2 :mod:`zipimport` --- Import modules from Zip archives
3 =====================================================
6 :synopsis: support for importing Python modules from ZIP archives.
7 .. moduleauthor:: Just van Rossum <just@letterror.com>
12 This module adds the ability to import Python modules (:file:`\*.py`,
13 :file:`\*.py[co]`) and packages from ZIP-format archives. It is usually not
14 needed to use the :mod:`zipimport` module explicitly; it is automatically used
15 by the builtin :keyword:`import` mechanism for ``sys.path`` items that are paths
18 Typically, ``sys.path`` is a list of directory names as strings. This module
19 also allows an item of ``sys.path`` to be a string naming a ZIP file archive.
20 The ZIP archive can contain a subdirectory structure to support package imports,
21 and a path within the archive can be specified to only import from a
22 subdirectory. For example, the path :file:`/tmp/example.zip/lib/` would only
23 import from the :file:`lib/` subdirectory within the archive.
25 Any files may be present in the ZIP archive, but only files :file:`.py` and
26 :file:`.py[co]` are available for import. ZIP import of dynamic modules
27 (:file:`.pyd`, :file:`.so`) is disallowed. Note that if an archive only contains
28 :file:`.py` files, Python will not attempt to modify the archive by adding the
29 corresponding :file:`.pyc` or :file:`.pyo` file, meaning that if a ZIP archive
30 doesn't contain :file:`.pyc` files, importing may be rather slow.
32 Using the built-in :func:`reload` function will fail if called on a module
33 loaded from a ZIP archive; it is unlikely that :func:`reload` would be needed,
34 since this would imply that the ZIP has been altered during runtime.
38 `PKZIP Application Note <http://www.pkware.com/documents/casestudies/APPNOTE.TXT>`_
39 Documentation on the ZIP file format by Phil Katz, the creator of the format and
42 :pep:`0273` - Import Modules from Zip Archives
43 Written by James C. Ahlstrom, who also provided an implementation. Python 2.3
44 follows the specification in PEP 273, but uses an implementation written by Just
45 van Rossum that uses the import hooks described in PEP 302.
47 :pep:`0302` - New Import Hooks
48 The PEP to add the import hooks that help this module work.
51 This module defines an exception:
53 .. exception:: ZipImportError
55 Exception raised by zipimporter objects. It's a subclass of :exc:`ImportError`,
56 so it can be caught as :exc:`ImportError`, too.
59 .. _zipimporter-objects:
64 :class:`zipimporter` is the class for importing ZIP files.
66 .. class:: zipimporter(archivepath)
68 Create a new zipimporter instance. *archivepath* must be a path to a ZIP
69 file, or to a specific path within a ZIP file. For example, an *archivepath*
70 of :file:`foo/bar.zip/lib` will look for modules in the :file:`lib` directory
71 inside the ZIP file :file:`foo/bar.zip` (provided that it exists).
73 :exc:`ZipImportError` is raised if *archivepath* doesn't point to a valid ZIP
76 .. method:: find_module(fullname[, path])
78 Search for a module specified by *fullname*. *fullname* must be the fully
79 qualified (dotted) module name. It returns the zipimporter instance itself
80 if the module was found, or :const:`None` if it wasn't. The optional
81 *path* argument is ignored---it's there for compatibility with the
85 .. method:: get_code(fullname)
87 Return the code object for the specified module. Raise
88 :exc:`ZipImportError` if the module couldn't be found.
91 .. method:: get_data(pathname)
93 Return the data associated with *pathname*. Raise :exc:`IOError` if the
97 .. method:: get_filename(fullname)
99 Return the value ``__file__`` would be set to if the specified module
100 was imported. Raise :exc:`ZipImportError` if the module couldn't be
103 .. versionadded:: 2.7
106 .. method:: get_source(fullname)
108 Return the source code for the specified module. Raise
109 :exc:`ZipImportError` if the module couldn't be found, return
110 :const:`None` if the archive does contain the module, but has no source
114 .. method:: is_package(fullname)
116 Return True if the module specified by *fullname* is a package. Raise
117 :exc:`ZipImportError` if the module couldn't be found.
120 .. method:: load_module(fullname)
122 Load the module specified by *fullname*. *fullname* must be the fully
123 qualified (dotted) module name. It returns the imported module, or raises
124 :exc:`ZipImportError` if it wasn't found.
127 .. attribute:: archive
129 The file name of the importer's associated ZIP file, without a possible
133 .. attribute:: prefix
135 The subpath within the ZIP file where modules are searched. This is the
136 empty string for zipimporter objects which point to the root of the ZIP
139 The :attr:`archive` and :attr:`prefix` attributes, when combined with a
140 slash, equal the original *archivepath* argument given to the
141 :class:`zipimporter` constructor.
144 .. _zipimport-examples:
149 Here is an example that imports a module from a ZIP archive - note that the
150 :mod:`zipimport` module is not explicitly used. ::
152 $ unzip -l /tmp/example.zip
153 Archive: /tmp/example.zip
154 Length Date Time Name
155 -------- ---- ---- ----
156 8467 11-26-02 22:30 jwzthreading.py
160 Python 2.3 (#1, Aug 1 2003, 19:54:32)
162 >>> sys.path.insert(0, '/tmp/example.zip') # Add .zip file to front of path
163 >>> import jwzthreading
164 >>> jwzthreading.__file__
165 '/tmp/example.zip/jwzthreading.py'