Execute a string as a command in python

Question

I am developing my stuff in python. In this process I encountered a situation where I have a string called "import django". And I want to validate this string. Which means, I want to check whether the module mentioned('django' in this case) is in the python-path. How can I do it?

Answer 1

I doub't that it's safe, but it's the most naïve solution:

try:
     exec('import django')
except ImportError:
    print('no django')

Answer 2

My previous answer was wrong -- i didn't think to test my code. This actually works, though: look at the imp module.

To just check for the module's importability in the current sys.path:

try:
    imp.find_module('django', sys.path)
except ImportError:
    print "Boo! no django for you!"

Answer 3

If a module's name is available as string you can import it using the built-in __import__ function.

module = __import__("module name", {}, {}, [], -1)

For example,

os = __import__("os", {}, {}, [], -1)