Import method from __init__.py

Question

Having some issues with importing modules in python. This is my folder structure

my_app/
 app.py
 __init__.py (I want to import a function from this file)
 folder1/
 __init.py
 method1.py
 folder2/
 __init__.py
 method.py

In my root __init__.py I have this function

def want_to_be_run_elsewhere():
 pass

In my app.py, I want to import this function and run it when I start my application, but I'm unsure how to do it.

from my_app import want_to_be_run_elsewhere

This throws a no module named my_app

From what I can tell, I have all the necessary __init__.py files, so maybe it could be sys.path related?

I've read some similar threads on here but I haven't been able to solve this.

• John Zwinck: Are app.py and __init__.py inside my_app/ or not?
• Cheese Puffs: Sorry for the sloppiness. Yes app.py and __init__.py is inside my_app/ and app.py is my entry point
• PM 2Ring: FWIW, it's not usual to define functions inside a __init__.py file. They are normally empty, or just have an __all__ list in them.
• Cheese Puffs: Hmmm, OK. Maybe I should just consider moving the function then. I don't wanna import `__init__``but if that's the only way, I think i'll implement it another way. Thanks!
• Akshay: Simplest way to figure this out which I always prefer is, try it importing in ipython with tab key. E.g. : import something. <tab>

Answer 1

Usually you would do the import like

from . import want_to_be_run_elsewhere

This doesn't work here, because you are calling app.py. If you import my_app.app, it is part of the module. If you call it it is not. Importing from the module it is in using . will then not work.

You could either move app.py outside of my_app, removing it from the module and making imports work again.

Or you can use

from __init__ import want_to_be_run_elsewhere

in app.py

I believe

from my_app import want_to_be_run_elsewhere

will only work if you have actually pip install -e my_app/. Then it should work too.

• das-g: Alternatively, invoke app.py as a module in the package: From the dir above my_app, call python -m my_app.app or python3 -m my_app.app. See stackoverflow.com/a/11536794/674064
• Bakuriu: I'd remove the suggestion to use from __init__ import .... It's not the right way of doing things. It can even break code if some code in the submodules depends on the package name (e.g. if you use modules like pickle directly or shleve etc using that solution will make data unreadable).