Python module with a dash, or hyphen (-) in its name

Question

I have an existing python module with a dash in its name, foo-bar.py

Changing the module name is something I would prefer to avoid as the module is shared, and I would have to chase down all the places it is used so that my special case will work.

Is there a way to load a module whose name contains the typically forbidden '-'?

(I do understand that this isn't a best practice. But for this situation I would prefer not to redesign and test a much larger set of applications. Also I don't think my corporate masters would approve of my taking the time to implement such a change.)

Answer 1

You can do that using __import__(). For example:

foobar = __import__("foo-bar") 

But you really should rename the module instead. That way you can avoid confusion where the filename of the module is different from the identifier used in the program.