# Sys.path.append .. libdir multiple level causes error in PyCharm

**URL:** <https://discuss.python.org/t/sys-path-append-libdir-multiple-level-causes-error-in-pycharm/14055>\
**Category:** Python Help\
**Created:** [March 4, 2022, 10:24am UTC](https://discuss.python.org/t/sys-path-append-libdir-multiple-level-causes-error-in-pycharm/14055 "2022-03-04T10:24:29Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 9\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![ljh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecae2f/32.png) [@ljh](https://discuss.python.org/u/ljh)\
**Post date:** [March 4, 2022, 10:24am UTC](https://discuss.python.org/t/sys-path-append-libdir-multiple-level-causes-error-in-pycharm/14055/1 "2022-03-04T10:24:30Z")

</div>

```auto
Hi forum,

The following snippets of two cases runs on system console terminal.

The ver 1 runs in PyCharm. I do not know why ver 2 reports error in PyCharm.

Thanks

# ver 1. ok
# myapp.py:
import sys
sys.path.append('..')
from libdir import mylib
mylib.hello()

# ver 2. PyCharm: ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'mylib'
# myapp.py:
import sys
sys.path.append('../libdir')
import mylib # line 10: Error in PyCharm
mylib.hello()

# Run on System Terminal:

$ pwd
/Users/ljh/Documents/tmp3/appdir
$ 
$ python3 myapp.py
hello
$ 

# Run in PyCharm:

/Users/ljh/Documents/tmp3/venv/bin/python /Users/ljh/Documents/tmp3/appdir/myapp.py
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/Users/ljh/Documents/tmp3/appdir/myapp.py", line 10, in <module>
    import mylib
ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'mylib'

Process finished with exit code 1

# PyCharm Python version:

import sys; print('Python %s on %s' % (sys.version, sys.platform))
Python 3.8.9 (default, Oct 26 2021, 07:25:54) 
[Clang 13.0.0 (clang-1300.0.29.30)] on darwin

```

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![ljh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecae2f/32.png) [@ljh](https://discuss.python.org/u/ljh)\
**Post date:** [March 4, 2022, 10:32am UTC](https://discuss.python.org/t/sys-path-append-libdir-multiple-level-causes-error-in-pycharm/14055/2 "2022-03-04T10:32:00Z")

</div>

Btw. there is no ` __init__.py` under ./libdir with mylib.py. But when I run it on system console, it does not report error.

```auto
$ pwd
/Users/ljh/Documents/tmp
$
$ find . -print | sed -e 's;[^/]*/;| ____;g;s;____ |; |;g'
.
| ____ appdir
| | ____ myapp.py
| ____ libdir
| | ____ mylib.py
$

```

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![frostming](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/discuss.python.org/frostming/32/326_2.png) [@frostming](https://discuss.python.org/u/frostming)\
**Post date:** [March 4, 2022, 10:35am UTC](https://discuss.python.org/t/sys-path-append-libdir-multiple-level-causes-error-in-pycharm/14055/3 "2022-03-04T10:35:44Z")

</div>

Relative paths are calculated based on the **cwd** to run the script. So basically, avoid relative paths in your script, because you can’t predict where the script is to be run and the behavior will become highly unstable.

PyCharm doesn’t work because it isn’t in directory `/Users/ljh/Documents/tmp3/appdir`. To find out where it is you can print `os.getcwd()` at the start of your script.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![ljh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecae2f/32.png) [@ljh](https://discuss.python.org/u/ljh)\
**Post date:** [March 4, 2022, 10:44am UTC](https://discuss.python.org/t/sys-path-append-libdir-multiple-level-causes-error-in-pycharm/14055/4 "2022-03-04T10:44:07Z")

</div>

Thanks Frost,

Can I use chdir to change the cwd.

Does the import statement command happens before top level code. Is there a way that I can change the cwd for PyCharm?

Can I set the working directory to path of the top level script file in PyCharm?

Thanks

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![frostming](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/discuss.python.org/frostming/32/326_2.png) [@frostming](https://discuss.python.org/u/frostming)\
**Post date:** [March 4, 2022, 10:49am UTC](https://discuss.python.org/t/sys-path-append-libdir-multiple-level-causes-error-in-pycharm/14055/5 "2022-03-04T10:49:09Z")

</div>

`os.chdir()` works, but as I said, I do not recommend doing so. Just change the relative path to absolute path:

```python
import os
# Add the parent directory to the sys.path
sys.path.append(os.path.dirname(os.path.dirname( __file__ )))

```

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![ljh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecae2f/32.png) [@ljh](https://discuss.python.org/u/ljh)\
**Post date:** [March 4, 2022, 2:30pm UTC](https://discuss.python.org/t/sys-path-append-libdir-multiple-level-causes-error-in-pycharm/14055/6 "2022-03-04T14:30:24Z")

</div>

Thanks Frost,

I tried running the script on command line with or without path part:

```auto
$ python3 myapp.py
$ python3 ~/../ljh/./Documents/helloPy/appdir/myapp.py

```

`os.path.dirname(os.path.dirname( __file__ ))` is empty if run it without path.

`os.path.dirname(os.path.realpath(sys.path[0]))` works on both situation.

Thanks

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![ljh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecae2f/32.png) [@ljh](https://discuss.python.org/u/ljh)\
**Post date:** [March 5, 2022, 7:49am UTC](https://discuss.python.org/t/sys-path-append-libdir-multiple-level-causes-error-in-pycharm/14055/7 "2022-03-05T07:49:42Z")

</div>

Now I changed my little log snippet like this without using relative paths with your help. It works in PyCharm and on system console terminal.

Thanks

$ python3 appdir/myapp.py  
$  
$ python3 ~/…/ljh/./Documents/helloPy/src/appdir/myapp.py  
$  
$ python3 myapp.py # under current dir

```auto
$ pwd
/Users/ljh/Documents/helloPy/src
$ ls
appdir	libdir
$ find . -print | sed -e 's;[^/]*/;| ____;g;s;____ |; |;g'
.
| ____ appdir
| | ____ myapp.log
| | ____ myapp.py
| ____ libdir
| | ____ mylib.py
$
$

# myapp.py:

import os
import sys
import logging
from logging.handlers import RotatingFileHandler

sys.path.append(os.path.dirname(os.path.realpath(sys.path[0])))
from libdir import mylib # noqa

def log_config():
    filename = os.path.realpath(sys.path[0]) + '/myapp.log'
    size = 10 * 1024 * 1024
    count = 10
    fmt = "%(asctime)s %(levelname)s %(pathname)s:%(lineno)d:%(funcName)s: %(message)s"
    logging.basicConfig(handlers=[RotatingFileHandler(filename, maxBytes=size, backupCount=count)],
                        level=logging.DEBUG, format=fmt)
    logging.info('%s', __name__ )

def hello():
    logging.info('%s', __name__ )

def main():
    log_config()
    hello()
    mylib.hello()

if __name__ == ' __main__':
    main()

# mylib.py:

import logging

def hello():
    logging.info('%s', __name__ )

# test:

$ python3 appdir/myapp.py
$
$ python3 ~/../ljh/./Documents/helloPy/src/appdir/myapp.py
$ 
$ python3 myapp.py # under current dir
$

# log:

2022-03-05 15:38:02,163 INFO /Users/ljh/../ljh/./Documents/helloPy/src/appdir/myapp.py:17:log_config: __main__
2022-03-05 15:38:02,163 INFO /Users/ljh/../ljh/./Documents/helloPy/src/appdir/myapp.py:21:hello: __main__
2022-03-05 15:38:02,163 INFO /Users/ljh/Documents/helloPy/src/libdir/mylib.py:5:hello: libdir.mylib

2022-03-05 15:38:19,717 INFO myapp.py:17:log_config: __main__
2022-03-05 15:38:19,717 INFO myapp.py:21:hello: __main__
2022-03-05 15:38:19,717 INFO /Users/ljh/Documents/helloPy/src/libdir/mylib.py:5:hello: libdir.mylib

```

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![frostming](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/discuss.python.org/frostming/32/326_2.png) [@frostming](https://discuss.python.org/u/frostming)\
**Post date:** [March 9, 2022, 10:01am UTC](https://discuss.python.org/t/sys-path-append-libdir-multiple-level-causes-error-in-pycharm/14055/8 "2022-03-09T10:01:49Z")

</div>

I would suggest not to rely on `sys.path[0]` nor `sys.argv[0]`, both may vary depending on how you pack your project.

Just stick with `os.path.dirname(os.path.abspath( __file__ ))` for the directory the script resides.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![ljh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecae2f/32.png) [@ljh](https://discuss.python.org/u/ljh)\
**Post date:** [March 9, 2022, 2:48pm UTC](https://discuss.python.org/t/sys-path-append-libdir-multiple-level-causes-error-in-pycharm/14055/9 "2022-03-09T14:48:19Z")

</div>

Thanks Frost,

I wanted to write log file and store log in the directory related to the entry ` __main__.py` file. My log function is not in the **main**.py but in mylog.py. So I want to in mylog.py, get the path of **main**.py:

```auto
../appdir/ __main__.py
../libdir/mylog.py
../log/myapp.log.1

```

What do you think about I do it like the following.

Thanks

```auto
# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
# mylog.py

"""
Log to stdout and file with rotating.

    import logging
    import mylog

    mylog.config()
    logging.info('hello')
"""

import os
import sys
import logging
from logging.handlers import RotatingFileHandler

def config():
    """ Call config() once in top-level to log. """

    filename = '../log/myapp.log'
    size = 10 * 1024 * 1024 # 10M
    count = 10
    level = logging.DEBUG
    fmt = "%(asctime)s %(levelname)s %(pathname)s:%(lineno)d:%(funcName)s: %(message)s"
    path = os.path.realpath(sys.path[0])
    filename = os.path.join(path, filename)
    file_handler = RotatingFileHandler(filename, maxBytes=size, backupCount=count)
    console_handler = logging.StreamHandler(sys.stdout)
    handlers = [file_handler, console_handler]
    logging.basicConfig(handlers=handlers, level=level, format=fmt)

    logging.info('%s', __name__ )

```