How do I set a relative path to images in Python?

[moephan]

Hello,

I am using some images in a dialog box to show different states. I have the images in a sub-directory and can refer to them in my python scripts like:


myimag.set_from_file("images/imagename.png")


This works fine when I run the script from within the directory, but when I create a link to the script and try to run it from somewhere else, like the panel, it can't find the images. I have fixed the problem by putting the images in /usr/share/pixmaps/. Is that the right fix, or is there someway to specify the path as relative to the script no matter where the script is being called from? Thanks.

Cheers, Rick

[markmark]

The reason it breaks is because python works relative paths like that from the current working directory rather than the location of the script. You could try using the info here (http://diveintopython.org/functional_programming/finding_the_path.html) to find the path to the script and then os.chdir to change the current working directory.

Something like:
import os, sys
pathname = os.path.dirname(sys.argv[0])
fullpath = os.path.abspath(pathname)
os.chdir(fullpath)Although I haven't tried it, and I don't know how it will work with links and the like. The simpler option is to just hardcode the location of the script and do:
import os
os.chdir('/path/to/your/script/directory')

[moephan]

Thanks for the info. What I ended up doing was putting all the images in a new directory in /usr/share/pixmaps and hardcoding the image path to that. Hope that makes sense. It seems like the way other apps are taking care of it.

Cheers, Rick