How to access a module from outside your file folder in Python?

Question

How can I access modules from another folder?

Here's the file structure:

/<appname>
    /config
        __init__.py
        config.py
    /test
        test.py # I'm here

I wanted to access the functions from config.py from test.py . How would I do this?
Here is my import:

import config.config

When I run the test.py script, it will always say:

ImportError: No module named config.config

Did I do something wrong?

You can use `os.path` shenanigans to move around your relative path. http://stackoverflow.com/questions/279237/import-a-module-from-a-relative-path?rq=1 — Cory Kramer, Jul 21 '14 at 15:22

score 60 · Accepted Answer · answered Jul 21 '14 at 15:27

60

The simplest way is to modify the sys.path variable (it defines the import search path):

# Bring your packages onto the path
import sys, os
sys.path.append(os.path.abspath(os.path.join('..', 'config')))

# Now do your import
from config.config import *

answered Jul 21 '14 at 15:27

aruisdante

8,875
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3

what is ".." in here, please explain – user3814582 Jun 08 '18 at 16:46
2

It's standard path semantics for "up one directory" when dealing with a relative path. – aruisdante Aug 15 '18 at 19:13
if you want to up 2 directory, just replace '..' to '../..' – PhatHV Sep 07 '18 at 07:39
10

Well, not quite. This is inside a `join` block. So you'd do `join('..','..','config')` – aruisdante Sep 07 '18 at 14:18
2

Instead of `'..'` one can use `os.path.pardir` . So it becomes: `sys.path.append(os.path.abspath(os.path.join(os.path.pardir, 'config')))` – Anatol Bivol Sep 27 '21 at 10:41
Thanks. I tried something similar but way more confusing than this: `import sys` `parent_folder = "\\".join(sys.path[0].split("\\")[:-1])` `sys.path.append(parent_folder)` `import config` – Kavyajeet Bora Mar 22 '23 at 06:18

score 18 · Answer 2 · answered Jul 21 '14 at 15:27

Yo can only import modules that are visible by your environment. You can check the environment using this.

import sys
print sys.path

As you will see sys.path is a list so you can append elements to it:

sys.path.append('/path_to_app/config')

And you should be able to import your module.

BTW: There is plenty of questions about this.

score 11 · Answer 3 · answered Jul 21 '14 at 15:22

11

Add the app directory to the module search path.

For example:

PYTHONPATH=/path/to/appname python test.py

answered Jul 21 '14 at 15:22

falsetru

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you're a legend! – hadooper Jun 17 '20 at 14:18
1

Can you elaborate please? – Mohith7548 Jun 23 '21 at 06:55
@Mohith7548, prepend `PYTHONPATH=/path/to/appname` before the command. (assuming unix, the module is in `/path/to/appname` directory) – falsetru Jun 23 '21 at 10:16
Okay, that's informative. How about in windows? – Mohith7548 Jun 23 '21 at 13:22
1

@Mohith7548 Execute `set PYTHONPATH=...`, then the command. – falsetru Jun 23 '21 at 14:05

How to access a module from outside your file folder in Python?

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