Why python mock patch doesn’t work?

I have two files

spike.py

class T1(object):
    def foo(self, afd):
        return "foo"

    def get_foo(self):
        return self.foo(1)


def bar():
    return "bar"

test_spike.py:

from unittest import TestCase
import unittest
from mock import patch, MagicMock
from spike import T1, bar


class TestStuff(TestCase):
    @patch('spike.T1.foo', MagicMock(return_value='patched'))
    def test_foo(self):
        foo = T1().get_foo()
        self.assertEqual('patched', foo)

    @patch('spike.bar')
    def test_bar(self, mock_obj):
        mock_obj.return_value = 'patched'
        bar = bar()
        self.assertEqual('patched', bar)


if __name__ == "__main__":
    unittest.main()

When I run python test_spike.py, the first test case would pass, but the second would fail.
and I switch to use nosetests test_spike.py, then both two are failed.

I don’t understand how this happened? These cases supposed to pass all.

Answers:

Thank you for visiting the Q&A section on Magenaut. Please note that all the answers may not help you solve the issue immediately. So please treat them as advisements. If you found the post helpful (or not), leave a comment & I’ll get back to you as soon as possible.

Method 1

Access bar using spike.bar. Imported bar is not affected by mock.patch.

from unittest import TestCase
import unittest
from mock import patch, MagicMock
from spike import T1
import spike # <----


class TestShit(TestCase):
    @patch('spike.T1.foo', MagicMock(return_value='patched'))
    def test_foo(self):
        foo = T1().get_foo()
        self.assertEqual('patched', foo)

    @patch('spike.bar')
    def test_bar(self, mock_obj):
        mock_obj.return_value = 'patched'
        bar = spike.bar() # <-----
        self.assertEqual('patched', bar)


if __name__ == "__main__":
    unittest.main()

Method 2

For test_foo you are not using patch correctly. You should be using it like this:

class TestFoo(TestCase):
@patch.object(T1, 'foo', MagicMock(return_value='patched'))
def test_foo(self):
    foo = T1().get_foo()
    self.assertEqual('patched', foo)

that gives me:

nosetests test_spike.py 
.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Ran 1 test in 0.000s

OK

Now the second example does not work because you import bar function (get a reference to it) and then try to mock it. When you mock something you can’t change what your variables hold (reference to original function). To fix this you should use @falsetru suggested method like:

from unittest import TestCase
import unittest
from mock import patch
import spike


class TestFoo(TestCase):
    @patch('spike.bar')
    def test_bar(self, mock_obj):
        mock_obj.return_value = 'patched'
        value = spike.bar()
        self.assertEqual('patched', value)


if __name__ == "__main__":
    unittest.main()

this gives me:

python test_spike.py
.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Ran 1 test in 0.000s

OK

But when I try to run it with nose I get:

 nosetests test_spike.py
F
======================================================================
FAIL: test_bar (src.test_spike.TestFoo)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/home/zilva/envs/test/local/lib/python2.7/site-packages/mock/mock.py", line 1305, in patched
    return func(*args, **keywargs)
  File "/home/zilva/git/test/src/test_spike.py", line 11, in test_bar
    self.assertEqual('patched', value)
AssertionError: 'patched' != 'bar'

----------------------------------------------------------------------
Ran 1 test in 0.001s

FAILED (failures=1)

This happends because I am patching not in the right place. My directory structure is:

test/
└── src/
    ├── spike.py
    ├── test_spike.py
    └── __init__.py

and I run tests from src directory so I should be patching using path from project root directory like:

@patch('src.spike.bar')

and this would give me:

nosetests test_spike.py
.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Ran 1 test in 0.000s

OK

or if I am at test directory:

nosetests src/test_spike.py
.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Ran 1 test in 0.001s

OK

Method 3

To elaborate on the very helpful top answer, let me paraphrase the official documentation for unittest.mock.

a.py
    class SomeClass:
        ...

b.py
    import a
    from a import SomeClass
    def some_function():
        a.SomeClass()
        SomeClass()

If you write mock.patch('a.SomeClass'), this will affect the first line of some_function. If you write mock.patch('b.SomeClass'), this will affect the second line.

All methods was sourced from stackoverflow.com or stackexchange.com, is licensed under cc by-sa 2.5, cc by-sa 3.0 and cc by-sa 4.0