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Python setuptools: packaging the root directory (no subdirectory per package wanted)

I need to write a package into a repository, but it is a small quick package, so I don't see the need to put files into a subdirectory. I simply want:
import mypkg.module1
with directory structure
root_folder/
- setup.py
- __init__.py # the init for package "mypkg" (empty)
- module1.py
And I don't want to be constrained to increase the folder hierarchy like here:
root_folder/
- setup.py
- mypkg/ # WHY would I do that for 1 module??
- __init__.py
- module1.py
# Content of setup.py
from setuptools import setup
setup(name='MyPkg',
packages=['mypkg']
package_dir={'mypkg': '.'})
but as a result, import mypkg fails, and import module1 works, instead of the desired import mypkg.module1.
I found this question, but the answer of "just move setup.py one folder up" does not suit me.
After finding setup argument documentation here, I tried to define a namespace package:
# Content of setup.py with a namespace package
from setuptools import setup
setup(name='MyPkg',
packages=['thisdir']
package_dir={'thisdir': '.'},
namespace_packages=['mypkg'])

Without testing, I think maybe something like that could work:
#!/usr/bin/env python3
import setuptools
setuptools.setup(
name='MyPkg',
version='0.0.0.dev0',
packages=['mypkg'],
package_dir={
'mypkg': '.',
},
)
The biggest issue is that, as far as I remember, you will end up with setup.py in the package mypkg as well, so that import mypkg.setup will indeed import the setup module. I have not verified.
The other big issue is that, as with most of the package_dir modifications, the "develop/editable" installation will most likely not work at all.
but as a result, import mypkg fails, and import module1 works, instead of the desired import mypkg.module1
I could imagine this happening, if the project is not actually installed, and the current working directory is the project's root directory.
For import mypkg to succeed you have to make sure the project is correctly installed (python -m pip install .).
And for import module1 to fail, you might need to change to a different directory.
Related:
Create editable package setup.py in the same root folder as __init__.py
Setting package_dir to ..?

Import a module from a sub package not working

My file structure is
project/
__init__.py
features/
__init__.py
CompareText.py
tests/
test.py
in test.py I am trying to import CompareText
from project.features import CompareText
I get an error of:
ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'features'`
I checked the documentation and I think my import statement is correct. How can I fix it?

Add an __init__ file in test. Your project directory should look like this:
project/
__init__.py
features/
__init__.py
CompareText.py
tests/
__init__.py
test.py
Then in project/tests/test.py the following import statement will work:
from ..features import CompareText
Oh, and this will still raise an error if you try to run it directly. In the question you said you tried to import it like this:
from project.features import CompareText
This will only work if the parent directory of project is in Python's module search path. So, if you want to run the tests directly then modify the module search path as needed (See: sys.path).

Your import statement is supposed to look like this :
(But make sure your working directory is the same directory as your project folder is located during execution)
from project.features import CompareText
This is supposed to work if your current path while executing the script has the project folder
If you execute it while inside project folder you can use:
from .features import CompareText
Hope this helps!

I assume you are running test.py as a script. test.py needs to find the project package and two ways to do that are to make your project installable or to hack sys.path.
Installable
First, change your directory structure a bit so that project is a subdirectory of some anonymous directory you happen to be using for development. If you are checking this stuff into source control, it needs to be written so that it can be checked out anywhere. Move tests down one directory.
mydevdir/
setup.py
project/
__init__.py
features/
__init__.py
CompareText.py
tests/
test.py
How write a setup.py. This can get quite complicated. You can read Building and Distributing Packages with Setuptools and lookup other resources on the net, but a minimalist setup.py is
#!/usr/bin/env python
from setuptools import setup, find_packages
setup(name='project',
version='0.1',
description='This is project: project',
packages=find_packages(),
)
Now, while in mydevdir do python setup.py develop. Or you can actually produce an install package and put it in a virtual env for test.
Hack sys.path
It may be easier to hack paths in test.py. Note that this will need to be undone if you make project installable later. Just add to the top of test.py
import sys
from pathlib import Path
sys.path.insert(0, str(Path(__file__).absolute().parents[2]))
This puts the parent directory in the python path and now project will be found on import. It runs the risk that a .py file in the same directory as project can mask an installed module. If you have a local csv.py and you import csv, you'd get the local.

Do I need to add my project directory to the system path in every script to import a function from another directory?

I'm trying to keep a data science project well-organized so I've created a directory inside my src directory called utils that contains a file called helpers.py, which contains some helper functions that will be used in many scripts. What is the best practice for how I should import func_name from src/utils/helpers.py into a file in a totally different directory, such as src/processing/clean_data.py?
I see answers to this question, and I've implemented a solution that works, but this feels ugly:
sys.path.append(os.path.dirname(os.path.dirname(os.path.dirname(os.path.realpath(__file__))))))
Am I doing this right? Do I need to add this to every script that wants to import func_name, like train_model.py?
My current project folder structure:
myproject
/notebooks
notebook.ipynb
/src
/processing
clean_data.py
/utils
helpers.py
/models
train_model.py
__init__.py
Example files:
# clean_data.py
import os
import sys
sys.path.append(os.path.dirname(os.path.dirname(os.path.dirname(os.path.realpath(__file__))))))
from src.utils.helpers import func_name
func_name()
# helpers.py
def func_name():
print('I'm a helper function.')

The correct way to do it is to use __init__.py, setup.py and the setuptools Python package:
myPackage/
myPackage/
__init__.py
setup.py
This link has all the steps.

First of all, let me describe you the differences between a Python module & a Python package so that both of us are on the same page. ✌
A module is a single .py file (or files) that are imported under one import and used. ✔
import aModuleName
# Here 'aModuleName' is just a regular .py file.
Whereas, a package is a collection of modules in directories that give a package hierarchy. A package contains a distinct __init__.py file. ✔
from aPackageName import aModuleName
# Here 'aPackageName` is a folder with a `__init__.py` file
# and 'aModuleName', which is just a regular .py file.
Therefore, when we have a project directory named proj-dir of the following structure ⤵
proj-dir
--|--__init__.py
--package1
--|--__init__.py
--|--module1.py
--package2
--|--__init__.py
--|--module2.py
🔎 Notice that I've also added an empty __init__.py into the proj-dir itself which makes it a package too.
👍 Now, if you want to import any python object from module2 of package2 into module1 of package1, then the import statement in the file module1.py would be
from package2.module2 import object2
# if you were to import the entire module2 then,
from package2 import module2
I hope this simple explanation clarifies your doubts on Python imports' mechanism and solves the problem. If not then do comment here. 😊

First of all let me clarify you that importing an entire module, if you are going to use a part of it, then is not a good idea. Instead of that you can use from to import specific function under a library/package. By doing this, you make your program efficient in terms of memory and performance.
To know more refer these:
'import module' or 'from module import'
difference between import and from
Net let us look into the solution.
Before starting off with the solution, let me clarify you the use of __init__.py file. It just tells the python interpreter that the *.py files present there are importable which means they are modules and are/maybe a part of a package.
So, If you have N no of sub directories you have to put __init__.py file in all those sub directories such that they can also be imported. Inside __init__.py file you can also add some additional information like which path should be included, default functions,variables,scope,..etc. To know about these just google about __init__.py file or take some python library and go through the same __init__.py file to know about it. (Here lies the solution)
More Info:
modules
Be pythonic
So as stated by #Sushant Chaudhary your project structure should be like
proj-dir
--|--__init__.py
--package1
--|--__init__.py
--|--module1.py
--package2
--|--__init__.py
--|--module2.py
So now, If I put __init__.py file under my directory like above, Will
it be importable and work fine?
yes and no.
Yes :
If you are importing the modules within that project/package directory.
for example in your case
you are importing package1.module1 in pakage2.module2 as from package1 import module1.
Here you have to import the base dir inside the sub modules, Why? the project will run fine if you are running the module from the same place. i.e: inside package2 as python module2.py, But will throw ModuleNotFoundError If you run the module from some other directory. i.e: any other path except under package2 for example under proj-dir as python package2/module2.py. This is what happening in your case. You are running the module from project-dir.
So How to fix this?
1- You have to append basedir path to system path in module2.py as
from sys import path
dir_path = "/absolute/path/to/proj-dir"
sys.path.insert(0, dir_path)
So that module2 will be able to find package1 (and module1 inside it).
2- You have to add all the sub module paths in __init__.py file under proj-dir.
For example:
#__init__.py under lxml
# this is a package
def get_include():
"""
Returns a list of header include paths (for lxml itself, libxml2
and libxslt) needed to compile C code against lxml if it was built
with statically linked libraries.
"""
import os
lxml_path = __path__[0]
include_path = os.path.join(lxml_path, 'includes')
includes = [include_path, lxml_path]
for name in os.listdir(include_path):
path = os.path.join(include_path, name)
if os.path.isdir(path):
includes.append(path)
return includes
This is the __init__.py file of lxml (a python library for parsing html,xml data). You can refer any __init__.py file under any python libraries having sub modules.ex (os,sys). Here I've mentioned lxml because I thought it will be easy for you to understand. You can even check __init__.py file under other libraries/packages. Each will have it's own way of defining the path for submodules.
No
If you are trying to import modules outside the directory. Then you have to export the module path such that other modules can find them into environment variables. This can be done directly by appending absolute path of the base dir to PYTHONPATH or to PATH.
To know more:
PATH variables in OS
PYTHONPATH variable
So to solve your problem, include the paths to all the sub modules in __init__.py file under proj-dir and add the /absolute/path/to/proj-dir either to PYTHONPATH or PATH.
Hope the answer explains you about usage of __init__.py and solves your problem.

On Linux, you can just add the path to the parent folder of your src directory to ~/.local/lib/python3.6/site-packages/my_modules.pth. See
Using .pth files. You can then import modules in src from anywhere on your system.
NB1: Replace python3.6 by any version of Python you want to use.
NB2: If you use Python2.7 (don't know for other versions), you will need to create __init__.py (empty) files in src/ and src/utils.
NB3: Any name.pth file is ok for my_modules.pth.

Yes, you can only import code from installed packages or from files in you working directory or subdirectories.

the way I see it, your problem would be solved if you would have your module or package installed, like an yother package one installs and then imports (numpy, xml, json etc.)
I also have a package I constantly use in all my projects, ulitilies, and I know it's a pain with the importing.
here is a description on how to How to package a python application to make it pip-installable:
https://marthall.github.io/blog/how-to-package-a-python-app/

Navigate to your python installation folder
Navigate to lib
Navigate to site-packages
Make a new file called any_thing_you_want.pth
Type .../src/utils/helpers.py inside that file with your favorite text editor
Note: the ellipsis before scr/utils/helpers.py will look something like: C:/Users/blahblahblah/python_folders/scr... <- YOU DO NEED THIS!
This is a cheap way out but it keeps code clean, and is the least complicated. The downside is, for every folder your modules are in, example.pth will need them. Upside: works with Windows all the way up to Windows 10

Python3 relative imports failing in package

I've been reading tons of questions related to this matter but none of the has help me so far. I'm currently using the Python click library to execute scripts as commands.
The current command that I'm trying to execute is placed inside a Python Package which has a __main__.py file, like the parent dir has. The current project structure is the following one.
/myproject
/foo_one
__init__.py
foo_one.py
/foo_two
__init__.py
foo_two.py
/foo_three
__init__.py
foo_three.py
/foo_four
__init__.py
foo_four.py
/foo_five
__init__.py
foo_five.py
/foo_six
__init__.py
foo_six.py
__init__.py
__main__.py
foo_seven.py
Whenever I try to run the __main__.py script located in the project folder, the following error comes up.
ModuleNotFoundError: No module named '__main__.foo_two'; '__main__' is not a package
However, if I try to execute that same script from a folder above with the -m option like this python3 myproject -m, the following is shown up.
ImportError: attempted relative import with no known parent package
The __main__.py has 2 imports like this... The __init__.py is empty.
from .foo_two.foo_two import AClass, AnotherClass, OtherClass
from .foo_three.foo_three import AnotherClassMore
UPDATE: Correcting the syntax error in a previous command, while calling python -m myproject gives me a ModuleNotFoundError because of a module that isn't my responsibility, which is basically a library that is used in the project.

Hopefully, this will be of value to someone out there - I went through half a dozen stackoverflow posts trying to figure out relative imports similar to whats posted above here. I set up everything as suggested but I was still hitting ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'my_module_name'
Since I was just developing locally and playing around, I hadn't created/run a setup.py file. I also hadn't apparently set my PYTHONPATH.
I realized that when I ran my code as I had been when the tests were in the same directory as the module, I couldn't find my module:
$ python3 test/my_module/module_test.py 2.4.0
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "test/my_module/module_test.py", line 6, in <module>
from my_module.module import *
ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'my_module'
However, when I explicitly specified the path things started to work:
$ PYTHONPATH=. python3 test/my_module/module_test.py 2.4.0
...........
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Ran 11 tests in 0.001s
OK
So, in the event that anyone has tried a few suggestions, believes their code is structured correctly and still finds themselves in a similar situation as myself try either of the following if you don't just add your export the current directory to your PYTHONPATH:
Run your code and explicitly include the path like so:
$ PYTHONPATH=. python3 test/my_module/module_test.py
To avoid calling PYTHONPATH=., create a setup.py file with contents like the following and run python setup.py development to add packages to the path:
# setup.py
from setuptools import setup, find_packages
setup(
name='sample',
packages=find_packages()
)

The correct syntax would be
python -m myproject
This should execute __main__ in the top-level package.

You need to have __init__.py in each sub folder with python code to tell the interpreter to treat the folder as a module
/myproject
/foo_one
__init__.py # add this
foo_one.py
/foo_two
__init__.py # add this
foo_two.py
/foo_three
__init__.py # add this
foo_three.py
/foo_four
__init__.py # add this
foo_four.py
/foo_five
__init__.py # add this
foo_five.py
/foo_six
__init__.py # add this
foo_six.py
__init__.py
__main__.py
foo_seven.py
the __init__.py is telling the interpreter to treat sub folders as python modules / packages and you should be able to import
The __init__.py file can be empty but needs to be present in the sub folders to be able to import that module / package

ImportError: No module named <something>

The following is my directory structure.
ankur
├── ankur1
│ ├── __init__.py
│ └── util.py
├── ankur2
│ └── main.py
└── __init__.py
In main.py, I am importing the following.
import ankur.ankur1.util
When I execute the code in Windows, it works perfectly fine. But in Linux, I get the following error.
ImportError: No module named ankur.ankur1.util
I also read the official python doc on Modules and Packages.

Your package structure is OK. Your import statement is OK. The only thing missing is for the package to be visible in sys.path, a list of locations where import statements can be resolved.
Usually we do this by "installing" the package locally with pip, which copies your code into site-packages†. This directory is one of the entries in sys.path, so when your code is installed in site-packages, the import statements can now be resolved as usual.
However, to install your code you'll need an installer (setup.py script) or a build system (pyproject.toml file) defined for the package. Your project doesn't appear to have any installer or build system, so you'll need to create one (see the Python Packaging User Guide for details about that) and then install the package with pip. If you don't want to learn Python packaging just yet, you'll need to find another way around.
It is possible to modify sys.path directly in main.py, which is subsequently enabling the statement import ankur.ankur1.util to be resolved. This is hacky and I recommend against that. It would add the restriction that executing main.py is the only entry point to the rest of the package, and so any other code wanting to import ankur will first need to know the path to main.py on the filesystem. That's a messy approach and should be avoided.
Another way around is to use the environment - there is an environment variable PYTHONPATH which can be used to augment the default search path for module files. In your shell:
export PYTHONPATH=/path/to/parent # linux/macOS
SET PYTHONPATH=C:/path/to/parent # Windows
Where parent is the directory containing ankur subdirectory.
† The exact location of site-packages depends on your OS/platform, but you can check with import sysconfig; sysconfig.get_paths()["purelib"]