How to import a Python module from a sibling folder?

55
votes

I have gone through many Python relative import questions but I can't understand the issue/get it to work.

My directory structure is:

Driver.py

A/
      Account.py
      __init__.py

B/
      Test.py
      __init__.py

Driver.py

from B import Test

Account.py

class Account:
def __init__(self):
    self.money = 0

Test.py

from ..A import Account

When I try to run:

python Driver.py

I get the error

Traceback (most recent call last):

from B import Test

File "B/Test.py", line 1, in <module> from ..A import Account

ValueError: Attempted relative import beyond toplevel package
2
pythonimportmodulerelative-path
You really should mention your Python version when asking about features which have changed radically between versions (relative imports, Unicode, and a few others). Sometimes people will be able to guess based on the specific error you got, or how you wrote your code, but you shouldn't count on people guessing right. - abarnert

2 Answers

31
votes

This is happening because A and B are independent, unrelated, packages as far as Python is concerned.

Create a __init__.py in the same directory as Driver.py and everything should work as expected.

3
votes

In my case adding __init__.py was not enough. You also have to append the path of the parent directory if you get module not found error.

root :
 |
 |__SiblingA:
 |    \__A.py
 |     
 |__SiblingB:
 |      \_ __init__.py
 |      \__B.py
 |

To import B.py from A.py, you have to do the following

import sys
  
# append the path of the parent directory
sys.path.append("..")

from SiblingB import B
print("B is successfully imported!")