Visual Studio Code "relative import with no known parent package File"

Question

I received an import error while debugging main.py. My IDE Visual Studio Code seems having problem recognizing my TREE structure (shown below), since the following worked outside of VSC:

1. Run in virtual environment: pipenv run python3.7 -m pset_1

2. Debug in virtual environment: pipenv run python3.7 -m pdb pset_1

   Exception has occurred: ImportError attempted relative import with no known parent package File "/home/hoang/Documents/E29/pset1/2019sp-pset-1-nhvinh118/pset_1/main.py", line 4, in from .hash_str import get_csci_salt, get_user_id, hash_str File "/usr/local/lib/python3.7/runpy.py", line 85, in _run_code exec(code, run_globals) File "/usr/local/lib/python3.7/runpy.py", line 96, in _run_module_code mod_name, mod_spec, pkg_name, script_name) File "/usr/local/lib/python3.7/runpy.py", line 263, in run_path pkg_name=pkg_name, script_name=fname)

IMPORT statement in __main__.py (module to debug)

from .hash_str import get_csci_salt, get_user_id, hash_str
from .load_data import load_vectors, load_words, load_data

TREE

.
|-- Dockerfile
|-- Pipfile
|-- Pipfile.lock
|-- README.md
|-- __pycache__
|   `-- tokenize.cpython-37.pyc
|-- data
|   |-- hashed.parquet
|   `-- hashed.xlsx
|-- docker-compose.yml
|-- drun_app
|-- pipenvgraph.log
|-- pset_1
|   |-- WordEmbedding.py
|   |-- __init__.py
|   |-- __main__.py
|   |-- hash_str.py
|   |-- io.py
|   |-- load_data.py
|   `-- tokenize.py
|-- setup.cfg
`-- tests.py

My two settings.json

(1) /home/hoang/.config/Code/User/settings.json

{
    "python.pythonPath": "/home/hoang/anaconda3/bin/python",
    "git.enableSmartCommit": true
} 

(2) /home/hoang/Documents/E29/pset1/2019sp-pset-1-nhvinh118/.vscode/settings.json

{
<<<<<<< HEAD
    "python.pythonPath": "/home/hoang/.local/share/virtualenvs/2019sp-pset-1-nhvinh118-a6Ueu8mF/bin/python",
"~/Documents/E29/pset1/2019sp-pset-1-nhvinh118/pset_1/." 
"python.linting.enabled": true
=======
    "python.pythonPath": "/home/hoang/.local/share/virtualenvs/2019sp-pset-1-nhvinh118-a6Ueu8mF/bin/python"
>>>>>>> master
}

About my system

• OS: Linux x64 4.15.0-45 generic (Ubuntu 18.04.2 LTS)
• IDE: Visual Studio Code v 1.31.0
• Interpreter: Python 3.7.1

Answer 1

You are probably running the module as a script instead of a module.

Check your launch.json configuration. If not present, add a new one via the gear icon at the debug panel. Check out the official debugging documentation for more info about how to setup launch.json.

And in there, add a new configuration for a python module. Example:

// For more information, visit: https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=830387
{
    "version": "0.2.0",
    "configurations": [
        {
            "name": "Python: Module",
            "type": "python",
            "request": "launch",
            "module": "pset_1.${fileBasenameNoExtension}"
        }
    ]
}

If there are more sub packages in your configuration, I consider it a good habit to name them according to the hierarchical structure.

Example for multiple configuration and sub packages:

{
    "version": "0.2.0",
    "configurations": [
        {
            "name": "Python: Module - foo",  // top-level package called "foo"
            "type": "python",
            "request": "launch",
            "module": "foo.${fileBasenameNoExtension}"
        },
        {
            "name": "Python: Module - foo.bar",
            "type": "python",
            "request": "launch",
            "module": "foo.bar.${fileBasenameNoExtension}"
        },
        {
            "name": "Python: Module - foo.buzz",
            "type": "python",
            "request": "launch",
            "module": "foo.buzz.${fileBasenameNoExtension}"
        }
    ]
}

Hope that helps!