.. index:: triple: module; search; path
- When a module named :mod:`spam` is imported, the interpreter searches for a file
- named :file:`spam.py` in the current directory, and then in the list of
- directories specified by the environment variable :envvar:`PYTHONPATH`. This
- has the same syntax as the shell variable :envvar:`PATH`, that is, a list of
- directory names. When :envvar:`PYTHONPATH` is not set, or when the file is not
- found there, the search continues in an installation-dependent default path; on
- Unix, this is usually :file:`.:/usr/local/lib/python`.
+ When a module named :mod:`spam` is imported, the interpreter searches for a
+ file named :file:`spam.py` in the directory containing the input script (or
-thecurrent directory), and then in the list of directories specified by the
++the current directory), and then in the list of directories specified by the
+ environment variable :envvar:`PYTHONPATH`. This has the same syntax as the
+ shell variable :envvar:`PATH`, that is, a list of directory names. When
+ :envvar:`PYTHONPATH` is not set, or when the file is not found there, the
+ search continues in an installation-dependent default path; on Unix, this is
+ usually :file:`.:/usr/local/lib/python`.
Actually, modules are searched in the list of directories given by the variable
``sys.path`` which is initialized from the directory containing the input script