django - how to detect test environment (check / determine if tests are being run)

Question

How can I detect whether a view is being called in a test environment (e.g., from manage.py test)?

#pseudo_code
def my_view(request):
    if not          


        

Answer 1

I think the best approach is to run your tests using their own settings file (i.e. settings/tests.py). That file can look like this (the first line imports settings from a local.py settings file):

from local import *
TEST_MODE = True

Then do ducktyping to check if you are in test mode.

try:
    if settings.TEST_MODE:
        print 'foo'
except AttributeError:
    pass

Answer 2

Create your own TestSuiteRunner subclass and change a setting or do whatever else you need to for the rest of your application. You specify the test runner in your settings:

TEST_RUNNER = 'your.project.MyTestSuiteRunner'

In general, you don't want to do this, but it works if you absolutely need it.

from django.conf import settings
from django.test.simple import DjangoTestSuiteRunner

class MyTestSuiteRunner(DjangoTestSuiteRunner):
    def __init__(self, *args, **kwargs):
        settings.IM_IN_TEST_MODE = True
        super(MyTestSuiteRunner, self).__init__(*args, **kwargs)