Question

I have a funny import error when using Inheritence in Python.

In a parent class I import the module sqlite3, in a child class I then try to use a sqlite3 function but I get an error saying “NameError: global name ‘sqlite3’ is not defined”. Why does this happen & how do I fix it?

The 2 classes are in separate files:

Parent.py

import sqlite3

class Parent:
    def __init__(self):

        self.create_database()

    def create_database(self):
        """ Virtual function to be overriden in child classes """
        pass

    ...more class functions that use sqlite3 functions

Child.py

import Parent

class Child( Parent.Parent ):
    def create_database(self):
        self.db = sqlite3.connect("test.db") # Error occurs HERE

c = Child()

Answer 1

the sqlite3 module is imported into the Parent module hence you need to access it through that module

self.db = Parent.sqlite3.connect("test.db")

It is not directly imported into the Child module unless you tell python to do so, for example

from Parent import *

Will give you access to all the members of the Parent module from within the Child module