So I routinely call the same 15-20 import statements prior to running multiple, but different .py scripts. This can sort of look clunky and I was wondering if I could, for the sake of condensing, store all of these import statements in a separate .py file, then call those import statements using a 1 - liner at the beginning of these .py scripts.
e.g.:
import a
import b
import c
import d
import e
import f
(and so on so forth)
into:
import import_list import imports
I've tried search around but I'm not sure I'm using the correct language to get my answer. I'm sure this has been asked quite a few times though. can anybody help? thanks!
If your import list is constant, you could do something like creating a separate python file like
import_list.py
import a
import b
import c
import d
import e
import f
Then add 1 liner to your files:
from import_list import *
Related
Based on some answers I try to be more specific.
I want to import the print and the models AND code in my main.py
I know the question gets asked a lot, but still I could not figure out whats wrong with my code!
I have a project directory like this
-project
--__init__py
--main.py
--print.py
--requests
--__init__.py
--models.py
--code.py
i want to import from print.py and * from requests
Therefore I tried to add these lines in main.py
from . import print
#or
import print
#for requests I tried
import os.path
import sys
sys.path.append('./requests')
from requests import *
all of those lines cause the same ImportError attempted relative import with no known parent ,
using Python 39
anyone an idea where the problem is?
I am very confused that this seems not to work, was it possible in older versions?
You should definitely not be doing anything with sys.path. If you are using a correct Python package structure, the import system should handle everything like this.
From the directory structure you described, project would be the name of your package. So when using your package in some external code you would do
import package
or to use a submodule/subpackage
import project.print
import project.requests
and so on.
For modules inside the package you can use relative imports. When you write
i want to import from print.py and * from requests Therefore I tried
it's not clear from where you want to import them, because this is important for relative imports.
For example, in project/main.py to import the print module you could use:
from . import print
But if it's from project/requests/code.py you would use
from .. import print
As an aside, "print" is probably not a good name for a module, since if you import the print module it will shadow the print() built-in function.
Your main file should be outside the 'project'-directory to use that as a package.
Then, from your main file, you can import using from project.print import ....
Within the project-package, relative imports are possible.
I have a file called hotel_helper.py from which I want to import a function called demo1, but I am unable to import it.
My hotel_helper.py file:
def demo1():
print('\n\n trying to import this function ')
My other file:
from hotel.helpers.hotel_helper import demo1
demo1()
but I get:
ImportError: cannot import name 'demo1' from 'hotel.helpers.hotel_helper'
When I import using from hotel.helpers.hotel_helper import * instead of from hotel.helpers.hotel_helper import demo1 it works and the function gets called. I tried importing the whole file with from hotel.helpers import hotel_helper and then call the function with hotel_helper.demo1() and it works fine. I don't understand what's wrong in first method. I want to directly import function rather using * or importing the whole file.
If you filename is hotel_helper.py you have to options how to import demo1:
You can import the whole module hotel_helper as and then call your func:
import hotel_helper as hh
hh.demo1()
You can import only function demo1 from module as:
from hote_helpers import demo1
demo1()
From your fileName import your function
from hotel.helpers import demo1
demo1()
You can import a py file with the following statement:
# Other import
import os
import sys
if './hotel' not in sys.path:
sys.path.insert(0, './hotel')
from hotel import *
NOTE:
For IDE like PyCharm, you can specify the import path using the Project Structure setting tab (CTRL+ALT+S)
Helpful stack overflow questions [maybe off topic]:
What is the right way to create project structure in pycharm?
Manage import with PyCharm documentation:
https://www.jetbrains.com/help/pycharm/configuring-project-structure.html
This is probably a duplicate of: https://stackoverflow.com/posts/57944151/edit
I created two files (defdemo.py and rundefdemo.py) from your posted 2 files and substituted 'defdemo' for 'hotel.helpers.hotel_helper' in the code. My 2 files are in my script directory for Python 3.7 on windows 10 and my script directory is in the python path file python37._pth. It worked.
defdemo.py
def demo1():
print('\n\n trying to import this function ')
rundefdemo.py
from defdemo import demo1
demo1()
output
trying to import this function
I was able to solve the issue, it was related to some imports I was making in my file, when I removed all the import statement in my hotel_helper.py ,the code started working as expected , Still I don't understand reason why the issue was occurring. anyway it works.
This ImportError can also arise when the function being imported is already defined somewhere else in the main script (i.e. calling script) or notebook, or when it is defined in a separate dependency (i.e. another module). This happens most often during development, when the developer forgets to comment out or delete the function definition in the body of a main file or nb after moving it to a module.
Make sure there are no other versions of the function in your development environment and dependencies.
I want to write a Python module that automatically imports all the good stuff for me (about 50 other modules) so I don't have to copy and past them every time I start a new script. I attempted this by defining the following method in my module, soon to realize when I import my module and call this method, the imports take place locally.
def auto_import():
import os
import sys
# plus 50 other modules...
How can I accomplish this automation using modular programming? (I am using Python 3.6. on Ubuntu.)
You don't need a function to do that, you can simply make a file like commonimports.py which looks like this:
import os
import numpy as np
import sys
#and so on...
And add this import statement in other files
from commonimports import *
And you'll have all the modules ready to use within that namespace
Just make the name of your imported modules global:
def auto_import():
import os
import sys
global os, sys
This is not necessary to use this method if you def auto_import() then every time you have to use a autoimport function whenever you want to use those module.
When importing modules in Python, what is the difference between this:
from module import a, b, c, d
and this
from module import a
from module import b
from module import c
from module import d
To me it makes sense always to condense code and use the first example, but I've been seeing some code samples out there dong the second. Is there any difference at all or is it all in the preference of the programmer?
There is no difference at all. They both function exactly the same.
However, from a stylistic perspective, one might be more preferable than the other. And on that note, the PEP-8 for imports says that you should compress from module import name1, name2 onto a single line and leave import module1 on multiple lines:
Yes: import os
import sys
No: import sys, os
Ok: from subprocess import Popen, PIPE
In response to #teewuane's comment (repeated here in case the comment gets deleted):
#inspectorG4dget What if you have to import several functions from one
module and it ends up making that line longer than 80 char? I know
that the 80 char thing is "when it makes the code more readable" but I
am still wondering if there is a more tidy way to do this. And I don't
want to do from foo import * even though I am basically importing
everything.
The issue here is that doing something like the following could exceed the 80 char limit:
from module import func1, func2, func3, func4, func5
To this, I have two responses (I don't see PEP8 being overly clear about this):
Break it up into two imports:
from module import func1, func2, func3
from module import func4, func5
Doing this has the disadvantage that if module is removed from the codebase or otherwise refactored, then both import lines will need to be deleted. This could prove to be painful
Split the line:
To mitigate the above concern, it may be wiser to do
from module import func1, func2, func3, \
func4, func5
This would result in an error if the second line is not deleted along with the first, while still maintaining the singular import statement
To add to some of the questions raised from inspectorG4dget's answer, you can also use tuples to do multi-line imports when folder structures start getting deeply nested or you have modules with obtuse names.
from some.module.submodule.that_has_long_names import (
first_item,
second_item,
more_imported_items_with_really_enormously_long_names_that_might_be_too_descriptive,
that_would_certainly_not_fit,
on_one_line,
)
This also works, though I'm not a fan of this style:
from module import (a_ton, of, modules, that_seem, to_keep, needing,
to_be, added, to_the_list, of_required_items)
I would suggest not to follow PEP-8 blindly. When you have about half screen worth of imports, things start becoming uncomfortable and PEP-8 is then in conflicts with PEP-20 readability guidelines.
My preference is,
Put all built-in imports on one line such as sys, os, time etc.
For other imports, use one line per package (not module)
Above gives you good balance because the reader can still quickly glance the dependencies while achieving reasonable compactness.
For example,
My Preference
# one line per package
import os, json, time, sys, math
import numpy as np
import torch, torch.nn as nn, torch.autograd, torch.nn.functional as F
from torchvision models, transforms
PEP-8 Recommandation
# one line per module or from ... import statement
import os
import json
import time
import sys
import math
import numpy as np
import torch
from torch import nn as nn, autograd, nn.functional as F
from torchvision import models, transforms
A concern not mentioned by other answers is git merge conflicts.
Let's say you start with this import statement:
import os
If you change this line to import os, sys in one branch and import json, os in another branch, you will get this conflict when you attempt to merge them:
<<<<<<< HEAD
import os, sys
=======
import json, os
>>>>>>> branch
But if you add import sys and import json on separate lines, you get a nice merge commit with no conflicts:
--- a/foo.py
+++ b/foo.py
### -1,2 -1,2 +1,3 ###
+ import json
import os
+import sys
You will still get a conflict if the two imports were added at the same location, as git doesn't know which order they should appear in. So if you had imported time instead of json, for example:
import os
<<<<<<< HEAD
import sys
=======
import time
>>>>>>> branch
Still, it can be worth sticking with this style for the occasions where it does avoid merge conflicts.
Imports should usually be on separate lines as per PEP 8 guidelines.
# Wrong Use
import os, sys
# Correct Use
import os
import sys
For more import based PEP 8 violations and fixes please check this out https://ayush-raj-blogs.hashnode.dev/making-clean-pr-for-open-source-contributors-pep-8-style.
Both are same.
Use from module import a, b, c, d.
If you want to import only one part of a module, use:
from module import a
If u want to import multiple codes from same module, use:
from module import a,b,c,d
No need to write all in separate lines when both are same.
We have a lot of files with ugly import statements like this:
from project.foo import a, b
from project.foo import c
from project.bar import d, e, f, g
Does there exist something that will change them all to one import per line?
from project.foo import a
from project.foo import b
from project.foo import c
from project.bar import d
from project.bar import e
from project.bar import f
from project.bar import g
Clarification: The reason for this is to maintain a consistent style, like Google's style guide for Python.
As per PEP8 style guide:
Imports
- Imports should usually be on separate lines, e.g.:
Yes: import os
import sys
No: import sys, os
it's okay to say this though:
from subprocess import Popen, PIPE
So, I think you should be doing what you are and should not split them. I am not aware of any utility which will do that for you.
Also, if:
project.bar contains say: d,e,f,g,x,y,z then I would say just do a import project.bar, code will be much less and easy for the eyes.
sed can do that with something like this (test first as I don't have access to my Linux box to test it at the moment):
sed -i".backup" 's/from ([^ ]+) import ([^,]+), ([^,]+)/from \1 import \2\nfrom \1 import \3/' *.py