<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"> <html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> <head> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /> <title>Getting Started with Mock — Mock 1.0.0 documentation</title> <link rel="stylesheet" href="_static/nature.css" type="text/css" /> <link rel="stylesheet" href="_static/pygments.css" type="text/css" /> <script type="text/javascript"> var DOCUMENTATION_OPTIONS = { URL_ROOT: '', VERSION: '1.0.0', COLLAPSE_INDEX: false, FILE_SUFFIX: '.html', HAS_SOURCE: true }; </script> <script type="text/javascript" src="_static/jquery.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="_static/underscore.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="_static/doctools.js"></script> <link rel="top" title="Mock 1.0.0 documentation" href="index.html" /> <link rel="next" title="Further Examples" href="examples.html" /> <link rel="prev" title="Mocking Magic Methods" href="magicmock.html" /> </head> <body> <div class="related"> <h3>Navigation</h3> <ul> <li class="right" style="margin-right: 10px"> <a href="genindex.html" title="General Index" accesskey="I">index</a></li> <li class="right" > <a href="examples.html" title="Further Examples" accesskey="N">next</a> |</li> <li class="right" > <a href="magicmock.html" title="Mocking Magic Methods" accesskey="P">previous</a> |</li> <li><a href="index.html">Mock 1.0.0 documentation</a> »</li> </ul> </div> <div class="document"> <div class="documentwrapper"> <div class="bodywrapper"> <div class="body"> <div class="section" id="getting-started-with-mock"> <h1>Getting Started with Mock<a class="headerlink" href="#getting-started-with-mock" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h1> <span class="target" id="getting-started"></span><span class="target" id="index-0"></span><div class="section" id="using-mock"> <h2>Using Mock<a class="headerlink" href="#using-mock" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h2> <div class="section" id="mock-patching-methods"> <h3>Mock Patching Methods<a class="headerlink" href="#mock-patching-methods" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h3> <p>Common uses for <tt class="xref py py-class docutils literal"><span class="pre">Mock</span></tt> objects include:</p> <ul class="simple"> <li>Patching methods</li> <li>Recording method calls on objects</li> </ul> <p>You might want to replace a method on an object to check that it is called with the correct arguments by another part of the system:</p> <div class="highlight-python"><div class="highlight"><pre><span class="gp">>>> </span><span class="n">real</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="n">SomeClass</span><span class="p">()</span> <span class="gp">>>> </span><span class="n">real</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">method</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="n">MagicMock</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">name</span><span class="o">=</span><span class="s">'method'</span><span class="p">)</span> <span class="gp">>>> </span><span class="n">real</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">method</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="mi">3</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="mi">4</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="mi">5</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="n">key</span><span class="o">=</span><span class="s">'value'</span><span class="p">)</span> <span class="go"><MagicMock name='method()' id='...'></span> </pre></div> </div> <p>Once our mock has been used (<cite>real.method</cite> in this example) it has methods and attributes that allow you to make assertions about how it has been used.</p> <div class="admonition note"> <p class="first admonition-title">Note</p> <p class="last">In most of these examples the <tt class="xref py py-class docutils literal"><span class="pre">Mock</span></tt> and <tt class="xref py py-class docutils literal"><span class="pre">MagicMock</span></tt> classes are interchangeable. As the <cite>MagicMock</cite> is the more capable class it makes a sensible one to use by default.</p> </div> <p>Once the mock has been called its <tt class="xref py py-attr docutils literal"><span class="pre">called</span></tt> attribute is set to <cite>True</cite>. More importantly we can use the <tt class="xref py py-meth docutils literal"><span class="pre">assert_called_with()</span></tt> or <tt class="xref py py-meth docutils literal"><span class="pre">assert_called_once_with()</span></tt> method to check that it was called with the correct arguments.</p> <p>This example tests that calling <cite>ProductionClass().method</cite> results in a call to the <cite>something</cite> method:</p> <div class="highlight-python"><div class="highlight"><pre><span class="gp">>>> </span><span class="kn">from</span> <span class="nn">mock</span> <span class="kn">import</span> <span class="n">MagicMock</span> <span class="gp">>>> </span><span class="k">class</span> <span class="nc">ProductionClass</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="nb">object</span><span class="p">):</span> <span class="gp">... </span> <span class="k">def</span> <span class="nf">method</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="bp">self</span><span class="p">):</span> <span class="gp">... </span> <span class="bp">self</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">something</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="mi">1</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="mi">2</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="mi">3</span><span class="p">)</span> <span class="gp">... </span> <span class="k">def</span> <span class="nf">something</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="bp">self</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="n">a</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="n">b</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="n">c</span><span class="p">):</span> <span class="gp">... </span> <span class="k">pass</span> <span class="gp">...</span> <span class="gp">>>> </span><span class="n">real</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="n">ProductionClass</span><span class="p">()</span> <span class="gp">>>> </span><span class="n">real</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">something</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="n">MagicMock</span><span class="p">()</span> <span class="gp">>>> </span><span class="n">real</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">method</span><span class="p">()</span> <span class="gp">>>> </span><span class="n">real</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">something</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">assert_called_once_with</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="mi">1</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="mi">2</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="mi">3</span><span class="p">)</span> </pre></div> </div> </div> <div class="section" id="mock-for-method-calls-on-an-object"> <h3>Mock for Method Calls on an Object<a class="headerlink" href="#mock-for-method-calls-on-an-object" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h3> <p>In the last example we patched a method directly on an object to check that it was called correctly. Another common use case is to pass an object into a method (or some part of the system under test) and then check that it is used in the correct way.</p> <p>The simple <cite>ProductionClass</cite> below has a <cite>closer</cite> method. If it is called with an object then it calls <cite>close</cite> on it.</p> <div class="highlight-python"><div class="highlight"><pre><span class="gp">>>> </span><span class="k">class</span> <span class="nc">ProductionClass</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="nb">object</span><span class="p">):</span> <span class="gp">... </span> <span class="k">def</span> <span class="nf">closer</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="bp">self</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="n">something</span><span class="p">):</span> <span class="gp">... </span> <span class="n">something</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">close</span><span class="p">()</span> <span class="gp">...</span> </pre></div> </div> <p>So to test it we need to pass in an object with a <cite>close</cite> method and check that it was called correctly.</p> <div class="highlight-python"><div class="highlight"><pre><span class="gp">>>> </span><span class="n">real</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="n">ProductionClass</span><span class="p">()</span> <span class="gp">>>> </span><span class="n">mock</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="n">Mock</span><span class="p">()</span> <span class="gp">>>> </span><span class="n">real</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">closer</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">mock</span><span class="p">)</span> <span class="gp">>>> </span><span class="n">mock</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">close</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">assert_called_with</span><span class="p">()</span> </pre></div> </div> <p>We don’t have to do any work to provide the ‘close’ method on our mock. Accessing close creates it. So, if ‘close’ hasn’t already been called then accessing it in the test will create it, but <tt class="xref py py-meth docutils literal"><span class="pre">assert_called_with()</span></tt> will raise a failure exception.</p> </div> <div class="section" id="mocking-classes"> <h3>Mocking Classes<a class="headerlink" href="#mocking-classes" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h3> <p>A common use case is to mock out classes instantiated by your code under test. When you patch a class, then that class is replaced with a mock. Instances are created by <em>calling the class</em>. This means you access the “mock instance” by looking at the return value of the mocked class.</p> <p>In the example below we have a function <cite>some_function</cite> that instantiates <cite>Foo</cite> and calls a method on it. The call to <cite>patch</cite> replaces the class <cite>Foo</cite> with a mock. The <cite>Foo</cite> instance is the result of calling the mock, so it is configured by modifying the mock <tt class="xref py py-attr docutils literal"><span class="pre">return_value</span></tt>.</p> <div class="highlight-python"><div class="highlight"><pre><span class="gp">>>> </span><span class="k">def</span> <span class="nf">some_function</span><span class="p">():</span> <span class="gp">... </span> <span class="n">instance</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="n">module</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">Foo</span><span class="p">()</span> <span class="gp">... </span> <span class="k">return</span> <span class="n">instance</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">method</span><span class="p">()</span> <span class="gp">...</span> <span class="gp">>>> </span><span class="k">with</span> <span class="n">patch</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="s">'module.Foo'</span><span class="p">)</span> <span class="k">as</span> <span class="n">mock</span><span class="p">:</span> <span class="gp">... </span> <span class="n">instance</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="n">mock</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">return_value</span> <span class="gp">... </span> <span class="n">instance</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">method</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">return_value</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="s">'the result'</span> <span class="gp">... </span> <span class="n">result</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="n">some_function</span><span class="p">()</span> <span class="gp">... </span> <span class="k">assert</span> <span class="n">result</span> <span class="o">==</span> <span class="s">'the result'</span> </pre></div> </div> </div> <div class="section" id="naming-your-mocks"> <h3>Naming your mocks<a class="headerlink" href="#naming-your-mocks" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h3> <p>It can be useful to give your mocks a name. The name is shown in the repr of the mock and can be helpful when the mock appears in test failure messages. The name is also propagated to attributes or methods of the mock:</p> <div class="highlight-python"><div class="highlight"><pre><span class="gp">>>> </span><span class="n">mock</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="n">MagicMock</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">name</span><span class="o">=</span><span class="s">'foo'</span><span class="p">)</span> <span class="gp">>>> </span><span class="n">mock</span> <span class="go"><MagicMock name='foo' id='...'></span> <span class="gp">>>> </span><span class="n">mock</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">method</span> <span class="go"><MagicMock name='foo.method' id='...'></span> </pre></div> </div> </div> <div class="section" id="tracking-all-calls"> <h3>Tracking all Calls<a class="headerlink" href="#tracking-all-calls" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h3> <p>Often you want to track more than a single call to a method. The <tt class="xref py py-attr docutils literal"><span class="pre">mock_calls</span></tt> attribute records all calls to child attributes of the mock - and also to their children.</p> <div class="highlight-python"><div class="highlight"><pre><span class="gp">>>> </span><span class="n">mock</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="n">MagicMock</span><span class="p">()</span> <span class="gp">>>> </span><span class="n">mock</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">method</span><span class="p">()</span> <span class="go"><MagicMock name='mock.method()' id='...'></span> <span class="gp">>>> </span><span class="n">mock</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">attribute</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">method</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="mi">10</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="n">x</span><span class="o">=</span><span class="mi">53</span><span class="p">)</span> <span class="go"><MagicMock name='mock.attribute.method()' id='...'></span> <span class="gp">>>> </span><span class="n">mock</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">mock_calls</span> <span class="go">[call.method(), call.attribute.method(10, x=53)]</span> </pre></div> </div> <p>If you make an assertion about <cite>mock_calls</cite> and any unexpected methods have been called, then the assertion will fail. This is useful because as well as asserting that the calls you expected have been made, you are also checking that they were made in the right order and with no additional calls:</p> <p>You use the <tt class="xref py py-data docutils literal"><span class="pre">call</span></tt> object to construct lists for comparing with <cite>mock_calls</cite>:</p> <div class="highlight-python"><div class="highlight"><pre><span class="gp">>>> </span><span class="n">expected</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="p">[</span><span class="n">call</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">method</span><span class="p">(),</span> <span class="n">call</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">attribute</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">method</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="mi">10</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="n">x</span><span class="o">=</span><span class="mi">53</span><span class="p">)]</span> <span class="gp">>>> </span><span class="n">mock</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">mock_calls</span> <span class="o">==</span> <span class="n">expected</span> <span class="go">True</span> </pre></div> </div> </div> <div class="section" id="setting-return-values-and-attributes"> <h3>Setting Return Values and Attributes<a class="headerlink" href="#setting-return-values-and-attributes" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h3> <p>Setting the return values on a mock object is trivially easy:</p> <div class="highlight-python"><div class="highlight"><pre><span class="gp">>>> </span><span class="n">mock</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="n">Mock</span><span class="p">()</span> <span class="gp">>>> </span><span class="n">mock</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">return_value</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="mi">3</span> <span class="gp">>>> </span><span class="n">mock</span><span class="p">()</span> <span class="go">3</span> </pre></div> </div> <p>Of course you can do the same for methods on the mock:</p> <div class="highlight-python"><div class="highlight"><pre><span class="gp">>>> </span><span class="n">mock</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="n">Mock</span><span class="p">()</span> <span class="gp">>>> </span><span class="n">mock</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">method</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">return_value</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="mi">3</span> <span class="gp">>>> </span><span class="n">mock</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">method</span><span class="p">()</span> <span class="go">3</span> </pre></div> </div> <p>The return value can also be set in the constructor:</p> <div class="highlight-python"><div class="highlight"><pre><span class="gp">>>> </span><span class="n">mock</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="n">Mock</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">return_value</span><span class="o">=</span><span class="mi">3</span><span class="p">)</span> <span class="gp">>>> </span><span class="n">mock</span><span class="p">()</span> <span class="go">3</span> </pre></div> </div> <p>If you need an attribute setting on your mock, just do it:</p> <div class="highlight-python"><div class="highlight"><pre><span class="gp">>>> </span><span class="n">mock</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="n">Mock</span><span class="p">()</span> <span class="gp">>>> </span><span class="n">mock</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">x</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="mi">3</span> <span class="gp">>>> </span><span class="n">mock</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">x</span> <span class="go">3</span> </pre></div> </div> <p>Sometimes you want to mock up a more complex situation, like for example <cite>mock.connection.cursor().execute(“SELECT 1”)</cite>. If we wanted this call to return a list, then we have to configure the result of the nested call.</p> <p>We can use <tt class="xref py py-data docutils literal"><span class="pre">call</span></tt> to construct the set of calls in a “chained call” like this for easy assertion afterwards:</p> <div class="highlight-python"><div class="highlight"><pre><span class="gp">>>> </span><span class="n">mock</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="n">Mock</span><span class="p">()</span> <span class="gp">>>> </span><span class="n">cursor</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="n">mock</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">connection</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">cursor</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">return_value</span> <span class="gp">>>> </span><span class="n">cursor</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">execute</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">return_value</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="p">[</span><span class="s">'foo'</span><span class="p">]</span> <span class="gp">>>> </span><span class="n">mock</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">connection</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">cursor</span><span class="p">()</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">execute</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="s">"SELECT 1"</span><span class="p">)</span> <span class="go">['foo']</span> <span class="gp">>>> </span><span class="n">expected</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="n">call</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">connection</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">cursor</span><span class="p">()</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">execute</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="s">"SELECT 1"</span><span class="p">)</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">call_list</span><span class="p">()</span> <span class="gp">>>> </span><span class="n">mock</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">mock_calls</span> <span class="go">[call.connection.cursor(), call.connection.cursor().execute('SELECT 1')]</span> <span class="gp">>>> </span><span class="n">mock</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">mock_calls</span> <span class="o">==</span> <span class="n">expected</span> <span class="go">True</span> </pre></div> </div> <p>It is the call to <cite>.call_list()</cite> that turns our call object into a list of calls representing the chained calls.</p> </div> <div class="section" id="raising-exceptions-with-mocks"> <h3>Raising exceptions with mocks<a class="headerlink" href="#raising-exceptions-with-mocks" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h3> <p>A useful attribute is <tt class="xref py py-attr docutils literal"><span class="pre">side_effect</span></tt>. If you set this to an exception class or instance then the exception will be raised when the mock is called.</p> <div class="highlight-python"><div class="highlight"><pre><span class="gp">>>> </span><span class="n">mock</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="n">Mock</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">side_effect</span><span class="o">=</span><span class="ne">Exception</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="s">'Boom!'</span><span class="p">))</span> <span class="gp">>>> </span><span class="n">mock</span><span class="p">()</span> <span class="gt">Traceback (most recent call last):</span> <span class="c">...</span> <span class="gr">Exception</span>: <span class="n">Boom!</span> </pre></div> </div> </div> <div class="section" id="side-effect-functions-and-iterables"> <h3>Side effect functions and iterables<a class="headerlink" href="#side-effect-functions-and-iterables" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h3> <p><cite>side_effect</cite> can also be set to a function or an iterable. The use case for <cite>side_effect</cite> as an iterable is where your mock is going to be called several times, and you want each call to return a different value. When you set <cite>side_effect</cite> to an iterable every call to the mock returns the next value from the iterable:</p> <div class="highlight-python"><div class="highlight"><pre><span class="gp">>>> </span><span class="n">mock</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="n">MagicMock</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">side_effect</span><span class="o">=</span><span class="p">[</span><span class="mi">4</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="mi">5</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="mi">6</span><span class="p">])</span> <span class="gp">>>> </span><span class="n">mock</span><span class="p">()</span> <span class="go">4</span> <span class="gp">>>> </span><span class="n">mock</span><span class="p">()</span> <span class="go">5</span> <span class="gp">>>> </span><span class="n">mock</span><span class="p">()</span> <span class="go">6</span> </pre></div> </div> <p>For more advanced use cases, like dynamically varying the return values depending on what the mock is called with, <cite>side_effect</cite> can be a function. The function will be called with the same arguments as the mock. Whatever the function returns is what the call returns:</p> <div class="highlight-python"><div class="highlight"><pre><span class="gp">>>> </span><span class="n">vals</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="p">{(</span><span class="mi">1</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="mi">2</span><span class="p">):</span> <span class="mi">1</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="p">(</span><span class="mi">2</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="mi">3</span><span class="p">):</span> <span class="mi">2</span><span class="p">}</span> <span class="gp">>>> </span><span class="k">def</span> <span class="nf">side_effect</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="o">*</span><span class="n">args</span><span class="p">):</span> <span class="gp">... </span> <span class="k">return</span> <span class="n">vals</span><span class="p">[</span><span class="n">args</span><span class="p">]</span> <span class="gp">...</span> <span class="gp">>>> </span><span class="n">mock</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="n">MagicMock</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">side_effect</span><span class="o">=</span><span class="n">side_effect</span><span class="p">)</span> <span class="gp">>>> </span><span class="n">mock</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="mi">1</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="mi">2</span><span class="p">)</span> <span class="go">1</span> <span class="gp">>>> </span><span class="n">mock</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="mi">2</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="mi">3</span><span class="p">)</span> <span class="go">2</span> </pre></div> </div> </div> <div class="section" id="creating-a-mock-from-an-existing-object"> <h3>Creating a Mock from an Existing Object<a class="headerlink" href="#creating-a-mock-from-an-existing-object" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h3> <p>One problem with over use of mocking is that it couples your tests to the implementation of your mocks rather than your real code. Suppose you have a class that implements <cite>some_method</cite>. In a test for another class, you provide a mock of this object that <em>also</em> provides <cite>some_method</cite>. If later you refactor the first class, so that it no longer has <cite>some_method</cite> - then your tests will continue to pass even though your code is now broken!</p> <p><cite>Mock</cite> allows you to provide an object as a specification for the mock, using the <cite>spec</cite> keyword argument. Accessing methods / attributes on the mock that don’t exist on your specification object will immediately raise an attribute error. If you change the implementation of your specification, then tests that use that class will start failing immediately without you having to instantiate the class in those tests.</p> <div class="highlight-python"><div class="highlight"><pre><span class="gp">>>> </span><span class="n">mock</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="n">Mock</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">spec</span><span class="o">=</span><span class="n">SomeClass</span><span class="p">)</span> <span class="gp">>>> </span><span class="n">mock</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">old_method</span><span class="p">()</span> <span class="gt">Traceback (most recent call last):</span> <span class="c">...</span> <span class="gr">AttributeError</span>: <span class="n">object has no attribute 'old_method'</span> </pre></div> </div> <p>If you want a stronger form of specification that prevents the setting of arbitrary attributes as well as the getting of them then you can use <cite>spec_set</cite> instead of <cite>spec</cite>.</p> </div> </div> <div class="section" id="patch-decorators"> <h2>Patch Decorators<a class="headerlink" href="#patch-decorators" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h2> <div class="admonition note"> <p class="first admonition-title">Note</p> <p class="last">With <cite>patch</cite> it matters that you patch objects in the namespace where they are looked up. This is normally straightforward, but for a quick guide read <a class="reference internal" href="patch.html#where-to-patch"><em>where to patch</em></a>.</p> </div> <p>A common need in tests is to patch a class attribute or a module attribute, for example patching a builtin or patching a class in a module to test that it is instantiated. Modules and classes are effectively global, so patching on them has to be undone after the test or the patch will persist into other tests and cause hard to diagnose problems.</p> <p>mock provides three convenient decorators for this: <cite>patch</cite>, <cite>patch.object</cite> and <cite>patch.dict</cite>. <cite>patch</cite> takes a single string, of the form <cite>package.module.Class.attribute</cite> to specify the attribute you are patching. It also optionally takes a value that you want the attribute (or class or whatever) to be replaced with. ‘patch.object’ takes an object and the name of the attribute you would like patched, plus optionally the value to patch it with.</p> <p><cite>patch.object</cite>:</p> <div class="highlight-python"><div class="highlight"><pre><span class="gp">>>> </span><span class="n">original</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="n">SomeClass</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">attribute</span> <span class="gp">>>> </span><span class="nd">@patch.object</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">SomeClass</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="s">'attribute'</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="n">sentinel</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">attribute</span><span class="p">)</span> <span class="gp">... </span><span class="k">def</span> <span class="nf">test</span><span class="p">():</span> <span class="gp">... </span> <span class="k">assert</span> <span class="n">SomeClass</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">attribute</span> <span class="o">==</span> <span class="n">sentinel</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">attribute</span> <span class="gp">...</span> <span class="gp">>>> </span><span class="n">test</span><span class="p">()</span> <span class="gp">>>> </span><span class="k">assert</span> <span class="n">SomeClass</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">attribute</span> <span class="o">==</span> <span class="n">original</span> <span class="gp">>>> </span><span class="nd">@patch</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="s">'package.module.attribute'</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="n">sentinel</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">attribute</span><span class="p">)</span> <span class="gp">... </span><span class="k">def</span> <span class="nf">test</span><span class="p">():</span> <span class="gp">... </span> <span class="kn">from</span> <span class="nn">package.module</span> <span class="kn">import</span> <span class="n">attribute</span> <span class="gp">... </span> <span class="k">assert</span> <span class="n">attribute</span> <span class="ow">is</span> <span class="n">sentinel</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">attribute</span> <span class="gp">...</span> <span class="gp">>>> </span><span class="n">test</span><span class="p">()</span> </pre></div> </div> <p>If you are patching a module (including <cite>__builtin__</cite>) then use <cite>patch</cite> instead of <cite>patch.object</cite>:</p> <div class="highlight-python"><div class="highlight"><pre><span class="gp">>>> </span><span class="n">mock</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="n">MagicMock</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">return_value</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="n">sentinel</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">file_handle</span><span class="p">)</span> <span class="gp">>>> </span><span class="k">with</span> <span class="n">patch</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="s">'__builtin__.open'</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="n">mock</span><span class="p">):</span> <span class="gp">... </span> <span class="n">handle</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="nb">open</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="s">'filename'</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="s">'r'</span><span class="p">)</span> <span class="gp">...</span> <span class="gp">>>> </span><span class="n">mock</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">assert_called_with</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="s">'filename'</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="s">'r'</span><span class="p">)</span> <span class="gp">>>> </span><span class="k">assert</span> <span class="n">handle</span> <span class="o">==</span> <span class="n">sentinel</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">file_handle</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="s">"incorrect file handle returned"</span> </pre></div> </div> <p>The module name can be ‘dotted’, in the form <cite>package.module</cite> if needed:</p> <div class="highlight-python"><div class="highlight"><pre><span class="gp">>>> </span><span class="nd">@patch</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="s">'package.module.ClassName.attribute'</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="n">sentinel</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">attribute</span><span class="p">)</span> <span class="gp">... </span><span class="k">def</span> <span class="nf">test</span><span class="p">():</span> <span class="gp">... </span> <span class="kn">from</span> <span class="nn">package.module</span> <span class="kn">import</span> <span class="n">ClassName</span> <span class="gp">... </span> <span class="k">assert</span> <span class="n">ClassName</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">attribute</span> <span class="o">==</span> <span class="n">sentinel</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">attribute</span> <span class="gp">...</span> <span class="gp">>>> </span><span class="n">test</span><span class="p">()</span> </pre></div> </div> <p>A nice pattern is to actually decorate test methods themselves:</p> <div class="highlight-python"><div class="highlight"><pre><span class="gp">>>> </span><span class="k">class</span> <span class="nc">MyTest</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">unittest2</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">TestCase</span><span class="p">):</span> <span class="gp">... </span> <span class="nd">@patch.object</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">SomeClass</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="s">'attribute'</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="n">sentinel</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">attribute</span><span class="p">)</span> <span class="gp">... </span> <span class="k">def</span> <span class="nf">test_something</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="bp">self</span><span class="p">):</span> <span class="gp">... </span> <span class="bp">self</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">assertEqual</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">SomeClass</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">attribute</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="n">sentinel</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">attribute</span><span class="p">)</span> <span class="gp">...</span> <span class="gp">>>> </span><span class="n">original</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="n">SomeClass</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">attribute</span> <span class="gp">>>> </span><span class="n">MyTest</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="s">'test_something'</span><span class="p">)</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">test_something</span><span class="p">()</span> <span class="gp">>>> </span><span class="k">assert</span> <span class="n">SomeClass</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">attribute</span> <span class="o">==</span> <span class="n">original</span> </pre></div> </div> <p>If you want to patch with a Mock, you can use <cite>patch</cite> with only one argument (or <cite>patch.object</cite> with two arguments). The mock will be created for you and passed into the test function / method:</p> <div class="highlight-python"><div class="highlight"><pre><span class="gp">>>> </span><span class="k">class</span> <span class="nc">MyTest</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">unittest2</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">TestCase</span><span class="p">):</span> <span class="gp">... </span> <span class="nd">@patch.object</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">SomeClass</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="s">'static_method'</span><span class="p">)</span> <span class="gp">... </span> <span class="k">def</span> <span class="nf">test_something</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="bp">self</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="n">mock_method</span><span class="p">):</span> <span class="gp">... </span> <span class="n">SomeClass</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">static_method</span><span class="p">()</span> <span class="gp">... </span> <span class="n">mock_method</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">assert_called_with</span><span class="p">()</span> <span class="gp">...</span> <span class="gp">>>> </span><span class="n">MyTest</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="s">'test_something'</span><span class="p">)</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">test_something</span><span class="p">()</span> </pre></div> </div> <p>You can stack up multiple patch decorators using this pattern:</p> <div class="highlight-python"><div class="highlight"><pre><span class="gp">>>> </span><span class="k">class</span> <span class="nc">MyTest</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">unittest2</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">TestCase</span><span class="p">):</span> <span class="gp">... </span> <span class="nd">@patch</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="s">'package.module.ClassName1'</span><span class="p">)</span> <span class="gp">... </span> <span class="nd">@patch</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="s">'package.module.ClassName2'</span><span class="p">)</span> <span class="gp">... </span> <span class="k">def</span> <span class="nf">test_something</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="bp">self</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="n">MockClass2</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="n">MockClass1</span><span class="p">):</span> <span class="gp">... </span> <span class="bp">self</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">assertTrue</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">package</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">module</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">ClassName1</span> <span class="ow">is</span> <span class="n">MockClass1</span><span class="p">)</span> <span class="gp">... </span> <span class="bp">self</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">assertTrue</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">package</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">module</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">ClassName2</span> <span class="ow">is</span> <span class="n">MockClass2</span><span class="p">)</span> <span class="gp">...</span> <span class="gp">>>> </span><span class="n">MyTest</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="s">'test_something'</span><span class="p">)</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">test_something</span><span class="p">()</span> </pre></div> </div> <p>When you nest patch decorators the mocks are passed in to the decorated function in the same order they applied (the normal <em>python</em> order that decorators are applied). This means from the bottom up, so in the example above the mock for <cite>test_module.ClassName2</cite> is passed in first.</p> <p>There is also <tt class="xref py py-func docutils literal"><span class="pre">patch.dict()</span></tt> for setting values in a dictionary just during a scope and restoring the dictionary to its original state when the test ends:</p> <div class="highlight-python"><div class="highlight"><pre><span class="gp">>>> </span><span class="n">foo</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="p">{</span><span class="s">'key'</span><span class="p">:</span> <span class="s">'value'</span><span class="p">}</span> <span class="gp">>>> </span><span class="n">original</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="n">foo</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">copy</span><span class="p">()</span> <span class="gp">>>> </span><span class="k">with</span> <span class="n">patch</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">dict</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">foo</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="p">{</span><span class="s">'newkey'</span><span class="p">:</span> <span class="s">'newvalue'</span><span class="p">},</span> <span class="n">clear</span><span class="o">=</span><span class="bp">True</span><span class="p">):</span> <span class="gp">... </span> <span class="k">assert</span> <span class="n">foo</span> <span class="o">==</span> <span class="p">{</span><span class="s">'newkey'</span><span class="p">:</span> <span class="s">'newvalue'</span><span class="p">}</span> <span class="gp">...</span> <span class="gp">>>> </span><span class="k">assert</span> <span class="n">foo</span> <span class="o">==</span> <span class="n">original</span> </pre></div> </div> <p><cite>patch</cite>, <cite>patch.object</cite> and <cite>patch.dict</cite> can all be used as context managers.</p> <p>Where you use <cite>patch</cite> to create a mock for you, you can get a reference to the mock using the “as” form of the with statement:</p> <div class="highlight-python"><div class="highlight"><pre><span class="gp">>>> </span><span class="k">class</span> <span class="nc">ProductionClass</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="nb">object</span><span class="p">):</span> <span class="gp">... </span> <span class="k">def</span> <span class="nf">method</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="bp">self</span><span class="p">):</span> <span class="gp">... </span> <span class="k">pass</span> <span class="gp">...</span> <span class="gp">>>> </span><span class="k">with</span> <span class="n">patch</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">object</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">ProductionClass</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="s">'method'</span><span class="p">)</span> <span class="k">as</span> <span class="n">mock_method</span><span class="p">:</span> <span class="gp">... </span> <span class="n">mock_method</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">return_value</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="bp">None</span> <span class="gp">... </span> <span class="n">real</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="n">ProductionClass</span><span class="p">()</span> <span class="gp">... </span> <span class="n">real</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">method</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="mi">1</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="mi">2</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="mi">3</span><span class="p">)</span> <span class="gp">...</span> <span class="gp">>>> </span><span class="n">mock_method</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">assert_called_with</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="mi">1</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="mi">2</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="mi">3</span><span class="p">)</span> </pre></div> </div> <p>As an alternative <cite>patch</cite>, <cite>patch.object</cite> and <cite>patch.dict</cite> can be used as class decorators. When used in this way it is the same as applying the decorator indvidually to every method whose name starts with “test”.</p> <p>For some more advanced examples, see the <a class="reference internal" href="examples.html#further-examples"><em>Further Examples</em></a> page.</p> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="sphinxsidebar"> <div class="sphinxsidebarwrapper"> <h3><a href="index.html">Table Of Contents</a></h3> <ul> <li><a class="reference internal" href="#">Getting Started with Mock</a><ul> <li><a class="reference internal" href="#using-mock">Using Mock</a><ul> <li><a class="reference internal" href="#mock-patching-methods">Mock Patching Methods</a></li> <li><a class="reference internal" href="#mock-for-method-calls-on-an-object">Mock for Method Calls on an Object</a></li> <li><a class="reference internal" href="#mocking-classes">Mocking Classes</a></li> <li><a class="reference internal" href="#naming-your-mocks">Naming your mocks</a></li> <li><a class="reference internal" href="#tracking-all-calls">Tracking all Calls</a></li> <li><a class="reference internal" href="#setting-return-values-and-attributes">Setting Return Values and Attributes</a></li> <li><a class="reference internal" href="#raising-exceptions-with-mocks">Raising exceptions with mocks</a></li> <li><a class="reference internal" href="#side-effect-functions-and-iterables">Side effect functions and iterables</a></li> <li><a class="reference internal" href="#creating-a-mock-from-an-existing-object">Creating a Mock from an Existing Object</a></li> </ul> </li> <li><a class="reference internal" href="#patch-decorators">Patch Decorators</a></li> </ul> </li> </ul> <h4>Previous topic</h4> <p class="topless"><a href="magicmock.html" title="previous chapter">Mocking Magic Methods</a></p> <h4>Next topic</h4> <p class="topless"><a href="examples.html" title="next chapter">Further Examples</a></p> <h3>This Page</h3> <ul class="this-page-menu"> <li><a href="_sources/getting-started.txt" rel="nofollow">Show Source</a></li> </ul> <div id="searchbox" style="display: none"> <h3>Quick search</h3> <form class="search" action="search.html" method="get"> <input type="text" name="q" /> <input type="submit" value="Go" /> <input type="hidden" name="check_keywords" value="yes" /> <input type="hidden" name="area" value="default" /> </form> <p class="searchtip" style="font-size: 90%"> Enter search terms or a module, class or function name. </p> </div> <script type="text/javascript">$('#searchbox').show(0);</script> </div> </div> <div class="clearer"></div> </div> <div class="related"> <h3>Navigation</h3> <ul> <li class="right" style="margin-right: 10px"> <a href="genindex.html" title="General Index" >index</a></li> <li class="right" > <a href="examples.html" title="Further Examples" >next</a> |</li> <li class="right" > <a href="magicmock.html" title="Mocking Magic Methods" >previous</a> |</li> <li><a href="index.html">Mock 1.0.0 documentation</a> »</li> </ul> </div> <div class="footer"> © Copyright 2007-2012, Michael Foord & the mock team. 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