Develop Reference

Python imports when scripts are run from different folder (ancestor)

I have a large repository with some fixed structure and I have extended it by some folders and python scripts to add extra functionality to it as a whole. The structure looks as follows:
toplevelfolder
featureA
someModuleA.py
__ init __.py
featureB
someModuleB.py
__ init __.py
application
__ init __.py
app.py
Now someModuleA.py and someModuleB.py can be invoked via app.py but at the same time also have be able to be invoked directly, however this invocation must come from the toplevelfolder for the relative paths in the file to resolve correctly, i.e. via python ./featureA/someModuleA.py.
This all works well, but now I need some function definitions from someModuleB in someModuleA and hence I want to import this module. I have tried both absolute and relative imports, but both fail with different errors, the absolute import with
from toplevelfolder.featureA import someModuleA as A
# ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'toplevelfolder'
and the relative import with
from toplevelfolder.featureA import someModuleA as A
# ImportError: attempted relative import with no known parent package
Now I can see that the relative import would cause problems when python is invoked from the toplevelfolder, as .. would represent the latter's parent directory, rather than the parent directory of featureA. However, I cannot get a hold of the first error message, especially since toplevelfolder should not be a module but a package.
Is there another way to import in Python that I'm not aware of, if possibly without modifying PYTHONPATH or sys.path or something like that?

Not 100% sure on what the goal is here. My advice would be:
Identify clearly what you want your top level modules and packages to be.
Make all imports absolute.
Either:
make your project a real installable project, so that those top level modules and packages are installed in the environment's site-packages directory;
or make sure that the current working directory is the one containing the top level modules and packages.
Make sure to call your code via the executable module or package method instead of the script method, if the "entry point" you want to execute is part of a package
DO (executable module or package):
path/to/pythonX.Y -m toplevelpackage.module
path/to/pythonX.Y -m toplevelpackage.subpackage (assuming there is a toplevelpackage/subpackage/__main__.py file)
DON'T (script within a package):
path/to/pythonX.Y toplevelpackage/module.py
(Optional) Later on, once it all works well and everything is under control, you might decide to change some or all imports to relative. (If things are done right, I believe it could be possible to make it so that it is possible to call the executable modules from any level within the directory structure as the current working directory.)
References:
Old reference, possibly outdated, but assuming I interpreted it right, it says that running scripts that live in a package is an anti pattern, and one should use python -m package.module instead: https://mail.python.org/pipermail/python-3000/2007-April/006793.html -- https://www.python.org/dev/peps/pep-3122/

Don't include the top level directory. In featureB.someModuleB:
from featureA.someModuleA import two
Sample directory.

Try pasting this above your import:
import os,sys,inspect
currentdir = os.path.dirname(os.path.abspath(inspect.getfile(inspect.currentframe())))
parentdir = os.path.dirname(currentdir)
sys.path.insert(0,parentdir)
Then you should be able to import a file from the parent-folder.

Can't import own Python module

I am currently running on python 3.6 on anaconda. I have a project structure where (test/lib/yolo/yolo_model.py) and (test/car/detection/cpu_yolo_detector.py).
I run my main from the test directory. My main now calls the script cpu_yolo_detector.py from withing (test/car/detection).
From cpu_yolo_detector.py I want to access the yolo_model.py with
"from lib.yolo.yolo_model import YoloModel"
but I get "no module named lib.yolo".
At the beginning of the main.py I add ('C:\\Users\\Name\\Desktop\\test\\lib\\yolo') to the sys.path and I still get that Error.
I tried both python 3.6 and 3.7 aswell as a virtual environment and without a virtual environment. If I run it with PyCharm everything seems to work but from the terminal it doesn't.

It appears test/ is the root of your project structure. If you want
from lib.yolo.yolo_model import YoloModel
to work, then the directory containing lib/ must be in sys.path.
Try adding 'C:\\Users\\Name\\Desktop\\test' to sys.path.

Try to put the two files (module and main file) in the same directory. If the module name is helpermodule
on main write:
import helpermodule
#or import a specific class/method you might need

why i cannot invoke python script which is in the same project? [duplicate]

What is the correct way to fix this ImportError error?
I have the following directory structure:
/home/bodacydo
/home/bodacydo/work
/home/bodacydo/work/project
/home/bodacydo/work/project/programs
/home/bodacydo/work/project/foo
And I am in the directory
/home/bodacydo/work/project
Now if I type
python ./programs/my_python_program.py
I instantly get
ImportError: No module named foo.tasks
The ./programs/my_python_program.py contains the following line:
from foo.tasks import my_function
I can't understand why python won't find ./foo/tasks.py - it's there.
If I do it from the Python shell, then it works:
python
>>> from foo.tasks import my_function
It only doesn't work if I call it via python ./programs/my_python_program.py script.

Python does not add the current directory to sys.path, but rather the directory that the script is in. Add /home/bodacydo/work/project to either sys.path or $PYTHONPATH.

Do you have a file called __init__.py in the foo directory? If not then python won't recognise foo as a python package.
See the section on packages in the python tutorial for more information.

A better fix than setting PYTHONPATH is to use python -m module.path
This will correctly set sys.path[0] and is a more reliable way to execute modules.
I have a quick writeup about this problem, as other answerers have mentioned the reason for this is python path/to/file.py puts path/to on the beginning of the PYTHONPATH (sys.path).

Here is a step-by-step solution:
Add a script called run.py in /home/bodacydo/work/project and edit it like this:
import programs.my_python_program
programs.my_python_program.main()
(replace main() with your equivalent method in my_python_program.)
Go to /home/bodacydo/work/project
Run run.py
Explanation:
Since python appends to PYTHONPATH the path of the script from which it runs, running run.py will append /home/bodacydo/work/project. And voilà, import foo.tasks will be found.

Example solution for adding the library to your PYTHONPATH.
Add the following line into your ~/.bashrc or just run it directly:
export PYTHONPATH="$PYTHONPATH:$HOME/.python"
Then link your required library into your ~/.python folder, e.g.
ln -s /home/user/work/project/foo ~/.python/

In my mind I have to consider that the foo folder is a stand-alone library. I might want to consider moving it to the Lib\site-packages folder within a python installation. I might want to consider adding a foo.pth file there.
I know it's a library since the ./programs/my_python_program.py contains the following line:
from foo.tasks import my_function
So it doesn't matter that ./programs is a sibling folder to ./foo. It's the fact that my_python_program.py is run as a script like this:
python ./programs/my_python_program.py

If you have this problem when using an instaled version, when using setup.py, make sure your module is included inside packages
setup(name='Your program',
version='0.7.0',
description='Your desccription',
packages=['foo', 'foo.bar'], # add `foo.bar` here

Import python package from local directory into interpreter

I'm developing/testing a package in my local directory. I want to import it in the interpreter (v2.5), but sys.path does not include the current directory. Right now I type in sys.path.insert(0,'.'). Is there a better way?
Also,
from . import mypackage
fails with this error:
ValueError: Attempted relative import in non-package

You can use relative imports only from in a module that was in turn imported as part of a package -- your script or interactive interpreter wasn't, so of course from . import (which means "import from the same package I got imported from") doesn't work. import mypackage will be fine once you ensure the parent directory of mypackage is in sys.path (how you managed to get your current directory away from sys.path I don't know -- do you have something strange in site.py, or...?)
To get your current directory back into sys.path there is in fact no better way than putting it there.

Keep it simple:
try:
from . import mymodule # "myapp" case
except:
import mymodule # "__main__" case

See the documentation for sys.path:
http://docs.python.org/library/sys.html#sys.path
To quote:
If the script directory is not available (e.g. if the interpreter is invoked interactively or if the script is read from standard input), path[0] is the empty string, which directs Python to search modules in the current directory first.
So, there's no need to monkey with sys.path if you're starting the python interpreter from the directory containing your module.
Also, to import your package, just do:
import mypackage
Since the directory containing the package is already in sys.path, it should work fine.

If you want to run an unmodified python script so it imports libraries from a specific local directory you can set the PYTHONPATH environment variable - e.g. in bash:
export PYTHONPATH=/home/user/my_libs
python myscript.py
If you just want it to import from the current working directory use the . notation:
export PYTHONPATH=.
python myscript.py

Inside a package if there is setup.py, then better to install it
pip install -e .

A simple way to make it work is to run your script from the parent directory using python's -m flag, e.g. python -m packagename.scriptname. Obviously in this situation you need an __init__.py file to turn your directory into a package.

Using sys.path should include current directory already.
Try:
import .
or:
from . import sth
however it may be not a good practice, so why not just use:
import mypackage

A bit late to the party, but this is what worked for me:
>>> import sys
>>> sys.path.insert(0, '')
Apparently, if there is an empty string, Python knows that it should look in the current directory. I did not have the empty string in sys.path, which caused this error.

Speaking for python3.. I wanted to use an improved version of a library that's installed in my environment. There are some extra print statements it makes to show that it and not the original lib is being used.
I placed the lib's folder next to the python script. Ran the script.. it ran with the local lib with the modifications.
Removed the folder and ran it again - this time it ran with the installed lib.
So, solution was simple : place the lib's folder (with same name as in your import statement) in your project folder. That does the job, at least at my end.
This is on a standard Linux Mint 20.04 system, with a python 3.8 virutal environment activated (so "(py3.8)" appears in my terminal when I'm in the virtual env)

You can import package_name if the package is a module: this needs you have init.py under the package and things that you want to use are needed to import in the init.py
Or if you want to import class under the package, you can use from package_name import class_name

Importing Python modules from different working directory

I have a Python script that uses built-in modules but also imports a number of custom modules that exist in the same directory as the main script itself.
For example, I would call
python agent.py
and agent.py has a number of imports, including:
import checks
where checks is in a file in the same directory as agent.py
agent/agent.py
agent/checks.py
When the current working directory is agent/ then everything is fine. However, if I call agent.py from any other directory, it is obviously unable to import checks.py and so errors.
How can I ensure that the custom modules can be imported regardless of where the agent.py is called from e.g.
python /home/bob/scripts/agent/agent.py

Actually your example works because checks.py is in the same directory as agent.py, but say checks.py was in the preceeding directory, eg;
agent/agent.py
checks.py
Then you could do the following:
path = os.path.abspath(os.path.join(os.path.dirname(__file__), '..'))
if not path in sys.path:
sys.path.insert(1, path)
del path
Note the use of __file__.

You should NOT need to fiddle with sys.path. To quote from the Python 2.6 docs for sys.path:
As initialized upon program startup, the first item of this list,
path[0], is the directory containing the script that was used to
invoke the Python interpreter. If the script directory is not
available (e.g. if the interpreter is invoked interactively or if the
script is read from standard input), path[0] is the empty string,
which directs Python to search modules in the current directory first.
Notice that the script directory is inserted before the entries
inserted as a result of PYTHONPATH.
=== amod.py ===
def whoami():
return __file__
=== ascript.py ===
import sys
print "sys.argv", sys.argv
print "sys.path", sys.path
import amod
print "amod __file__", amod.whoami()
=== result of running ascript.py from afar ===
C:\somewhere_else>\python26\python \junk\timport\ascript.py
sys.argv ['\\junk\\timport\\ascript.py']
sys.path ['C:\\junk\\timport', 'C:\\WINDOWS\\system32\\python26.zip', SNIP]
amod __file__ C:\junk\timport\amod.py
and if it's re-run, the last line changes of course to ...amod.pyc. This appears not to be a novelty, it works with Python 2.1 and 1.5.2.
Debug hints for you: Try two simple files like I have. Try running Python with -v and -vv. Show us the results of your failing tests, including full traceback and error message, and your two files. Tell us what platform you are running on, and what version of Python. Check the permissions on the checks.py file. Is there a checks.something_else that's causing interference?

You need to add the path to the currently executing module to the sys.path variable. Since you called it on the command line, the path to the script will always be in sys.argv[0].
import sys
import os
sys.path.append(os.path.split(sys.argv[0])[0])
Now when import searches for the module, it will also look in the folder that hosts the agent.py file.

There are several ways to add things to the PYTHONPATH.
Read http://docs.python.org/library/site.html
Set the PYTHONPATH environment variable prior to running your script.
You can do this python -m agent to run agent.py from your PYTHONPATH.
Create .pth files in your lib/site-packages directory.
Install your modules in lib/site-packages.

I think you should consider making the agent directory into a proper Python package. Then you place this package anywhere on the python path, and you can import checks as
from agent import checks
See http://docs.python.org/tutorial/modules.html

If you know full path to check.py use this recipe (http://code.activestate.com/recipes/159571/)
If you want to add directory to system path -- this recipe (http://code.activestate.com/recipes/52662/). In this case I have to determine application directory (sys.argv[0]) an pass this value to AddSysPath function. If you want to look at production sample please leave a comment on this thread so I post it later.
Regards.

To generalize my understanding of your goal, you want to be able to import custom packages using import custom_package_name no matter where you are calling python from and no matter where your python script is located.
A number of answers mention what I'm about to describe, but I feel like most of the answers assume a lot of previous knowledge. I'll try to be as explicit as I can.
To achieve the goal of allowing custom packages to be imported via the import statement, they have to be discoverable somewhere through the path that python uses to search for packages. Python actually uses multiple paths, but we'll only focus on the one that can be found by combining the output of sys.prefix (in your python interpreter) with /lib/pythonX.Y/site-packages (or lib/site-packages if you're using windows) where X.Y is your python version.
Concretely, find the path that your python uses by running:
import sys
your_path = sys.prefix + '/lib/pythonX.Y/site-packages'
print(your_path)
This path should look something like /usr/local/lib/python3.5/site-packages if you're using python 3.5, but it could be much different depending on your setup.
Python uses this path (and a few others) to find the packages that you want to import. So what you can do is put your custom packages in the /usr/local/lib/python3.5/site-packages folder. Don't forget to add an init.py file to the folder.
To be concrete again, in terminal type:
cd your_path
cp path_to_custom_package/custom_package ./
Now you should be able to import everything your custom package like you would if the package was located in the same directory (i.e. import package.subpackage for each subpackage file in your package should work).