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How to delete test files when python unittest fails

I'm using python unittest for functions that write data to JSON. I use tearDownClass to delete the output test files so they don't clutter the local repo. Ground truths are also stored as JSON files.
I do want to store the output test files when tests fail, so its easier for troubleshooting.
My current implementation is to use a global boolean keep_file = False. When the unittest fails the assertion, it modifies keep_file = True. tearDownClass only deletes the files when keep_file == False. I don't like the idea of modifying global variables and the try exception blocks for each assert.
import json
import os
import unittest
from src.mymodule import foo1, foo2
# These are defined outside the class on purpose so the classmethods can access them
FILE_1 = "unittest.file1.json"
EXPECTED_FILE_1 = "expected.file1.json"
FILE_2 = "unittest.file2.json"
EXPECTED_FILE_2 = "expected.file2.json"
keep_files = False
class TestRhaPostPayload(unittest.TestCase):
#classmethod
def setUpClass(cls):
cls.get_file1()
cls.get_file2()
#classmethod
def get_file1(cls):
output1 = foo1()
with open(FILE_1, "w") as f:
f.write(output1)
#classmethod
def get_file2(cls):
output2 = foo1()
with open(FILE_2, "w") as f:
f.write(output2)
#classmethod
def tearDownClass(cls):
if not keep_files:
os.remove(FILE_1)
os.remove(FILE_2)
def test_foo1(self):
# code that reads in file1 and expected_file_1
try:
self.assert(expected_output1, output1)
except AssertionError:
global keep_files
keep_files = True
raise
def test_foo2(self):
# code that reads in file2 and expected_file_2
try:
self.assert(expected_output2, output2)
except AssertionError:
global keep_files
keep_files = True
raise

You could simply check, if there were any errors/failures in your test case during tear-down and only delete the files, if there were none.
How to perform this check was explained in this post.
This check is done on a TestCase instance so tearDownClass won't work. But you are using different files in different tests anyway, so you might as well use normal setUp/tearDown to remove the current file.
Here is a working example:
from pathlib import Path
from typing import Optional
from unittest import TestCase
class Test(TestCase):
def all_tests_passed(self) -> bool:
"""Returns `True` if no errors/failures occurred at the time of calling."""
outcome = getattr(self, "_outcome")
if hasattr(outcome, "errors"): # Python <=3.10
result = self.defaultTestResult()
getattr(self, "_feedErrorsToResult")(result, outcome.errors)
else: # Python >=3.11
result = outcome.result
return all(test != self for test, _ in result.errors + result.failures)
def setUp(self) -> None:
super().setUp()
self.test_file: Optional[Path] = None
def tearDown(self) -> None:
super().tearDown()
if self.test_file and self.all_tests_passed():
self.test_file.unlink()
def test_foo(self) -> None:
self.test_file = Path("foo.txt")
self.test_file.touch()
self.assertTrue(True)
def test_bar(self) -> None:
self.test_file = Path("bar.txt")
self.test_file.touch()
self.assertTrue(False)
Running this test case leaves bar.txt in the current working directory, whereas foo.txt is gone.

Intercept function call with mock without pytest/unittest/etc

I want to avoid using a test runner such as pytest because of slow test discovery and inconvenient logging output in lieu of setting up my test and calling it as a script however I am having trouble intercepting a function call within my test objects and amending its behavior. I have been able to do this in the past with pytest but I can't seem to get access to the function the way I have things setup. Side note: In part, this is an attempt to mock out a call to a RESTful server which should explain why I am interested in getting this to work.
Here is my sample application structure:
# entry_object.py
import inner_object, time
class EntryObject():
def __init__(self, client):
self.inner_obj = inner_object.InnerObject(client)
pass
def time_injector(self, posix_time : int):
self.inner_obj.doit(posix_time)
pass
def the_time_injector(length_in_secs, client) -> None:
entryobj = EntryObject(client)
i = 0;
posix_time = time.time()
while (i < length_in_secs):
entryobj.time_injector(posix_time+i)
i += 1
# inner_object.py
import pretendapi
class InnerObject():
def __init__(self, client):
self.pretend_api_object = pretendapi.PretendApi(client)
def doit(self, posix_time : int) -> None:
logmessage = self.pretend_api_object.call_api_endpoint(posix_time=posix_time)
# pretendapi.py
import bravado
class PretendApi():
def __init__(self, client=None):
print("Created PretendApi")
self.client = bravado.client.SwaggerClient(None) if client is None else client
self.ex = "pretendapi"
def extract_and_verify_apiresult(self, posix_time : int, apiresult : object) -> (bool, object):
return (True, apiresult[0])
def call_api_endpoint(self, posix_time : int) -> object:
future = self.client.Api.ApiEndpoint()
(is_cmd_success, apiresult) = self.extract_and_verify_apiresult(posix_time, future.result())
if not is_cmd_success:
# print(f"is_cmd_success={dollup(is_cmd_success)}")
return is_cmd_success
# print(f"{apiresult}")
return is_cmd_success
# test_entry_object.py
rom bravado.testing.response_mocks import BravadoResponseMock
import mock
import entry_object, pretendapi
def amend_extract_and_verify_apiresult(original_func):
def amended_func(self, posix_time : int, apiresult : object) -> (bool, object):
print(f"{posix_time} {apiresult[0]['ret_msg']}")
return original_func(self, posix_time, object)
def test_time_injector():
# mock the necessary objects
# setup up the unit under test
# run the test
mock_client = mock.Mock(name='mock SwaggerClient')
mock_client.Api.ApiEndpoint.return_value = \
BravadoResponseMock(result=lambda : \
({'ret_code': 0, 'ret_msg': 'OK', 'ext_code': '', 'ext_info': ''}, '<bravado.requests_client.RequestsResponseAdapter object at 0x0000028385176518>')
)
mock.patch.object(pretendapi.PretendApi, 'extract_and_verify_apiresult',
side_effect=amend_extract_and_verify_apiresult(
pretendapi.PretendApi.extract_and_verify_apiresult),
autospec=True) # Needed for the self argument
entry_object.the_time_injector(10, mock_client)
if __name__ == "__main__":
test_time_injector()
Does anybody understand why I can't seem to decorate the behavior of extract_and_verify_apiresult?

Mock inner methods Python2

I'm new to mock and really strugling with it. Mostly in documentation and most of SO pages it shows how to get the mock result_value, but I want to check if the values I'm getting from methods are correct, not the result_value's. Here's the example:
#!/usr/bin/env python
class Example:
def one(self):
return 1
def two(self, one):
print(one + 1) # basically any void method, ex: result = one + 1 and check result value if correct
def main(self):
self.two(self.one())
if __name__ == '__main__':
e = Example()
e.main()
Test:
#!/usr/bin/env python
import unittest
import example
from mock import patch
class Example(unittest.TestCase):
def test_one(self):
self.assertEqual(1, et.one())
def test_two(self):
with patch('example.Example.two'):
self.assertEqual(2, et.two(et.one())) # ..the part I'm stuck
# whick ofc throws AssertionError: 2 != <MagicMock name='two()' id='blablabla'>
def test_main(self):
# unknown part..
if __name__ == '__main__':
et = example.Example()
unittest.main()
How to achieve void method check with unittest?
UPDATE:
so the print I figured out with chepner's help:
def test_twoi3(self):
mock_print = MagicMock()
with patch('sys.stdout', mock_print):
print(2)
expected = call.write('2')
self.assertEqual(mock_print.mock_calls[0], expected)
and for main I'm not quite sure if it is a good solution...:
def test_main(self):
with patch ('example.Example.main') as m:
et.main(et.two(1))
m.assert_called_with(et.two(1))
but I want to check not by passing the methods and values, but if main calls other two methods. How to achieve this?

You don't need to mock anything (directly, anyway); you want to capture standard output and verify that it is what you expect.
from contextlib import redirect_stdout
from io import StringIO
def test_two(self):
stdout = StringIO()
with redirect_stdout(stdout):
et.two(et.one())
self.assertEqual(stdout.getvalue(), "2\n")
Or, you can mock the print and check that it is called with the expected arguments.
def test_two(self):
with patch('__builtin__.print') as p:
et.two(et.one())
p.assert_called_with(2)

I have figured out how to test if main methods have been called. Test looks like this:
#!/usr/bin/env python
import unittest
import example
from mock import patch, MagicMock, call
class Example(unittest.TestCase):
def setUp(self):
self.et = example.Example()
def test_one(self):
self.assertEqual(1, self.et.one())
def test_two(self):
mock_print = MagicMock()
with patch('sys.stdout', mock_print):
print(2)
expected = call.write('2')
self.assertEqual(mock_print.mock_calls[0], expected)
def test_main(self):
self.et.two = MagicMock(side_effect=self.et.two)
self.et.one = MagicMock(side_effect=self.et.one)
self.et.main()
self.et.one.assert_called()
self.et.two.assert_called()
self.et.one.__str__ = self.et.one
self.assertEqual(1, int(self.et.one))
if __name__ == '__main__':
unittest.main()
Upon mocking methods that are in main (all of them) and calling main methods one and two have been successfully called. For one you can return value by using __str__

How to properly mock private members of a class

I am trying to write some unit tests for a method that depends on another private method. - As shown in the example below:
def is_member_of(self, group_name):
members = self.__get_group_members(group_name)
The private method that I'd like to mock is __get_group_members; I'd also like to mock the private attribute __user_id since it will be used in the is_member_of function (not shown in the example above).
What I have so far:
import unittest
from unittest import mock
class Test(unittest.TestCase):
group_data = []
user_id = 'test_user_id'
def mock_dependencies(self, x):
x.__user_id = mock.PropertyMock(return_value=self.user_id)
x.__get_group_members = mock.MagicMock(return_value=self.group_data)
def first_test(self):
x = A(('name', 'group'))
self.mock_dependencies(x)
x.is_member_of('test_group')
When I invoke x.is_member_of() the mocking doesn't work as anticipated.

You can access a private attribute in Python since private and protected are by convention. - What you're looking for is basically using _ClassName__private_attribute_name since, python carries out the renaming in order to achieve the convention agreed upon.
Example (returning a MagicMock):
with mock.patch.object(Class, '_ClassName__private_attribute_name', return_value='value') as obj_mock:
pass
Example (returning a raw value):
with mock.patch.object(Class, '_ClassName__private_attribute_name', new_callable=PropertyMock) as obj_mock:
obj_mock.return_value = 'string value'
Class is a reference to the class itself - not the instance.
Complete Example:
from unittest.mock import patch, PropertyMock
from unittest import TestCase, main
class Private:
__attr = 'hello'
class PrivateTest(TestCase):
#patch.object(Private, '_Private__attr', new_callable=PropertyMock)
def test_private_attribute_value_change_decorator_success(self, private_mock):
obj = Private()
private_mock.return_value = 'string'
self.assertEqual('string', obj._Private__attr)
def test_private_attribute_value_change_context_manager_success(self):
with patch.object(Private, '_Private__attr', new_callable=PropertyMock) as o_mock:
obj = Private()
o_mock.return_value = 'mocked value'
self.assertEqual('mocked value', obj._Private__attr)
if __name__ == '__main__':
main()
Modifications to your example:
from unittest import TestCase, mock, main
class A:
__user_id = 3
def __init__(self, user, group):
"""
Your logic is missing - obviously
:param user:
:param group:
"""
def __get_group_members(self):
"""
Your logic is missing - obviously
:return:
"""
return ['user_1', 'user_2']
def is_member_of(self, group_name):
members = self.__get_group_members(group_name)
# will return if the user is a member of the group
return self.__user_id in members
class GroupTest(TestCase):
group_data = [1, 2]
user_id = 'test_user_id'
#mock.patch.object(A, '_A__get_group_members')
#mock.patch.object(A, '_A__user_id', new_callable=mock.PropertyMock)
def test_this_is_my_first_success(self, user_id_mock: mock.PropertyMock, get_group_members_mock: mock.MagicMock):
get_group_members_mock.return_value = self.group_data
user_id_mock.return_value = 3
x = A('user_3', 'this_group')
self.assertEqual(False, x.is_member_of('test_group'))
#mock.patch.object(A, '_A__get_group_members')
#mock.patch.object(A, '_A__user_id', new_callable=mock.PropertyMock)
def test_this_is_my_first_failure(self, user_id_mock: mock.PropertyMock, get_group_members_mock: mock.MagicMock):
get_group_members_mock.return_value = self.group_data
user_id_mock.return_value = 1
x = A('user_1', 'this_group')
self.assertEqual(True, x.is_member_of('test_group'))
if __name__ == '__main__':
main()
If you know you'll mock these two attributes in all test cases you can add the decorators on the class level and expect the arguments like-wise.
In the case where the attribute is set through the __init__ or any other method, you could simply alter it as shown below.
from unittest import TestCase, mock, main
class A:
def __init__(self, user, group):
"""
Your logic is missing - obviously
:param user:
:param group:
"""
def __get_group_members(self):
"""
Your logic is missing - obviously
:return:
"""
return ['user_1', 'user_2']
def is_member_of(self, group_name):
members = self.__get_group_members(group_name)
# will return if the user is a member of the group
return self.__user_id in members
class GroupTest(TestCase):
group_data = [1, 2]
user_id = 'test_user_id'
#mock.patch.object(A, '_A__get_group_members')
def test_this_is_my_first_success(self, get_group_members_mock: mock.MagicMock):
x = A('user_3', 'this_group')
x._A__user_id = 5
get_group_members_mock.return_value = self.group_data
self.assertEqual(False, x.is_member_of('test_group'))
#mock.patch.object(A, '_A__get_group_members')
def test_this_is_my_first_failure(self, get_group_members_mock: mock.MagicMock):
get_group_members_mock.return_value = self.group_data
x = A('user_1', 'this_group')
x._A__user_id = 1
self.assertEqual(True, x.is_member_of('test_group'))
if __name__ == '__main__':
main()

python mock global function that is used in class

I can't seem to get my head around mocking in Python. I have a global function:
a.py:
def has_permission(args):
ret_val = ...get-true-or-false...
return ret_val
b.py:
class MySerializer(HyperlinkedModelSerializer):
def get_fields():
fields = super().get_fields()
for f in :
if has_permission(...):
ret_val[f.name] = fields[f]
return ret_val
c.py:
class CountrySerializer(MySerializer):
class Meta:
model = Country
Question: Now i want to test c.py, but i want to mock the has_permission function that is defined in a.py, but is called in the get_fields-method of the class MySerializer that is defined in b.py ... How do i do that?
I've tried things like:
#patch('b.MySerializer.has_permission')
and
#patch('b.MySerializer.get_fields.has_permission')
and
#patch('a.has_permission')
But everything i try either just doesn't work and has_permission is still executed, or python complains about that it can't find the attribute 'has_permission'
with the patching done in:
test.py
class TestSerializerFields(TestCase):
#patch(... the above examples....)
def test_my_country_serializer():
s = CountrySerializer()
self..assertTrue(issubclass(my_serializer_fields.MyCharField, type(s.get_fields()['field1'])))

You need to patch the global in the b module:
#patch('b.has_permission')
because that's where your code looks for it.
Also see the Where to patch section of the mock documentation.

You need to patch the method where it exists at the time your test runs. If you try and patch the method where it is defined after the test code has already imported it, then the patch will have no effect. At the point where the #patch(...) executes, the test code under test has already grabbed the global method into its own module.
Here is an example:
app/util/config.py:
# This is the global method we want to mock
def is_search_enabled():
return True
app/service/searcher.py:
# Here is where that global method will be imported
# when this file is first imported
from app.util.config import is_search_enabled
class Searcher:
def __init__(self, api_service):
self._api_service = api_service
def search(self):
if not is_search_enabled():
return None
return self._api_service.perform_request('/search')
test/service/test_searcher.py:
from unittest.mock import patch, Mock
# The next line will cause the imports of `searcher.py` to execute...
from app.service.searcher import Searcher
# At this point, searcher.py has imported is_search_enabled into its module.
# If you later try and patch the method at its definition
# (app.util.config.is_search_enabled), it will have no effect because
# searcher.py won't look there again.
class MockApiService:
pass
class TestSearcher:
# By the time this executes, `is_search_enabled` has already been
# imported into `app.service.searcher`. So that is where we must
# patch it.
#patch('app.service.searcher.is_search_enabled')
def test_no_search_when_disabled(self, mock_is_search_enabled):
mock_is_search_enabled.return_value = False
mock_api_service = MockApiService()
mock_api_service.perform_request = Mock()
searcher = Searcher(mock_api_service)
results = searcher.search()
assert results is None
mock_api_service.perform_request.assert_not_called()
# (For completeness' sake, make sure the code actually works when search is enabled...)
def test_search(self):
mock_api_service = MockApiService()
mock_api_service.perform_request = mock_perform_request = Mock()
searcher = Searcher(mock_api_service)
expected_results = [1, 2, 3]
mock_perform_request.return_value = expected_results
actual_results = searcher.search()
assert actual_results == expected_results
mock_api_service.perform_request.assert_called_once_with('/search')