test_ok1/doc/test/funcargs.txt

======================================================
**funcargs**: powerful and simple test setup
======================================================

In version 1.0 py.test introduces a new mechanism for setting up test
state for use by Python test functions.  It is particularly useful 
for functional and integration testing but also for unit testing.  
Using funcargs you can:

* write self-contained, simple to read and debug test functions 
* cleanly encapsulate glue code between your app and your tests 
* do test scenario setup dependent on command line opts or environment

The basic funcarg request/provide mechanism 
=============================================

All you need to do from a test function or test method 
is to specify an argument for your test function:

.. sourcecode:: python

    def test_function(myarg):
        # use myarg  

For each test function that requests the ``myarg``
argument a matching so called funcarg provider 
will be invoked.  A Funcarg provider for ``myarg``
is written down liks this:

.. sourcecode:: python

    def pytest_funcarg__myarg(self, request):
        # return value for myarg here

Such a provider method can live on a test class,
test module or on a local or global plugin. 
The method is recognized by the ``pytest_funcarg__``
prefix and is correlated to the argument
name which follows this prefix. Because it
has access to the "request" object a provider
method is a uniquely powerful place for 
containing setup up of test scenarios and
test configuration. 

.. _`request object`:

request objects
------------------------

Request objects give access to command line options, 
the underlying python function and the test running 
process.  Each funcarg provider method receives a ``request`` object
that allows interaction with the test method and test
running process.  Basic attributes::

    argname: requested argument name 
    function: python function object requesting the argument
    config: access to command line opts and general config

Request objects have a ``addfinalizer`` method that 
allows to **register a finalizer method** which is 
called after a test function has finished running. 
This is useful for tearing down or cleaning up
test state. Here is a basic example for providing
a ``myfile`` object that will be closed upon test
function finish:

.. sourcecode:: python

    def pytest_funcarg__myfile(self, request):
        # ... create and open a "myfile" object ...
        request.addfinalizer(lambda: myfile.close())
        return myfile

If you want to **decorate a function argument** that is 
provided elsewhere you can use the ``call_next_provider``
method to obtain the "next" value: 

.. sourcecode:: python

    def pytest_funcarg__myfile(self, request):
        myfile = request.call_next_provider()
        # do something extra 
        return myfile

This will raise a ``request.Error`` exception if there 
is no next provider left.  See the `decorator example`_ 
for a use of this method. 

.. _`lookup order`: 

Order of funcarg provider lookup
----------------------------------------

For any funcarg argument request here is the
lookup order for provider methods: 

1. test class (if we are executing a method) 
2. test module 
3. local plugins
4. global plugins 


Funcarg Examples
=====================

Example: basic application specific setup
-----------------------------------------------------

Here is a basic useful example for handling application 
specific setup.  The goal is to have one place where
we have the glue code for bootstrapping and configuring 
application objects and allow test modules and 
test functions to stay ignorant of involved details. 
Let's start with the using side and consider a simple 
test function living in a test file ``test_sample.py``:

.. sourcecode:: python

    def test_answer(mysetup): 
        app = mysetup.myapp()
        answer = app.question()
        assert answer == 42

To run this test py.test looks up and calls a provider to obtain the
required "mysetup" function argument.  The test function simply
interacts with the provided application specific setup. 

To provide the ``mysetup`` function argument we write down
a provider method in a `local plugin`_ by putting this 
into a local ``conftest.py``:

.. sourcecode:: python

    from myapp import MyApp

    class ConftestPlugin:
        def pytest_funcarg__mysetup(self, request):
            return MySetup()

    class MySetup:
        def myapp(self):
            return MyApp()

The ``pytest_funcarg__mysetup`` method is called to 
provide a value for the test function argument. 
To complete the example we put a pseudo MyApp object
into ``myapp.py``:

.. sourcecode:: python

    class MyApp:
        def question(self):
            return 6 * 9

.. _`local plugin`: test-ext.html#local-plugin

Example: specifying funcargs in test modules or classes
---------------------------------------------------------

.. sourcecode:: python

    def pytest_funcarg__mysetup(request):
        result = request.call_next_provider()
        result.extra = "..."
        return result 

You can also put such a function into a test class like this:

.. sourcecode:: python

    class TestClass:
        def pytest_funcarg__mysetup(self, request):
            # ...
            #

            
Example: command line option for providing SSH-host
-----------------------------------------------------------

If you provide a "funcarg" from a plugin you can 
easily make methods depend on command line options 
or environment settings.  Here is a complete 
example that allows to run tests involving
an SSH connection if an ssh host is specified:

.. sourcecode:: python

    class ConftestPlugin:
        def pytest_addoption(self, parser):
            parser.addoption("--ssh", action="store", default=None,
                help="specify ssh host to run tests with")

        pytest_funcarg__mysetup = MySetupFuncarg

    class MySetupFuncarg:
        def __init__(self, request):
            self.request = request 
        def ssh_gateway(self):
            host = self.request.config.option.ssh
            if host is None:
                py.test.skip("specify ssh host with --ssh to run this test")
            return py.execnet.SshGateway(host)

Now any test functions can use the "mysetup.ssh_gateway()" method like this:

.. sourcecode:: python

    class TestClass:
        def test_function(self, mysetup):
            ssh_gw = mysetup.ssh_gateway()
            # work with ssh_gw 
      
Running this without the command line will yield this run result::

    ...


.. _`accept example`: 

example: specifying and selecting acceptance tests 
--------------------------------------------------------------

.. sourcecode:: python

    class ConftestPlugin:
        def pytest_option(self, parser):
            group = parser.getgroup("myproject")
            group.addoption("-A", dest="acceptance", action="store_true", 
                help="run (slow) acceptance tests")

        def pytest_funcarg__accept(self, request):
            return AcceptFuncarg(request)

    class AcceptFuncarg:
        def __init__(self, request):
            if not request.config.option.acceptance:
                py.test.skip("specify -A to run acceptance tests")
            self.tmpdir = request.config.maketempdir(request.argname)
            self._old = self.tmpdir.chdir()
            request.addfinalizer(self.finalize)

        def run(self):
            return py.process.cmdexec("echo hello")

        def finalize(self):
            self._old.chdir()
            # cleanup any other resources

   
and the actual test function example:

.. sourcecode:: python

    def test_some_acceptance_aspect(accept):
        accept.tmpdir.mkdir("somesub")
        result = accept.run()
        assert result
   
That's it!  This test will get automatically skipped with
an appropriate message if you just run ``py.test``:: 

    ... OUTPUT of py.test on this example ... 


.. _`decorator example`: 

example: decorating/extending a funcarg in a TestClass 
--------------------------------------------------------------

For larger scale setups it's sometimes useful to decorare 
a funcarg just for a particular test module or even 
a particular test class.  We can extend the `accept example`_ 
by putting this in our test class:

.. sourcecode:: python

    class TestSpecialAcceptance:
        def pytest_funcarg__accept(self, request):
            arg = request.call_next_provider()
            # create a special layout in our tempdir
            arg.tmpdir.mkdir("special")
            return arg 

        def test_sometest(self, accept):
            assert accept.tmpdir.join("special").check()

According to the `lookup order`_ our class-specific provider will
be invoked first.  Here, we just ask our request object to 
call the next provider and decoare its result.  This simple
mechanism allows us to stay ignorant of how/where the 
function argument is provided.  

Note that we make use here of `py.path.local`_ objects
that provide uniform access to the local filesystem. 

.. _`py.path.local`: path.html#local

Questions and Answers
==================================

Why ``pytest_funcarg__*`` methods? 
------------------------------------

When experimenting with funcargs we also considered an explicit
registration mechanism, i.e. calling a register method e.g. on the
config object.  But lacking a good use case for this indirection and
flexibility we decided to go for `Convention over Configuration`_ 
and allow to directly specify the provider.  It has the 
positive implication that you should be able to 
"grep" for `pytest_funcarg__MYARG`` and will find all
providing sites (usually exactly one).  

.. _`Convention over Configuration`: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Convention_over_Configuration