Trying to download a file by URL with urllib.retrieve: 'module' object has no attribute 'retrieve'

Question

This is my first ever Python script, so I assume I'm doing something wrong. But I can't find a clue in any of the tutorials or examples. The following code (so to speak):

import urllib

urllib.retrieve("http://zlib.net/zlib-1.2.8.tar.gz")

throws an error

AttributeError: 'module' object has no attribute 'retrieve'

How do I fix it? This is Python 3.3.

http://stackoverflow.com/questions/7243750/download-file-from-web-in-python-3 — Sudipta, Jul 15 '15 at 14:27
@Sudipta: got it. I needed `import urllib.request` and not just `urllib`. Wanna make that an answer? — Violet Giraffe, Jul 15 '15 at 14:31
Possible duplicate of [AttributeError: 'module' object has no attribute 'urlretrieve'](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/17960942/attributeerror-module-object-has-no-attribute-urlretrieve) — melpomene, Nov 18 '17 at 09:17

score 14 · Accepted Answer · edited May 23 '17 at 11:51

14

[The question was solved in the comments, hence adding it as an answer now.]

The below code works. (Source : this answer)

import urllib.request
# Download the file from `url` and save it locally under `file_name`:
urllib.request.urlretrieve(url, file_name)

Note the import statement.

You need to do import urllib.request instead of import urllib.

edited May 23 '17 at 11:51

Community

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answered Jul 16 '15 at 07:34

Sudipta

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score 4 · Answer 2 · answered Jul 15 '15 at 14:06

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As the error says, urllib does not have a retrieve function.

In Python 2, the module did have a urlretrieve function. In Python 3, that function has been moved to urllib.request.urlretrieve.

You can find all this in the documentation: https://docs.python.org/3/library/urllib.html

answered Jul 15 '15 at 14:06

Daniel Roseman

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Still no luck. `AttributeError: 'module' object has no attribute 'request'` – Violet Giraffe Jul 15 '15 at 14:09
Are you sure you're using Python 3? – Daniel Roseman Jul 15 '15 at 14:11
Pretty sure: `Python 3.3.2 (v3.3.2:d047928ae3f6, May 16 2013, 00:06:53) [MSC v.1600 64 bit (AM D64)] on win32 Type "help", "copyright", "credits" or "license" for more information. >>>` – Violet Giraffe Jul 15 '15 at 14:12
Do you have a local script named "urllib.py"? – Daniel Roseman Jul 15 '15 at 14:13
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In the Python folder? – Violet Giraffe Jul 15 '15 at 14:13
In wherever you're starting Python from. – Daniel Roseman Jul 15 '15 at 14:14
No, I thought it's part of the standard library! – Violet Giraffe Jul 15 '15 at 14:14
It is. If you had a local script, that would be found first, and would hide the stdlib one. – Daniel Roseman Jul 15 '15 at 14:15
Ah! No, the folder is free of any other .py files. – Violet Giraffe Jul 15 '15 at 14:17
I do have a file `c:\Python33\Lib\urllib\request.py` in my Python installation folder. Perhaps, there's some setup code missing from my script? The two lines I specified in the Q is literally all the contents of my .py file. – Violet Giraffe Jul 15 '15 at 14:19
We want to make sure if Python 3 is being used by your script or not. Do this: Add `import sys; print sys.version` these lines on top your .py file, to check if it is indeed python 3 – Sudipta Jul 15 '15 at 14:24
@Sudipta: that won't run due to missing braces. `print(sys.version)` does run and prints this: `3.3.2 (v3.3.2:d047928ae3f6, May 16 2013, 00:06:53) [MSC v.1600 64 bit (AMD64)]` – Violet Giraffe Jul 15 '15 at 14:26

Trying to download a file by URL with urllib.retrieve: 'module' object has no attribute 'retrieve'

2 Answers2