Relative imports with unittest in Python
python, python-import, python-unittest
Solution
In my experience it is easiest if your project root is not a package, like so:
project/
test.py
run.py
package/
__init__.py
main_program.py
lib/
__init__.py
lib_a
lib_b
tests/
__init__.py
test_a
test_b
However, as of python 3.2 , the unittest module provides the `-t` option, which lets you set the top level directory, so you could do (from `package/`):
python -m unittest discover -t ..
More details at the unittest docs.
Problem
I am trying to use Python unittest and relative imports, and I can't seem to figure it out. I know there are a lot of related questions, but none of them have helped so far. Sorry if this is repetitive, but I would really appreciate any help. I was trying to use the syntax from PEP 328 http://www.python.org/dev/peps/pep-0328/ but I must have something wrong. My directory structure is: ``` project/ __init__.py main_program.py lib/ __init__.py lib_a lib_b tests/ __init__.py test_a test_b ``` I run my tests using: ``` python -m unittest test_module1 test_module2 ``` test_a needs to import both lib/lib_a and main_program. This is the code from test_a I am trying to use for the import: ``` from ..lib import lib_a as lib from ...project import main_program ``` both raise this error: ``` ValueError: Attempted relative import in non-package ``` All of my init.py files are currently empty. Any specific advice would be greatly appreciated!! Edit: This may be the answer: Python Packages? I'm still verifying if this will work. Edit II: To clarify, at this point I have attempted to run my test file in 3 different ways: ``` project/tests $ python -m unittest test_a project/tests $ python -m test_a project/tests $ ./test_a ``` All three fail with the same error as above. When I use the same three syntaxes but in the project directory, I get this error: ``` ValueError: Attempted relative import beyond toplevel package ``` Thanks again.