dynamically generating a module

[Steven D. Majewski]

On 13 Nov 2001, Hung Jung Lu wrote:

> Here is one more challenge: is it possible to create a module on the
> fly?
> 
> Suppose I have the ASCII Python source code of a module-to-be, or even
> better, suppose that I have the compiled byte code of a module-to-be,
> stored in a Python string. Is there a simple way (meaning not tweaking
> at C++ level) of making the module-to-be into a real module, without
> hitting the harddrive?

Sure: all you have to do is create an empty module and exec the code
in that modules namespace:

	import new
	codestr = open( source_file ).read()	## source code in codestr


	module1 = new.module( 'module1' )	## create a new, empty module
	exec codestr in module1.__dict__ 	## exec code in module namespace
	dir( module1 )				## inspect contents

						## or, with a compiled module
	module2 = new.module( 'module2' )
	code = compile( codestr, 'none', 'exec' ) ## 'none' can be anyname
	exec code in module2.__dict__ 



-- Steve