Sphinx is not able to import anything

Question

I am trying to use sphinx to document a project of mine. I have used autodoc strings within all of my modules and files. I used sphinx-apidoc to automatically generate rst files for my code. So far, so good.

The problem is that sphinx is not able to import any of my modules, even though I have added my project to sys.path.

My unit tests pass and can import my modules just fine. I'm kind of at my wit's end; I've tried all sorts of renaming and moving and reloading and reconfiguring without success and it is very frustrating to say the least.

Here is my document structure:

project
├── collectionprocessor.py
├── config.py
├── createdb.py
├── database
│   ├── database.py
│   └── __init__.py
├── docs
│   ├── _build
│   ├── conf.py
│   ├── generated
│   ├── index.rst
│   ├── Makefile
│   ├── modules.rst
│   ├── project.database.rst
│   ├── project.document.rst
│   ├── project.mixins.rst
│   ├── project.parser.rst
│   ├── project.rst
│   ├── project.sequence.rst
│   ├── project.tests.rst
│   ├── _static
│   └── _templates
├── document
│   ├── document.py
│   ├── __init__.py
│   ├── metadata.py
│   ├── parsedparagraph.py
│   ├── sentence.py
│   ├── taggedword.py
│   └── unit.py
├── __init__.py
├── logger.py
├── mixins
│   ├── comparebydict.py
│   ├── __init__.py
│   └── kwargstodict.py
├── models.py
├── parser
│   ├── dependency.py
│   ├── documentparser.py
│   ├── __init__.py
│   └── parseproducts.py
├── README.md
├── runtests.py
├── sequence
│   ├── __init__.py
│   ├── sequenceprocessor.py
│   └── sequence.py
├── stringprocessor.py
├── structureextractor.py
├── tests
│   ├── data
│   ├── __init__.py
│   ├── __pycache__
│   ├── raw_parse.txt
│   ├── testcollectionprocessor.py
│   ├── testdocumentparser.py
│   ├── testextractor.py
│   ├── testlogger.py
│   ├── testsequenceprocessor.py
│   └── teststringprocessor.py

Here is the relevant line in the sphinx config file:

sys.path.insert(0, os.path.abspath("../"))

Here is the output of sphinx-build:

[docs]─[$]>>> sphinx-build -b html ./ ./generated/
Running Sphinx v1.2.2
loading pickled environment... done
building [html]: targets for 0 source files that are out of date
updating environment: 0 added, 7 changed, 0 removed
reading sources... [100%] project.tests                                                                                                             
/home/plasma/prog/project/docs/project.rst:22: WARNING: autodoc: failed to import module u'project.collectionprocessor'; the following exception was raised:
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/usr/lib/python2.7/site-packages/sphinx/ext/autodoc.py", line 335, in import_object
    __import__(self.modname)
ImportError: No module named project.collectionprocessor
/home/plasma/prog/project/docs/project.rst:30: WARNING: autodoc: failed to import module u'project.config'; the following exception was raised:
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/usr/lib/python2.7/site-packages/sphinx/ext/autodoc.py", line 335, in import_object
    __import__(self.modname)
ImportError: No module named project.config
/home/plasma/prog/project/docs/project.rst:38: WARNING: autodoc: failed to import module u'project.createdb'; the following exception was raised:
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/usr/lib/python2.7/site-packages/sphinx/ext/autodoc.py", line 335, in import_object
    __import__(self.modname)
ImportError: No module named project.createdb
/home/plasma/prog/project/docs/project.rst:46: WARNING: autodoc: failed to import module u'project.logger'; the following exception was raised:
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/usr/lib/python2.7/site-packages/sphinx/ext/autodoc.py", line 335, in import_object
    __import__(self.modname)
ImportError: No module named project.logger
/home/plasma/prog/project/docs/project.rst:54: WARNING: autodoc: failed to import module u'project.models'; the following exception was raised:
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/usr/lib/python2.7/site-packages/sphinx/ext/autodoc.py", line 335, in import_object
    __import__(self.modname)
ImportError: No module named project.models
/home/plasma/prog/project/docs/project.rst:62: WARNING: autodoc: failed to import module u'project.runtests'; the following exception was raised:
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/usr/lib/python2.7/site-packages/sphinx/ext/autodoc.py", line 335, in import_object
    __import__(self.modname)
ImportError: No module named project.runtests
/home/plasma/prog/project/docs/project.rst:70: WARNING: autodoc: failed to import module u'project.stringprocessor'; the following exception was raised:
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/usr/lib/python2.7/site-packages/sphinx/ext/autodoc.py", line 335, in import_object
    __import__(self.modname)
ImportError: No module named project.stringprocessor
/home/plasma/prog/project/docs/project.rst:78: WARNING: autodoc: failed to import module u'project.structureextractor'; the following exception was raised:
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/usr/lib/python2.7/site-packages/sphinx/ext/autodoc.py", line 335, in import_object
    __import__(self.modname)
ImportError: No module named project.structureextractor
/home/plasma/prog/project/docs/project.rst:87: WARNING: autodoc: failed to import module u'project'; the following exception was raised:
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/usr/lib/python2.7/site-packages/sphinx/ext/autodoc.py", line 335, in import_object
    __import__(self.modname)
ImportError: No module named project
/home/plasma/prog/project/docs/project.database.rst:10: WARNING: autodoc: failed to import module u'project.database.database'; the following exception was raised:
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/usr/lib/python2.7/site-packages/sphinx/ext/autodoc.py", line 335, in import_object
    __import__(self.modname)
ImportError: No module named project.database.database
/home/plasma/prog/project/docs/project.database.rst:19: WARNING: autodoc: failed to import module u'project.database'; the following exception was raised:
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/usr/lib/python2.7/site-packages/sphinx/ext/autodoc.py", line 335, in import_object
    __import__(self.modname)
ImportError: No module named project.database
/home/plasma/prog/project/docs/project.document.rst:10: WARNING: autodoc: failed to import module u'project.document.document'; the following exception was raised:
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/usr/lib/python2.7/site-packages/sphinx/ext/autodoc.py", line 335, in import_object
    __import__(self.modname)
ImportError: No module named project.document.document
/home/plasma/prog/project/docs/project.document.rst:18: WARNING: autodoc: failed to import module u'project.document.metadata'; the following exception was raised:
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/usr/lib/python2.7/site-packages/sphinx/ext/autodoc.py", line 335, in import_object
    __import__(self.modname)
ImportError: No module named project.document.metadata
/home/plasma/prog/project/docs/project.document.rst:26: WARNING: autodoc: failed to import module u'project.document.parsedparagraph'; the following exception was raised:
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/usr/lib/python2.7/site-packages/sphinx/ext/autodoc.py", line 335, in import_object
    __import__(self.modname)
ImportError: No module named project.document.parsedparagraph
/home/plasma/prog/project/docs/project.document.rst:34: WARNING: autodoc: failed to import module u'project.document.sentence'; the following exception was raised:
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/usr/lib/python2.7/site-packages/sphinx/ext/autodoc.py", line 335, in import_object
    __import__(self.modname)
ImportError: No module named project.document.sentence
/home/plasma/prog/project/docs/project.document.rst:42: WARNING: autodoc: failed to import module u'project.document.taggedword'; the following exception was raised:
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/usr/lib/python2.7/site-packages/sphinx/ext/autodoc.py", line 335, in import_object
    __import__(self.modname)
ImportError: No module named project.document.taggedword
/home/plasma/prog/project/docs/project.document.rst:50: WARNING: autodoc: failed to import module u'project.document.unit'; the following exception was raised:
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/usr/lib/python2.7/site-packages/sphinx/ext/autodoc.py", line 335, in import_object
    __import__(self.modname)
ImportError: No module named project.document.unit
/home/plasma/prog/project/docs/project.document.rst:59: WARNING: autodoc: failed to import module u'project.document'; the following exception was raised:
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/usr/lib/python2.7/site-packages/sphinx/ext/autodoc.py", line 335, in import_object
    __import__(self.modname)
ImportError: No module named project.document
/home/plasma/prog/project/docs/project.mixins.rst:10: WARNING: autodoc: failed to import module u'project.mixins.comparebydict'; the following exception was raised:
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/usr/lib/python2.7/site-packages/sphinx/ext/autodoc.py", line 335, in import_object
    __import__(self.modname)
ImportError: No module named project.mixins.comparebydict
/home/plasma/prog/project/docs/project.mixins.rst:18: WARNING: autodoc: failed to import module u'project.mixins.kwargstodict'; the following exception was raised:
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/usr/lib/python2.7/site-packages/sphinx/ext/autodoc.py", line 335, in import_object
    __import__(self.modname)
ImportError: No module named project.mixins.kwargstodict
/home/plasma/prog/project/docs/project.mixins.rst:27: WARNING: autodoc: failed to import module u'project.mixins'; the following exception was raised:
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/usr/lib/python2.7/site-packages/sphinx/ext/autodoc.py", line 335, in import_object
    __import__(self.modname)
ImportError: No module named project.mixins
/home/plasma/prog/project/docs/project.parser.rst:10: WARNING: autodoc: failed to import module u'project.parser.dependency'; the following exception was raised:
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/usr/lib/python2.7/site-packages/sphinx/ext/autodoc.py", line 335, in import_object
    __import__(self.modname)
ImportError: No module named project.parser.dependency
/home/plasma/prog/project/docs/project.parser.rst:18: WARNING: autodoc: failed to import module u'project.parser.documentparser'; the following exception was raised:
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/usr/lib/python2.7/site-packages/sphinx/ext/autodoc.py", line 335, in import_object
    __import__(self.modname)
ImportError: No module named project.parser.documentparser
/home/plasma/prog/project/docs/project.parser.rst:26: WARNING: autodoc: failed to import module u'project.parser.parseproducts'; the following exception was raised:
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/usr/lib/python2.7/site-packages/sphinx/ext/autodoc.py", line 335, in import_object
    __import__(self.modname)
ImportError: No module named project.parser.parseproducts
/home/plasma/prog/project/docs/project.parser.rst:35: WARNING: autodoc: failed to import module u'project.parser'; the following exception was raised:
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/usr/lib/python2.7/site-packages/sphinx/ext/autodoc.py", line 335, in import_object
    __import__(self.modname)
ImportError: No module named project.parser
/home/plasma/prog/project/docs/project.sequence.rst:10: WARNING: autodoc: failed to import module u'project.sequence.sequence'; the following exception was raised:
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/usr/lib/python2.7/site-packages/sphinx/ext/autodoc.py", line 335, in import_object
    __import__(self.modname)
ImportError: No module named project.sequence.sequence
/home/plasma/prog/project/docs/project.sequence.rst:18: WARNING: autodoc: failed to import module u'project.sequence.sequenceprocessor'; the following exception was raised:
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/usr/lib/python2.7/site-packages/sphinx/ext/autodoc.py", line 335, in import_object
    __import__(self.modname)
ImportError: No module named project.sequence.sequenceprocessor
/home/plasma/prog/project/docs/project.sequence.rst:27: WARNING: autodoc: failed to import module u'project.sequence'; the following exception was raised:
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/usr/lib/python2.7/site-packages/sphinx/ext/autodoc.py", line 335, in import_object
    __import__(self.modname)
ImportError: No module named project.sequence
/home/plasma/prog/project/docs/project.tests.rst:10: WARNING: autodoc: failed to import module u'project.tests.testcollectionprocessor'; the following exception was raised:
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/usr/lib/python2.7/site-packages/sphinx/ext/autodoc.py", line 335, in import_object
    __import__(self.modname)
ImportError: No module named project.tests.testcollectionprocessor
/home/plasma/prog/project/docs/project.tests.rst:18: WARNING: autodoc: failed to import module u'project.tests.testdocumentparser'; the following exception was raised:
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/usr/lib/python2.7/site-packages/sphinx/ext/autodoc.py", line 335, in import_object
    __import__(self.modname)
ImportError: No module named project.tests.testdocumentparser
/home/plasma/prog/project/docs/project.tests.rst:26: WARNING: autodoc: failed to import module u'project.tests.testextractor'; the following exception was raised:
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/usr/lib/python2.7/site-packages/sphinx/ext/autodoc.py", line 335, in import_object
    __import__(self.modname)
ImportError: No module named project.tests.testextractor
/home/plasma/prog/project/docs/project.tests.rst:34: WARNING: autodoc: failed to import module u'project.tests.testlogger'; the following exception was raised:
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/usr/lib/python2.7/site-packages/sphinx/ext/autodoc.py", line 335, in import_object
    __import__(self.modname)
ImportError: No module named project.tests.testlogger
/home/plasma/prog/project/docs/project.tests.rst:42: WARNING: autodoc: failed to import module u'project.tests.testsequenceprocessor'; the following exception was raised:
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/usr/lib/python2.7/site-packages/sphinx/ext/autodoc.py", line 335, in import_object
    __import__(self.modname)
ImportError: No module named project.tests.testsequenceprocessor
/home/plasma/prog/project/docs/project.tests.rst:50: WARNING: autodoc: failed to import module u'project.tests.teststringprocessor'; the following exception was raised:
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/usr/lib/python2.7/site-packages/sphinx/ext/autodoc.py", line 335, in import_object
    __import__(self.modname)
ImportError: No module named project.tests.teststringprocessor
/home/plasma/prog/project/docs/project.tests.rst:59: WARNING: autodoc: failed to import module u'project.tests'; the following exception was raised:
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/usr/lib/python2.7/site-packages/sphinx/ext/autodoc.py", line 335, in import_object
    __import__(self.modname)
ImportError: No module named project.tests
looking for now-outdated files... none found
pickling environment... done
checking consistency... /home/plasma/prog/project/docs/modules.rst:: WARNING: document isn't included in any toctree
done
preparing documents... done
writing output... [100%] project.tests                                                                                                              
writing additional files... (1 module code pages) _modules/index genindex search
copying static files... done
copying extra files... done
dumping search index... done
dumping object inventory... done
build succeeded, 36 warnings.

Answer 1

I ended up restructuring my project so that the docs directory is at the same level as my project directory that contains all the files. This works when I use sys.path.insert(0, os.path.abspath("../")), and it's probably a bit nicer to look at.

project
    | docs/
    | project/
        | project files, etc.
    | tests/