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Code Issues Releases Wiki Activity

Issue #11948: clarify modules search path

This commit is contained in:
Sandro Tosi 2012-01-19 11:28:15 +01:00
parent da747c3d97
commit d53abd3154
1 changed files with 15 additions and 17 deletions
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Doc/tutorial/modules.rst
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@ -155,24 +155,22 @@ The Module Search Path
.. index:: triple: module; search; path .. index:: triple: module; search; path
When a module named :mod:`spam` is imported, the interpreter searches for a When a module named :mod:`spam` is imported, the interpreter first searches for
file named :file:`spam.py` in the directory containing the input script and a built-in module with that name. If not found, it then searches for a file
then in the list of directories specified by the environment variable named :file:`spam.py` in a list of directories given by the variable
:envvar:`PYTHONPATH`. This has the same syntax as the shell variable :data:`sys.path`. :data:`sys.path` is initialized from these locations:
:envvar:`PATH`, that is, a list of directory names. When :envvar:`PYTHONPATH`
is not set, or when the file is not found there, the search continues in an
installation-dependent default path; on Unix, this is usually
:file:`.:/usr/local/lib/python`.
Actually, modules are searched in the list of directories given by the variable * the directory containing the input script (or the current directory).
``sys.path`` which is initialized from the directory containing the input script * :envvar:`PYTHONPATH` (a list of directory names, with the same syntax as the
(or the current directory), :envvar:`PYTHONPATH` and the installation- dependent shell variable :envvar:`PATH`).
default. This allows Python programs that know what they're doing to modify or * the installation-dependent default.
replace the module search path. Note that because the directory containing the
script being run is on the search path, it is important that the script not have After initialization, Python programs can modify :data:`sys.path`. The
the same name as a standard module, or Python will attempt to load the script as directory containing the script being run is placed at the beginning of the
a module when that module is imported. This will generally be an error. See search path, ahead of the standard library path. This means that scripts in that
section :ref:`tut-standardmodules` for more information. directory will be loaded instead of modules of the same name in the library
directory. This is an error unless the replacement is intended. See section
:ref:`tut-standardmodules` for more information.
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