[Python-Dev] Dots in __name__ break import -- fixable?

[Evan Simpson]

There must be some code in the import machinery that assumes (with 
excellent reason) that the __name__ of the module from which it is 
called will never contain periods.  Consider the following:

 >>> __name__ = 'a.b.c'
 >>> import string
 >>> string
<module 'a.b.string' from '/usr/lib/python2.3/string.pyc'>

The peculiar behavior is *only* triggered by periods:

 >>> __name__ = ''.join(map(chr, range(1, 256))).replace('.', '')
 >>> import string
 >>> string
<module 'string' from '/usr/lib/python2.3/string.pyc'>

Would this be easy to fix?

It would fall into the realm of "so don't do that!" except that Zope's 
Python Scripts set their __name__ to their Zope Id, which can contain 
periods.

Cheers,

Evan @ 4-am