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| -rw-r--r-- | Doc/library/imp.rst | 78 |
1 files changed, 43 insertions, 35 deletions
diff --git a/Doc/library/imp.rst b/Doc/library/imp.rst index 5428386..cd28b86 100644 --- a/Doc/library/imp.rst +++ b/Doc/library/imp.rst @@ -33,54 +33,62 @@ This module provides an interface to the mechanisms used to implement the .. function:: find_module(name[, path]) - Try to find the module *name* on the search path *path*. If *path* is a list of - directory names, each directory is searched for files with any of the suffixes - returned by :func:`get_suffixes` above. Invalid names in the list are silently - ignored (but all list items must be strings). If *path* is omitted or ``None``, - the list of directory names given by ``sys.path`` is searched, but first it - searches a few special places: it tries to find a built-in module with the given - name (:const:`C_BUILTIN`), then a frozen module (:const:`PY_FROZEN`), and on - some systems some other places are looked in as well (on the Mac, it looks for a - resource (:const:`PY_RESOURCE`); on Windows, it looks in the registry which may - point to a specific file). + Try to find the module *name* on the search path *path*. If *path* is a list + of directory names, each directory is searched for files with any of the + suffixes returned by :func:`get_suffixes` above. Invalid names in the list + are silently ignored (but all list items must be strings). If *path* is + omitted or ``None``, the list of directory names given by ``sys.path`` is + searched, but first it searches a few special places: it tries to find a + built-in module with the given name (:const:`C_BUILTIN`), then a frozen + module (:const:`PY_FROZEN`), and on some systems some other places are looked + in as well (on the Mac, it looks for a resource (:const:`PY_RESOURCE`); on + Windows, it looks in the registry which may point to a specific file). If search is successful, the return value is a triple ``(file, pathname, - description)`` where *file* is an open file object positioned at the beginning, - *pathname* is the pathname of the file found, and *description* is a triple as - contained in the list returned by :func:`get_suffixes` describing the kind of - module found. If the module does not live in a file, the returned *file* is - ``None``, *filename* is the empty string, and the *description* tuple contains - empty strings for its suffix and mode; the module type is as indicate in - parentheses above. If the search is unsuccessful, :exc:`ImportError` is raised. - Other exceptions indicate problems with the arguments or environment. - - This function does not handle hierarchical module names (names containing dots). - In order to find *P*.*M*, that is, submodule *M* of package *P*, use + description)``: + + *file* is an open file object positioned at the beginning, *pathname* is the + pathname of the file found, and *description* is a triple as contained in the + list returned by :func:`get_suffixes` describing the kind of module found. + + If the module does not live in a file, the returned *file* is ``None``, + *pathname* is the empty string, and the *description* tuple contains empty + strings for its suffix and mode; the module type is indicated as given in + parentheses above. If the search is unsuccessful, :exc:`ImportError` is + raised. Other exceptions indicate problems with the arguments or + environment. + + If the module is a package, *file* is ``None``, *pathname* is the package + path and the last item in the *description* tuple is :const:`PKG_DIRECTORY`. + + This function does not handle hierarchical module names (names containing + dots). In order to find *P*.*M*, that is, submodule *M* of package *P*, use :func:`find_module` and :func:`load_module` to find and load package *P*, and then use :func:`find_module` with the *path* argument set to ``P.__path__``. When *P* itself has a dotted name, apply this recipe recursively. -.. function:: load_module(name, file, filename, description) +.. function:: load_module(name, file, pathname, description) .. index:: builtin: reload Load a module that was previously found by :func:`find_module` (or by an otherwise conducted search yielding compatible results). This function does more than importing the module: if the module was already imported, it is - equivalent to a :func:`reload`! The *name* argument indicates the full module - name (including the package name, if this is a submodule of a package). The - *file* argument is an open file, and *filename* is the corresponding file name; - these can be ``None`` and ``''``, respectively, when the module is not being - loaded from a file. The *description* argument is a tuple, as would be returned - by :func:`get_suffixes`, describing what kind of module must be loaded. - - If the load is successful, the return value is the module object; otherwise, an - exception (usually :exc:`ImportError`) is raised. - - **Important:** the caller is responsible for closing the *file* argument, if it - was not ``None``, even when an exception is raised. This is best done using a - :keyword:`try` ... :keyword:`finally` statement. + equivalent to a :func:`reload`! The *name* argument indicates the full + module name (including the package name, if this is a submodule of a + package). The *file* argument is an open file, and *pathname* is the + corresponding file name; these can be ``None`` and ``''``, respectively, when + the module is a package or not being loaded from a file. The *description* + argument is a tuple, as would be returned by :func:`get_suffixes`, describing + what kind of module must be loaded. + + If the load is successful, the return value is the module object; otherwise, + an exception (usually :exc:`ImportError`) is raised. + + **Important:** the caller is responsible for closing the *file* argument, if + it was not ``None``, even when an exception is raised. This is best done + using a :keyword:`try` ... :keyword:`finally` statement. .. function:: new_module(name) |