protobuf grpc relative import path discrepancy in python

Question

I emit the proto compilation into a generated_code/ directory(say communicator_pb2.py and communicator_pb2_grpc.py). Now, the grpc output imports the python code like so import communicator_pb2 as communicator__pb2; without having to modify the import path to import generated_code.communicator_pb2 as communicator__pb2 or append generated_code to sys.path, what is the most legal way to import if I were to import like:

import generate_code.commuinicator_pb2 as communicator_pb2
import generate_code.commuinicator_pb2_grpc as communicator_pb2_grpc

Answer 1

I've come up with an elegant solution (probably quite similar to what @Godric was telling in his answer). Suppose you have the following directory structure

service
  ├── main.py
  └── generated_code/
       ├── __init__.py       
       ├── communicator.proto
       ├── communicator_pb2.py
       └── communicator_pb2_grpc.py

If you compile it the usual way, using grpc_tools (see here)

python -m grpc_tools.protoc --proto_path=service/generated_code --python_out=service/generated_code --grpc_python_out=service/generated_code

you would get the following import in generated_code/communicator_pb2_grpc.py

import communicator_pb2 as communicator__pb2

However, when you compile the files with

python -m grpc_tools.protoc --proto_path=. --python_out=. --grpc_python_out=. generated_code/communicator.proto

while sitting in service/ you obtain the desired result

import generated_code.communicator_pb2 as communicator_pb2