How to perform a dynamic relative import in Python 3?

Question

I have a following file structure:

mymodule/
    __init__.py
    mylib.py
test.py

File mymodule/__init__.py:

# mymodule/__init__.py
def call_me():
    module = __import__('.mylib')
    module.my_func()

File mymodule/mylib.py:

# mymodule/mylib.py
def my_func():
    print("hi!")

File test.py:

# test.py
from mymodule import call_me
call_me()

If I run python3 test.py it fails with the error:

    module = __import__('.mylib')
ImportError: No module named '.mylib'

I want to perform a relative import inside of call_me that equals to the static import from . import mylib. How can I do it?

Would yhis be a solution? def call_me(): from mymodule import mylib mylib.my_func() — alec_djinn
– alec_djinn, Commented Nov 28, 2017 at 10:58
Not really, I would like to NOT use the original name of the package inside. In other words, I need a relative import. — Fomalhaut
– Fomalhaut, Commented Nov 28, 2017 at 11:06

Mike Müller · Accepted Answer · 2017-11-28 12:00:17Z

11

Use importlib.import_module and specify your package from __name__ in __init__.py:

importlib.import_module(name, package=None) Import a module.

The 'package' argument is required when performing a relative import. It specifies the package to use as the anchor point from which to resolve the relative import to an absolute import.

Example:

import importlib

def call_me():
    module = importlib.import_module('.mylib', package=__name__)
    module.my_func()

edited Nov 28, 2017 at 12:00

answered Nov 28, 2017 at 10:59

Mike Müller

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4 Comments

Fomalhaut Over a year ago

It didn't help: importlib.import_module('mylib', package=None) leads ImportError: No module named 'mylib'

user3012759 Over a year ago

@Fomalhaut because there is no such module... you need the name of the outer module, in this case that would be mymodule - so it know to import mymodule.mylib instead of mylib.mylib

Fomalhaut Over a year ago

Then that's not a solution, because if I have to use the name mymodule inside, that's not a relative import.

user3012759 Over a year ago

@Fomalhaut well, then why do you need the relative import? presumably to encapsulate your module so one can do from yourmodule import something for this you need to know how you would like to refer to your module, otherwise it can't be done - at least not without horrible hacks

Vivek Harikrishnan · Accepted Answer · 2017-11-28 11:00:41Z

3

How about this,

def call_me():
    mylib = __import__('mylib', globals(), locals(), [], 1)
    mylib.my_func()

Please refer the doc: import

answered Nov 28, 2017 at 11:00

Vivek Harikrishnan

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