# Taken from Python 2.7 with permission from/by the original author.

import sys

def _resolve_name(name, package, level):

    """Return the absolute name of the module to be imported."""

    if not hasattr(package, 'rindex'):

        raise ValueError("'package' not set to a string")

    dot = len(package)

    for x in xrange(level, 1, -1):

        try:

            dot = package.rindex('.', 0, dot)

        except ValueError:

            raise ValueError("attempted relative import beyond top-level "

                              "package")

    return "%s.%s" % (package[:dot], name)

def import_module(name, package=None):

    """Import a module.

    The 'package' argument is required when performing a relative import. It

    specifies the package to use as the anchor point from which to resolve the

    relative import to an absolute import.

    """

    if name.startswith('.'):

        if not package:

            raise TypeError("relative imports require the 'package' argument")

        level = 0

        for character in name:

            if character != '.':

                break

            level += 1

        name = _resolve_name(name[level:], package, level)

    __import__(name)

    return sys.modules[name]