{Import from File} Error when importing from other directory

Question

I want to import a file from %appdata%/.EliteCS/sysfiles/gui.py however whenever I do, this comes up.

Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "C:\Users\Samuel\Documents\Elite\elite_computer_system.py", line 10, in <
module>
    import gui
ImportError: No module named gui

C:\Users\Samuel\Documents\Elite>pause
Press any key to continue . . .

My %appdata%/.EliteCS/sysfiles/ folder contains 2 files: __init__.py (empty py file) and gui.py, a py file full of definitions, but no actual code. When asking python to import it thus:

sys.path.insert(0, '%appdata%/.EliteCS/sysfiles')
import gui

it gives the error, same for from gui import * instead of the import gui line. Would someone please tell me what I am doing wrong. I can't work out what's wrong.

Answer 1

The %appdata% variable is not expanded by Python for you.

Either use an absolute path to the application data folder, or retrieve the %appdata% variable from the system and concatenate that with .EliteCS/sysfiles .

See How do I find the Windows common application data folder using Python? for methods to retrieve system paths like appdata .

If you use the environment option, that'd be:

import os
import sys

sys.insert(0, os.path.join(os.environ['APPDATA'], '.EliteCS', 'sysfiles'))

Answer 2

Why not place gui.py in the same folder as the file you are running? Then you can just say import gui and it will definitly run.