How do I write good/correct package __init__.py files

Question

My package has the following structure:

mobilescouter/
    __init__.py #1
    mapper/
        __init__.py  #2
        lxml/
            __init__.py #3
            vehiclemapper.py
            vehiclefeaturemapper.py
            vehiclefeaturesetmapper.py
        ...
        basemapper.py
   vehicle/
        __init__.py #4
        vehicle.py
        vehiclefeature.py
        vehiclefeaturemapper.py
   ...

I'm not sure how the __init__.py files should be correctly written.
The __init__.py #1 looks like:

__all__ = ['mapper', 'vehicle']
import mapper
import vehicle

But how should for example __init__.py #2 look like? Mine is:

__all__ = ['basemapper', 'lxml']
from basemaper import *
import lxml

When should be __all__ used?

Answer 1

__all__ is very good - it helps guide import statements without automatically importing modules http://docs.python.org/tutorial/modules.html#importing-from-a-package

using __all__ and import * is redundant, only __all__ is needed

I think one of the most powerful reasons to use import * in an __init__.py to import packages is to be able to refactor a script that has grown into multiple scripts without breaking an existing application. But if you're designing a package from the start. I think it's best to leave __init__.py files empty.

for example:

foo.py - contains classes related to foo such as fooFactory, tallFoo, shortFoo

then the app grows and now it's a whole folder

foo/
    __init__.py
    foofactories.py
    tallFoos.py
    shortfoos.py
    mediumfoos.py
    santaslittlehelperfoo.py
    superawsomefoo.py
    anotherfoo.py

then the init script can say

__all__ = ['foofactories', 'tallFoos', 'shortfoos', 'medumfoos',
           'santaslittlehelperfoo', 'superawsomefoo', 'anotherfoo']
# deprecated to keep older scripts who import this from breaking
from foo.foofactories import fooFactory
from foo.tallfoos import tallFoo
from foo.shortfoos import shortFoo

so that a script written to do the following does not break during the change:

from foo import fooFactory, tallFoo, shortFoo