Python - Import module based on string then pass arguments

Question

Ive searched the web and this site and cant find an answer to this problem. Im sure its right in front of me somewhere but cant find it.

I need to be able to import a module based on a string. Then execute a function within that module while passing arguments.

I can import based on the string and then execute using eval() but I know this is not the best way to handle this. I also cant seem to pass arguments that way.

My current module that would be set based on a string is named TestAction.py and lives in a folder called Tasks. This is the content of TestAction.py:

def doSomething(var):
    print var

This is the code I am executing to import TestAction and execute.

module = "Tasks.TestAction"
import Tasks
mymod = __import__(module)
eval(module + ".doSomething()")

How can I make this code #1 not use eval() and #2 pass the var argument to doSomething()?

Thanks in advance!

Answer 1

Thanks everyone for the help. it looks like importlib combined with getattr was what I needed. For future reference here is the exact code that is working for me.

module = "FarmTasks.TestAction"
mymod = importlib.import_module(module)

ds = getattr(mymod, "doSomething")
ds("stuff")

Answer 2

Is the function name also variable? If not, just use your imported module:

mymod.doSomething('the var argument')

if it is, use getattr:

fun = 'doSomething'
getattr(mymod, fun)('the var argument')