How to use Get on a folder

Question

Documentation flaw introduced before 9.0 and persisting through V11.0.0

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In the documentation for Get it says:

If the file found by <<name is a directory, the Wolfram Language will try to load the file init.m in that directory.

So I make a folder called test with a single file called init.m whose only contents are

Print["It works."]

In the same directory as the folder test I open a notebook and run

SetDirectory[NotebookDirectory[]];
<<test

which returns Get::noopen: Cannot open test. (Note that <<test/init.m works as expected).

What gives?

Edit: This has been filed as a documentation bug to Wolfram.

Answer 1

Shortly:

automatic behavior happens when you use a backtick `.

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I think there are multiple typos in docs for Get. I added Test2 dir and and Test2\init.m file to the first path in $Path. In my case Links dir.

According to Get documentation <<Test2 should get it. It won't but <<Test2` will.

Additionally this will work, even without SetDirectory:

Get["Test`", Path -> {NotebookDirectory[]}]

and this will work automatically too:

SetDirectory @ NotebookDirectory[];
<< Test` 

So the difference is in `.

More accurate in description is tutorial/FilesForPackages:

The typical sequence of files looked for by <<name`:

• name.mx file in DumpSave format

• name.mx/$SystemID/name.mx file in DumpSave format for your computer system

• name.m file in Wolfram Language source format

• name/init.m initialization file for a particular directory

• dir/… files in other directories specified by $Path

<…>

If name is a directory, then the Wolfram Language will try to load the initialization file init.m in that directory.

So the point is that automatic behaviour happens when you use a backtick `.