1  # encoding: utf-8
   2  """
   3  A simple utility to import something by its string name.
   4  """
   5  
   6  # Copyright (c) IPython Development Team.
   7  # Distributed under the terms of the Modified BSD License.
   8  
   9  
  10  def import_item(name):
  11      """Import and return ``bar`` given the string ``foo.bar``.
  12  
  13      Calling ``bar = import_item("foo.bar")`` is the functional equivalent of
  14      executing the code ``from foo import bar``.
  15  
  16      Parameters
  17      ----------
  18      name : string
  19          The fully qualified name of the module/package being imported.
  20  
  21      Returns
  22      -------
  23      mod : module object
  24          The module that was imported.
  25      """
  26      
  27      parts = name.rsplit('.', 1)
  28      if len(parts) == 2:
  29          # called with 'foo.bar....'
  30          package, obj = parts
  31          module = __import__(package, fromlist=[obj])
  32          try:
  33              pak = getattr(module, obj)
  34          except AttributeError as e:
  35              raise ImportError('No module named %s' % obj) from e
  36          return pak
  37      else:
  38          # called with un-dotted string
  39          return __import__(parts[0])
  40