Is there a way to auto-import all the models in my folder when loading __init__.py?

Question

In my Python 3.9, Django 3.2 project, I have this general folder structure

- manage.py
+ cbapp
    + models
        - __init__.py
        - vendor.py
        - user_preferences.py

In my init.py file, I have all my model entries listed out ...

from .vendor import Vendor
from .user_preferences import UserPreferences
...

Each model class, e.g. Vendor, has this general sturcture

from django.db import models

class Vendor(models.Model): 
    ...

Every time I add a new model I have to add a line into my init.py file. Is there any way I can write my init.py file so that it will just auto-import new files I add into my models directory?

Answer 1

What you're looking for is some fancy dynamic imports, such as these.

If your model names are always the same pattern on your module names, the following code in init.py will probably work:

import os, glob

path = os.path.dirname(__file__)
modules = [os.path.basename(f)[:-3] for f in glob.glob(path + "/*.py")
           if not os.path.basename(f).startswith('_')]
stripped_path = os.path.relpath(path).replace('/', '.')
imports = {}
for module in modules:
    model_name = module.title().replace("_", "")
    imports[model_name] = getattr(__import__(stripped_path + "." + module, fromlist=[model_name]), model_name)
print(imports)
globals().update(imports)