.. highlightlang:: c
.. _importing:
Importing Modules
=================
.. c:function:: PyObject* PyImport_ImportModule(const char *name)
.. index::
single: package variable; __all__
single: __all__ (package variable)
single: modules (in module sys)
This is a simplified interface to :c:func:`PyImport_ImportModuleEx` below,
leaving the *globals* and *locals* arguments set to *NULL* and *level* set
to 0. When the *name*
argument contains a dot (when it specifies a submodule of a package), the
*fromlist* argument is set to the list ``['*']`` so that the return value is the
named module rather than the top-level package containing it as would otherwise
be the case. (Unfortunately, this has an additional side effect when *name* in
fact specifies a subpackage instead of a submodule: the submodules specified in
the package's ``__all__`` variable are loaded.) Return a new reference to the
imported module, or *NULL* with an exception set on failure. Before Python 2.4,
the module may still be created in the failure case --- examine ``sys.modules``
to find out. Starting with Python 2.4, a failing import of a module no longer
leaves the module in ``sys.modules``.
.. versionchanged:: 2.4
Failing imports remove incomplete module objects.
.. versionchanged:: 2.6
Always uses absolute imports.
.. c:function:: PyObject* PyImport_ImportModuleNoBlock(const char *name)
This version of :c:func:`PyImport_ImportModule` does not block. It's intended
to be used in C functions that import other modules to execute a function.
The import may block if another thread holds the import lock. The function
:c:func:`PyImport_ImportModuleNoBlock` never blocks. It first tries to fetch
the module from sys.modules and falls back to :c:func:`PyImport_ImportModule`
unless the lock is held, in which case the function will raise an
:exc:`ImportError`.
.. versionadded:: 2.6
.. c:function:: PyObject* PyImport_ImportModuleEx(char *name, PyObject *globals, PyObject *locals, PyObject *fromlist)
.. index:: builtin: __import__
Import a module. This is best described by referring to the built-in Python
function :func:`__import__`, as the standard :func:`__import__` function calls
this function directly.
The return value is a new reference to the imported module or top-level package,
or *NULL* with an exception set on failure (before Python 2.4, the module may
still be created in this case). Like for :func:`__import__`, the return value
when a submodule of a package was requested is normally the top-level package,
unless a non-empty *fromlist* was given.
.. versionchanged:: 2.4
Failing imports remove incomplete module objects.
.. versionchanged:: 2.6
The function is an alias for :c:func:`PyImport_ImportModuleLevel` with
-1 as level, meaning relative import.
.. c:function:: PyObject* PyImport_ImportModuleLevel(char *name, PyObject *globals, PyObject *locals, PyObject *fromlist, int level)
Import a module. This is best described by referring to the built-in Python
function :func:`__import__`, as the standard :func:`__import__` function calls
this function directly.
The return value is a new reference to the imported module or top-level package,
or *NULL* with an exception set on failure. Like for :func:`__import__`,
the return value when a submodule of a package was requested is normally the
top-level package, unless a non-empty *fromlist* was given.
.. versionadded:: 2.5
.. c:function:: PyObject* PyImport_Import(PyObject *name)
.. index::
module: rexec
module: ihooks
This is a higher-level interface that calls the current "import hook function".
It invokes the :func:`__import__` function from the ``__builtins__`` of the
current globals. This means that the import is done using whatever import hooks
are installed in the current environment, e.g. by :mod:`rexec` or :mod:`ihooks`.
.. versionchanged:: 2.6
Always uses absolute imports.
.. c:function:: PyObject* PyImport_ReloadModule(PyObject *m)
.. index:: builtin: reload
Reload a module. This is best described by referring to the built-in Python
function :func:`reload`, as the standard :func:`reload` function calls this
function directly. Return a new reference to the reloaded module, or *NULL*
with an exception set on failure (the module still exists in this case).
.. c:function:: PyObject* PyImport_AddModule(const char *name)
Return the module object corresponding to a module name. The *name* argument
may be of the form ``package.module``. First check the modules dictionary if
there's one there, and if not, create a new one and insert it in the modules
dictionary. Return *NULL* with an exception set on failure.
.. note::
This function does not load or import the module; if the module wasn't already
loaded, you will get an empty module object. Use :c:func:`PyImport_ImportModule`
or one of its variants to import a module. Package structures implied by a
dotted name for *name* are not created if not already present.
.. c:function:: PyObject* PyImport_ExecCodeModule(char *name, PyObject *co)
.. index:: builtin: compile
Given a module name (possibly of the form ``package.module``) and a code object
read from a Python bytecode file or obtained from the built-in function
:func:`compile`, load the module. Return a new reference to the module object,
or *NULL* with an exception set if an error occurred. Before Python 2.4, the
module could still be created in error cases. Starting with Python 2.4, *name*
is removed from :attr:`sys.modules` in error cases, and even if *name* was already
in :attr:`sys.modules` on entry to :c:func:`PyImport_ExecCodeModule`. Leaving
incompletely initialized modules in :attr:`sys.modules` is dangerous, as imports of
such modules have no way to know that the module object is an unknown (and
probably damaged with respect to the module author's intents) state.
The module's :attr:`__file__` attribute will be set to the code object's
:c:member:`co_filename`.
This function will reload the module if it was already imported. See
:c:func:`PyImport_ReloadModule` for the intended way to reload a module.
If *name* points to a dotted name of the form ``package.module``, any package
structures not already created will still not be created.
.. versionchanged:: 2.4
*name* is removed from :attr:`sys.modules` in error cases.
.. c:function:: PyObject* PyImport_ExecCodeModuleEx(char *name, PyObject *co, char *pathname)
Like :c:func:`PyImport_ExecCodeModule`, but the :attr:`__file__` attribute of
the module object is set to *pathname* if it is non-``NULL``.
.. c:function:: long PyImport_GetMagicNumber()
Return the magic number for Python bytecode files (a.k.a. :file:`.pyc` and
:file:`.pyo` files). The magic number should be present in the first four bytes
of the bytecode file, in little-endian byte order.
.. c:function:: PyObject* PyImport_GetModuleDict()
Return the dictionary used for the module administration (a.k.a.
``sys.modules``). Note that this is a per-interpreter variable.
.. c:function:: PyObject* PyImport_GetImporter(PyObject *path)
Return an importer object for a :data:`sys.path`/:attr:`pkg.__path__` item
*path*, possibly by fetching it from the :data:`sys.path_importer_cache`
dict. If it wasn't yet cached, traverse :data:`sys.path_hooks` until a hook
is found that can handle the path item. Return ``None`` if no hook could;
this tells our caller it should fall back to the built-in import mechanism.
Cache the result in :data:`sys.path_importer_cache`. Return a new reference
to the importer object.
.. versionadded:: 2.6
.. c:function:: void _PyImport_Init()
Initialize the import mechanism. For internal use only.
.. c:function:: void PyImport_Cleanup()
Empty the module table. For internal use only.
.. c:function:: void _PyImport_Fini()
Finalize the import mechanism. For internal use only.
.. c:function:: PyObject* _PyImport_FindExtension(char *, char *)
For internal use only.
.. c:function:: PyObject* _PyImport_FixupExtension(char *, char *)
For internal use only.
.. c:function:: int PyImport_ImportFrozenModule(char *name)
Load a frozen module named *name*. Return ``1`` for success, ``0`` if the
module is not found, and ``-1`` with an exception set if the initialization
failed. To access the imported module on a successful load, use
:c:func:`PyImport_ImportModule`. (Note the misnomer --- this function would
reload the module if it was already imported.)
.. c:type:: struct _frozen
.. index:: single: freeze utility
This is the structure type definition for frozen module descriptors, as
generated by the :program:`freeze` utility (see :file:`Tools/freeze/` in the
Python source distribution). Its definition, found in :file:`Include/import.h`,
is::
struct _frozen {
char *name;
unsigned char *code;
int size;
};
.. c:var:: struct _frozen* PyImport_FrozenModules
This pointer is initialized to point to an array of :c:type:`struct _frozen`
records, terminated by one whose members are all *NULL* or zero. When a frozen
module is imported, it is searched in this table. Third-party code could play
tricks with this to provide a dynamically created collection of frozen modules.
.. c:function:: int PyImport_AppendInittab(const char *name, void (*initfunc)(void))
Add a single module to the existing table of built-in modules. This is a
convenience wrapper around :c:func:`PyImport_ExtendInittab`, returning ``-1`` if
the table could not be extended. The new module can be imported by the name
*name*, and uses the function *initfunc* as the initialization function called
on the first attempted import. This should be called before
:c:func:`Py_Initialize`.
.. c:type:: struct _inittab
Structure describing a single entry in the list of built-in modules. Each of
these structures gives the name and initialization function for a module built
into the interpreter. Programs which embed Python may use an array of these
structures in conjunction with :c:func:`PyImport_ExtendInittab` to provide
additional built-in modules. The structure is defined in
:file:`Include/import.h` as::
struct _inittab {
char *name;
void (*initfunc)(void);
};
.. c:function:: int PyImport_ExtendInittab(struct _inittab *newtab)
Add a collection of modules to the table of built-in modules. The *newtab*
array must end with a sentinel entry which contains *NULL* for the :attr:`name`
field; failure to provide the sentinel value can result in a memory fault.
Returns ``0`` on success or ``-1`` if insufficient memory could be allocated to
extend the internal table. In the event of failure, no modules are added to the
internal table. This should be called before :c:func:`Py_Initialize`.