Import Script from a Parent Directory

Question

How do I import a module(python file) that resides in the parent directory?

Both directories have a __init__.py file in them but I still cannot import a file from the parent directory?

In this folder layout, Script B is attempting to import Script A:

Folder A:    __init__.py    Script A:    Folder B:      __init__.py      Script B(attempting to import Script A) 

The following code in Script B doesn't work:

import ../scriptA.py # I get a compile error saying the "." is invalid 

Answer 1

You don't import scripts in Python you import modules. Some python modules are also scripts that you can run directly (they do some useful work at a module-level).

In general it is preferable to use absolute imports rather than relative imports.

toplevel_package/ ├── __init__.py ├── moduleA.py └── subpackage     ├── __init__.py     └── moduleB.py 

In moduleB:

from toplevel_package import moduleA 

If you'd like to run moduleB.py as a script then make sure that parent directory for toplevel_package is in your sys.path.

Answer 2

From the docs:

from .. import scriptA 

You can do this in packages, but not in scripts you run directly. From the link above:

Note that both explicit and implicit relative imports are based on the name of the current module. Since the name of the main module is always "__main__", modules intended for use as the main module of a Python application should always use absolute imports.

If you create a script that imports A.B.B, you won't receive the ValueError.