How to tell python to use same directory for file

Question

I need this python project to be useable for multiple users after downloading it from git, but I'm having a problem generalizing paths. I have it set to use absolute paths in my version, but that will break for others, and if I'm using a file in the same directory as the module, python can't find it if I use the relative path (i.e., with open('foo.txt') as f).

I settled on a text file called properties.txt in the project directory, and a module that reads it into a dict. Right now it just has one line, MAIN_DIR=/my/home/directory. The problem is circular though. I can't use a relative path to read that text file either.

I'm confident this solution is overengineered. There's got to be a way to get around that, or to get around the problem with relative paths in the first place?

Does this answer your question? [How to read a (static) file from inside a Python package?](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/6028000/how-to-read-a-static-file-from-inside-a-python-package) — Pranav Hosangadi, Mar 09 '23 at 20:56
Play around with `os.path.realpath(__file__)` and I think you'll figure it out. — KDecker, Mar 09 '23 at 21:04

score 1 · Accepted Answer · answered Mar 09 '23 at 20:56

There are a few different approaches, depending on your needs and constraints.

One option is to use some "standard" location. For instance, ~/.config/myprog/foo.conf is a standardized way to locate per-user configuration files.

Another option is to have an environment variable, that your user must set. Perhaps with fallback to a "default" path of some sort (like above).

Another option, for something like a script, is to use something like cd "$(dirname "$0")"/.. — that's Bash script, but you get the idea. In Python you'd use sys.argv[0]. This makes the current working directory the one in which the script is located. You can use relative paths from then onward.

The question mentioned in your comments has a good general overview: https://stackoverflow.com/a/58941536/567650

It depends a bit on how fancy your build/packaging setup is. If you're just sending a file or three, then the above "change the current directory" approach is common and would probably work okay, but would fall under the "Bad way #1:" heading, in the other answer I linked.

How to tell python to use same directory for file

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