Import Script from a Parent Directory

How do I import a module(python file) that resides in the parent directory?

Both directories have a __init__.py file in them but I still cannot import a file from the parent directory?

In this folder layout, Script B is attempting to import Script A:

Folder A:
   __init__.py
   Script A:
   Folder B:
     __init__.py
     Script B(attempting to import Script A)

The following code in Script B doesn't work:

import ../scriptA.py # I get a compile error saying the "." is invalid

You don't import scripts in Python you import modules. Some python modules are also scripts that you can run directly (they do some useful work at a module-level).

In general it is preferable to use absolute imports rather than relative imports.

toplevel_package/
├── __init__.py
├── moduleA.py
└── subpackage
    ├── __init__.py
    └── moduleB.py

In moduleB:

from toplevel_package import moduleA

If you'd like to run moduleB.py as a script then make sure that parent directory for toplevel_package is in your sys.path.

From the docs:

from .. import scriptA

You can do this in packages, but not in scripts you run directly. From the link above:

> Note that both explicit and implicit relative imports are based on the > name of the current module. Since the name of the main module is > always "_main_", modules intended for use as the main module of a > Python application should always use absolute imports.

If you create a script that imports A.B.B, you won't receive the ValueError.

If you want to run the script directly, you can:

1. Add the FolderA's path to the environment variable (PYTHONPATH).
2. Add the path to sys.path in the your script.

Then:

import module_you_wanted