Import everything in a Python module inside a function

Question

I would like to construct a function that emulates from package_name import *. While this question answers how one might do so by modifying globals(). globals(), however, is local to the module the function is defined in.

For example, suppose I define the following function in first_package.py,

import imp

def load_contents(path):
  """Load everything from another package"""
  module = imp.load_source('', path)
  for k in dir(module):
    if not '__' in k:   # ignore __xxx__ private variables
      globals()[k] = getattr(module, k)

Then run the following code in second_package.py

import first_package

first_package.load_contents('third_package.py')

Nothing will happen. How can I fix this?

duckworthd · Accepted Answer · 2013-07-31 05:12:41Z

1

The trick is to use sys._getframe to go up the call stack 1 step, then retrieve the globals of the caller. The precise code is,

def load_contents(path):
  """Load contents of another configuration file"""
  module = imp.load_source('', path)
  glob = sys._getframe(1).f_globals  # globals of calling module
  for k in dir(module):
    if not '__' in k:   # ignore __xxx__ private variables
      glob[k] = getattr(module, k)

Note that this code will only work with CPython, as sys._getframe is an implementation-specific function.

answered Jul 31, 2013 at 5:12

duckworthd

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Community · Accepted Answer · 2017-05-23 11:56:36Z

1

You can create a dictionary variable within first_package.py that is a cross module variables. Please refer to the link here on how to go about defining a cross module variable. Refer to the response provided by J.F.Sebastian

It is always good to adopt a simple approach that does not play around with python internal mechanisms - since there may be side-effects of such activities in a complex application

edited May 23, 2017 at 11:56

CommunityBot

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answered Jul 31, 2013 at 5:21

Prahalad Deshpande

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Comments

Steve Barnes · Accepted Answer · 2013-07-31 06:01:48Z

0

You could always pass your callers globals dictionary in to the function and then add to it.

answered Jul 31, 2013 at 6:01

Steve Barnes

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