Import function/module; with no name (ModuleWithNoName ;)

[ManWithNoName]

Hi!

I'm somewhat new to python (using 2.5 on w2k)

Currently I am trying to organize a structure for a project, and import all necessary files and so on.

Everything went fine until I tried to import a python file with no name (don't ask me why it has no name ;)

e.g.
root (the folder where the code is run from)
root/.py (the file)

Now, how can I load that file as a module? It doesn't have a name...

I have tried manually loading the file (using open()) but how do I "read" the content so that it is loaded as a module and assign it to a variable (which will work as the module name)?

e.g.

f=open('.py')
import whateverThatCanDoThis
ModuleName=whateverThatCanDoThis.loadModule(f)

(I've tried playing with something called ihooks but it requires a file name)

I need to know if this is possible? (any suggestions for a solution is also welcome ;)

[tharden3]

ooh, that sounds tricky... I donno. I've never tried to import something with no name

[Laharl]

Any chance you can rename the file to something sane? That'd be the simplest solution here...

[tharden3]

Isn't it a bit ironic that your profile name on this website is ManWithNoName?

[ManWithNoName]

Thanks for your replies!

tharden3
>"Isn't it a bit ironic that your profile name on this website is ManWithNoName?"

Yeah, and it's biting pretty hard ;)

Laharl
>"Any chance you can rename the file to something sane? That'd be the simplest solution here..."

I know... Preferably I would not want to name the file, but if python leaves me with no choice...

Also, this will cause problems on other fronts too, I have files in different directories with the same filename, how do I load them in the main code when their filenames will be the same?

I would like to learn how to do this "manually" so I can have full freedom when importing files.

The only solution I can think of is that I load the file and "eval" it. That should be possible, right? But how does that effect the code? (performance wise), is it recommended?

[ManWithNoName]

Well... That went fast.

I searched for eval(), and looked in the manual, then I found "execfile()" which basically does what I want; opens file and makes all functions in that file available. (And It works, I invoked the function in file X in the main file :D

Are there any downsides of using this function (execfile())?