Python not finding module in same folder when called from a script in another folder

Question

I have a set of Python scripts that interact. I call my "main" script from the parent directory (parent/main.py), which imports function from a script foo in a subdirectory (parent/child/foo.py), which in turn imports functions from another program bar (parent/child/bar.py). I'm getting a ModuleNotFoundError for bar.py when I try to run main.py.

I read into namespace modules and as best I can tell, I'm not doing anything wrong as apparently "from child.foo import myfunc" should be fine?

Stack trace, per request:

Traceback (most recent call last):
  File ".\main.py", line 2, in <module>
    import child.foo
  File "C:\biglongpath\parent\child\run_n1.py", line 1, in <module>
    from bar import myfunc as mf
ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'bar'

Can you add A) the import code that's blowing up and B) the stacktrace to your description? — TayTay
– TayTay, Commented Jan 22, 2021 at 0:40
@MitchellOlislagers Oops, I don't have that in the actual -- typo. Apologies. — Liam Wilson
– Liam Wilson, Commented Jan 22, 2021 at 0:40

William Barela · Accepted Answer · 2021-01-22 00:44:07Z

2

In Python 3.x you need to write:

from child.foo import myfunc

In Python 2.7:

You should include an __init__.py file (even if it is empty) in each child directory.

answered Jan 22, 2021 at 0:44

William Barela

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3 Comments

Liam Wilson Over a year ago

This worked (3.x) -- thanks. Can you offer an explanation as to how it works? My guess would've just been that imports "copy" the code over so everything needs to be in terms of the outermost but I have no idea how accurate that is. Also to clarify for others -- this is for bar (e.g. should be child.bar)

William Barela Over a year ago

@LiamWilson import is syntactic sugar for the __import__ func (read more in the docs here). The simplest answer is that is the way that it is implemented in the standard library (I know, not very satisfying). But basically when you run python on a .py file, python first parses the file, make imports, makes space for variables declared, and gives some basic checks to ensure that you are being consistent with spaces/tabs, etc. Part of that process is loading the modules that you request. But, it must be in the format __import__ expects :)

Liam Wilson Over a year ago

Ah, got it. Thank you!

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