Is it possible to remove modules from the import cache?

[aivarannamaa]

Thonny IDE allows testing local scripts on MicroPython devices by sending the code to the REPL.

Let's say the code imports a helper module which has been uploaded to the device. Now, if the user uploads a modified version of the helper module, and runs the main script again (by sending it to REPL), it is easy to assume that the new version of the helper module gets picked up.

Is it somehow possible to force importing certain modules from scratch? Soft reboot would do, but I'm looking for something faster.

[stijn]

See e.g. viewtopic.php?f=15&t=6179&p=35250&hilit=reload#p35250

[kevinkk525]

You might want to look at my experiences that I wrote a How-To about: viewtopic.php?f=15&t=5302&hilit=unload+module

[jimmo]

Is it somehow possible to force importing certain modules from scratch? Soft reboot would do, but I'm looking for something faster.

I think avoiding the risk of extremely confusing behavior due to strange side effects is probably worth the extra time taken for the soft reset. How long does a soft reset take? It's pretty much instantaneous on all the boards I'm familiar with?

We do occasionally see posts on the forum where users are very confused by their code "not working" and it almost always involves an eval(open('main.py').read()). I don't know if that's from Thonny, but it is very confusing.

[aivarannamaa]

I think avoiding the risk of extremely confusing behavior due to strange side effects is probably worth the extra time taken for the soft reset.

I guess you're right -- automatic soft reset would be good default choice. I didn't remember correctly how fast it is (provided there is nothing time consuming in boot.py).

I'm thinking of adding 3 options for what to do before each run:

• soft reboot (default)
• remove changed files from module cache (for cases where boot.py does something heavy, eg. connecting to WiFi)
• do nothing

[jedie]

Soft reboot as default sounds good.