How to import your package/modules from a script in bin folder in python

Question

When organising python project, this structure seems to be a standard way of doing it:

myproject\
    bin\
        myscript
    mypackage\
        __init__.py
        core.py
    tests\
        __init__.py
        mypackage_tests.py
setup.py

My question is, how do I import my core.py so I can use it in myscript?

both __init__.py files are empty.

Content of myscript:

#!/usr/bin/env python
from mypackage import core
if __name__ == '__main__':
    core.main()

Content of core.py

def main():
    print 'hello'

When I run myscript from inside myproject directory, I get the following error:

Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "bin/myscript", line 2, in <module>
    from mypackage import core
ImportError: No module named mypackage

What am I missing?

Your `sys.path` value (modified by the `PYTHONPATH` environment variable or at run time by Python code) determines where `import` will search for modules. — Borealid, Jul 23 '12 at 12:43
Consider using `entry_points["console_scripts"]'` in `setup.py`. — kojiro, Jul 23 '12 at 12:43
What are the contents of `setup.py`? And is it in the myproject directory? — mgilson, Jul 23 '12 at 12:44
Why not install your package (`python setup.py etc`) *before* running your script? — David Robinson, Jul 23 '12 at 12:44
I'm in a development stage, so I'd rather not install it every time I make a change to see if it works. — tim_wonil, Jul 23 '12 at 13:03
Don't need to install every time. See: https://stackoverflow.com/a/16816683/972128 — kkurian, Sep 23 '17 at 18:21

score 7 · Accepted Answer · edited Jul 23 '12 at 12:46

7

Usually, setup.py should install the package in a place where the Python interpreter can find it, so after installation import mypackage will work. To facilitate running the scripts in bin right from the development tree, I'd usually simply add a simlink to ../mypackage/ to the bin directory. Of course, this requires a filesystem supporting symlinks…

edited Jul 23 '12 at 12:46

mgilson

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answered Jul 23 '12 at 12:44

Sven Marnach

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Using the symlink as you suggested, the script was able to find mypackage, but I've now run into another issue... See my edit above in the question. – tim_wonil Jul 23 '12 at 12:57
7

Instead of using "clever" symlinks with development, use a [virtualenv](http://pypi.python.org/pypi/virtualenv/) and run `python setup.py develop` to have distutils install the executable in your path (when you have activated that virtualenv) – SingleNegationElimination Jul 23 '12 at 13:01
Actually, I figured it out that other issue. – tim_wonil Jul 23 '12 at 13:41
@TokenMacGuy: virtualenv seems like a good solution, I'll have to learn more about it. – tim_wonil Jul 23 '12 at 13:42
1

@TokenMacGuy: I agree that virtualenv is the more flexible and robust solution. However, for simple situations (a single module or package), using a symlink always worked fine for me. The symlink is easier to set up and allows testing command-line tools without running `python setup.py`, so it also has its merits. – Sven Marnach Jul 23 '12 at 14:32
@SvenMarnach a single module or package? better to be prepared for the future ;p – Jul 18 '13 at 20:28

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Jul 18 '13 at 20:24

I'm not sure if there is a "best choice", but the following is my normal practice:

Put whatever script I wanna run in /bin
do "python -m bin.script" in the dir myproject
When importing in script.py, consider the dir in which script.py is sitting as root. So
```
from ..mypackage import core
```

If the system supports symlink, it's a better choice.

score 0 · Answer 3 · edited Dec 04 '19 at 12:40

0

I usually add my bin path into $PYTHONPATH, that will enable python to look for asked module in bin directory too.

export PYTHONPATH=/home/username/bin:$PYTHONPATH
$ python
import module_from_bin

edited Dec 04 '19 at 12:40

David Buck

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answered Dec 04 '19 at 11:49

Sufyan

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score 0 · Answer 4 · answered Feb 10 '20 at 21:45

I solved the issue following setuptools specifications.

In setup.py you can specify the modules as an argument for the function setup():

packages = find_packages()

This finds all modules.

p.s. you have to import this function: from setuptools import setup, find_packages

How to import your package/modules from a script in bin folder in python

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