Testing
Unit and functional tests are written to aid in application stability and to assist in preventing regression bugs. As part of development the developer working on a Merge/Pull request is to ensure that tests are written. Failing to do so will more likely than not ensure that your Merge/Pull request is not merged.
We use PyTest as the testing framework. As such, All available features of pytest are available. We have slightly deviated from the standard naming convention wherein test class must be suffixed with PyTest
. Please see below for more details.
Directory Structure
Each module is to contain a tests directory of the model being tested with a single file for grouping of what is being tested. for items that depend upon a parent model, the test file is to be within the child-models test directory named with format test_<type>_<model name>_<component name>
. Format for the test filename is as follows:
-
Type
- The test type, which is one ofunit
,functional
,ui
etc. -
model_name
- the value of the modelsverbose_name
with the space char\s
replaced with underscore_
. -
component name
- The component being tested, which is one ofViewSet
,Serializer
,API
etc.
example file system structure showing the layout of the tests directory for a module.
.
├── tests
│ ├── functional
│ │ ├── __init__.py
│ │ └── <model name>
│ ├── test_functional_<model name>_api_fields.py
│ ├── test_functional_<model name>_api_permission.py
│ ├── test_functional_<model name>_api_metadata.py
│ ├── test_functional_<model name>_model.py
│ │ └── test_functional_<model name>_serializer.py
│ ├── __init__.py
│ ├── integration
│ │ ├── __init__.py
│ │ └── <model name>
│ │ └── test_<type>_<model name>_<component name>.py
│ ├── ui
│ │ ├── __init__.py
│ │ └── <model name>
│ │ └── test_<type>_<model name>_<component name>.py
│ └── unit
│ ├── __init__.py
│ └── <model name>
│ ├── test_unit_<model name>_model.py
│ ├── test_unit_<model name>_serializer.py
│ └── test_unit_<model name>_viewset.py
Tests are broken up into the type the test is (sub-directory to test), and they are unit
, functional
, UI
and integration
. These sub-directories each contain a sub-directory for each model they are testing.
Writing Tests
We use class based tests with each test case being its own function. Naming of test classes is in CamelCase
in format <class name><suffix>
. class name
is the name of the actual class being tested with the suffix
being one of the following:
-
TestCases
- Contains the test cases for the class being tested.This class contains all of the tests for the area being tested.
-
InheritedCases
- Is to inherit fromTestCases
and contains any additional tests for classes that inherit from the class being testedThis class is used by sub-models and/or sub-classes that inherit from the area being tested
-
PyTest
- Not to inherit fromTestCases
. This special suffix tells pytest during test collection, to build the test suite using PyTest.This class is the class that test the actual object(s) being tested.
Do not deviate from the test class name suffix as we have setup pytest to automagically create the test classes based off of these names. For instance, classes that are suffixed (not prefixed as is the pytest norm), will be added as a test class and not as an abstract class.
Test Cases are to test one object and one object only. If the object to be tested contains multiple objects/moving parts, instantiate that object within a fixture. Some test may require that the test be setup before the tests begin. This is done via fixture called class_setup
that is called with scope='class', autouse = True
. Each test case must be documented using docstring.
Tip
If you inherit from an InheritedCases
Class and there is a class_setup
fixture, don't forget to import this into your test suite. This ensures it's available for use when running tests
Tip
If you find that a base classes variables are being mutated by other test classes, setup the variable within the base class as a property that contains the defaults as a variable within the function and returns the data as if the property was defined as a variable
Don't do this as my_variable
will be mutated by other test classes that inherit the base class.
Instead, do this. now MyTestClass
wont override variable my_variable
which means when another test class inherits from MyTestClassBase
, variable my_variable
will always return the desired default value.
Fixtures
Fixtures are used to setup the test and to pass objects to test should they require it. We have some common and globally available fixtures, they are:
-
create_model
Creates the model from class varkwargs_create_item: dict
-
organization_one
Organization calledorg one
-
organization_two
Organization calledorg two
-
recursearray
Search through an array using dot notation (dict.list.dict
i.e.dict_1.2.dict_3
). The array can be adict
,list
or combination of both.
Info
Unless otherwise mentioned, fixtures are scope = 'class'
There may also be a requirement that you add additional fixtures, they are:
-
Global Model Fixtures
Locatation for the global fixtures is
app/tests/fixtures/
. Each model is to have a global fixture file added with namemodel_<model name>
within this file the following fixtures are to be created:tests/fixtures/model_centurionmodel.pyimport pytest from core.models.centurion import CenturionModel @pytest.fixture( scope = 'class') def model_centurionmodel(): yield CenturionModel @pytest.fixture( scope = 'class') def kwargs_centurionmodel(kwargs_tenancyabstract): kwargs = { **kwargs_tenancyabstract, 'model_notes': 'model notes txt', 'created': '2025-05-23T00:00', } yield kwargs.copy()
-
model
is to return the model class un-instantiated -
kwargs
the Kwargs required to create the model.
-
-
model
andmodel_kwargs
These fixtures should be defined inconftest.py
in the test suite files directory. Only required if the model is required to be worked with.conftest.pyimport pytest from itim.models.request_ticket import RequestTicket @pytest.fixture( scope = 'class') def model(request): yield RequestTicket @pytest.fixture( scope = 'class') def model_kwargs(request, kwargs_<model_name>): request.cls.kwargs_create_item = kwargs_<model_name>.copy() yield kwargs_<model_name>.copy() del request.cls.kwargs_create_item
Due to how pytest and pytest-django works, there is no method available for class based tests that allows both database access and inheritance. As such, all test classes are expected to have a fixture called class_setup
that is scope = 'class'
and autouse = True
that is intended to serve as the method of setting up the test suite. This fixture should also include as dependencies any other fixture required for setup and in the order required for setup to finish without error. This fixture (class_setup
) is also intended to be an over-writable fixture in parent classes should you need to customise the load order of fixtures.
Tip
Fixtures that are scope = 'class'
are unable to accept fixture db
including other database related marks, which is problematic for a class fixture that requires database access. As a workaround the following works:
@pytest.fixture( scope = 'class')
def setup_post(self, django_db_blocker):
with django_db_blocker.unblock():
# db transactions
yield item # required so that cleanup can be done
# Note: use return if the db transaction was to create
# a single object.
with django_db_blocker.unblock():
# db transactions for cleanup
Parameterizing Tests
To be able to paramertize any test case, the test must be setup to use PyTest. Within the test class the test data is required to be stored in a dictionary prefixed with string paramaterized_<data_name>
. Variable <data_name>
is the data key that you will specify within the test method.
Our test setup allows for class inheritance which means you can within each class of the inheritance chain, add the paramaterized_<data_name>
attribute. If you do this, starting from the lowest base class, each class that specifies the paramaterized_<data_name>
attribute will be merged. The merge is an overwrite of the classes previous base class, meaning that the classes higher in the chain will overwrite the value of the lower class in the inheritance chain. You can not however remove a key from attribute paramaterized_<data_name>
.
The test method must be called with parameters:
-
'parameterized'
Tells the test setup that this test case is a parameterized test.
-
param_key_<data_name>
Tells the test setup the suffix to use to find the test data. The value of variable
data_name
can be any value you wish as long as it only contains charsa-z
and/or_
(underscore). This value is also used in class parameterparamaterized_<data_name>
. -
param_<name>
Tells the test setup that this is data to be passed from the test. When test setup is run, these attributes will contain the test data. It's of paramount importance, that the dict You can have as many of these attributes you wish, as long as
<name>
is unique and<name>
is always prefixed withparam_
. If you specify more than to parameters with theparam_
prefix, the value after theparam_
prefix, must match the dictionary key for the data you wish to be assigned to that parameter. what ever name you give the firstparam_
key, will always receive the key name from theparameterized_test_data
attribute in the test class.The value of
<name>
for each and in the order specified is suffixed to the test case name
class MyTestClassTestCases:
parameterized_test_data: dict = {
'key_1': {
'expected': 'key_1'
},
'key_2': {
'random': 'key_2'
},
}
class MyTestClassPyTest(
MyTestClassTestCases
):
parameterized_test_data: dict = {
'key_2': {
'random': 'value'
}
'key_3': {
'expected': 'key_3',
'is_type': bool
}
}
parameterized_second_dict: dict = {
'key_1': {
'expected': 'key_1'
},
}
def test_my_test_case_one(self, parameterized, param_key_test_data, param_value, param_expected):
assert param_value == param_expected
def test_my_test_case_two(self, parameterized, param_key_test_data, param_value, param_random):
assert param_value == param_random
def test_my_test_case_three(self, parameterized, param_key_test_data, param_value, param_is_type):
my_test_dict = self.adict
assert type(my_test_dict[param_value]) is param_is_type
def test_my_test_case_four(self, parameterized, param_key_second_dict, param_arbitrary_name, param_expected):
my_test_dict = self.a_dict_that_is_defined_in_the_test_class
assert my_test_dict[param_arbitrary_name] == param_expected
In this example:
-
The test class in this case is
MyTestClassPyTest
which inherits fromMyTestClassTestCases
. there are two parameterized variables:test_data
andsecond_dict
. Although, the concrete class attributeparameterized_test_data
overrides the base classes variable of the same name, the test setup logic does mergeMyTestClassPyTest.parameterized_test_data
withMyTestClassTestCases.parameterized_test_data
. So in this case the value dictionaryMyTestClassPyTest.parameterized_test_data[key_2][random]
,value
will overwrite dictionary of the same name in the base class. In the same token, as dictionaryMyTestClassTestCases.parameterized_test_data[key_3]
does not exist, it will be added to the dictionary during merge so it exists inMyTestClassPyTest.parameterized_test_data
-
test suite
MyTestClassPyTest
will create a total of five parmeterized test cases for the following reasons:-
test_my_test_case_one
will create two parameterized test cases.-
will use data in attribute
test_data
prefixed withparameterized_
as this is the attribute prefixed withparam_key_
. -
MyTestClassPyTest.parameterized_test_data['key_1']
is a dictionary, which contains keyexpected
which is also one of the attributes specified with prefixparam_
-
MyTestClassPyTest.parameterized_test_data['key_3']
is a dictionary, which contains keyexpected
which is also one of the attributes specified with prefixparam_
-
-
test_my_test_case_two
will create one parameterized test case.-
will use data in attribute
test_data
prefixed withparameterized_
as this is the attribute prefixed withparam_key_
. -
MyTestClassPyTest.parameterized_test_data['key_2']
is a dictionary, which contains keyrandom
which is also one of the attributes specified with prefixparam_
-
-
test_my_test_case_three
will create one parameterized test case.-
will use data in attribute
test_data
prefixed withparameterized_
as this is the attribute prefixed withparam_key_
. -
MyTestClassPyTest.parameterized_test_data['key_3']
is a dictionary, which contains keyis_type
which is also one of the attributes specified with prefixparam_
-
-
test_my_test_case_four
will create one parameterized test case.-
will use data in attribute
second_dict
prefixed withparameterized_
as this is the attribute prefixed withparam_key_
. -
MyTestClassPyTest.parameterized_second_dict['key_1']
is a dictionary, which contains keyexpected
which is also one of the attributes specified with prefixparam_
-
-
Running Tests
Test can be run by running the following:
-
pip install -r requirements_test.txt -r requirements.txt
-
make prepare
-
make test-unit
for running Unit tests ormake test-functional
for running Functional tests.
If your developing using VSCode/VSCodium the testing is available as is the ability to attach a debugger to the test.
Test Case docs to be re-written
Note
The documentation below this section are being re-factored to meet an updated method of testing (documentation above this section). Until all test suites/cases have been re-written, the docs within and below this section may still be applicable.
~~Unit and functional tests are written to aid in application stability and to assist in preventing regression bugs. As part of development the developer working on a Merge/Pull request is to ensure that tests are written. Failing to do so will more likely than not ensure that your Merge/Pull request is not merged.~~
User Interface (UI) test are written if applicable to test the user interface to ensure that it functions as it should. Changes to the UI will need to be tested.
~~!!! note~~ ~~As of release v1.3, the UI has moved to it's own project with the current Django UI feature locked and depreciated.~~
Integration tests will be required if the development introduces code that interacts with an independent third-party application.
Available Test classes
To aid in development we have written test classes that you can inherit from for your test classes
-
API Permission Checks
These test cases ensure that only a user with the correct permissions can perform an action against a Model within Centurion
-
api.tests.abstract.api_permissions_viewset.APIPermissionAdd
Add permission checks -
api.tests.abstract.api_permissions_viewset.APIPermissionChange
Change permission check -
api.tests.abstract.api_permissions_viewset.APIPermissionDelete
Delete permission check -
api.tests.abstract.api_permissions_viewset.APIPermissionView
View permission check -
api.tests.abstract.api_permissions_viewset.APIPermissions
Add, Change, Delete and View permission checks
-
-
API Field Checks
These test cases ensure that all of the specified fields are rendered as part of an API response
-
api.tests.abstract.api_fields.APICommonFields
Fields that should be part of ALL API responses -
api.tests.abstract.api_fields.APIModelFields
Fields that should be part of ALL model API Responses. IncludesAPICommonFields
test cases -
api.tests.abstract.api_fields.APITenancyObject
Fields that should be part of ALL Tenancy Object model API Responses. IncludesAPICommonFields
andAPIModelFields
test cases
-
Writing Tests - Old
~~We use class based tests. Each class will require a setUpTestData
method for test setup. To furhter assist in the writing of tests, we have written the test cases for common items as an abstract class. You are advised to inherit from our test classes (see above) as a starting point and extend from there.~~
~~Naming of test classes is in CamelCase
in format <Model Name><what's being tested>
for example the class name for device model history entry tests would be DeviceHistory
.~~
~~Test setup is written in a method called setUpTestData
and is to contain the setup for all tests within the test class.~~
~~Test cases themselves are written within the test class within an appropriately and uniquely named method. Each test case is to test one and only one item.~~
Example of a model history test class.
import pytest
import requests
from django.test import TestCase, Client
from core.models.history import History
from core.tests.abstract.history_entry import HistoryEntry
from core.tests.abstract.history_entry_parent_model import HistoryEntryParentItem
class DeviceHistory(TestCase, HistoryEntry, HistoryEntryParentItem):
model = Device
@classmethod
def setUpTestData(self):
""" Setup Test """
~~Each module is to contain a tests directory of the model being tested with a single file for grouping of what is being tested. for items that depend upon a parent model, the test file is to be within the child-models test directory named with format test_<model>_<parent app>_<parent model name>
~~
~~example file system structure showing the layout of the tests directory for a module.~~
.
├── tests
│ ├── functional
│ │ ├── __init__.py
│ │ └── <model name>
│ │ └── test_<model name>_a_tast_name.py
│ ├── __init__.py
│ ├── integration
│ │ ├── __init__.py
│ │ └── <model name>
│ │ └── test_<model name>_a_tast_name.py
│ ├── ui
│ │ ├── __init__.py
│ │ └── <model name>
│ │ └── test_<model name>_a_tast_name.py
│ └── unit
│ ├── __init__.py
│ └── <model name>
│ ├── test_<model name>.py
│ ├── test_<model name>_api.py
│ ├── test_<model name>_core_history.py
│ ├── test_<model name>_history_permission.py
│ ├── test_<model name>_permission_api.py
│ ├── test_<model name>_permission.py
│ ├── test_<model name>_serializer.py
│ └── test_<model name>_viewsets.py
~~Tests are broken up into the type the test is (sub-directory to test), and they are unit
, functional
, UI
and integration
. These sub-directories each contain a sub-directory for each model they are testing.~~
Items to test include, and are not limited to:
-
CRUD permissions admin site
-
CRUD permissions api site
-
can only access organization object
-
can access global object (still to require model CRUD permission)
-
history
-
saves history with parent pk and parent class
add to model class the following
@property def parent_object(self): """ Fetch the parent object """ return self.<item that is the parent>
history should now be auto saved as long as class
core.mixin.history_save.SaveHistory
is inherited by model. -
history is deleted when item deleted if
parent_pk=None
or if hasparent_pk
deletes history on parent pk being deleted.
-
-
model - any customizations
-
API Fields
Field(s) exists, Type is checked
-
Serializer Validations
About:
This page forms part of our Project Centurion ERP.
Page Metadata
Version: ToDo: place files short git commit hereDate Created: 2024-06-17
Date Edited: 2025-05-31
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