How does PyCharm handle relative imports of modules?
flask, pycharm, python, python-import
Solution
You have to make sure `work_dir` is added in to sys.path or PYTHONPATH.
Python will add the parent folder of the script file into sys.path automatically. So if you run app.py in your shell, only `FlaskControlPanel` will be inserted into sys.path and python cannot find where `models` is (`work_dir` is not in sys.path).
But in pycharm, it will always add `work_dir` in sys.path. That's why you can run `app.py` without any problem.
For your problem, you can change directory to `work_dir` and run `PYTHONPATH=. python FlaskControlPanel/app.py`
https://docs.python.org/2/using/cmdline.html#interface-options
Execute the Python code contained in script, which must be a filesystem path (absolute or relative) referring to either a Python file, a directory containing a __main__.py file, or a zipfile containing a __main__.py file.
If this option is given, the first element of sys.argv will be the script name as given on the command line.
If the script name refers directly to a Python file, the directory containing that file is added to the start of sys.path, and the file is executed as the __main__ module.
If the script name refers to a directory or zipfile, the script name is added to the start of sys.path and the __main__.py file in that location is executed as the __main__ module.
Problem
I have the following directory structure on a project that has been inherited: ``` work_dir/ FlaskControlPanel/ static/ templates/ app.py models/ __init__.py model1.py model2.py script1.py script2.py ``` From `script1.py` or `script2.py` I can run this `from models.model1 import Class1, Class2` and it works. When using PyCharm, I can use the same import line within `app.py`. However, when I go to deploy this on my dev server, this doesn't work from `app.py`. I get the error `ImportError: No module named models.model1` What does PyCharm do to get around this? How can I fix my import in `app.py` to work in both PyCharm and when I run my Flask application on the development server? I usually run it on the server just using `python app.py` from within the `FlaskControlPanel` directory.