Python: Running a strip of code unless imported

Question

I have a file that I'm importing into my program (say a file with dictionaries). At the beginning of this file I want to put a strip of code which prints that this is not the main file and then exit(). The problem I find is that this code is being run on import of the dictionaries module which I don't want happening. How to prevent that?

I tried this but it doesn't work:

if not Main_file:
    print('These aren\'t the droids you\'re looking for')
    exit()

in the main file there would of course be Main_file = True before import.

You're looking for : http://stackoverflow.com/questions/419163/what-does-if-name-main-do — Ashwini Chaudhary, Jul 12 '13 at 10:51

score 3 · Accepted Answer · answered Jul 12 '13 at 10:51

3

You can use the __name__ special variable to check if your module is used as main:

if __name__ == '__main__':
    print('These aren\'t the droids you\'re looking for')
    exit()

answered Jul 12 '13 at 10:51

mata

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print argument is not string – Grijesh Chauhan Jul 12 '13 at 10:52
1

@GrijeshChauhan - did't check, just copied from the OP :) – mata Jul 12 '13 at 10:53

score 1 · Answer 2 · answered Jul 12 '13 at 10:51

1

if __name__ == '__main__' can identify whether this is the main file.

answered Jul 12 '13 at 10:51

zhangyangyu

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Python: Running a strip of code unless imported

2 Answers2