Outputting data from unit test in Python

Question

If I\'m writing unit tests in python (using the unittest module), is it possible to output data from a failed test, so I can examine it to help deduce what caused the error?

Answer 1

Use logging:

import unittest
import logging
import inspect
import os

logging_level = logging.INFO

try:
    log_file = os.environ["LOG_FILE"]
except KeyError:
    log_file = None

def logger(stack=None):
    if not hasattr(logger, "initialized"):
        logging.basicConfig(filename=log_file, level=logging_level)
        logger.initialized = True
    if not stack:
        stack = inspect.stack()
    name = stack[1][3]
    try:
        name = stack[1][0].f_locals["self"].__class__.__name__ + "." + name
    except KeyError:
        pass
    return logging.getLogger(name)

def todo(msg):
    logger(inspect.stack()).warning("TODO: {}".format(msg))

def get_pi():
    logger().info("sorry, I know only three digits")
    return 3.14

class Test(unittest.TestCase):

    def testName(self):
        todo("use a better get_pi")
        pi = get_pi()
        logger().info("pi = {}".format(pi))
        todo("check more digits in pi")
        self.assertAlmostEqual(pi, 3.14)
        logger().debug("end of this test")
        pass

Usage:

# LOG_FILE=/tmp/log python3 -m unittest LoggerDemo
.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Ran 1 test in 0.047s

OK
# cat /tmp/log
WARNING:Test.testName:TODO: use a better get_pi
INFO:get_pi:sorry, I know only three digits
INFO:Test.testName:pi = 3.14
WARNING:Test.testName:TODO: check more digits in pi

If you do not set LOG_FILE, logging will got to stderr.