Question

I have a python package that needs to pull in settings from my project directory, here is how my project is currently structured:

~/Project/bin/mypackage
    - package files
    
~/Project/myproject/
    - project files
    - start.py
    - settings.py

I guess it’s similar to how Django is structured, you have a settings.py file in your project directory that is somehow referenced by the Django system package in your Python directory.

So, if I am running start.py like so:

python ~/Project/myproject/start.py

..and start.py imports and utilizes the mypackage package, is there any way I can reference the settings.py file local to start.py from within the package? Would I have to load the settings file in start.py and store the values in a global? Does anyone know how this is possible?

Answer 1

The directory containing the script that was used to invoke the python interpreter is added to the PYTHONPATH. It is available at sys.path[0]. See http://docs.python.org/library/sys.html#sys.path

This means that settings should be available from mypackage.mymodule simply by import settings.

However, I would consider handling the loading of settings in start.py and structuring your app so that a settings object (perhaps just a dict) is passed to it.