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+
+:mod:`zipimport` --- Import modules from Zip archives
+=====================================================
+
+.. module:: zipimport
+   :synopsis: support for importing Python modules from ZIP archives.
+.. moduleauthor:: Just van Rossum <just@letterror.com>
+
+
+.. versionadded:: 2.3
+
+This module adds the ability to import Python modules (:file:`\*.py`,
+:file:`\*.py[co]`) and packages from ZIP-format archives. It is usually not
+needed to use the :mod:`zipimport` module explicitly; it is automatically used
+by the builtin :keyword:`import` mechanism for ``sys.path`` items that are paths
+to ZIP archives.
+
+Typically, ``sys.path`` is a list of directory names as strings.  This module
+also allows an item of ``sys.path`` to be a string naming a ZIP file archive.
+The ZIP archive can contain a subdirectory structure to support package imports,
+and a path within the archive can be specified to only import from a
+subdirectory.  For example, the path :file:`/tmp/example.zip/lib/` would only
+import from the :file:`lib/` subdirectory within the archive.
+
+Any files may be present in the ZIP archive, but only files :file:`.py` and
+:file:`.py[co]` are available for import.  ZIP import of dynamic modules
+(:file:`.pyd`, :file:`.so`) is disallowed. Note that if an archive only contains
+:file:`.py` files, Python will not attempt to modify the archive by adding the
+corresponding :file:`.pyc` or :file:`.pyo` file, meaning that if a ZIP archive
+doesn't contain :file:`.pyc` files, importing may be rather slow.
+
+Using the built-in :func:`reload` function will fail if called on a module
+loaded from a ZIP archive; it is unlikely that :func:`reload` would be needed,
+since this would imply that the ZIP has been altered during runtime.
+
+The available attributes of this module are:
+
+
+.. exception:: ZipImportError
+
+   Exception raised by zipimporter objects. It's a subclass of :exc:`ImportError`,
+   so it can be caught as :exc:`ImportError`, too.
+
+
+.. class:: zipimporter
+
+   The class for importing ZIP files.  See section :ref:`zipimporter-objects`
+   for constructor details.
+
+
+.. seealso::
+
+   `PKZIP Application Note <http://www.pkware.com/business_and_developers/developer/appnote/>`_
+      Documentation on the ZIP file format by Phil Katz, the creator of the format and
+      algorithms used.
+
+   :pep:`0273` - Import Modules from Zip Archives
+      Written by James C. Ahlstrom, who also provided an implementation. Python 2.3
+      follows the specification in PEP 273, but uses an implementation written by Just
+      van Rossum that uses the import hooks described in PEP 302.
+
+   :pep:`0302` - New Import Hooks
+      The PEP to add the import hooks that help this module work.
+
+
+.. _zipimporter-objects:
+
+zipimporter Objects
+-------------------
+
+
+.. class:: zipimporter(archivepath)
+
+   Create a new zipimporter instance. *archivepath* must be a path to a zipfile.
+   :exc:`ZipImportError` is raised if *archivepath* doesn't point to a valid ZIP
+   archive.
+
+
+.. method:: zipimporter.find_module(fullname[, path])
+
+   Search for a module specified by *fullname*. *fullname* must be the fully
+   qualified (dotted) module name. It returns the zipimporter instance itself if
+   the module was found, or :const:`None` if it wasn't. The optional *path*
+   argument is ignored---it's there for  compatibility with the importer protocol.
+
+
+.. method:: zipimporter.get_code(fullname)
+
+   Return the code object for the specified module. Raise :exc:`ZipImportError` if
+   the module couldn't be found.
+
+
+.. method:: zipimporter.get_data(pathname)
+
+   Return the data associated with *pathname*. Raise :exc:`IOError` if the file
+   wasn't found.
+
+
+.. method:: zipimporter.get_source(fullname)
+
+   Return the source code for the specified module. Raise :exc:`ZipImportError` if
+   the module couldn't be found, return :const:`None` if the archive does contain
+   the module, but has no source for it.
+
+
+.. method:: zipimporter.is_package(fullname)
+
+   Return True if the module specified by *fullname* is a package. Raise
+   :exc:`ZipImportError` if the module couldn't be found.
+
+
+.. method:: zipimporter.load_module(fullname)
+
+   Load the module specified by *fullname*. *fullname* must be the fully qualified
+   (dotted) module name. It returns the imported module, or raises
+   :exc:`ZipImportError` if it wasn't found.
+
+
+Examples
+--------
+
+.. _zipimport-examples:
+
+Here is an example that imports a module from a ZIP archive - note that the
+:mod:`zipimport` module is not explicitly used. ::
+
+   $ unzip -l /tmp/example.zip
+   Archive:  /tmp/example.zip
+     Length     Date   Time    Name
+    --------    ----   ----    ----
+        8467  11-26-02 22:30   jwzthreading.py
+    --------                   -------
+        8467                   1 file
+   $ ./python
+   Python 2.3 (#1, Aug 1 2003, 19:54:32) 
+   >>> import sys
+   >>> sys.path.insert(0, '/tmp/example.zip')  # Add .zip file to front of path
+   >>> import jwzthreading
+   >>> jwzthreading.__file__
+   '/tmp/example.zip/jwzthreading.py'
+