In Python scrapy, With Multiple projects, How Do You Import A Class Method From One project Into Another project?

PROBLEM

I need to import a function/method located in scrapy project #1 into a spider in scrapy project # 2 and use it in one of the spiders of project #2.

DIRECTORY STRUCTURE

For starters, here's my directory structure (assume these are all under one root directory):

/importables    # scrapy project #1 
    /importables
        /spiders
            title_collection.py    # take class functions defined from here

/alibaba        # scrapy project #2
    /alibaba
        /spiders
            alibabaPage.py         # use them here

WHAT I WANT

As shown above, I am trying to get scrapy to:

Run alibabaPage.py
From title_collection.py, import a class method named saveTitleInTitlesCollection out of a class in that file named TitleCollectionSpider
I want to use saveTitleInTitlesCollection inside functions that are called in the alibabaPage.py spider.

HOW IT'S GOING...

Here's what I've done so far at the top of alibabaPage.py:

from importables.importables.spiders import saveTitleInTitlesCollection
- nope. Fails and the error says builtins.ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'importables'
- How can that be? That answer I got from this answer.
sys.path.append(os.path.join(os.path.dirname(__file__), '../..')) Then, I did this... from importables.importables.spiders import saveTitleInTitlesCollection
- nope, Fails and I get the same error as the first attempt. Taken from this answer.
Re-reading the post in the link from answer #1, I realized the guy put the two files in the same directory, so, I tried doing that (making a copy of title_collection.py and putting it in like so:

/alibaba        # scrapy project #2
    /alibaba
        /spiders
            alibabaPage.py         # use them here
            title_collection.py    # added this

Well, that appeared to work but didn't in the end. This threw no errors...

from alibaba.spiders.title_collection import TitleCollectionSpiderAlibaba

Leading me to assume everything worked. I added a test function named testForImport and tried importing it, ended up getting error: builtins.ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'alibaba.spiders.title_collection.testForImport'; 'alibaba.spiders.title_collection' is not a package

Unfortunately, this wasn't actually achieving the goal of importing the class method I want to use, named saveTitleInTitlesCollection.
I have numerous scrapy projects and want to really just have one project of spiders that I can just import into every other project with ease.
This is not that solution so, the quest for a true solution to importing a bunch of class methods from one scrapy project to many continues... can this even be done I wonder...
WAIT, this actually didn't work after all because when builtins.ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'TitleCollectionSpiderAlibaba'

from alibaba.spiders.title_collection import testForImport

nope. This failed too.

But, this time it gave me slightly different error...

builtins.ImportError: 
cannot import name 'testForImport' from 'alibaba.spiders.title_collection' 
(C:\Users\User\\scrapy-webscrapers\alibaba\alibaba\spiders\title_collection.py)

Consider this now solved!

Due to Umair's answer I was able to do this:

# typical scrapy spider imports...
import scrapy 
from ..items import AlibabaItem

# import this near the top of the page
sys.path.append(os.path.join(os.path.abspath('../')))
from importables.importables.spiders.title_collection import TitleCollectionSpider


...

# then, in parse method I did this...
def parse(self, response):
    alibaba_item = AlibabaItem()
    title_collection_spider_obj = TitleCollectionSpider()
    title_collection_spider_obj.testForImportTitlesCollection()

# terminal showed this, proving it worked...
# "testForImport worked if you see this!"

Answer

It looks like you've found a solution to your issue, but I will break down your journey and explain the steps that helped resolve it. This will also serve as a guide for others who may face similar challenges.

Understanding the Problem

You wanted to import a method from a spider in one Scrapy project (project #1) into a spider in another Scrapy project (project #2). Specifically, the method saveTitleInTitlesCollection from the spider TitleCollectionSpider in importables should be used inside the spider in alibaba project.

The error you were encountering (ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'importables') was because Scrapy (or Python) couldn't find the importables package in the current Python path.

Steps You Took

Adding sys.path:
- You tried adding the path to the importables project manually to the Python system path with sys.path.append(os.path.join(os.path.dirname(__file__), '../..')). While this is a common technique to add directories to the Python path, the key problem here was that the directory structure might not have been correctly mapped.
Direct File Copying:
- You copied the title_collection.py into the alibaba/spiders folder, which made the import work for a moment. This can often work for simpler cases, but in the long term, it leads to problems with duplication and maintaining two versions of the same code.
Reworking the Import Path:
- Eventually, you restructured your import by using sys.path.append(os.path.abspath('../')) and importing the TitleCollectionSpider class using the correct relative path. This allowed you to use the method from TitleCollectionSpider in the spider in alibaba.

Solution Explanation

Here’s a step-by-step explanation of what worked for you:

Update the Python Path with sys.path.append(): By adding the importables project’s path to the sys.path, you allowed Python to find the importables module even though it was in a different project directory. Here's the exact line you used:
```
sys.path.append(os.path.join(os.path.abspath('../')))
```
This adds the parent directory to the Python path, which makes the importables directory accessible from the alibaba project.
Importing from importables: After modifying sys.path, you can now import the TitleCollectionSpider from importables into your alibabaPage.py spider as follows:
```
from importables.importables.spiders.title_collection import TitleCollectionSpider
```
Using the Method: You can then create an instance of TitleCollectionSpider and call its method:
```
title_collection_spider_obj = TitleCollectionSpider()
title_collection_spider_obj.testForImportTitlesCollection()
```
This allowed you to call the method testForImportTitlesCollection() from the TitleCollectionSpider class in the spider located in the alibaba project.
Confirmed the Import Worked: Finally, when you ran the spider, you saw the output confirming that testForImportTitlesCollection was executed successfully. This confirms that the import worked and the function was executed as expected.

General Advice for Managing Multiple Scrapy Projects

While your approach works, here are some general tips for managing multiple Scrapy projects and sharing code between them:

Create a Common Package: Instead of duplicating the spider code across multiple projects, you could create a shared Python package containing the spiders, items, and utilities. This shared package can be installed in all your projects using pip (e.g., by using editable installs like pip install -e ./shared_code).
Use PYTHONPATH: If you don't want to modify sys.path every time, you can set the PYTHONPATH environment variable. This can be done in your shell before running Scrapy:
```
export PYTHONPATH=$PYTHONPATH:/path/to/your/importables
scrapy crawl your_spider
```
Modularize the Code: If the shared code (such as spiders, middleware, items) grows large, consider breaking it into separate modules or packages. This keeps the code base cleaner and easier to maintain.
Using Git Submodules: For more complex setups, you can also use Git submodules to link shared code between different projects. This allows you to manage dependencies and track changes across multiple projects.

Conclusion

You’ve successfully solved your problem by:

Modifying the Python import path (sys.path.append) to include the importables directory.
Importing and using the method from the TitleCollectionSpider class in alibabaPage.py.

By following this approach, you can now share code between multiple Scrapy projects without duplicating files.

In Python scrapy, With Multiple projects, How Do You Import A Cl