Add a module when running a python program from terminal - python

I wrote a module that, if it is imported, automatically changes the error output of my program. It is quite handy to have it in almost any python code I write.
Thus I don't want to add the line import my_errorhook to every code I write but want to have this line added automatically.
I found this answer, stating that it should be avoided to change the behavior of python directly. So I thought about changing the command line, something like
python --importModule my_errorhook main.py
and defining an alias in the bashrc to overwrite the python command to automatically add the parameter. Is there any way I could achieve such a behavior?

There is no such thing like --importModule in python command line. The only way you can incept the code without explicitly importing is by putting your functions in builtins module. However, this is a practice that is discouraged because it makes your code hard to maintain without proper design.
Let's assume that your python file main.py is the entry point of the whole program. Now you can create another file bootstrap.py, and put below codes into the new file.
import main
__builtins__.func = lambda x: x>=0
main.main()
Then the function func() can be called from all modules without being imported. For example in main.py
def main():
...
print(func(1))
...

Related

How to run a particular python script present in any other directory after a "if" statement in a python script?

I need to know how to run a python script from a python script present in other directory like the following algorithm:
if option==true
run /path/to/the/directory/PYTHON SCRIPT
else
ch3ka points out that you can use exec to do this. There are other ways like subprocess or os.system as well.
But Python works well with itself by design - this is the entire concept behind creating and importing modules. I think for most cases you'd be better off just encapsulating the script in a class, and moving the code that was previously in the if __name__ == '__main__' section of the script into the __init__ section of the class:
class PYTHON_SCRIPT:
def __init__(self):
# put your logic here
Then you could just import the class:
import PYTHON_SCRIPT
# no need to say if a boolean is true, just say if boolean
if option:
PYTHON_SCRIPT()
This would additionally give you the benefit of being able to use properties within your script as you saw fit.
use execfile.
execfile(...)
execfile(filename[, globals[, locals]])
Read and execute a Python script from a file.
The globals and locals are dictionaries, defaulting to the current
globals and locals. If only globals is given, locals defaults to it.
In pyton3, execfile is gone. You can use exec(open('/path/to/file.py').read()) instead.
Already answered here
How do I execute a program from python? os.system fails due to spaces in path
use subprocess module
import subprocess
subprocess.call(['C:\\Temp\\a b c\\Notepad.exe', 'C:\\test.txt'])
other methods include making system calls using os library or execfile in the other post
if the script is well designed it probably just launch a main function (often called main), so the most proper way to do this is to import this main function in your code and call it, this is the pythonic way. You just need to add the directory of the script into your python path.
if it's possible, always try to avoid exec, subprocess, os.system, Popen etc ..
example :
import sys
sys.path.insert(0, 'path/to/the/directory')
import python_script
sys.path.pop(0)
if option:
python_script.main()

python module import syntax

I'm teaching myself Python (I have experience in other languages).
I found a way to import a "module". In PHP, this would just be named an include file. But I guess Python names it a module. I'm looking for a simple, best-practices approach. I can get fancy later. But right now, I'm trying to keep it simple while not developing bad habits. Here is what I did:
I created a blank file named __init__.py, which I stored in Documents (the folder on the Mac)
I created a file named myModuleFile.py, which I stored in Documents
In myModuleFile.py, I created a function:
def myFunction()
print("hello world")
I created another file: myMainFile.py, which I stored in Documents
In this file, I typed the following:
import myModuleFile.py
myModuleFile.myFunction()
This successfully printed out "hello world" to the console when I ran it on the terminal.
Is this a best-practices way to do this for my simple current workflow?
I'm not sure the dot notation means I'm onto something good or something bad. It throws an error if I try to use myFunction() instead of myModuleFile.myFunction(). I kind of think it would be good. If there were a second imported module, it would know to call myFunction() from myModuleFile rather than the other one. So the dot notation makes everybody know exactly which file you are trying to call the function from.
I think there is some advanced stuff using sys or some sort of exotic configuration stuff. But I'm hoping my simple little way of doing things is ok for now.
Thanks for any clarification on this.
For your import you don't need the ".py" extension
You can use:
import myModuleFile
myModuleFile.myFunction()
Or
from myModuleFile import myFunction
myFunction()
Last syntax is common if you import several functions or globals of your module.
Besides to use the "main" function, I'd put this on your module:
from myModuleFile import myFunction
if __name__ == '__main__':
myFunction()
Otherwise the main code could be executed in imports or other cases.
I'd use just one module for myModuleFile.py and myMainFile.py, using the previous pattern let you know if your module is called from command line or as import.
Lastly, I'd change the name of your files to avoid the CamelCase, that is, I'd replace myModuleFile.py by my_module.py. Python loves the lowercase ;-)
You only need to have init.py if you are creating a package (a package in a simple sense is a subdirectory which has one or more modules in it, but I think it may be more complex than you need right now).
If you have just one folder which has MyModule.py and MyMainFile.py - you don't need the init.py.
In MyMainFile.py you can write :
import myModuleFile
and then use
myModuleFile.MyFunction()
The reason for including the module name is that you may reuse the same function name in more than one module and you need a way of saying which module your program is using.
Module Aliases
If you want to you can do this :
import myModuleFile as MyM
and then use
MyM.MyFunction()
Here you have created MyM as an alias for myModuleFile, and created less typing.
Here Lies Dragons
You will sometimes see one other forms of IMport, which can be dangerous, especially for the beginner.
from myModuleFile import MyFunction
if you do this you can use :
MyFunction()
but this has a problem if you have used the same function name in MyMainFile, or in any other library you have used, as you now can't get to any other definition of the name MyFunction. This is often termed Contaminating the namespace - and should really be avoided unless you are absolutely certain it is safe.
there is a final form which I will show for completeness :
from myModuleFile import *
While you will now be able to access every function defined in myModuleFile without using myModuleFile in front of it, you have also now prevented your MyMainFile from using any function in any library which matches any name defined in myModuleFile.
Using this form is generally not considered to be a good idea.
I hope this helps.

how to execute nested python files

I have 3 python files.(first.py, second.py, third.py) I'm executing 2nd python file from the 1st python file. 2nd python file uses the 'import' statement to make use of 3rd python file. This is what I'm doing.
This is my code.
first.py
import os
file_path = "folder\second.py"
os.system(file_path)
second.py
import third
...
(rest of the code)
third.py (which contains ReportLab code for generating PDF )
....
canvas.drawImage('xyz.jpg',0.2*inch, 7.65*inch, width=w*scale, height=h*scale)
....
when I'm executing this code, it gives error
IOError: Cannot open resource "xyz.jpg"
But when i execute second.py file directly by writing python second.py , everything works fine..!!
Even i tried this code,
file_path = "folder\second.py"
execfile(file_path)
But it gives this error,
ImportError: No module named third
But as i stated everything works fine if i directly execute the second.py file. !!
why this is happening? Is there any better idea for executing such a kind of nested python files?
Any idea or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
I used this three files just to give the basic idea of my structure. You can consider this flow of execution as a single process. There are too many processes like this and each file contains thousandth lines of codes. That's why i can't change the whole code to be modularize which can be used by import statement. :-(
So the question is how to make a single python file which will take care of executing all the other processes. (If we are executing each process individually, everything works fine )
This should be easy if you do it the right way. There's a couple steps that you can follow to set it up.
Step 1: Set your files up to be run or imported
#!/usr/bin/env python
def main():
do_stuff()
if __name__ == '__main__':
The __name__ special variable will contain __main__ when invoked as a script, and the module name if imported. You can use that to provide a file that can be used either way.
Step 2: Make your subdirectory a package
If you add an empty file called __init__.py to folder, it becomes a package that you can import.
Step 3: Import and run your scripts
from folder import first, second, third
first.main()
second.main()
third.main()
The way you are doing thing is invalid.
You should: create a main application, and import 1,2,3.
In 1,2,3: You should define the things as your functions. Then call them from the main application.
IMHO: I don't need that you have much code to put into separate files, you just also put them into one file with function definitions and call them properly.
I second S.Lott: You really should rethink your design.
But just to provide an answer to your specific problem:
From what I can guess so far, you have second.py and third.py in folder, along with xyz.jpg. To make this work, you will have to change your working directory first. Try it in this way in first.py:
import os
....
os.chdir('folder')
execfile('second.py')
Try reading about the os module.
Future readers:
Pradyumna's answer from here solved Moin Ahmed's second issue for me:
import sys, change "sys.path" by appending the path during run
time,then import the module that will help
[i.e. sys.path.append(execfile's directory)]

Python, dynamically invoke script

I want to run a python script from within another. By within I mean any state changes from the child script effect the parent's state. So if a variable is set in the child, it gets changed in the parent.
Normally you could do something like
import module
But the issue is here the child script being run is an argument to the parent script, I don't think you can use import with a variable
Something like this
$python run.py child.py
This would be what I would expect to happen
#run.py
#insert magic to run argv[1]
print a
#child.py
a = 1
$python run.py child.py
1
You can use the __import__ function which allows you to import a module dynamically:
module = __import__(sys.argv[1])
(You may need to remove the trailing .py or not specify it on the command line.)
From the Python documentation:
Direct use of __import__() is rare, except in cases where you want to import a module whose name is only known at runtime.
While __import__ certainly executes the specified file, it also stores it in the python modules list. If you want to reexecute the same file, you'd have to do a reload.
You can also take a look at the python exec statement that could be more suited to your needs.
From Python documentation :
This statement supports dynamic execution of Python code. The first expression should evaluate to either a string, an open file object, or a code object.

Reloading a changed python file in emacs python shell

In the emacs Python shell (I'm running 2.* Python) I am importing a .py file I'm working with and testing the code. If I change the code however I'm not sure how to import it again.
From my reading so far it seems that
reload(modulename)
should work, but it doesn't seem to.
Perhaps just shutting down the python shell and restarting it would be enough, is there a command for that or you just do it manually?
edit: It looks like python-send-defun and python-send-buffer would be ideal, but changes don't seem to be propagating.
While reload() does work, it doesn't change references to classes, functions, and other objects, so it's easy to see an old version. A most consistent solution is to replace reload() with either exec (which means not using import in the first place) or restarting the interpreter entirely.
If you do want to continue to use reload, be very careful about how you reference things from that module, and always use the full name. E.g. import module and use module.name instead of from module import name. And, even being careful, you will still run into problems with old objects, which is one reason reload() isn't in 3.x.
It seems to work for me:
Make a file (in your PYTHONPATH) called test.py
def foo():
print('bar')
Then in the emacs python shell (or better yet, the ipython shell), type
>>> import test
>>> test.foo()
bar
Now modify test.py:
def foo():
print('baz')
>>> reload(test)
<module 'test' from '/home/unutbu/pybin/test.py'>
>>> test.foo()
baz
After looking at this issue for quite an extensive amount of time, I came to the conclusion that the best solution to implement is, either based on an initialisation file of your python interpreter (ipython for exemple), or using the python build-in module "imp" and its function "reload". For instance at the beginning of your code:
import my_module
import imp
imp.reload(my_module)
#your code
This solution came to me from this page: https://emacs.stackexchange.com/questions/13476/how-to-force-a-python-shell-to-re-import-modules-when-running-a-buffer

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