generic mechanism for marking python functions.
===============================================


.. contents::
  :local:

By using the ``py.test.mark`` helper you can instantiate
decorators that will set named meta data on test functions. 

Marking a single function 
----------------------------------------------------

You can "mark" a test function with meta data like this::

    @py.test.mark.webtest
    def test_send_http():
        ... 

This will set a "Marker" instance as a function attribute named "webtest". 
You can also specify parametrized meta data like this::

    @py.test.mark.webtest(firefox=30)
    def test_receive():
        ...

The named marker can be accessed like this later::

    test_receive.webtest.kwargs['firefox'] == 30

In addition to set key-value pairs you can also use positional arguments::

    @py.test.mark.webtest("triangular")
    def test_receive():
        ...

and later access it with ``test_receive.webtest.args[0] == 'triangular``.

.. _`scoped-marking`:

Marking whole classes or modules 
----------------------------------------------------

If you are programming with Python2.6 you may use ``py.test.mark`` decorators
with classes to apply markers to all its test methods::

    @py.test.mark.webtest
    class TestClass:
        def test_startup(self):
            ...

This is equivalent to directly applying the decorator to the
``test_startup`` function. 

To remain compatible with Python2.5 you can instead set a 
``pytestmark`` attribute on a TestClass like this::

    import py

    class TestClass:
        pytestmark = py.test.mark.webtest

or if you need to use multiple markers::

    import py

    class TestClass:
        pytestmark = [py.test.mark.webtest, pytest.mark.slowtest]

You can also set a module level marker::

    import py
    pytestmark = py.test.mark.webtest

in which case then it will be applied to all functions and 
methods defined in the module.  

Using "-k MARKNAME" to select tests
----------------------------------------------------

You can use the ``-k`` command line option to select
tests::

    py.test -k webtest  # will only run tests marked as webtest

Start improving this plugin in 30 seconds
=========================================


1. Download `pytest_mark.py`_ plugin source code 
2. put it somewhere as ``pytest_mark.py`` into your import path 
3. a subsequent ``py.test`` run will use your local version

Checkout customize_, other plugins_ or `get in contact`_. 

.. include:: links.txt