Import variables (with evaluation) to class namespace (i.e. self.varName)

Question

I have a python file input.py . There are comments and a mix of spaces and tabs, just for good measure.

# comment1 or header
name    =   "project1"
length  = 100.0 # comment2
width   = 20.0
area = length * width
circumference = 2*length + 2*width
        # orphaned comment

I want to read the variables, some of which are evaluated from others, into my class structure so that they can be accessed like self.area :

import importlib
class Project:     
    def __init__(self, inFile):
        self.inFile = inFile
        ## from self.inFile import * # definitely not gonna work! 
        importlib.import_module(inFile) # doesn't work either! 
p1 = Project(r"/home/feedme/input.py")
print p1.area

Desired example output:

2000.0 

Aside from the fact that from something import * is generally not a good idea, what can I use to bring the variables into the class in this way?

Edit: removed the side question about importing a module where the name is a string, since I found the answer already myself; importlib .

Answer 1

I'd suggest using the runpy module. The following will execute the python script at the path passed to the class initializer and load all of the non-dunder variables into the instance dictionary:

import runpy

class Project(object):

    def __init__(self, path):
        module = runpy.run_path(path)
        for k, v in module.items():
            if not k.startswith('__'):
                self.__dict__[k] = v

For example:

>>> project = Project('conf.py')
>>> project.area
2000.0