Execute the code at the named filesystem location and return the resulting
module globals dictionary. As with a script name supplied to the CPython
command line, the supplied path may refer to a Python source file, a
compiled bytecode file or a valid sys.path entry containing a __main__
module (e.g. a zipfile containing a top-level __main__.py file).
For a simple script, the specified code is simply executed in a fresh
module namespace. For a valid sys.path entry (typically a zipfile or
directory), the entry is first added to the beginning of sys.path. The
function then looks for and executes a __main__ module using the
updated path. Note that there is no special protection against invoking
an existing __main__ entry located elsewhere on sys.path if
there is no such module at the specified location.
The optional dictionary argument init_globals may be used to pre-populate
the module’s globals dictionary before the code is executed. The supplied
dictionary will not be modified. If any of the special global variables
below are defined in the supplied dictionary, those definitions are
overridden by run_path().
The special global variables __name__, __file__, __loader__
and __package__ are set in the globals dictionary before the module
code is executed (Note that this is a minimal set of variables - other
variables may be set implicitly as an interpreter implementation detail).
__name__ is set to run_name if this optional argument is not
None and to '<run_path>' otherwise.
__file__ is set to the name provided by the module loader. If the
loader does not make filename information available, this variable is set
to None. For a simple script, this will be set to file_path.
__loader__ is set to the PEP 302 module loader used to retrieve the
code for the module (This loader may be a wrapper around the standard
import mechanism). For a simple script, this will be set to None.
__package__ is set to __name__.rpartition('.')[0].
A number of alterations are also made to the sys module. Firstly,
sys.path may be altered as described above. sys.argv[0] is updated
with the value of file_path and sys.modules[__name__] is updated
with a temporary module object for the module being executed. All
modifications to items in sys are reverted before the function
returns.
Note that, unlike run_module(), the alterations made to sys
are not optional in this function as these adjustments are essential to
allowing the execution of sys.path entries. As the thread-safety
limitations still apply, use of this function in threaded code should be
either serialised with the import lock or delegated to a separate process.
See also
Interface options for equivalent functionality on the
command line (python path/to/script).