
Importing Modules
*****************

PyObject* PyImport_ImportModule(const char *name)
    Return value: New reference.

   This is a simplified interface to ``PyImport_ImportModuleEx()``
   below, leaving the *globals* and *locals* arguments set to *NULL*
   and *level* set to 0.  When the *name* argument contains a dot
   (when it specifies a submodule of a package), the *fromlist*
   argument is set to the list ``['*']`` so that the return value is
   the named module rather than the top-level package containing it as
   would otherwise be the case.  (Unfortunately, this has an
   additional side effect when *name* in fact specifies a subpackage
   instead of a submodule: the submodules specified in the package's
   ``__all__`` variable are  loaded.)  Return a new reference to the
   imported module, or *NULL* with an exception set on failure.
   Before Python 2.4, the module may still be created in the failure
   case --- examine ``sys.modules`` to find out.  Starting with Python
   2.4, a failing import of a module no longer leaves the module in
   ``sys.modules``.

   Changed in version 2.4: Failing imports remove incomplete module
   objects.

   Changed in version 2.6: Always uses absolute imports.

PyObject* PyImport_ImportModuleNoBlock(const char *name)

   This version of ``PyImport_ImportModule()`` does not block. It's
   intended to be used in C functions that import other modules to
   execute a function. The import may block if another thread holds
   the import lock. The function ``PyImport_ImportModuleNoBlock()``
   never blocks. It first tries to fetch the module from sys.modules
   and falls back to ``PyImport_ImportModule()`` unless the lock is
   held, in which case the function will raise an ``ImportError``.

   New in version 2.6.

PyObject* PyImport_ImportModuleEx(char *name, PyObject *globals, PyObject *locals, PyObject *fromlist)
    Return value: New reference.

   Import a module.  This is best described by referring to the built-
   in Python function ``__import__()``, as the standard
   ``__import__()`` function calls this function directly.

   The return value is a new reference to the imported module or top-
   level package, or *NULL* with an exception set on failure (before
   Python 2.4, the module may still be created in this case).  Like
   for ``__import__()``, the return value when a submodule of a
   package was requested is normally the top-level package, unless a
   non-empty *fromlist* was given.

   Changed in version 2.4: Failing imports remove incomplete module
   objects.

   Changed in version 2.6: The function is an alias for
   ``PyImport_ImportModuleLevel()`` with -1 as level, meaning relative
   import.

PyObject* PyImport_ImportModuleLevel(char *name, PyObject *globals, PyObject *locals, PyObject *fromlist, int level)
    Return value: New reference.

   Import a module.  This is best described by referring to the built-
   in Python function ``__import__()``, as the standard
   ``__import__()`` function calls this function directly.

   The return value is a new reference to the imported module or top-
   level package, or *NULL* with an exception set on failure.  Like
   for ``__import__()``, the return value when a submodule of a
   package was requested is normally the top-level package, unless a
   non-empty *fromlist* was given.

   New in version 2.5.

PyObject* PyImport_Import(PyObject *name)
    Return value: New reference.

   This is a higher-level interface that calls the current "import
   hook function". It invokes the ``__import__()`` function from the
   ``__builtins__`` of the current globals.  This means that the
   import is done using whatever import hooks are installed in the
   current environment, e.g. by ``rexec`` or ``ihooks``.

   Changed in version 2.6: Always uses absolute imports.

PyObject* PyImport_ReloadModule(PyObject *m)
    Return value: New reference.

   Reload a module.  This is best described by referring to the built-
   in Python function ``reload()``, as the standard ``reload()``
   function calls this function directly.  Return a new reference to
   the reloaded module, or *NULL* with an exception set on failure
   (the module still exists in this case).

PyObject* PyImport_AddModule(const char *name)
    Return value: Borrowed reference.

   Return the module object corresponding to a module name.  The
   *name* argument may be of the form ``package.module``. First check
   the modules dictionary if there's one there, and if not, create a
   new one and insert it in the modules dictionary. Return *NULL* with
   an exception set on failure.

   Note: This function does not load or import the module; if the module
     wasn't already loaded, you will get an empty module object. Use
     ``PyImport_ImportModule()`` or one of its variants to import a
     module.  Package structures implied by a dotted name for *name*
     are not created if not already present.

PyObject* PyImport_ExecCodeModule(char *name, PyObject *co)
    Return value: New reference.

   Given a module name (possibly of the form ``package.module``) and a
   code object read from a Python bytecode file or obtained from the
   built-in function ``compile()``, load the module.  Return a new
   reference to the module object, or *NULL* with an exception set if
   an error occurred.  Before Python 2.4, the module could still be
   created in error cases.  Starting with Python 2.4, *name* is
   removed from ``sys.modules`` in error cases, and even if *name* was
   already in ``sys.modules`` on entry to
   ``PyImport_ExecCodeModule()``.  Leaving incompletely initialized
   modules in ``sys.modules`` is dangerous, as imports of such modules
   have no way to know that the module object is an unknown (and
   probably damaged with respect to the module author's intents)
   state.

   The module's ``__file__`` attribute will be set to the code
   object's ``co_filename``.

   This function will reload the module if it was already imported.
   See ``PyImport_ReloadModule()`` for the intended way to reload a
   module.

   If *name* points to a dotted name of the form ``package.module``,
   any package structures not already created will still not be
   created.

   Changed in version 2.4: *name* is removed from ``sys.modules`` in
   error cases.

PyObject* PyImport_ExecCodeModuleEx(char *name, PyObject *co, char *pathname)
    Return value: New reference.

   Like ``PyImport_ExecCodeModule()``, but the ``__file__`` attribute
   of the module object is set to *pathname* if it is non-``NULL``.

long PyImport_GetMagicNumber()

   Return the magic number for Python bytecode files (a.k.a. ``.pyc``
   and ``.pyo`` files).  The magic number should be present in the
   first four bytes of the bytecode file, in little-endian byte order.

PyObject* PyImport_GetModuleDict()
    Return value: Borrowed reference.

   Return the dictionary used for the module administration (a.k.a.
   ``sys.modules``).  Note that this is a per-interpreter variable.

PyObject* PyImport_GetImporter(PyObject *path)

   Return an importer object for a ``sys.path``/``pkg.__path__`` item
   *path*, possibly by fetching it from the
   ``sys.path_importer_cache`` dict.  If it wasn't yet cached,
   traverse ``sys.path_hooks`` until a hook is found that can handle
   the path item.  Return ``None`` if no hook could; this tells our
   caller it should fall back to the built-in import mechanism. Cache
   the result in ``sys.path_importer_cache``.  Return a new reference
   to the importer object.

   New in version 2.6.

void _PyImport_Init()

   Initialize the import mechanism.  For internal use only.

void PyImport_Cleanup()

   Empty the module table.  For internal use only.

void _PyImport_Fini()

   Finalize the import mechanism.  For internal use only.

PyObject* _PyImport_FindExtension(char *, char *)

   For internal use only.

PyObject* _PyImport_FixupExtension(char *, char *)

   For internal use only.

int PyImport_ImportFrozenModule(char *name)

   Load a frozen module named *name*.  Return ``1`` for success, ``0``
   if the module is not found, and ``-1`` with an exception set if the
   initialization failed.  To access the imported module on a
   successful load, use ``PyImport_ImportModule()``.  (Note the
   misnomer --- this function would reload the module if it was
   already imported.)

struct _frozen

   This is the structure type definition for frozen module
   descriptors, as generated by the **freeze** utility (see
   ``Tools/freeze/`` in the Python source distribution).  Its
   definition, found in ``Include/import.h``, is:

      struct _frozen {
          char *name;
          unsigned char *code;
          int size;
      };

struct _frozen* PyImport_FrozenModules

   This pointer is initialized to point to an array of ``struct
   _frozen`` records, terminated by one whose members are all *NULL*
   or zero.  When a frozen module is imported, it is searched in this
   table.  Third-party code could play tricks with this to provide a
   dynamically created collection of frozen modules.

int PyImport_AppendInittab(char *name, void (*initfunc)(void))

   Add a single module to the existing table of built-in modules.
   This is a convenience wrapper around ``PyImport_ExtendInittab()``,
   returning ``-1`` if the table could not be extended.  The new
   module can be imported by the name *name*, and uses the function
   *initfunc* as the initialization function called on the first
   attempted import.  This should be called before
   ``Py_Initialize()``.

struct _inittab

   Structure describing a single entry in the list of built-in
   modules.  Each of these structures gives the name and
   initialization function for a module built into the interpreter.
   Programs which embed Python may use an array of these structures in
   conjunction with ``PyImport_ExtendInittab()`` to provide additional
   built-in modules.  The structure is defined in ``Include/import.h``
   as:

      struct _inittab {
          char *name;
          void (*initfunc)(void);
      };

int PyImport_ExtendInittab(struct _inittab *newtab)

   Add a collection of modules to the table of built-in modules.  The
   *newtab* array must end with a sentinel entry which contains *NULL*
   for the ``name`` field; failure to provide the sentinel value can
   result in a memory fault. Returns ``0`` on success or ``-1`` if
   insufficient memory could be allocated to extend the internal
   table.  In the event of failure, no modules are added to the
   internal table.  This should be called before ``Py_Initialize()``.
