218 lines
8.5 KiB
Plaintext
218 lines
8.5 KiB
Plaintext
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.. _`funcargcompare`:
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pytest-2.3: reasoning for fixture/funcarg evolution
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=============================================================
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**Target audience**: Reading this document requires basic knowledge of
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python testing, xUnit setup methods and the (previous) basic pytest
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funcarg mechanism, see http://pytest.org/2.2.4/funcargs.html
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If you are new to pytest, then you can simply ignore this
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section and read the other sections.
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.. currentmodule:: _pytest
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Shortcomings of the previous ``pytest_funcarg__`` mechanism
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--------------------------------------------------------------
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The pre pytest-2.3 funcarg mechanism calls a factory each time a
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funcarg for a test function is required. If a factory wants to
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re-use a resource across different scopes, it often used
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the ``request.cached_setup()`` helper to manage caching of
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resources. Here is a basic example how we could implement
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a per-session Database object::
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# content of conftest.py
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class Database:
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def __init__(self):
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print ("database instance created")
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def destroy(self):
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print ("database instance destroyed")
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def pytest_funcarg__db(request):
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return request.cached_setup(setup=DataBase,
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teardown=lambda db: db.destroy,
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scope="session")
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There are several limitations and difficulties with this approach:
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1. Scoping funcarg resource creation is not straight forward, instead one must
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understand the intricate cached_setup() method mechanics.
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2. parametrizing the "db" resource is not straight forward:
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you need to apply a "parametrize" decorator or implement a
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:py:func:`~hookspec.pytest_generate_tests` hook
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calling :py:func:`~python.Metafunc.parametrize` which
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performs parametrization at the places where the resource
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is used. Moreover, you need to modify the factory to use an
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``extrakey`` parameter containing ``request.param`` to the
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:py:func:`~python.Request.cached_setup` call.
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3. Multiple parametrized session-scoped resources will be active
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at the same time, making it hard for them to affect global state
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of the application under test.
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4. there is no way how you can make use of funcarg factories
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in xUnit setup methods.
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5. A non-parametrized fixture function cannot use a parametrized
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funcarg resource if it isn't stated in the test function signature.
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All of these limitations are addressed with pytest-2.3 and its
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improved :ref:`fixture mechanism <fixture>`.
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Direct scoping of fixture/funcarg factories
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--------------------------------------------------------
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Instead of calling cached_setup() with a cache scope, you can use the
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:ref:`@pytest.fixture <pytest.fixture>` decorator and directly state
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the scope::
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@pytest.fixture(scope="session")
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def db(request):
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# factory will only be invoked once per session -
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db = DataBase()
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request.addfinalizer(db.destroy) # destroy when session is finished
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return db
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This factory implementation does not need to call ``cached_setup()`` anymore
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because it will only be invoked once per session. Moreover, the
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``request.addfinalizer()`` registers a finalizer according to the specified
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resource scope on which the factory function is operating.
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Direct parametrization of funcarg resource factories
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----------------------------------------------------------
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Previously, funcarg factories could not directly cause parametrization.
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You needed to specify a ``@parametrize`` decorator on your test function
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or implement a ``pytest_generate_tests`` hook to perform
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parametrization, i.e. calling a test multiple times with different value
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sets. pytest-2.3 introduces a decorator for use on the factory itself::
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@pytest.fixture(params=["mysql", "pg"])
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def db(request):
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... # use request.param
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Here the factory will be invoked twice (with the respective "mysql"
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and "pg" values set as ``request.param`` attributes) and and all of
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the tests requiring "db" will run twice as well. The "mysql" and
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"pg" values will also be used for reporting the test-invocation variants.
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This new way of parametrizing funcarg factories should in many cases
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allow to re-use already written factories because effectively
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``request.param`` was already used when test functions/classes were
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parametrized via
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:py:func:`~_pytest.python.Metafunc.parametrize(indirect=True)` calls.
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Of course it's perfectly fine to combine parametrization and scoping::
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@pytest.fixture(scope="session", params=["mysql", "pg"])
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def db(request):
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if request.param == "mysql":
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db = MySQL()
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elif request.param == "pg":
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db = PG()
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request.addfinalizer(db.destroy) # destroy when session is finished
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return db
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This would execute all tests requiring the per-session "db" resource twice,
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receiving the values created by the two respective invocations to the
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factory function.
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No ``pytest_funcarg__`` prefix when using @fixture decorator
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-------------------------------------------------------------------
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When using the ``@fixture`` decorator the name of the function
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denotes the name under which the resource can be accessed as a function
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argument::
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@pytest.fixture()
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def db(request):
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...
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The name under which the funcarg resource can be requested is ``db``.
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You can still use the "old" non-decorator way of specifying funcarg factories
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aka::
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def pytest_funcarg__db(request):
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...
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But it is then not possible to define scoping and parametrization.
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It is thus recommended to use the factory decorator.
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solving per-session setup / autouse fixtures
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--------------------------------------------------------------
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pytest for a long time offered a pytest_configure and a pytest_sessionstart
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hook which are often used to setup global resources. This suffers from
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several problems:
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1. in distributed testing the master process would setup test resources
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that are never needed because it only co-ordinates the test run
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activities of the slave processes.
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2. if you only perform a collection (with "--collect-only")
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resource-setup will still be executed.
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3. If a pytest_sessionstart is contained in some subdirectories
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conftest.py file, it will not be called. This stems from the
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fact that this hook is actually used for reporting, in particular
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the test-header with platform/custom information.
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Moreover, it was not easy to define a scoped setup from plugins or
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conftest files other than to implement a ``pytest_runtest_setup()`` hook
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and caring for scoping/caching yourself. And it's virtually impossible
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to do this with parametrization as ``pytest_runtest_setup()`` is called
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during test execution and parametrization happens at collection time.
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It follows that pytest_configure/session/runtest_setup are often not
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appropriate for implementing common fixture needs. Therefore,
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pytest-2.3 introduces :ref:`autouse fixtures` which fully
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integrate with the generic :ref:`fixture mechanism <fixture>`
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and obsolete many prior uses of pytest hooks.
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funcargs/fixture discovery now happens at collection time
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---------------------------------------------------------------------
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pytest-2.3 takes care to discover fixture/funcarg factories
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at collection time. This is more efficient especially for large test suites.
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Moreover, a call to "py.test --collect-only" should be able to in the future
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show a lot of setup-information and thus presents a nice method to get an
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overview of fixture management in your project.
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.. _`compatibility notes`:
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.. _`funcargscompat`:
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Conclusion and compatibility notes
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---------------------------------------------------------
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**funcargs** were originally introduced to pytest-2.0. In pytest-2.3
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the mechanism was extended and refined and is now described as
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fixtures:
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* previously funcarg factories were specified with a special
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``pytest_funcarg__NAME`` prefix instead of using the
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``@pytest.fixture`` decorator.
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* Factories received a ``request`` object which managed caching through
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``request.cached_setup()`` calls and allowed using other funcargs via
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``request.getfuncargvalue()`` calls. These intricate APIs made it hard
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to do proper parametrization and implement resource caching. The
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new :py:func:`pytest.fixture`` decorator allows to declare the scope
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and let pytest figure things out for you.
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* if you used parametrization and funcarg factories which made use of
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``request.cached_setup()`` it is recommeneded to invest a few minutes
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and simplify your fixture function code to use the :ref:`@pytest.fixture`
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decorator instead. This will also allow to take advantage of
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the automatic per-resource grouping of tests.
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