Re: How do you set the python path for django-admin?

[Carlton Gibson]

Hi tobias.

The django-admin command has a `--pythonpath` option for this (docs

).

So, for example in a 3rd party package using the src layout (example
) where the module itself is
installed in the venv, but the tests module is at the package root, you can
run the tests like:

django-admin test --settings=tests.settings --pythonpath=.

HTH.

Kind Regards,

Carlton

On Wed, 8 Nov 2023 at 20:18, Tobias Bengfort 
wrote:

> Hi everyone,
>
> https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/4.2/ref/django-admin/ claims that
> manage.py, django-admin and python -m django are practically
> interchangable. However, I noticed that they behave differently when it
> comes to the python path (the path you can import modules from). I used
> `CMD shell -c 'import sys; print(sys.path[0])' to check each one:
>
> - `manage.py` adds its own location to the python path. That is fine
> because `django-admin startproject` puts it right next to the project
> directory.
>
> - `django-admin` also adds its own location to the python path. That is
> less fine because that is usualy something like /some/venv/bin/, so the
> project package is not importable. Simply running `django-admin
> runserver --settings=example.settings` fails with `ModuleNotFoundError:
> No module named 'example'`.
>
> - `python -m django` uses the current directory, which is slightly less
> useful than manage.py, but quite intuitive.
>
> Of course you can circumvent all of this by setting PYTHONPATH explicitly.
>
> I personally was burned by this because I use `pip install -e` to add
> the folder containing the project directory to the python path. However,
> when switching to PEP 517 based packaging, the behavior changed and some
> modules could no longer be imported.
>
> is there any official recommendation about this? My impression was
> always that manage.py is meant for development and django-admin is meant
> for production. But how are you supposed to set the python path in that
> case? Is this assumption even correct? I could not find anything about
> it in the docs.
>
> In any case, I think the docs need an update because currently, all
> examples use `django-admin`, which does not work out of the box in my
> experience.
>
> thanks,
> tobias
>
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How do you set the python path for django-admin?

[Tobias Bengfort]

Hi everyone,

https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/4.2/ref/django-admin/ claims that 
manage.py, django-admin and python -m django are practically 
interchangable. However, I noticed that they behave differently when it 
comes to the python path (the path you can import modules from). I used 
`CMD shell -c 'import sys; print(sys.path[0])' to check each one:


- `manage.py` adds its own location to the python path. That is fine 
because `django-admin startproject` puts it right next to the project 
directory.


- `django-admin` also adds its own location to the python path. That is 
less fine because that is usualy something like /some/venv/bin/, so the 
project package is not importable. Simply running `django-admin 
runserver --settings=example.settings` fails with `ModuleNotFoundError: 
No module named 'example'`.


- `python -m django` uses the current directory, which is slightly less 
useful than manage.py, but quite intuitive.


Of course you can circumvent all of this by setting PYTHONPATH explicitly.

I personally was burned by this because I use `pip install -e` to add 
the folder containing the project directory to the python path. However, 
when switching to PEP 517 based packaging, the behavior changed and some 
modules could no longer be imported.


is there any official recommendation about this? My impression was 
always that manage.py is meant for development and django-admin is meant 
for production. But how are you supposed to set the python path in that 
case? Is this assumption even correct? I could not find anything about 
it in the docs.


In any case, I think the docs need an update because currently, all 
examples use `django-admin`, which does not work out of the box in my 
experience.


thanks,
tobias

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