python modules as user configuration files
Robin Thomas
robin.thomas at starmedia.net
Thu Apr 5 16:39:47 EDT 2001
At 07:36 AM 4/6/01 +1200, Graham Guttocks wrote:
>Greetings Python Experts,
>
>For my application, I would like users to have a python module as
>a configuration file to define variables and whatnot.
>
>Is there any way to explicitly import a particular file using its full
>path name?
I would recommend not using "import", which would actually install the
module in sys.modules and possibly screw up imports of other, legitimate
modules you have created. Also, importing from a fullpath is not very
straightforward.
Instead, consider the config file a Python "script", not a module. Your
program can read in the script, compile it, and execute it in namespaces
that you define. Here's a brief example:
def load_config(filepath):
myconfig = {}
try:
execfile(filepath, myconfig)
except:
print "config file raised an error"
return {}
# examine stuff in myconfig, if you want,
# I left it out
return myconfig
--
Robin Thomas
Engineering
StarMedia Network, Inc.
robin.thomas at starmedia.net
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