Import python package after installing it with setup.py, without restarting?

Question

I have a package that I would like to automatically install and use from within my own Python script.

Right now I have this:

>>> # ... code for downloading and un-targzing

>>> from subprocess import call
>>> call(['python', 'setup.py', 'install'])
>>> from <package> import <name>
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "<stdin>", line 1, in <module>
ImportError: No module named <package>

Then I can continue like this:

>>> exit()
$ python
>>> from <package> import <name>

And it works just fine. For some reason, Python is able to pick up the package just fine if I restart after running the setup.py file, but not if I don't. How can I make it work without having the restart step in the middle?

(Also, is there a superior alternative to using subprocess.call() to run setup.py within a python script? Seems silly to spawn a whole new Python interpreter from within one, but I don't know how else to pass that install argument.)

@riotburn - Not sure what you're talking about, so I'm guessing no? I normally install everything using pip, just for some reason one SDK I need isn't available via PyPI - instead the company makes you download a .tar.gz from their website and tells you to run setup.py inside. — ArtOfWarfare
– ArtOfWarfare, Commented Dec 14, 2015 at 20:28

user559633 · Accepted Answer · 2015-12-14 20:34:14Z

2

Depending on your Python version, you want to look into imp or importlib.

e.g. for Python 3, you can do:

from importlib.machinery import SourceFileLoader
directory_name = # os.path to module
# where __init__.py is the module entry point
s = SourceFileloader(directory_name, __init__.py).load_module()

or, if you're feeling brave that your Python path knows about the directory:

map(__import__, 'new_package_name')

answered Dec 14, 2015 at 20:34

user559633

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5 Comments

Jmons Over a year ago

+1 on the 'feeling brave' bit - if theres one file wrong in there then the entire import will fall over. I generally go for a loop over the files and import (or import the specific files). I think importlib is only from Python 2.7 and above: stackoverflow.com/questions/34275884/… seems to have a lot more details.

user559633 Over a year ago

importlib works on python3. I use it in one of my projects.

Jmons Over a year ago

oh yes, i definitely back the use of import lib - its the map bit that I think care is needed around but it all depends how much you trust your imported lib quality. (Sorry- i mispoke, i meant its only from 2.7 upwards... not just only specific 2.7)

ArtOfWarfare Over a year ago

I just noticed one difference thing that changes after I restart python - /usr/lib/python2.7/site-packages/nitro_python-1.0-py2.7.egg gets added to sys.path. Is there some way I can force sys.path to reload without restarting Python? Or would manually inserting that path be my best bet (how can I even find that path in a cross-platform way?)

user559633 Over a year ago

Oh, Python 2 -- to refresh sys.path, you can import site; reload(site)

NikoTumi · Accepted Answer · 2018-07-26 15:26:40Z

-1

Hope this helps,

I downloaded from seaborn from GitHub.

Through command prompt, cd to downloads\seaborn folder

python install setup.py

Then using spyder from anaconda, checked if it was installed by running the following in a console

import pip
sorted(["%s==%s" % (i.key, i.version)
     for i in pip.get_installed_distributions()])

Seeing that it was not there, go to tools and select "Update module names list"

Again trying the previous code in a python console, the lib was still not showing.

Restarting Spyder and trying import seaborn worked.

Hope this helps.

answered Jul 26, 2018 at 15:26

NikoTumi

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