How to add package data recursively in Python setup.py?

Question

I have a new library that has to include a lot of subfolders of small datafiles, and I\'m trying to add them as package data. Imagine I have my library as so:

Answer 1

I can do this with a script, but seems like a super pain. How can I achieve this in setup.py?

Here is a reusable, simple way:

Add the following function in your setup.py, and call it as per the Usage instructions. This is essentially the generic version of the accepted answer.

def find_package_data(specs):
    """recursively find package data as per the folders given

    Usage:
        # in setup.py
        setup(...
              include_package_data=True,
              package_data=find_package_data({
                 'package': ('resources', 'static')
              }))

    Args:
        specs (dict): package => list of folder names to include files from

    Returns:
        dict of list of file names
    """
    return {
        package: list(''.join(n.split('/', 1)[1:]) for n in
                      flatten(glob('{}/{}/**/*'.format(package, f), recursive=True) for f in folders))
        for package, folders in specs.items()}

Answer 2

If you don't have any problem with getting your setup.py code dirty use distutils.dir_util.copy_tree.
The whole problem is how to exclude files from it.
Heres some the code:

import os.path
from distutils import dir_util
from distutils import sysconfig
from distutils.core import setup

__packagename__ = 'x' 
setup(
    name = __packagename__,
    packages = [__packagename__],
)

destination_path = sysconfig.get_python_lib()
package_path = os.path.join(destination_path, __packagename__)

dir_util.copy_tree(__packagename__, package_path, update=1, preserve_mode=0)

Some Notes: