Find the absolute path of an imported module

Question

How can I get the absolute path of an imported module?

Do you mean the file system path to the file, or the Python module path? — Keith
– Keith, Commented Sep 2, 2012 at 6:15
In case anyone is looking to do this with a function function_name.__code__ works nicely at getting the full file path. — KBoehme
– KBoehme, Commented Sep 28, 2017 at 19:29

Matthew Adams · Accepted Answer · 2012-09-02 06:30:29Z

As the other answers have said, you can use __file__. However, note that this won't give the full path if the other module is in the same directory as the program. So to be safe, do something like this:

>>> import os >>> import math >>> os.path.abspath(math.__file__) '/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/2.7/lib/python2.7/lib-dynload/math.so'

Here's an example with a module I made called checkIP to illustrate why you need to get the abspath (checkIP.py is in the current directory):

>>> import os >>> import checkIP >>> os.path.abspath(checkIP.__file__) '/Users/Matthew/Programs/checkIP.py' >>> checkIP.__file__ 'checkIP.py'

MrUser · Accepted Answer · 2016-03-07 19:24:19Z

If it is a module within your PYTHONPATH directory tree (and reachable by placing a __init__.py in its directory and parent directories), then call its path attribute.

>>>import sample_module >>>sample_module.__path__ ['/absolute/path/to/sample/module']

Taro Sato · Accepted Answer · 2012-09-02 06:20:55Z

3

You can try:

import os print os.__file__

to see where the module is located.

answered Sep 2, 2012 at 6:20

Taro Sato

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