How to import module when module name has a '-' dash or hyphen in it?

python import module hyphen
Bala picture Bala · Dec 2, 2011 · Viewed 98k times · Source

I want to import foo-bar.py. This works:

foobar = __import__("foo-bar")

This does not:

from "foo-bar" import *

My question: Is there any way that I can use the above format i.e., from "foo-bar" import * to import a module that has a - in it?

Answer

SingleNegationElimination picture SingleNegationElimination · Dec 2, 2011

you can't. foo-bar is not an identifier. rename the file to foo_bar.py

Edit: If import is not your goal (as in: you don't care what happens with sys.modules, you don't need it to import itself), just getting all of the file's globals into your own scope, you can use execfile

# contents of foo-bar.py
baz = 'quux'

>>> execfile('foo-bar.py')
>>> baz
'quux'
>>>

Related questions

`from ... import` vs `import .`

I'm wondering if there's any difference between the code fragment from urllib import request and the fragment import urllib.request or if they are interchangeable. If they are interchangeable, which is the "standard"/"preferred" syntax (if there is one)?

Read More
Can't import my own modules in Python

I'm having a hard time understanding how module importing works in Python (I've never done it in any other language before either). Let's say I have: myapp/__init__.py myapp/myapp/myapp.py myapp/myapp/SomeObject.py myapp/tests/TestCase.…

Read More
Adding a module (Specifically pymorph) to Spyder (Python IDE)

I have managed to get spyder installed and functioning on my mac but I want to add in a few modules that it doesn't include by default (mahotas and pymorph). I installed both via easy_install in the terminal and …

Read More