



                                                    imp.find_module('mymodule', '/home/mypath/')


                                                    ...but that should get the job done.







                                                    share|improve this answer














                                                    share|improve this answer



                                                    share|improve this answer








                                                    edited Jan 2 '15 at 11:08









                                                    Mathieu Rodic

                                                    4,82522940




                                                    4,82522940










                                                    answered Sep 15 '08 at 22:37









                                                    MattMatt

                                                    1313




                                                    1313























                                                        7














                                                        To import your module, you need to add its directory to the environment variable, either temporarily or permanently.



                                                        Temporarily



                                                        import sys
                                                        sys.path.append("/path/to/my/modules/")
                                                        import my_module


                                                        Permanently



                                                        Adding the following line to your .bashrc file (in linux) and excecute source ~/.bashrc in the terminal:



                                                        export PYTHONPATH="${PYTHONPATH}:/path/to/my/modules/"


                                                        Credit/Source: saarrrr, another stackexchange question






                                                        share|improve this answer
























                                                        • This "temp" solution is a great answer if you want to prod a project around in a jupyter notebook elsewhere.

                                                          – fordy
                                                          Nov 16 '18 at 17:20
















                                                        7














                                                        To import your module, you need to add its directory to the environment variable, either temporarily or permanently.



                                                        Temporarily



                                                        import sys
                                                        sys.path.append("/path/to/my/modules/")
                                                        import my_module


                                                        Permanently



                                                        Adding the following line to your .bashrc file (in linux) and excecute source ~/.bashrc in the terminal:



                                                        export PYTHONPATH="${PYTHONPATH}:/path/to/my/modules/"


                                                        Credit/Source: saarrrr, another stackexchange question






                                                        share|improve this answer
























                                                        • This "temp" solution is a great answer if you want to prod a project around in a jupyter notebook elsewhere.

                                                          – fordy
                                                          Nov 16 '18 at 17:20














                                                        7












                                                        7








                                                        7







                                                        To import your module, you need to add its directory to the environment variable, either temporarily or permanently.



                                                        Temporarily



                                                        import sys
                                                        sys.path.append("/path/to/my/modules/")
                                                        import my_module


                                                        Permanently



                                                        Adding the following line to your .bashrc file (in linux) and excecute source ~/.bashrc in the terminal:



                                                        export PYTHONPATH="${PYTHONPATH}:/path/to/my/modules/"


                                                        Credit/Source: saarrrr, another stackexchange question






                                                        share|improve this answer













                                                        To import your module, you need to add its directory to the environment variable, either temporarily or permanently.



                                                        Temporarily



                                                        import sys
                                                        sys.path.append("/path/to/my/modules/")
                                                        import my_module


                                                        Permanently



                                                        Adding the following line to your .bashrc file (in linux) and excecute source ~/.bashrc in the terminal:



                                                        export PYTHONPATH="${PYTHONPATH}:/path/to/my/modules/"


                                                        Credit/Source: saarrrr, another stackexchange question







                                                        share|improve this answer












                                                        share|improve this answer



                                                        share|improve this answer










                                                        answered Nov 15 '18 at 2:30









                                                        MiladioussMiladiouss

                                                        620615




                                                        620615













                                                        • This "temp" solution is a great answer if you want to prod a project around in a jupyter notebook elsewhere.

                                                          – fordy
                                                          Nov 16 '18 at 17:20



















                                                        • This "temp" solution is a great answer if you want to prod a project around in a jupyter notebook elsewhere.

                                                          – fordy
                                                          Nov 16 '18 at 17:20

















                                                        This "temp" solution is a great answer if you want to prod a project around in a jupyter notebook elsewhere.

                                                        – fordy
                                                        Nov 16 '18 at 17:20





                                                        This "temp" solution is a great answer if you want to prod a project around in a jupyter notebook elsewhere.

                                                        – fordy
                                                        Nov 16 '18 at 17:20











                                                        3














                                                        This should work



                                                        path = os.path.join('./path/to/folder/with/py/files', '*.py')
                                                        for infile in glob.glob(path):
                                                        basename = os.path.basename(infile)
                                                        basename_without_extension = basename[:-3]

                                                        # http://docs.python.org/library/imp.html?highlight=imp#module-imp
                                                        imp.load_source(basename_without_extension, infile)





                                                        share|improve this answer





















                                                        • 4





                                                          A more general way to cut the extension out is: name, ext = os.path.splitext(os.path.basename(infile)). Your method works because the previous restriction to .py extension. Also, you should probably import the module to some variable/dictionary entry.

                                                          – ReneSac
                                                          Dec 6 '12 at 13:16


















                                                        3














                                                        This should work



                                                        path = os.path.join('./path/to/folder/with/py/files', '*.py')
                                                        for infile in glob.glob(path):
                                                        basename = os.path.basename(infile)
                                                        basename_without_extension = basename[:-3]

                                                        # http://docs.python.org/library/imp.html?highlight=imp#module-imp
                                                        imp.load_source(basename_without_extension, infile)





                                                        share|improve this answer





















                                                        • 4





                                                          A more general way to cut the extension out is: name, ext = os.path.splitext(os.path.basename(infile)). Your method works because the previous restriction to .py extension. Also, you should probably import the module to some variable/dictionary entry.

                                                          – ReneSac
                                                          Dec 6 '12 at 13:16
















                                                        3












                                                        3








                                                        3







                                                        This should work



                                                        path = os.path.join('./path/to/folder/with/py/files', '*.py')
                                                        for infile in glob.glob(path):
                                                        basename = os.path.basename(infile)
                                                        basename_without_extension = basename[:-3]

                                                        # http://docs.python.org/library/imp.html?highlight=imp#module-imp
                                                        imp.load_source(basename_without_extension, infile)





                                                        share|improve this answer















                                                        This should work



                                                        path = os.path.join('./path/to/folder/with/py/files', '*.py')
                                                        for infile in glob.glob(path):
                                                        basename = os.path.basename(infile)
                                                        basename_without_extension = basename[:-3]

                                                        # http://docs.python.org/library/imp.html?highlight=imp#module-imp
                                                        imp.load_source(basename_without_extension, infile)






                                                        share|improve this answer














                                                        share|improve this answer



                                                        share|improve this answer








                                                        edited Jan 4 '12 at 4:28









                                                        joran

                                                        135k19326382




                                                        135k19326382










                                                        answered Jan 4 '12 at 2:17









                                                        HengjieHengjie

                                                        3,5692434




                                                        3,5692434








                                                        • 4





                                                          A more general way to cut the extension out is: name, ext = os.path.splitext(os.path.basename(infile)). Your method works because the previous restriction to .py extension. Also, you should probably import the module to some variable/dictionary entry.

                                                          – ReneSac
                                                          Dec 6 '12 at 13:16
















                                                        • 4





                                                          A more general way to cut the extension out is: name, ext = os.path.splitext(os.path.basename(infile)). Your method works because the previous restriction to .py extension. Also, you should probably import the module to some variable/dictionary entry.

                                                          – ReneSac
                                                          Dec 6 '12 at 13:16










                                                        4




                                                        4





                                                        A more general way to cut the extension out is: name, ext = os.path.splitext(os.path.basename(infile)). Your method works because the previous restriction to .py extension. Also, you should probably import the module to some variable/dictionary entry.

                                                        – ReneSac
                                                        Dec 6 '12 at 13:16







                                                        A more general way to cut the extension out is: name, ext = os.path.splitext(os.path.basename(infile)). Your method works because the previous restriction to .py extension. Also, you should probably import the module to some variable/dictionary entry.

                                                        – ReneSac
                                                        Dec 6 '12 at 13:16













                                                        3














                                                        This area of Python 3.4 seems to be extremely tortuous to understand! However with a bit of hacking using the code from Chris Calloway as a start I managed to get something working. Here's the basic function.



                                                        def import_module_from_file(full_path_to_module):
                                                        """
                                                        Import a module given the full path/filename of the .py file

                                                        Python 3.4

                                                        """

                                                        module = None

                                                        try:

                                                        # Get module name and path from full path
                                                        module_dir, module_file = os.path.split(full_path_to_module)
                                                        module_name, module_ext = os.path.splitext(module_file)

                                                        # Get module "spec" from filename
                                                        spec = importlib.util.spec_from_file_location(module_name,full_path_to_module)

                                                        module = spec.loader.load_module()

                                                        except Exception as ec:
                                                        # Simple error printing
                                                        # Insert "sophisticated" stuff here
                                                        print(ec)

                                                        finally:
                                                        return module


                                                        This appears to use non-deprecated modules from Python 3.4. I don't pretend to understand why, but it seems to work from within a program. I found Chris' solution worked on the command line but not from inside a program.






                                                        share|improve this answer




























                                                          3














                                                          This area of Python 3.4 seems to be extremely tortuous to understand! However with a bit of hacking using the code from Chris Calloway as a start I managed to get something working. Here's the basic function.



                                                          def import_module_from_file(full_path_to_module):
                                                          """
                                                          Import a module given the full path/filename of the .py file

                                                          Python 3.4

                                                          """

                                                          module = None

                                                          try:

                                                          # Get module name and path from full path
                                                          module_dir, module_file = os.path.split(full_path_to_module)
                                                          module_name, module_ext = os.path.splitext(module_file)

                                                          # Get module "spec" from filename
                                                          spec = importlib.util.spec_from_file_location(module_name,full_path_to_module)

                                                          module = spec.loader.load_module()

                                                          except Exception as ec:
                                                          # Simple error printing
                                                          # Insert "sophisticated" stuff here
                                                          print(ec)

                                                          finally:
                                                          return module


                                                          This appears to use non-deprecated modules from Python 3.4. I don't pretend to understand why, but it seems to work from within a program. I found Chris' solution worked on the command line but not from inside a program.






                                                          share|improve this answer


























                                                            3












                                                            3








                                                            3







                                                            This area of Python 3.4 seems to be extremely tortuous to understand! However with a bit of hacking using the code from Chris Calloway as a start I managed to get something working. Here's the basic function.



                                                            def import_module_from_file(full_path_to_module):
                                                            """
                                                            Import a module given the full path/filename of the .py file

                                                            Python 3.4

                                                            """

                                                            module = None

                                                            try:

                                                            # Get module name and path from full path
                                                            module_dir, module_file = os.path.split(full_path_to_module)
                                                            module_name, module_ext = os.path.splitext(module_file)

                                                            # Get module "spec" from filename
                                                            spec = importlib.util.spec_from_file_location(module_name,full_path_to_module)

                                                            module = spec.loader.load_module()

                                                            except Exception as ec:
                                                            # Simple error printing
                                                            # Insert "sophisticated" stuff here
                                                            print(ec)

                                                            finally:
                                                            return module


                                                            This appears to use non-deprecated modules from Python 3.4. I don't pretend to understand why, but it seems to work from within a program. I found Chris' solution worked on the command line but not from inside a program.






                                                            share|improve this answer













                                                            This area of Python 3.4 seems to be extremely tortuous to understand! However with a bit of hacking using the code from Chris Calloway as a start I managed to get something working. Here's the basic function.



                                                            def import_module_from_file(full_path_to_module):
                                                            """
                                                            Import a module given the full path/filename of the .py file

                                                            Python 3.4

                                                            """

                                                            module = None

                                                            try:

                                                            # Get module name and path from full path
                                                            module_dir, module_file = os.path.split(full_path_to_module)
                                                            module_name, module_ext = os.path.splitext(module_file)

                                                            # Get module "spec" from filename
                                                            spec = importlib.util.spec_from_file_location(module_name,full_path_to_module)

                                                            module = spec.loader.load_module()

                                                            except Exception as ec:
                                                            # Simple error printing
                                                            # Insert "sophisticated" stuff here
                                                            print(ec)

                                                            finally:
                                                            return module


                                                            This appears to use non-deprecated modules from Python 3.4. I don't pretend to understand why, but it seems to work from within a program. I found Chris' solution worked on the command line but not from inside a program.







                                                            share|improve this answer












                                                            share|improve this answer



                                                            share|improve this answer










                                                            answered Apr 12 '15 at 12:22









                                                            RedlegjedRedlegjed

                                                            311




                                                            311























                                                                3














                                                                I'm not saying that it is better, but for the sake of completeness, I wanted to suggest the exec function, available in both python 2 and 3.
                                                                exec allows you to execute arbitrary code in either the global scope, or in an internal scope, provided as a dictionary.



                                                                For example, if you have a module stored in "/path/to/module" with the function foo(), you could run it by doing the following:



                                                                module = dict()
                                                                with open("/path/to/module") as f:
                                                                exec(f.read(), module)
                                                                module['foo']()


                                                                This makes it a bit more explicit that you're loading code dynamically, and grants you some additional power, such as the ability to provide custom builtins.



                                                                And if having access through attributes, instead of keys is important to you, you can design a custom dict class for the globals, that provides such access, e.g.:



                                                                class MyModuleClass(dict):
                                                                def __getattr__(self, name):
                                                                return self.__getitem__(name)





                                                                share|improve this answer



















                                                                • 2





                                                                  execfile(), also

                                                                  – crowder
                                                                  Jun 20 '15 at 4:13
















                                                                3














                                                                I'm not saying that it is better, but for the sake of completeness, I wanted to suggest the exec function, available in both python 2 and 3.
                                                                exec allows you to execute arbitrary code in either the global scope, or in an internal scope, provided as a dictionary.



                                                                For example, if you have a module stored in "/path/to/module" with the function foo(), you could run it by doing the following:



                                                                module = dict()
                                                                with open("/path/to/module") as f:
                                                                exec(f.read(), module)
                                                                module['foo']()


                                                                This makes it a bit more explicit that you're loading code dynamically, and grants you some additional power, such as the ability to provide custom builtins.



                                                                And if having access through attributes, instead of keys is important to you, you can design a custom dict class for the globals, that provides such access, e.g.:



                                                                class MyModuleClass(dict):
                                                                def __getattr__(self, name):
                                                                return self.__getitem__(name)





                                                                share|improve this answer



















                                                                • 2





                                                                  execfile(), also

                                                                  – crowder
                                                                  Jun 20 '15 at 4:13














                                                                3












                                                                3








                                                                3







                                                                I'm not saying that it is better, but for the sake of completeness, I wanted to suggest the exec function, available in both python 2 and 3.
                                                                exec allows you to execute arbitrary code in either the global scope, or in an internal scope, provided as a dictionary.



                                                                For example, if you have a module stored in "/path/to/module" with the function foo(), you could run it by doing the following:



                                                                module = dict()
                                                                with open("/path/to/module") as f:
                                                                exec(f.read(), module)
                                                                module['foo']()


                                                                This makes it a bit more explicit that you're loading code dynamically, and grants you some additional power, such as the ability to provide custom builtins.



                                                                And if having access through attributes, instead of keys is important to you, you can design a custom dict class for the globals, that provides such access, e.g.:



                                                                class MyModuleClass(dict):
                                                                def __getattr__(self, name):
                                                                return self.__getitem__(name)





                                                                share|improve this answer













                                                                I'm not saying that it is better, but for the sake of completeness, I wanted to suggest the exec function, available in both python 2 and 3.
                                                                exec allows you to execute arbitrary code in either the global scope, or in an internal scope, provided as a dictionary.



                                                                For example, if you have a module stored in "/path/to/module" with the function foo(), you could run it by doing the following:



                                                                module = dict()
                                                                with open("/path/to/module") as f:
                                                                exec(f.read(), module)
                                                                module['foo']()


                                                                This makes it a bit more explicit that you're loading code dynamically, and grants you some additional power, such as the ability to provide custom builtins.



                                                                And if having access through attributes, instead of keys is important to you, you can design a custom dict class for the globals, that provides such access, e.g.:



                                                                class MyModuleClass(dict):
                                                                def __getattr__(self, name):
                                                                return self.__getitem__(name)






                                                                share|improve this answer












                                                                share|improve this answer



                                                                share|improve this answer










                                                                answered Jun 2 '15 at 19:57









                                                                yoniLaviyoniLavi

                                                                1,3861622




                                                                1,3861622








                                                                • 2





                                                                  execfile(), also

                                                                  – crowder
                                                                  Jun 20 '15 at 4:13














                                                                • 2





                                                                  execfile(), also

                                                                  – crowder
                                                                  Jun 20 '15 at 4:13








                                                                2




                                                                2





                                                                execfile(), also

                                                                – crowder
                                                                Jun 20 '15 at 4:13





                                                                execfile(), also

                                                                – crowder
                                                                Jun 20 '15 at 4:13











                                                                3














                                                                To import a module from a given filename, you can temporarily extend the path, and restore the system path in the finally block reference:



                                                                filename = "directory/module.py"

                                                                directory, module_name = os.path.split(filename)
                                                                module_name = os.path.splitext(module_name)[0]

                                                                path = list(sys.path)
                                                                sys.path.insert(0, directory)
                                                                try:
                                                                module = __import__(module_name)
                                                                finally:
                                                                sys.path[:] = path # restore





                                                                share|improve this answer




























                                                                  3














                                                                  To import a module from a given filename, you can temporarily extend the path, and restore the system path in the finally block reference:



                                                                  filename = "directory/module.py"

                                                                  directory, module_name = os.path.split(filename)
                                                                  module_name = os.path.splitext(module_name)[0]

                                                                  path = list(sys.path)
                                                                  sys.path.insert(0, directory)
                                                                  try:
                                                                  module = __import__(module_name)
                                                                  finally:
                                                                  sys.path[:] = path # restore





                                                                  share|improve this answer


























                                                                    3












                                                                    3








                                                                    3







                                                                    To import a module from a given filename, you can temporarily extend the path, and restore the system path in the finally block reference:



                                                                    filename = "directory/module.py"

                                                                    directory, module_name = os.path.split(filename)
                                                                    module_name = os.path.splitext(module_name)[0]

                                                                    path = list(sys.path)
                                                                    sys.path.insert(0, directory)
                                                                    try:
                                                                    module = __import__(module_name)
                                                                    finally:
                                                                    sys.path[:] = path # restore





                                                                    share|improve this answer













                                                                    To import a module from a given filename, you can temporarily extend the path, and restore the system path in the finally block reference:



                                                                    filename = "directory/module.py"

                                                                    directory, module_name = os.path.split(filename)
                                                                    module_name = os.path.splitext(module_name)[0]

                                                                    path = list(sys.path)
                                                                    sys.path.insert(0, directory)
                                                                    try:
                                                                    module = __import__(module_name)
                                                                    finally:
                                                                    sys.path[:] = path # restore






                                                                    share|improve this answer












                                                                    share|improve this answer



                                                                    share|improve this answer










                                                                    answered Oct 2 '15 at 11:14









                                                                    Peter ZhuPeter Zhu

                                                                    709921




                                                                    709921























                                                                        2














                                                                        I made a package that uses imp for you. I call it import_file and this is how it's used:



                                                                        >>>from import_file import import_file
                                                                        >>>mylib = import_file('c:\mylib.py')
                                                                        >>>another = import_file('relative_subdir/another.py')


                                                                        You can get it at:



                                                                        http://pypi.python.org/pypi/import_file



                                                                        or at



                                                                        http://code.google.com/p/import-file/






                                                                        share|improve this answer



















                                                                        • 1





                                                                          os.chdir ? (minimal characters to approve comment).

                                                                          – ychaouche
                                                                          Oct 14 '12 at 10:46











                                                                        • I've spent all day troubleshooting an import bug in a pyinstaller generated exe. In the end this is the only thing that worked for me. Thank you so much for making this!

                                                                          – frakman1
                                                                          Nov 29 '18 at 22:12
















                                                                        2














                                                                        I made a package that uses imp for you. I call it import_file and this is how it's used:



                                                                        >>>from import_file import import_file
                                                                        >>>mylib = import_file('c:\mylib.py')
                                                                        >>>another = import_file('relative_subdir/another.py')


                                                                        You can get it at:



                                                                        http://pypi.python.org/pypi/import_file



                                                                        or at



                                                                        http://code.google.com/p/import-file/






                                                                        share|improve this answer



















                                                                        • 1





                                                                          os.chdir ? (minimal characters to approve comment).

                                                                          – ychaouche
                                                                          Oct 14 '12 at 10:46











                                                                        • I've spent all day troubleshooting an import bug in a pyinstaller generated exe. In the end this is the only thing that worked for me. Thank you so much for making this!

                                                                          – frakman1
                                                                          Nov 29 '18 at 22:12














                                                                        2












                                                                        2








                                                                        2







                                                                        I made a package that uses imp for you. I call it import_file and this is how it's used:



                                                                        >>>from import_file import import_file
                                                                        >>>mylib = import_file('c:\mylib.py')
                                                                        >>>another = import_file('relative_subdir/another.py')


                                                                        You can get it at:



                                                                        http://pypi.python.org/pypi/import_file



                                                                        or at



                                                                        http://code.google.com/p/import-file/






                                                                        share|improve this answer













                                                                        I made a package that uses imp for you. I call it import_file and this is how it's used:



                                                                        >>>from import_file import import_file
                                                                        >>>mylib = import_file('c:\mylib.py')
                                                                        >>>another = import_file('relative_subdir/another.py')


                                                                        You can get it at:



                                                                        http://pypi.python.org/pypi/import_file



                                                                        or at



                                                                        http://code.google.com/p/import-file/







                                                                        share|improve this answer












                                                                        share|improve this answer



                                                                        share|improve this answer










                                                                        answered Jun 8 '11 at 19:41









                                                                        ubershmekelubershmekel

                                                                        5,49724665




                                                                        5,49724665








                                                                        • 1





                                                                          os.chdir ? (minimal characters to approve comment).

                                                                          – ychaouche
                                                                          Oct 14 '12 at 10:46











                                                                        • I've spent all day troubleshooting an import bug in a pyinstaller generated exe. In the end this is the only thing that worked for me. Thank you so much for making this!

                                                                          – frakman1
                                                                          Nov 29 '18 at 22:12














                                                                        • 1





                                                                          os.chdir ? (minimal characters to approve comment).

                                                                          – ychaouche
                                                                          Oct 14 '12 at 10:46











                                                                        • I've spent all day troubleshooting an import bug in a pyinstaller generated exe. In the end this is the only thing that worked for me. Thank you so much for making this!

                                                                          – frakman1
                                                                          Nov 29 '18 at 22:12








                                                                        1




                                                                        1





                                                                        os.chdir ? (minimal characters to approve comment).

                                                                        – ychaouche
                                                                        Oct 14 '12 at 10:46





                                                                        os.chdir ? (minimal characters to approve comment).

                                                                        – ychaouche
                                                                        Oct 14 '12 at 10:46













                                                                        I've spent all day troubleshooting an import bug in a pyinstaller generated exe. In the end this is the only thing that worked for me. Thank you so much for making this!

                                                                        – frakman1
                                                                        Nov 29 '18 at 22:12





                                                                        I've spent all day troubleshooting an import bug in a pyinstaller generated exe. In the end this is the only thing that worked for me. Thank you so much for making this!

                                                                        – frakman1
                                                                        Nov 29 '18 at 22:12











                                                                        2














                                                                        Import package modules at runtime (Python recipe)



                                                                        http://code.activestate.com/recipes/223972/



                                                                        ###################
                                                                        ## #
                                                                        ## classloader.py #
                                                                        ## #
                                                                        ###################

                                                                        import sys, types

                                                                        def _get_mod(modulePath):
                                                                        try:
                                                                        aMod = sys.modules[modulePath]
                                                                        if not isinstance(aMod, types.ModuleType):
                                                                        raise KeyError
                                                                        except KeyError:
                                                                        # The last [''] is very important!
                                                                        aMod = __import__(modulePath, globals(), locals(), [''])
                                                                        sys.modules[modulePath] = aMod
                                                                        return aMod

                                                                        def _get_func(fullFuncName):
                                                                        """Retrieve a function object from a full dotted-package name."""

                                                                        # Parse out the path, module, and function
                                                                        lastDot = fullFuncName.rfind(u".")
                                                                        funcName = fullFuncName[lastDot + 1:]
                                                                        modPath = fullFuncName[:lastDot]

                                                                        aMod = _get_mod(modPath)
                                                                        aFunc = getattr(aMod, funcName)

                                                                        # Assert that the function is a *callable* attribute.
                                                                        assert callable(aFunc), u"%s is not callable." % fullFuncName

                                                                        # Return a reference to the function itself,
                                                                        # not the results of the function.
                                                                        return aFunc

                                                                        def _get_class(fullClassName, parentClass=None):
                                                                        """Load a module and retrieve a class (NOT an instance).

                                                                        If the parentClass is supplied, className must be of parentClass
                                                                        or a subclass of parentClass (or None is returned).
                                                                        """
                                                                        aClass = _get_func(fullClassName)

                                                                        # Assert that the class is a subclass of parentClass.
                                                                        if parentClass is not None:
                                                                        if not issubclass(aClass, parentClass):
                                                                        raise TypeError(u"%s is not a subclass of %s" %
                                                                        (fullClassName, parentClass))

                                                                        # Return a reference to the class itself, not an instantiated object.
                                                                        return aClass


                                                                        ######################
                                                                        ## Usage ##
                                                                        ######################

                                                                        class StorageManager: pass
                                                                        class StorageManagerMySQL(StorageManager): pass

                                                                        def storage_object(aFullClassName, allOptions={}):
                                                                        aStoreClass = _get_class(aFullClassName, StorageManager)
                                                                        return aStoreClass(allOptions)





                                                                        share|improve this answer






























                                                                          2














                                                                          Import package modules at runtime (Python recipe)



                                                                          http://code.activestate.com/recipes/223972/



                                                                          ###################
                                                                          ## #
                                                                          ## classloader.py #
                                                                          ## #
                                                                          ###################

                                                                          import sys, types

                                                                          def _get_mod(modulePath):
                                                                          try:
                                                                          aMod = sys.modules[modulePath]
                                                                          if not isinstance(aMod, types.ModuleType):
                                                                          raise KeyError
                                                                          except KeyError:
                                                                          # The last [''] is very important!
                                                                          aMod = __import__(modulePath, globals(), locals(), [''])
                                                                          sys.modules[modulePath] = aMod
                                                                          return aMod

                                                                          def _get_func(fullFuncName):
                                                                          """Retrieve a function object from a full dotted-package name."""

                                                                          # Parse out the path, module, and function
                                                                          lastDot = fullFuncName.rfind(u".")
                                                                          funcName = fullFuncName[lastDot + 1:]
                                                                          modPath = fullFuncName[:lastDot]

                                                                          aMod = _get_mod(modPath)
                                                                          aFunc = getattr(aMod, funcName)

                                                                          # Assert that the function is a *callable* attribute.
                                                                          assert callable(aFunc), u"%s is not callable." % fullFuncName

                                                                          # Return a reference to the function itself,
                                                                          # not the results of the function.
                                                                          return aFunc

                                                                          def _get_class(fullClassName, parentClass=None):
                                                                          """Load a module and retrieve a class (NOT an instance).

                                                                          If the parentClass is supplied, className must be of parentClass
                                                                          or a subclass of parentClass (or None is returned).
                                                                          """
                                                                          aClass = _get_func(fullClassName)

                                                                          # Assert that the class is a subclass of parentClass.
                                                                          if parentClass is not None:
                                                                          if not issubclass(aClass, parentClass):
                                                                          raise TypeError(u"%s is not a subclass of %s" %
                                                                          (fullClassName, parentClass))

                                                                          # Return a reference to the class itself, not an instantiated object.
                                                                          return aClass


                                                                          ######################
                                                                          ## Usage ##
                                                                          ######################

                                                                          class StorageManager: pass
                                                                          class StorageManagerMySQL(StorageManager): pass

                                                                          def storage_object(aFullClassName, allOptions={}):
                                                                          aStoreClass = _get_class(aFullClassName, StorageManager)
                                                                          return aStoreClass(allOptions)





                                                                          share|improve this answer




























                                                                            2












                                                                            2








                                                                            2







                                                                            Import package modules at runtime (Python recipe)



                                                                            http://code.activestate.com/recipes/223972/



                                                                            ###################
                                                                            ## #
                                                                            ## classloader.py #
                                                                            ## #
                                                                            ###################

                                                                            import sys, types

                                                                            def _get_mod(modulePath):
                                                                            try:
                                                                            aMod = sys.modules[modulePath]
                                                                            if not isinstance(aMod, types.ModuleType):
                                                                            raise KeyError
                                                                            except KeyError:
                                                                            # The last [''] is very important!
                                                                            aMod = __import__(modulePath, globals(), locals(), [''])
                                                                            sys.modules[modulePath] = aMod
                                                                            return aMod

                                                                            def _get_func(fullFuncName):
                                                                            """Retrieve a function object from a full dotted-package name."""

                                                                            # Parse out the path, module, and function
                                                                            lastDot = fullFuncName.rfind(u".")
                                                                            funcName = fullFuncName[lastDot + 1:]
                                                                            modPath = fullFuncName[:lastDot]

                                                                            aMod = _get_mod(modPath)
                                                                            aFunc = getattr(aMod, funcName)

                                                                            # Assert that the function is a *callable* attribute.
                                                                            assert callable(aFunc), u"%s is not callable." % fullFuncName

                                                                            # Return a reference to the function itself,
                                                                            # not the results of the function.
                                                                            return aFunc

                                                                            def _get_class(fullClassName, parentClass=None):
                                                                            """Load a module and retrieve a class (NOT an instance).

                                                                            If the parentClass is supplied, className must be of parentClass
                                                                            or a subclass of parentClass (or None is returned).
                                                                            """
                                                                            aClass = _get_func(fullClassName)

                                                                            # Assert that the class is a subclass of parentClass.
                                                                            if parentClass is not None:
                                                                            if not issubclass(aClass, parentClass):
                                                                            raise TypeError(u"%s is not a subclass of %s" %
                                                                            (fullClassName, parentClass))

                                                                            # Return a reference to the class itself, not an instantiated object.
                                                                            return aClass


                                                                            ######################
                                                                            ## Usage ##
                                                                            ######################

                                                                            class StorageManager: pass
                                                                            class StorageManagerMySQL(StorageManager): pass

                                                                            def storage_object(aFullClassName, allOptions={}):
                                                                            aStoreClass = _get_class(aFullClassName, StorageManager)
                                                                            return aStoreClass(allOptions)





                                                                            share|improve this answer















                                                                            Import package modules at runtime (Python recipe)



                                                                            http://code.activestate.com/recipes/223972/



                                                                            ###################
                                                                            ## #
                                                                            ## classloader.py #
                                                                            ## #
                                                                            ###################

                                                                            import sys, types

                                                                            def _get_mod(modulePath):
                                                                            try:
                                                                            aMod = sys.modules[modulePath]
                                                                            if not isinstance(aMod, types.ModuleType):
                                                                            raise KeyError
                                                                            except KeyError:
                                                                            # The last [''] is very important!
                                                                            aMod = __import__(modulePath, globals(), locals(), [''])
                                                                            sys.modules[modulePath] = aMod
                                                                            return aMod

                                                                            def _get_func(fullFuncName):
                                                                            """Retrieve a function object from a full dotted-package name."""

                                                                            # Parse out the path, module, and function
                                                                            lastDot = fullFuncName.rfind(u".")
                                                                            funcName = fullFuncName[lastDot + 1:]
                                                                            modPath = fullFuncName[:lastDot]

                                                                            aMod = _get_mod(modPath)
                                                                            aFunc = getattr(aMod, funcName)

                                                                            # Assert that the function is a *callable* attribute.
                                                                            assert callable(aFunc), u"%s is not callable." % fullFuncName

                                                                            # Return a reference to the function itself,
                                                                            # not the results of the function.
                                                                            return aFunc

                                                                            def _get_class(fullClassName, parentClass=None):
                                                                            """Load a module and retrieve a class (NOT an instance).

                                                                            If the parentClass is supplied, className must be of parentClass
                                                                            or a subclass of parentClass (or None is returned).
                                                                            """
                                                                            aClass = _get_func(fullClassName)

                                                                            # Assert that the class is a subclass of parentClass.
                                                                            if parentClass is not None:
                                                                            if not issubclass(aClass, parentClass):
                                                                            raise TypeError(u"%s is not a subclass of %s" %
                                                                            (fullClassName, parentClass))

                                                                            # Return a reference to the class itself, not an instantiated object.
                                                                            return aClass


                                                                            ######################
                                                                            ## Usage ##
                                                                            ######################

                                                                            class StorageManager: pass
                                                                            class StorageManagerMySQL(StorageManager): pass

                                                                            def storage_object(aFullClassName, allOptions={}):
                                                                            aStoreClass = _get_class(aFullClassName, StorageManager)
                                                                            return aStoreClass(allOptions)






                                                                            share|improve this answer














                                                                            share|improve this answer



                                                                            share|improve this answer








                                                                            edited Dec 22 '13 at 2:17









                                                                            Eric Leschinski

                                                                            88.4k40324279




                                                                            88.4k40324279










                                                                            answered Sep 15 '08 at 22:43









                                                                            user10370user10370

                                                                            371




                                                                            371























                                                                                2














                                                                                You can use the pkgutil module (specifically the walk_packages method) to get a list of the packages in the current directory. From there it's trivial to use the importlib machinery to import the modules you want:



                                                                                import pkgutil
                                                                                import importlib

                                                                                packages = pkgutil.walk_packages(path='.')
                                                                                for importer, name, is_package in packages:
                                                                                mod = importlib.import_module(name)
                                                                                # do whatever you want with module now, it's been imported!





                                                                                share|improve this answer






























                                                                                  2














                                                                                  You can use the pkgutil module (specifically the walk_packages method) to get a list of the packages in the current directory. From there it's trivial to use the importlib machinery to import the modules you want:



                                                                                  import pkgutil
                                                                                  import importlib

                                                                                  packages = pkgutil.walk_packages(path='.')
                                                                                  for importer, name, is_package in packages:
                                                                                  mod = importlib.import_module(name)
                                                                                  # do whatever you want with module now, it's been imported!





                                                                                  share|improve this answer




























                                                                                    2












                                                                                    2








                                                                                    2







                                                                                    You can use the pkgutil module (specifically the walk_packages method) to get a list of the packages in the current directory. From there it's trivial to use the importlib machinery to import the modules you want:



                                                                                    import pkgutil
                                                                                    import importlib

                                                                                    packages = pkgutil.walk_packages(path='.')
                                                                                    for importer, name, is_package in packages:
                                                                                    mod = importlib.import_module(name)
                                                                                    # do whatever you want with module now, it's been imported!





                                                                                    share|improve this answer















                                                                                    You can use the pkgutil module (specifically the walk_packages method) to get a list of the packages in the current directory. From there it's trivial to use the importlib machinery to import the modules you want:



                                                                                    import pkgutil
                                                                                    import importlib

                                                                                    packages = pkgutil.walk_packages(path='.')
                                                                                    for importer, name, is_package in packages:
                                                                                    mod = importlib.import_module(name)
                                                                                    # do whatever you want with module now, it's been imported!






                                                                                    share|improve this answer














                                                                                    share|improve this answer



                                                                                    share|improve this answer








                                                                                    edited Jan 2 '15 at 11:04









                                                                                    Mathieu Rodic

                                                                                    4,82522940




                                                                                    4,82522940










                                                                                    answered Sep 13 '14 at 19:57









                                                                                    bob_twinklesbob_twinkles

                                                                                    1869




                                                                                    1869























                                                                                        2














                                                                                        In Linux, adding a symbolic link in the directory your python script is located works.



                                                                                        ie:



                                                                                        ln -s /absolute/path/to/module/module.py /absolute/path/to/script/module.py


                                                                                        python will create /absolute/path/to/script/module.pyc and will update it if you change the contents of /absolute/path/to/module/module.py



                                                                                        then include the following in mypythonscript.py



                                                                                        from module import *





                                                                                        share|improve this answer





















                                                                                        • 1





                                                                                          This is the hack I used, and it has caused me some problems. One of the more painful ones was that IDEA has an issue where it doesn't pickup altered code from within the link, but yet attempts to save what it thinks is there. A race condition where the last to save is what sticks... I lost a decent amount of work because of this.

                                                                                          – Gripp
                                                                                          Jun 16 '15 at 23:23













                                                                                        • @Gripp not sure if I am understanding your issue, but I frequently (almost exclusively) edit my scripts on a remote server from my desktop via SFTP with a client like CyberDuck, and in that case as well it is a bad idea to try and edit the symlinked file, instead its much safer to edit the original file. You can catch some of these issues by using git and checking your git status to verify that your changes to the script are actually making it back to the source document and not getting lost in the ether.

                                                                                          – user5359531
                                                                                          Aug 1 '17 at 19:39


















                                                                                        2














                                                                                        In Linux, adding a symbolic link in the directory your python script is located works.



                                                                                        ie:



                                                                                        ln -s /absolute/path/to/module/module.py /absolute/path/to/script/module.py


                                                                                        python will create /absolute/path/to/script/module.pyc and will update it if you change the contents of /absolute/path/to/module/module.py



                                                                                        then include the following in mypythonscript.py



                                                                                        from module import *





                                                                                        share|improve this answer





















                                                                                        • 1





                                                                                          This is the hack I used, and it has caused me some problems. One of the more painful ones was that IDEA has an issue where it doesn't pickup altered code from within the link, but yet attempts to save what it thinks is there. A race condition where the last to save is what sticks... I lost a decent amount of work because of this.

                                                                                          – Gripp
                                                                                          Jun 16 '15 at 23:23













                                                                                        • @Gripp not sure if I am understanding your issue, but I frequently (almost exclusively) edit my scripts on a remote server from my desktop via SFTP with a client like CyberDuck, and in that case as well it is a bad idea to try and edit the symlinked file, instead its much safer to edit the original file. You can catch some of these issues by using git and checking your git status to verify that your changes to the script are actually making it back to the source document and not getting lost in the ether.

                                                                                          – user5359531
                                                                                          Aug 1 '17 at 19:39
















                                                                                        2












                                                                                        2








                                                                                        2







                                                                                        In Linux, adding a symbolic link in the directory your python script is located works.



                                                                                        ie:



                                                                                        ln -s /absolute/path/to/module/module.py /absolute/path/to/script/module.py


                                                                                        python will create /absolute/path/to/script/module.pyc and will update it if you change the contents of /absolute/path/to/module/module.py



                                                                                        then include the following in mypythonscript.py



                                                                                        from module import *





                                                                                        share|improve this answer















                                                                                        In Linux, adding a symbolic link in the directory your python script is located works.



                                                                                        ie:



                                                                                        ln -s /absolute/path/to/module/module.py /absolute/path/to/script/module.py


                                                                                        python will create /absolute/path/to/script/module.pyc and will update it if you change the contents of /absolute/path/to/module/module.py



                                                                                        then include the following in mypythonscript.py



                                                                                        from module import *






                                                                                        share|improve this answer














                                                                                        share|improve this answer



                                                                                        share|improve this answer








                                                                                        edited Apr 11 '18 at 17:21









                                                                                        Micah Smith

                                                                                        2,6611422




                                                                                        2,6611422










                                                                                        answered Nov 18 '14 at 13:06









                                                                                        user2760152user2760152

                                                                                        234




                                                                                        234








                                                                                        • 1





                                                                                          This is the hack I used, and it has caused me some problems. One of the more painful ones was that IDEA has an issue where it doesn't pickup altered code from within the link, but yet attempts to save what it thinks is there. A race condition where the last to save is what sticks... I lost a decent amount of work because of this.

                                                                                          – Gripp
                                                                                          Jun 16 '15 at 23:23













                                                                                        • @Gripp not sure if I am understanding your issue, but I frequently (almost exclusively) edit my scripts on a remote server from my desktop via SFTP with a client like CyberDuck, and in that case as well it is a bad idea to try and edit the symlinked file, instead its much safer to edit the original file. You can catch some of these issues by using git and checking your git status to verify that your changes to the script are actually making it back to the source document and not getting lost in the ether.

                                                                                          – user5359531
                                                                                          Aug 1 '17 at 19:39
















                                                                                        • 1





                                                                                          This is the hack I used, and it has caused me some problems. One of the more painful ones was that IDEA has an issue where it doesn't pickup altered code from within the link, but yet attempts to save what it thinks is there. A race condition where the last to save is what sticks... I lost a decent amount of work because of this.

                                                                                          – Gripp
                                                                                          Jun 16 '15 at 23:23













                                                                                        • @Gripp not sure if I am understanding your issue, but I frequently (almost exclusively) edit my scripts on a remote server from my desktop via SFTP with a client like CyberDuck, and in that case as well it is a bad idea to try and edit the symlinked file, instead its much safer to edit the original file. You can catch some of these issues by using git and checking your git status to verify that your changes to the script are actually making it back to the source document and not getting lost in the ether.

                                                                                          – user5359531
                                                                                          Aug 1 '17 at 19:39










                                                                                        1




                                                                                        1





                                                                                        This is the hack I used, and it has caused me some problems. One of the more painful ones was that IDEA has an issue where it doesn't pickup altered code from within the link, but yet attempts to save what it thinks is there. A race condition where the last to save is what sticks... I lost a decent amount of work because of this.

                                                                                        – Gripp
                                                                                        Jun 16 '15 at 23:23







                                                                                        This is the hack I used, and it has caused me some problems. One of the more painful ones was that IDEA has an issue where it doesn't pickup altered code from within the link, but yet attempts to save what it thinks is there. A race condition where the last to save is what sticks... I lost a decent amount of work because of this.

                                                                                        – Gripp
                                                                                        Jun 16 '15 at 23:23















                                                                                        @Gripp not sure if I am understanding your issue, but I frequently (almost exclusively) edit my scripts on a remote server from my desktop via SFTP with a client like CyberDuck, and in that case as well it is a bad idea to try and edit the symlinked file, instead its much safer to edit the original file. You can catch some of these issues by using git and checking your git status to verify that your changes to the script are actually making it back to the source document and not getting lost in the ether.

                                                                                        – user5359531
                                                                                        Aug 1 '17 at 19:39







                                                                                        @Gripp not sure if I am understanding your issue, but I frequently (almost exclusively) edit my scripts on a remote server from my desktop via SFTP with a client like CyberDuck, and in that case as well it is a bad idea to try and edit the symlinked file, instead its much safer to edit the original file. You can catch some of these issues by using git and checking your git status to verify that your changes to the script are actually making it back to the source document and not getting lost in the ether.

                                                                                        – user5359531
                                                                                        Aug 1 '17 at 19:39













                                                                                        1














                                                                                        quite simple way: suppose you want import file with relative path ../../MyLibs/pyfunc.py




                                                                                        libPath = '../../MyLibs'
                                                                                        import sys
                                                                                        if not libPath in sys.path: sys.path.append(libPath)
                                                                                        import pyfunc as pf


                                                                                        But if you make it without a guard you can finally get a very long path






                                                                                        share|improve this answer




























                                                                                          1














                                                                                          quite simple way: suppose you want import file with relative path ../../MyLibs/pyfunc.py




                                                                                          libPath = '../../MyLibs'
                                                                                          import sys
                                                                                          if not libPath in sys.path: sys.path.append(libPath)
                                                                                          import pyfunc as pf


                                                                                          But if you make it without a guard you can finally get a very long path






                                                                                          share|improve this answer


























                                                                                            1












                                                                                            1








                                                                                            1







                                                                                            quite simple way: suppose you want import file with relative path ../../MyLibs/pyfunc.py




                                                                                            libPath = '../../MyLibs'
                                                                                            import sys
                                                                                            if not libPath in sys.path: sys.path.append(libPath)
                                                                                            import pyfunc as pf


                                                                                            But if you make it without a guard you can finally get a very long path






                                                                                            share|improve this answer













                                                                                            quite simple way: suppose you want import file with relative path ../../MyLibs/pyfunc.py




                                                                                            libPath = '../../MyLibs'
                                                                                            import sys
                                                                                            if not libPath in sys.path: sys.path.append(libPath)
                                                                                            import pyfunc as pf


                                                                                            But if you make it without a guard you can finally get a very long path







                                                                                            share|improve this answer












                                                                                            share|improve this answer



                                                                                            share|improve this answer










                                                                                            answered Jan 26 '18 at 4:52









                                                                                            Andrei KeinoAndrei Keino

                                                                                            613




                                                                                            613























                                                                                                1














                                                                                                A simple solution using importlib instead of the imp package (tested for Python 2.7, although it should work for Python 3 too):



                                                                                                import importlib

                                                                                                dirname, basename = os.path.split(pyfilepath) # pyfilepath: '/my/path/mymodule.py'
                                                                                                sys.path.append(dirname) # only directories should be added to PYTHONPATH
                                                                                                module_name = os.path.splitext(basename)[0] # '/my/path/mymodule.py' --> 'mymodule'
                                                                                                module = importlib.import_module(module_name) # name space of defined module (otherwise we would literally look for "module_name")


                                                                                                Now you can directly use the namespace of the imported module, like this:



                                                                                                a = module.myvar
                                                                                                b = module.myfunc(a)


                                                                                                The advantage of this solution is that we don't even need to know the actual name of the module we would like to import, in order to use it in our code. This is useful, e.g. in case the path of the module is a configurable argument.






                                                                                                share|improve this answer


























                                                                                                • This way you are modifying the sys.path, which does not fit every use case.

                                                                                                  – bgusach
                                                                                                  Jul 19 '18 at 14:26











                                                                                                • @bgusach This may be true, but it is also desirable in some cases (adding a path to sys.path simplifies things when importing more than one module from a single package). At any rate, if this not desirable, one can immediately afterwards do sys.path.pop()

                                                                                                  – Ataxias
                                                                                                  Jul 20 '18 at 16:38


















                                                                                                1














                                                                                                A simple solution using importlib instead of the imp package (tested for Python 2.7, although it should work for Python 3 too):



                                                                                                import importlib

                                                                                                dirname, basename = os.path.split(pyfilepath) # pyfilepath: '/my/path/mymodule.py'
                                                                                                sys.path.append(dirname) # only directories should be added to PYTHONPATH
                                                                                                module_name = os.path.splitext(basename)[0] # '/my/path/mymodule.py' --> 'mymodule'
                                                                                                module = importlib.import_module(module_name) # name space of defined module (otherwise we would literally look for "module_name")


                                                                                                Now you can directly use the namespace of the imported module, like this:



                                                                                                a = module.myvar
                                                                                                b = module.myfunc(a)


                                                                                                The advantage of this solution is that we don't even need to know the actual name of the module we would like to import, in order to use it in our code. This is useful, e.g. in case the path of the module is a configurable argument.






                                                                                                share|improve this answer


























                                                                                                • This way you are modifying the sys.path, which does not fit every use case.

                                                                                                  – bgusach
                                                                                                  Jul 19 '18 at 14:26











                                                                                                • @bgusach This may be true, but it is also desirable in some cases (adding a path to sys.path simplifies things when importing more than one module from a single package). At any rate, if this not desirable, one can immediately afterwards do sys.path.pop()

                                                                                                  – Ataxias
                                                                                                  Jul 20 '18 at 16:38
















                                                                                                1












                                                                                                1








                                                                                                1







                                                                                                A simple solution using importlib instead of the imp package (tested for Python 2.7, although it should work for Python 3 too):



                                                                                                import importlib

                                                                                                dirname, basename = os.path.split(pyfilepath) # pyfilepath: '/my/path/mymodule.py'
                                                                                                sys.path.append(dirname) # only directories should be added to PYTHONPATH
                                                                                                module_name = os.path.splitext(basename)[0] # '/my/path/mymodule.py' --> 'mymodule'
                                                                                                module = importlib.import_module(module_name) # name space of defined module (otherwise we would literally look for "module_name")


                                                                                                Now you can directly use the namespace of the imported module, like this:



                                                                                                a = module.myvar
                                                                                                b = module.myfunc(a)


                                                                                                The advantage of this solution is that we don't even need to know the actual name of the module we would like to import, in order to use it in our code. This is useful, e.g. in case the path of the module is a configurable argument.






                                                                                                share|improve this answer















                                                                                                A simple solution using importlib instead of the imp package (tested for Python 2.7, although it should work for Python 3 too):



                                                                                                import importlib

                                                                                                dirname, basename = os.path.split(pyfilepath) # pyfilepath: '/my/path/mymodule.py'
                                                                                                sys.path.append(dirname) # only directories should be added to PYTHONPATH
                                                                                                module_name = os.path.splitext(basename)[0] # '/my/path/mymodule.py' --> 'mymodule'
                                                                                                module = importlib.import_module(module_name) # name space of defined module (otherwise we would literally look for "module_name")


                                                                                                Now you can directly use the namespace of the imported module, like this:



                                                                                                a = module.myvar
                                                                                                b = module.myfunc(a)


                                                                                                The advantage of this solution is that we don't even need to know the actual name of the module we would like to import, in order to use it in our code. This is useful, e.g. in case the path of the module is a configurable argument.







                                                                                                share|improve this answer














                                                                                                share|improve this answer



                                                                                                share|improve this answer








                                                                                                edited Jul 28 '18 at 2:24

























                                                                                                answered May 24 '18 at 12:07









                                                                                                AtaxiasAtaxias

                                                                                                175110




                                                                                                175110













                                                                                                • This way you are modifying the sys.path, which does not fit every use case.

                                                                                                  – bgusach
                                                                                                  Jul 19 '18 at 14:26











                                                                                                • @bgusach This may be true, but it is also desirable in some cases (adding a path to sys.path simplifies things when importing more than one module from a single package). At any rate, if this not desirable, one can immediately afterwards do sys.path.pop()

                                                                                                  – Ataxias
                                                                                                  Jul 20 '18 at 16:38





















                                                                                                • This way you are modifying the sys.path, which does not fit every use case.

                                                                                                  – bgusach
                                                                                                  Jul 19 '18 at 14:26











                                                                                                • @bgusach This may be true, but it is also desirable in some cases (adding a path to sys.path simplifies things when importing more than one module from a single package). At any rate, if this not desirable, one can immediately afterwards do sys.path.pop()

                                                                                                  – Ataxias
                                                                                                  Jul 20 '18 at 16:38



















                                                                                                This way you are modifying the sys.path, which does not fit every use case.

                                                                                                – bgusach
                                                                                                Jul 19 '18 at 14:26





                                                                                                This way you are modifying the sys.path, which does not fit every use case.

                                                                                                – bgusach
                                                                                                Jul 19 '18 at 14:26













                                                                                                @bgusach This may be true, but it is also desirable in some cases (adding a path to sys.path simplifies things when importing more than one module from a single package). At any rate, if this not desirable, one can immediately afterwards do sys.path.pop()

                                                                                                – Ataxias
                                                                                                Jul 20 '18 at 16:38







                                                                                                @bgusach This may be true, but it is also desirable in some cases (adding a path to sys.path simplifies things when importing more than one module from a single package). At any rate, if this not desirable, one can immediately afterwards do sys.path.pop()

                                                                                                – Ataxias
                                                                                                Jul 20 '18 at 16:38













                                                                                                1














                                                                                                Create python module test.py



                                                                                                import sys
                                                                                                sys.path.append("<project-path>/lib/")
                                                                                                from tes1 import Client1
                                                                                                from tes2 import Client2
                                                                                                import tes3


                                                                                                Create python module test_check.py



                                                                                                from test import Client1
                                                                                                from test import Client2
                                                                                                from test import test3


                                                                                                We can import the imported module from module.






                                                                                                share|improve this answer




























                                                                                                  1














                                                                                                  Create python module test.py



                                                                                                  import sys
                                                                                                  sys.path.append("<project-path>/lib/")
                                                                                                  from tes1 import Client1
                                                                                                  from tes2 import Client2
                                                                                                  import tes3


                                                                                                  Create python module test_check.py



                                                                                                  from test import Client1
                                                                                                  from test import Client2
                                                                                                  from test import test3


                                                                                                  We can import the imported module from module.






                                                                                                  share|improve this answer


























                                                                                                    1












                                                                                                    1








                                                                                                    1







                                                                                                    Create python module test.py



                                                                                                    import sys
                                                                                                    sys.path.append("<project-path>/lib/")
                                                                                                    from tes1 import Client1
                                                                                                    from tes2 import Client2
                                                                                                    import tes3


                                                                                                    Create python module test_check.py



                                                                                                    from test import Client1
                                                                                                    from test import Client2
                                                                                                    from test import test3


                                                                                                    We can import the imported module from module.






                                                                                                    share|improve this answer













                                                                                                    Create python module test.py



                                                                                                    import sys
                                                                                                    sys.path.append("<project-path>/lib/")
                                                                                                    from tes1 import Client1
                                                                                                    from tes2 import Client2
                                                                                                    import tes3


                                                                                                    Create python module test_check.py



                                                                                                    from test import Client1
                                                                                                    from test import Client2
                                                                                                    from test import test3


                                                                                                    We can import the imported module from module.







                                                                                                    share|improve this answer












                                                                                                    share|improve this answer



                                                                                                    share|improve this answer










                                                                                                    answered Dec 6 '18 at 12:41









                                                                                                    abhimanyuabhimanyu

                                                                                                    286




                                                                                                    286























                                                                                                        0














                                                                                                        Adding this to the list of answers as I couldn't find anything that worked. This will allow imports of compiled (pyd) python modules in 3.4:



                                                                                                        import sys
                                                                                                        import importlib.machinery

                                                                                                        def load_module(name, filename):
                                                                                                        # If the Loader finds the module name in this list it will use
                                                                                                        # module_name.__file__ instead so we need to delete it here
                                                                                                        if name in sys.modules:
                                                                                                        del sys.modules[name]
                                                                                                        loader = importlib.machinery.ExtensionFileLoader(name, filename)
                                                                                                        module = loader.load_module()
                                                                                                        locals()[name] = module
                                                                                                        globals()[name] = module

                                                                                                        load_module('something', r'C:PathTosomething.pyd')
                                                                                                        something.do_something()





                                                                                                        share|improve this answer




























                                                                                                          0














                                                                                                          Adding this to the list of answers as I couldn't find anything that worked. This will allow imports of compiled (pyd) python modules in 3.4:



                                                                                                          import sys
                                                                                                          import importlib.machinery

                                                                                                          def load_module(name, filename):
                                                                                                          # If the Loader finds the module name in this list it will use
                                                                                                          # module_name.__file__ instead so we need to delete it here
                                                                                                          if name in sys.modules:
                                                                                                          del sys.modules[name]
                                                                                                          loader = importlib.machinery.ExtensionFileLoader(name, filename)
                                                                                                          module = loader.load_module()
                                                                                                          locals()[name] = module
                                                                                                          globals()[name] = module

                                                                                                          load_module('something', r'C:PathTosomething.pyd')
                                                                                                          something.do_something()





                                                                                                          share|improve this answer


























                                                                                                            0












                                                                                                            0








                                                                                                            0







                                                                                                            Adding this to the list of answers as I couldn't find anything that worked. This will allow imports of compiled (pyd) python modules in 3.4:



                                                                                                            import sys
                                                                                                            import importlib.machinery

                                                                                                            def load_module(name, filename):
                                                                                                            # If the Loader finds the module name in this list it will use
                                                                                                            # module_name.__file__ instead so we need to delete it here
                                                                                                            if name in sys.modules:
                                                                                                            del sys.modules[name]
                                                                                                            loader = importlib.machinery.ExtensionFileLoader(name, filename)
                                                                                                            module = loader.load_module()
                                                                                                            locals()[name] = module
                                                                                                            globals()[name] = module

                                                                                                            load_module('something', r'C:PathTosomething.pyd')
                                                                                                            something.do_something()





                                                                                                            share|improve this answer













                                                                                                            Adding this to the list of answers as I couldn't find anything that worked. This will allow imports of compiled (pyd) python modules in 3.4:



                                                                                                            import sys
                                                                                                            import importlib.machinery

                                                                                                            def load_module(name, filename):
                                                                                                            # If the Loader finds the module name in this list it will use
                                                                                                            # module_name.__file__ instead so we need to delete it here
                                                                                                            if name in sys.modules:
                                                                                                            del sys.modules[name]
                                                                                                            loader = importlib.machinery.ExtensionFileLoader(name, filename)
                                                                                                            module = loader.load_module()
                                                                                                            locals()[name] = module
                                                                                                            globals()[name] = module

                                                                                                            load_module('something', r'C:PathTosomething.pyd')
                                                                                                            something.do_something()






                                                                                                            share|improve this answer












                                                                                                            share|improve this answer



                                                                                                            share|improve this answer










                                                                                                            answered Jan 10 '18 at 15:58









                                                                                                            DavidDavid

                                                                                                            314115




                                                                                                            314115























                                                                                                                0














                                                                                                                This answer is a supplement to Sebastian Rittau's answer responding to the comment: "but what if you don't have the module name?" This is a quick and dirty way of getting the likely python module name given a filename -- it just goes up the tree until it finds a directory without an __init__.py file and then turns it back into a filename. For Python 3.4+ (uses pathlib), which makes sense since Py2 people can use "imp" or other ways of doing relative imports:



                                                                                                                import pathlib

                                                                                                                def likely_python_module(filename):
                                                                                                                '''
                                                                                                                Given a filename or Path, return the "likely" python module name. That is, iterate
                                                                                                                the parent directories until it doesn't contain an __init__.py file.

                                                                                                                :rtype: str
                                                                                                                '''
                                                                                                                p = pathlib.Path(filename).resolve()
                                                                                                                paths =
                                                                                                                if p.name != '__init__.py':
                                                                                                                paths.append(p.stem)
                                                                                                                while True:
                                                                                                                p = p.parent
                                                                                                                if not p:
                                                                                                                break
                                                                                                                if not p.is_dir():
                                                                                                                break

                                                                                                                inits = [f for f in p.iterdir() if f.name == '__init__.py']
                                                                                                                if not inits:
                                                                                                                break

                                                                                                                paths.append(p.stem)

                                                                                                                return '.'.join(reversed(paths))


                                                                                                                There are certainly possibilities for improvement, and the optional __init__.py files might necessitate other changes, but if you have __init__.py in general, this does the trick.






                                                                                                                share|improve this answer




























                                                                                                                  0














                                                                                                                  This answer is a supplement to Sebastian Rittau's answer responding to the comment: "but what if you don't have the module name?" This is a quick and dirty way of getting the likely python module name given a filename -- it just goes up the tree until it finds a directory without an __init__.py file and then turns it back into a filename. For Python 3.4+ (uses pathlib), which makes sense since Py2 people can use "imp" or other ways of doing relative imports:



                                                                                                                  import pathlib

                                                                                                                  def likely_python_module(filename):
                                                                                                                  '''
                                                                                                                  Given a filename or Path, return the "likely" python module name. That is, iterate
                                                                                                                  the parent directories until it doesn't contain an __init__.py file.

                                                                                                                  :rtype: str
                                                                                                                  '''
                                                                                                                  p = pathlib.Path(filename).resolve()
                                                                                                                  paths =
                                                                                                                  if p.name != '__init__.py':
                                                                                                                  paths.append(p.stem)
                                                                                                                  while True:
                                                                                                                  p = p.parent
                                                                                                                  if not p:
                                                                                                                  break
                                                                                                                  if not p.is_dir():
                                                                                                                  break

                                                                                                                  inits = [f for f in p.iterdir() if f.name == '__init__.py']
                                                                                                                  if not inits:
                                                                                                                  break

                                                                                                                  paths.append(p.stem)

                                                                                                                  return '.'.join(reversed(paths))


                                                                                                                  There are certainly possibilities for improvement, and the optional __init__.py files might necessitate other changes, but if you have __init__.py in general, this does the trick.






                                                                                                                  share|improve this answer


























                                                                                                                    0












                                                                                                                    0








                                                                                                                    0







                                                                                                                    This answer is a supplement to Sebastian Rittau's answer responding to the comment: "but what if you don't have the module name?" This is a quick and dirty way of getting the likely python module name given a filename -- it just goes up the tree until it finds a directory without an __init__.py file and then turns it back into a filename. For Python 3.4+ (uses pathlib), which makes sense since Py2 people can use "imp" or other ways of doing relative imports:



                                                                                                                    import pathlib

                                                                                                                    def likely_python_module(filename):
                                                                                                                    '''
                                                                                                                    Given a filename or Path, return the "likely" python module name. That is, iterate
                                                                                                                    the parent directories until it doesn't contain an __init__.py file.

                                                                                                                    :rtype: str
                                                                                                                    '''
                                                                                                                    p = pathlib.Path(filename).resolve()
                                                                                                                    paths =
                                                                                                                    if p.name != '__init__.py':
                                                                                                                    paths.append(p.stem)
                                                                                                                    while True:
                                                                                                                    p = p.parent
                                                                                                                    if not p:
                                                                                                                    break
                                                                                                                    if not p.is_dir():
                                                                                                                    break

                                                                                                                    inits = [f for f in p.iterdir() if f.name == '__init__.py']
                                                                                                                    if not inits:
                                                                                                                    break

                                                                                                                    paths.append(p.stem)

                                                                                                                    return '.'.join(reversed(paths))


                                                                                                                    There are certainly possibilities for improvement, and the optional __init__.py files might necessitate other changes, but if you have __init__.py in general, this does the trick.






                                                                                                                    share|improve this answer













                                                                                                                    This answer is a supplement to Sebastian Rittau's answer responding to the comment: "but what if you don't have the module name?" This is a quick and dirty way of getting the likely python module name given a filename -- it just goes up the tree until it finds a directory without an __init__.py file and then turns it back into a filename. For Python 3.4+ (uses pathlib), which makes sense since Py2 people can use "imp" or other ways of doing relative imports:



                                                                                                                    import pathlib

                                                                                                                    def likely_python_module(filename):
                                                                                                                    '''
                                                                                                                    Given a filename or Path, return the "likely" python module name. That is, iterate
                                                                                                                    the parent directories until it doesn't contain an __init__.py file.

                                                                                                                    :rtype: str
                                                                                                                    '''
                                                                                                                    p = pathlib.Path(filename).resolve()
                                                                                                                    paths =
                                                                                                                    if p.name != '__init__.py':
                                                                                                                    paths.append(p.stem)
                                                                                                                    while True:
                                                                                                                    p = p.parent
                                                                                                                    if not p:
                                                                                                                    break
                                                                                                                    if not p.is_dir():
                                                                                                                    break

                                                                                                                    inits = [f for f in p.iterdir() if f.name == '__init__.py']
                                                                                                                    if not inits:
                                                                                                                    break

                                                                                                                    paths.append(p.stem)

                                                                                                                    return '.'.join(reversed(paths))


                                                                                                                    There are certainly possibilities for improvement, and the optional __init__.py files might necessitate other changes, but if you have __init__.py in general, this does the trick.







                                                                                                                    share|improve this answer












                                                                                                                    share|improve this answer



                                                                                                                    share|improve this answer










                                                                                                                    answered Sep 8 '18 at 15:29









                                                                                                                    Michael Scott CuthbertMichael Scott Cuthbert

                                                                                                                    1,83921333




                                                                                                                    1,83921333























                                                                                                                        -1














                                                                                                                        The best way, I think, is from the official documentation (29.1. imp — Access the import internals):



                                                                                                                        import imp
                                                                                                                        import sys

                                                                                                                        def __import__(name, globals=None, locals=None, fromlist=None):
                                                                                                                        # Fast path: see if the module has already been imported.
                                                                                                                        try:
                                                                                                                        return sys.modules[name]
                                                                                                                        except KeyError:
                                                                                                                        pass

                                                                                                                        # If any of the following calls raises an exception,
                                                                                                                        # there's a problem we can't handle -- let the caller handle it.

                                                                                                                        fp, pathname, description = imp.find_module(name)

                                                                                                                        try:
                                                                                                                        return imp.load_module(name, fp, pathname, description)
                                                                                                                        finally:
                                                                                                                        # Since we may exit via an exception, close fp explicitly.
                                                                                                                        if fp:
                                                                                                                        fp.close()





                                                                                                                        share|improve this answer



















                                                                                                                        • 1





                                                                                                                          This solution does not allow you to provide the path, which is what the question asks for.

                                                                                                                          – Micah Smith
                                                                                                                          Apr 11 '18 at 17:20
















                                                                                                                        -1














                                                                                                                        The best way, I think, is from the official documentation (29.1. imp — Access the import internals):



                                                                                                                        import imp
                                                                                                                        import sys

                                                                                                                        def __import__(name, globals=None, locals=None, fromlist=None):
                                                                                                                        # Fast path: see if the module has already been imported.
                                                                                                                        try:
                                                                                                                        return sys.modules[name]
                                                                                                                        except KeyError:
                                                                                                                        pass

                                                                                                                        # If any of the following calls raises an exception,
                                                                                                                        # there's a problem we can't handle -- let the caller handle it.

                                                                                                                        fp, pathname, description = imp.find_module(name)

                                                                                                                        try:
                                                                                                                        return imp.load_module(name, fp, pathname, description)
                                                                                                                        finally:
                                                                                                                        # Since we may exit via an exception, close fp explicitly.
                                                                                                                        if fp:
                                                                                                                        fp.close()





                                                                                                                        share|improve this answer



















                                                                                                                        • 1





                                                                                                                          This solution does not allow you to provide the path, which is what the question asks for.

                                                                                                                          – Micah Smith
                                                                                                                          Apr 11 '18 at 17:20














                                                                                                                        -1












                                                                                                                        -1








                                                                                                                        -1







                                                                                                                        The best way, I think, is from the official documentation (29.1. imp — Access the import internals):



                                                                                                                        import imp
                                                                                                                        import sys

                                                                                                                        def __import__(name, globals=None, locals=None, fromlist=None):
                                                                                                                        # Fast path: see if the module has already been imported.
                                                                                                                        try:
                                                                                                                        return sys.modules[name]
                                                                                                                        except KeyError:
                                                                                                                        pass

                                                                                                                        # If any of the following calls raises an exception,
                                                                                                                        # there's a problem we can't handle -- let the caller handle it.

                                                                                                                        fp, pathname, description = imp.find_module(name)

                                                                                                                        try:
                                                                                                                        return imp.load_module(name, fp, pathname, description)
                                                                                                                        finally:
                                                                                                                        # Since we may exit via an exception, close fp explicitly.
                                                                                                                        if fp:
                                                                                                                        fp.close()





                                                                                                                        share|improve this answer













                                                                                                                        The best way, I think, is from the official documentation (29.1. imp — Access the import internals):



                                                                                                                        import imp
                                                                                                                        import sys

                                                                                                                        def __import__(name, globals=None, locals=None, fromlist=None):
                                                                                                                        # Fast path: see if the module has already been imported.
                                                                                                                        try:
                                                                                                                        return sys.modules[name]
                                                                                                                        except KeyError:
                                                                                                                        pass

                                                                                                                        # If any of the following calls raises an exception,
                                                                                                                        # there's a problem we can't handle -- let the caller handle it.

                                                                                                                        fp, pathname, description = imp.find_module(name)

                                                                                                                        try:
                                                                                                                        return imp.load_module(name, fp, pathname, description)
                                                                                                                        finally:
                                                                                                                        # Since we may exit via an exception, close fp explicitly.
                                                                                                                        if fp:
                                                                                                                        fp.close()






                                                                                                                        share|improve this answer












                                                                                                                        share|improve this answer



                                                                                                                        share|improve this answer










                                                                                                                        answered Nov 25 '14 at 12:58









                                                                                                                        ZompaZompa

                                                                                                                        111




                                                                                                                        111








                                                                                                                        • 1





                                                                                                                          This solution does not allow you to provide the path, which is what the question asks for.

                                                                                                                          – Micah Smith
                                                                                                                          Apr 11 '18 at 17:20














                                                                                                                        • 1





                                                                                                                          This solution does not allow you to provide the path, which is what the question asks for.

                                                                                                                          – Micah Smith
                                                                                                                          Apr 11 '18 at 17:20








                                                                                                                        1




                                                                                                                        1





                                                                                                                        This solution does not allow you to provide the path, which is what the question asks for.

                                                                                                                        – Micah Smith
                                                                                                                        Apr 11 '18 at 17:20





                                                                                                                        This solution does not allow you to provide the path, which is what the question asks for.

                                                                                                                        – Micah Smith
                                                                                                                        Apr 11 '18 at 17:20





                                                                                                                        protected by tripleee Jul 11 '15 at 12:01



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