From f58c98904f83aeff934b66d87b4e42a06ceb840d Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: matt swanson Date: Sun, 13 Mar 2011 17:18:19 -0900 Subject: [PATCH] fixing some wording issues on the testing page Signed-off-by: Armin Ronacher --- docs/testing.rst | 111 +++++++++++++++++++++++------------------------ 1 file changed, 54 insertions(+), 57 deletions(-) diff --git a/docs/testing.rst b/docs/testing.rst index 6c7b8428..48af2a18 100644 --- a/docs/testing.rst +++ b/docs/testing.rst @@ -5,26 +5,23 @@ Testing Flask Applications **Something that is untested is broken.** -Not sure where that is coming from, and it's not entirely correct, but -also not that far from the truth. Untested applications make it hard to +The origin of this quote is unknown and while it is not entirely correct, it is also +not far from the truth. Untested applications make it hard to improve existing code and developers of untested applications tend to become pretty paranoid. If an application has automated tests, you can -safely change things, and you will instantly know if your change broke -something. +safely make changes and instantly know if anything breaks. -Flask gives you a couple of ways to test applications. It mainly does -that by exposing the Werkzeug test :class:`~werkzeug.test.Client` class to your -code and handling the context locals for you. You can then use that with -your favourite testing solution. In this documentation we will use the -:mod:`unittest` package that comes preinstalled with each Python -installation. +Flask provides a way to test your application by exposing the Werkzeug +test :class:`~werkzeug.test.Client` and handling the context locals for you. +You can then use that with your favourite testing solution. In this documentation +we will use the :mod:`unittest` package that comes pre-installed with Python. The Application --------------- -First we need an application to test for functionality. For the testing -we will use the application from the :ref:`tutorial`. If you don't have -that application yet, get the sources from `the examples`_. +First, we need an application to test; we will use the application from +the :ref:`tutorial`. If you don't have that application yet, get the +sources from `the examples`_. .. _the examples: http://github.com/mitsuhiko/flask/tree/master/examples/flaskr/ @@ -32,8 +29,8 @@ that application yet, get the sources from `the examples`_. The Testing Skeleton -------------------- -In order to test that, we add a second module ( -`flaskr_tests.py`) and create a unittest skeleton there:: +In order to test the application, we add a second module +(`flaskr_tests.py`) and create a unittest skeleton there:: import os import flaskr @@ -55,13 +52,14 @@ In order to test that, we add a second module ( unittest.main() The code in the :meth:`~unittest.TestCase.setUp` method creates a new test -client and initializes a new database. That function is called before -each individual test function. To delete the database after the test, we -close the file and remove it from the filesystem in the -:meth:`~unittest.TestCase.tearDown` method. What the test client does is -give us a simple interface to the application. We can trigger test -requests to the application, and the client will also keep track of cookies -for us. +client and initializes a new database. This function is called before +each individual test function is run. To delete the database after the +test, we close the file and remove it from the filesystem in the +:meth:`~unittest.TestCase.tearDown` method. + +This test client will give us a simple interface to the application. We can +trigger test requests to the application, and the client will also keep track +of cookies for us. Because SQLite3 is filesystem-based we can easily use the tempfile module to create a temporary database and initialize it. The @@ -70,7 +68,7 @@ low-level file handle and a random file name, the latter we use as database name. We just have to keep the `db_fd` around so that we can use the :func:`os.close` function to close the file. -If we now run that test suite, we should see the following output:: +If we now run the test suite, we should see the following output:: $ python flaskr_tests.py @@ -79,17 +77,17 @@ If we now run that test suite, we should see the following output:: OK -Even though it did not run any tests, we already know that our flaskr +Even though it did not run any actual tests, we already know that our flaskr application is syntactically valid, otherwise the import would have died with an exception. The First Test -------------- -Now we can add the first test. Let's check that the application shows -"No entries here so far" if we access the root of the application (``/``). -For that we modify our created test case class so that it looks like -this:: +Now it's time to start testing the functionality of the application. +Let's check that the application shows "No entries here so far" if we +access the root of the application (``/``). To do this, we add a new +test method to our class, like this:: class FlaskrTestCase(unittest.TestCase): @@ -106,13 +104,14 @@ this:: rv = self.app.get('/') assert 'No entries here so far' in rv.data -Test functions begin with the word `test`. Every function named like that -will be picked up automatically. By using `self.app.get` we can send an -HTTP `GET` request to the application with the given path. The return -value will be a :class:`~flask.Flask.response_class` object. We can now -use the :attr:`~werkzeug.wrappers.BaseResponse.data` attribute to inspect the -return value (as string) from the application. In this case, we ensure -that ``'No entries here so far'`` is part of the output. +Notice that our test functions begin with the word `test`; this allows +:mod:`unittest` to automatically identify the method as a test to run. + +By using `self.app.get` we can send an HTTP `GET` request to the application with +the given path. The return value will be a :class:`~flask.Flask.response_class` object. +We can now use the :attr:`~werkzeug.wrappers.BaseResponse.data` attribute to inspect +the return value (as string) from the application. In this case, we ensure that +``'No entries here so far'`` is part of the output. Run it again and you should see one passing test:: @@ -123,18 +122,14 @@ Run it again and you should see one passing test:: OK -Of course you can submit forms with the test client as well, which we will -use now to log our user in. - Logging In and Out ------------------ The majority of the functionality of our application is only available for -the administrative user, so we need a way to log our test client in to the -application and out of it again. For that we fire some requests to the -login and logout pages with the required form data (username and -password). Because the login and logout pages redirect, we tell the -client to `follow_redirects`. +the administrative user, so we need a way to log our test client in and out +of the application. To do this, we fire some requests to the login and logout +pages with the required form data (username and password). And because the +login and logout pages redirect, we tell the client to `follow_redirects`. Add the following two methods to your `FlaskrTestCase` class:: @@ -147,7 +142,7 @@ Add the following two methods to your `FlaskrTestCase` class:: def logout(self): return self.app.get('/logout', follow_redirects=True) -Now we can easily test if logging in and out works and that it fails with +Now we can easily test that logging in and out works and that it fails with invalid credentials. Add this new test to the class:: def test_login_logout(self): @@ -163,7 +158,7 @@ invalid credentials. Add this new test to the class:: Test Adding Messages -------------------- -Now we can also test that adding messages works. Add a new test method +We should also test that adding messages works. Add a new test method like this:: def test_messages(self): @@ -189,7 +184,7 @@ Running that should now give us three passing tests:: OK For more complex tests with headers and status codes, check out the -`MiniTwit Example`_ from the sources. That one contains a larger test +`MiniTwit Example`_ from the sources which contains a larger test suite. @@ -200,12 +195,12 @@ suite. Other Testing Tricks -------------------- -Besides using the test client we used above, there is also the -:meth:`~flask.Flask.test_request_context` method that in combination with -the `with` statement can be used to activate a request context -temporarily. With that you can access the :class:`~flask.request`, +Besides using the test client as shown above, there is also the +:meth:`~flask.Flask.test_request_context` method that can be used +in combination with the `with` statement to activate a request context +temporarily. With this you can access the :class:`~flask.request`, :class:`~flask.g` and :class:`~flask.session` objects like in view -functions. Here's a full example that showcases this:: +functions. Here is a full example that demonstrates this approach:: app = flask.Flask(__name__) @@ -213,7 +208,8 @@ functions. Here's a full example that showcases this:: assert flask.request.path == '/' assert flask.request.args['name'] == 'Peter' -All the other objects that are context bound can be used the same. +All the other objects that are context bound can be used in the same +way. If you want to test your application with different configurations and there does not seem to be a good way to do that, consider switching to @@ -225,7 +221,7 @@ Keeping the Context Around .. versionadded:: 0.4 -Sometimes it can be helpful to trigger a regular request but keep the +Sometimes it is helpful to trigger a regular request but still keep the context around for a little longer so that additional introspection can happen. With Flask 0.4 this is possible by using the :meth:`~flask.Flask.test_client` with a `with` block:: @@ -236,9 +232,10 @@ happen. With Flask 0.4 this is possible by using the rv = c.get('/?tequila=42') assert request.args['tequila'] == '42' -If you would just be using the :meth:`~flask.Flask.test_client` without +If you were to use just the :meth:`~flask.Flask.test_client` without the `with` block, the `assert` would fail with an error because `request` -is no longer available (because used outside of an actual request). -Keep in mind however that :meth:`~flask.Flask.after_request` functions -are already called at that point so your database connection and +is no longer available (because you are trying to use it outside of the actual request). +However, keep in mind that any :meth:`~flask.Flask.after_request` functions +are already called at this point so your database connection and everything involved is probably already closed down. +