\section{\module{zipimport} ---         Import modules from Zip archives} \declaremodule{standard}{zipimport}\modulesynopsis{support for importing Python modules from ZIP archives.}\moduleauthor{Just van Rossum}{just@letterror.com} \versionadded{2.3} This module adds the ability to import Python modules (\file{*.py},\file{*.py[co]}) and packages from ZIP-format archives. It is usuallynot needed to use the \module{zipimport} module explicitly; it isautomatically used by the builtin \keyword{import} mechanism for\code{sys.path} items that are paths to ZIP archives. Typically, \code{sys.path} is a list of directory names as strings.  Thismodule also allows an item of \code{sys.path} to be a string naming a ZIPfile archive. The ZIP archive can contain a subdirectory structure tosupport package imports, and a path within the archive can be specified toonly import from a subdirectory.  For example, the path\file{/tmp/example.zip/lib/} would only import from the\file{lib/} subdirectory within the archive. Any files may be present in the ZIP archive, but only files \file{.py} and\file{.py[co]} are available for import.  ZIP import of dynamic modules(\file{.pyd}, \file{.so}) is disallowed. Note that if an archive onlycontains \file{.py} files, Python will not attempt to modify the archiveby adding the corresponding \file{.pyc} or \file{.pyo} file, meaning thatif a ZIP archive doesn't contain \file{.pyc} files, importing may be ratherslow. Using the built-in \function{reload()} function willfail if called on a module loaded from a ZIP archive; it is unlikely that\function{reload()} would be needed, since this would imply that the ZIPhas been altered during runtime. The available attributes of this module are: \begin{excdesc}{ZipImportError}  Exception raised by zipimporter objects. It's a subclass of  \exception{ImportError}, so it can be caught as \exception{ImportError},  too.\end{excdesc} \begin{classdesc*}{zipimporter}  The class for importing ZIP files.  See  ``\citetitle{zipimporter Objects}'' (section \ref{zipimporter-objects})  for constructor details.\end{classdesc*}  \begin{seealso}  \seetitle[http://www.pkware.com/business_and_developers/developer/appnote/]           {PKZIP Application Note}{Documentation on the ZIP file format by            Phil Katz, the creator of the format and algorithms used.}   \seepep{0273}{Import Modules from Zip Archives}{Written by James C.          Ahlstrom, who also provided an implementation. Python 2.3          follows the specification in PEP 273, but uses an          implementation written by Just van Rossum that uses the import          hooks described in PEP 302.}   \seepep{0302}{New Import Hooks}{The PEP to add the import hooks that help          this module work.}\end{seealso}  \subsection{zipimporter Objects \label{zipimporter-objects}} \begin{classdesc}{zipimporter}{archivepath}   Create a new zipimporter instance. \var{archivepath} must be a path to  a zipfile.  \exception{ZipImportError} is raised if \var{archivepath}  doesn't point to a valid ZIP archive.\end{classdesc} \begin{methoddesc}{find_module}{fullname\optional{, path}}  Search for a module specified by \var{fullname}. \var{fullname} must be  the fully qualified (dotted) module name. It returns the zipimporter  instance itself if the module was found, or \constant{None} if it wasn't.  The optional \var{path} argument is ignored---it's there for   compatibility with the importer protocol.\end{methoddesc} \begin{methoddesc}{get_code}{fullname}  Return the code object for the specified module. Raise  \exception{ZipImportError} if the module couldn't be found.\end{methoddesc} \begin{methoddesc}{get_data}{pathname}  Return the data associated with \var{pathname}. Raise \exception{IOError}  if the file wasn't found.\end{methoddesc} \begin{methoddesc}{get_source}{fullname}  Return the source code for the specified module. Raise  \exception{ZipImportError} if the module couldn't be found, return  \constant{None} if the archive does contain the module, but has  no source for it.\end{methoddesc} \begin{methoddesc}{is_package}{fullname}  Return True if the module specified by \var{fullname} is a package.  Raise \exception{ZipImportError} if the module couldn't be found.\end{methoddesc} \begin{methoddesc}{load_module}{fullname}  Load the module specified by \var{fullname}. \var{fullname} must be the  fully qualified (dotted) module name. It returns the imported  module, or raises \exception{ZipImportError} if it wasn't found.\end{methoddesc} \subsection{Examples}\nodename{zipimport Examples} Here is an example that imports a module from a ZIP archive - note thatthe \module{zipimport} module is not explicitly used. \begin{verbatim}$ unzip -l /tmp/example.zipArchive:  /tmp/example.zip  Length     Date   Time    Name --------    ----   ----    ----     8467  11-26-02 22:30   jwzthreading.py --------                   -------     8467                   1 file$ ./pythonPython 2.3 (#1, Aug 1 2003, 19:54:32) >>> import sys>>> sys.path.insert(0, '/tmp/example.zip')  # Add .zip file to front of path>>> import jwzthreading>>> jwzthreading.__file__'/tmp/example.zip/jwzthreading.py'\end{verbatim}