beyond top level package error in relative import

Question

It seems there are already quite some questions here about relative import in python 3, but after going through many of them I still didn\'t find the answer for my issue. s

Answer 1

None of these solutions worked for me in 3.6, with a folder structure like:

package1/
    subpackage1/
        module1.py
package2/
    subpackage2/
        module2.py

My goal was to import from module1 into module2. What finally worked for me was, oddly enough:

import sys
sys.path.append(".")

Note the single dot as opposed to the two-dot solutions mentioned so far.

---

Edit: The following helped clarify this for me:

import os
print (os.getcwd())

In my case, the working directory was (unexpectedly) the root of the project.

Answer 2

from package.A import foo

I think it's clearer than

import sys
sys.path.append("..")

Answer 3

In my case, I had to change to this: Solution 1(more better which depend on current py file path. Easy to deploy) Use pathlib.Path.parents make code cleaner

import sys
import os
import pathlib
target_path = pathlib.Path(os.path.abspath(__file__)).parents[3]
sys.path.append(target_path)
from utils import MultiFileAllowed

Solution 2

import sys
import os
sys.path.append(os.getcwd())
from utils import MultiFileAllowed

Answer 4

import sys
sys.path.append("..") # Adds higher directory to python modules path.

Try this. Worked for me.

Answer 5

This one didn't work for me as I'm using Django 2.1.3:

import sys
sys.path.append("..") # Adds higher directory to python modules path.

I opted for a custom solution where I added a command to the server startup script to copy my shared script into the django 'app' that needed the shared python script. It's not ideal but as I'm only developing a personal website, it fit the bill for me. I will post here again if I can find the django way of sharing code between Django Apps within a single website.

Answer 6

As the most popular answer suggests, basically its because your PYTHONPATH or sys.path includes . but not your path to your package. And the relative import is relative to your current working directory, not the file where the import happens; oddly.

You could fix this by first changing your relative import to absolute and then either starting it with:

PYTHONPATH=/path/to/package python -m test_A.test

OR forcing the python path when called this way, because:

With python -m test_A.test you're executing test_A/test.py with __name__ == '__main__' and __file__ == '/absolute/path/to/test_A/test.py'

That means that in test.py you could use your absolute import semi-protected in the main case condition and also do some one-time Python path manipulation:

from os import path
…
def main():
…
if __name__ == '__main__':
    import sys
    sys.path.append(path.join(path.dirname(__file__), '..'))
    from A import foo

    exit(main())