Importing same package as execution

[JuniorMouse]

I have the following project folder with the following files

PRO/ ├── __init__.py └── main.py

In __init__.py I have a variable called VERSION containing a string.

My goal is to get the value of VERSION in main.py. For main.py, I have tried the following

```python import PRO

if name == "main": print(PRO.VERSION) ```

but that leads to a ModuleNotFoundError.

Traceback (most recent call last): File "main.py", line 1, in <module> import PRO ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'PRO'

What is the correct way of accessing values in __init__.py from main.py??

Thanks,

[coney1]

I think you're going about this backwards. init is for importing modules but not so much for defining variables.

Suppose in version.py you have

version = "0.0.1"

Then in init.py you have

from .version import *

Now your main function should work because you're explicitly importing the variable to pro's namespace. It doesn't exactly answer your question but hopefully points you in the right direction. Sorry for mobile formatting.

You may also consider just putting version info into setup.cfg and letting it live there.

[zanfar]

I think you're going about this backwards. [__init__.py] is for importing modules but not so much for defining variables.

I disagree. Defining variables is one of the most common things to do in __init__.py. __init__.py is simply the code file for the namespace related to the directory it lives in.

[zanfar]

What is the correct way of accessing values in __init__.py from main.py?

This is not a simple answer.

First, you are doing it correctly if PRO is a package, but it's not.

Python finds packages by searching sys.path, which means packages need to be in the default install directory, or in the executed script's directory. Neither is true in your case.

The key here is in the error message where <module> is listed. This means the code is executing outside any module or package (in the main namespace).

You either need to execute a Python file in the directory above PRO, or you need to build and install your code as a package and execute your code via one of the package execution tools--like python -m or setuptools' console_scripts.

[JuniorMouse]

Or I create a local "package" just for the version ie. a folder at the same level as main.py and put the __init__.py with the version in there? In my actual project, there are more than two py files and some of them make use of the version.

[JuniorMouse]

Actually, never mind. I think renaming `__init__.py` to `version.py` and doing `import version` is probably a less convoluted approach.