Python packages: relative imports

Question

I'm working on a Python application consisting of a core and multiple independent modules using the core. I'm having difficulty setting up relative imports of packages.

app
  |- __init__.py
  |- core
        |- __init__.py
        |- corefile.py

  |- module1
        |- __init__.py
        |- main.py

The __init__.py files are empty. I'm running Python 2.7.1.

main.py
from .core import *

Running python main.py results in ValueError: Attempted relative import in non-package.

Similar questions: Ultimate answer to relative python imports, How to do relative imports in Python?, Relative imports in Python

Thanks for the help.

score 2 · Accepted Answer · answered Apr 07 '12 at 23:07

2

In short, you can only use relative imports from packages that are, themselves, imported.

For example, if you had:

$ cat run.py
from app.module1 import main
main.main()
$ python run.py

Then you could use a relative import in app/module1/main.py (although it would need to be from ..core import foo, because core/ is one level above main.py).

answered Apr 07 '12 at 23:07

David Wolever

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That's made some headway, but now I'm getting `ValueError: Attempted relative import beyond toplevel package`. Printing `__name__` yields `module.main` and not `app.module.main`. Why doesn't it see the directory above it as part of the package? – mgold Apr 07 '12 at 23:42
How exactly are you importing it? And are you importing it as `module.main` from something inside `app`? – David Wolever Apr 08 '12 at 02:24
I've managed to come up with a slightly tacky solution that involved trying different paths. I also call `module.main` from the top level, as you recommend, so I'll go ahead and close this. – mgold Apr 09 '12 at 00:47

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Mar 30 '18 at 20:32

import sys
abs_filepath = '/home/n/Documents/IMPORTANT/deep_learning/drori_2018/    final_proj/Ryans_branch/StackGAN/'
# insert your absolute filepath above as abs_filepath = '/path/to/targ/dir'
sys.path.append(abs_filepath)

Please correct it if there are problems with doing the import this way

Python packages: relative imports

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