scipy code runs in empty directory, not another

[Diez B. Roggisch]

Beliavsky <beliavsky at aol.com> writes:

> After installing numpy, scipy, and matplotlib for python 2.6 and
> running the code from http://www.scipy.org/Cookbook/OptimizationDemo1
> (stored as xoptimize.py) in a directory with other python codes, I got
> the error messages
>
> C:\python\code\mycode>python xoptimize.py
> Traceback (most recent call last):
>   File "xoptimize.py", line 3, in <module>
>     from pylab import *
>   File "c:\python26\lib\site-packages\pylab.py", line 1, in <module>
>     from matplotlib.pylab import *
>   File "c:\python26\lib\site-packages\matplotlib\__init__.py", line
> 133, in <module>
>     import sys, os, tempfile
>   File "c:\python26\lib\tempfile.py", line 34, in <module>
>     from random import Random as _Random
>   File "C:\python\code\mycode\random.py", line 1, in <module>
>     from RandomArray import standard_normal
>   File "C:\python\code\mycode\RandomArray.py", line 1, in <module>
>     import ranlib
> ImportError: No module named ranlib
>
> When I create a new directory, copy xoptimize.py there, and run, the
> program works. Can someone explain why other files are "interfering"
> in the first case? Thanks.

Because you probably have a file named the same way as some pyhon or
matplotlib module, and that shadows the "real" one. Try copying more and
more files into your new directory to find the culprit.

Diez