How to import custom modules in google colab?

Question

I have a file named imutils.py that has just one definition namely abc() which returns the sum of 2 integers.

Now I want to use this definition in a separate collab file but I am unable to.

The method I used was to first upload the file imutils.py to drive and then importing it and using the definition. The error says module 'imutils' has no attribute 'abc'

To upload I first used 2 methods: First I uploaded using the drive GUI and then I also tried the above using the code. Uploading in both cases was successful

from google.colab import files
files.upload() 

Answer 1

If your Python file is in Drive, it's likely simpler to mount your Drive than to upload the file, eg,

from google.colab import drive
drive.mount('/content/gdrive')

Then, if you have a module, you can import it like so:

https://colab.research.google.com/drive/1uvHuizCBqFgvbCwEhK7FvU8JW0AfxgJw

Contents of the Notebook follow:

Go to this URL in a browser: https://accounts.google.com/o/oauth2/auth?client_id=947318989803-6bn6qk8qdgf4n4g3pfee6491hc0brc4i.apps.googleusercontent.com&redirect_uri=urn%3Aietf%3Awg%3Aoauth%3A2.0%3Aoob&scope=email%20https%3A%2F%2Fwww.googleapis.com%2Fauth%2Fdocs.test%20https%3A%2F%2Fwww.googleapis.com%2Fauth%2Fdrive%20https%3A%2F%2Fwww.googleapis.com%2Fauth%2Fdrive.photos.readonly%20https%3A%2F%2Fwww.googleapis.com%2Fauth%2Fpeopleapi.readonly&response_type=code

Enter your authorization code:

··········

Mounted at /content/gdrive

I happen to have an existing .py file in Drive.

!ls /content/gdrive/My\ Drive/*.py
>>> /content/gdrive/My Drive/mylib.py

!cat '/content/gdrive/My Drive/mylib.py'

def MyFunction():
    print ('My imported function')

# We'll need to update our path to import from Drive.

import sys
sys.path.append('/content/gdrive/My Drive')

# Now we can import the library and use the function.

import mylib
mylib.MyFunction()

Answer 2

One additional observation/comment: for some reason there are circumstances where Google Drive is mounted to the Colab /content/gdrive folder as ' /MyDrive' with no space and, in some circumstances it is mounted as '/My Drive' with a space. I always check the Colab folder structure in the frame on the left of the browser window to confirm which I should use. Not sure what is causing the space/no-space difference; maybe sunspot activity?

Answer 3

Instead of updating the path, I find directly copying the custom module into the Colab temporary drive, say, '/content', much simpler and faster. Since your custom module is in Google Drive, you of course first need to mount your Google Drive before you copy the custom module into your Colab temporary drive. If you include the following steps in your Colab notebook before you import your custom module, then everything will work.

# Mount your google drive in google colab
from google.colab import drive
drive.mount('/content/drive')

# Check your Colab temporary path
!pwd # Returns /content 

# Copy custom module from Google Drive to Colab temporary drive 
# !cp [path of your custom module] [path where you like to copy]
! cp /content/drive/MyDrive/ColabNotebooks/mymodule.py /content/mymodule.py

That's it. If you are now in Colab temporary drive, then you can import your custom module as follows:

import mymodule