[TIP] Problem with mock

[Ken Hagler]

I've run into a problem using the mock library. It's probably something obvious, but I just can't see it. I'm testing this:

def __init__(self, buildNum, configFile = "configfile.txt"):
        super(DevBuild, self).__init__(buildNum, configFile)

        if configFile == "configfile.txt":
            self.config.MakeDevBuild()

The superclass's (called Build) __init__ assigns an instance of another class (Config) to the self.config attribute. I don't want to run the real Build.__init__, so I'm attempting to create a mock object which has a config attribute which is another mock, which in turn has a MakeDevBuild attribute which is yet another mock.

Here's the best I could come up with:

class TestInit(TestCase):
    def test_init(self):
        old_super = __builtin__.super

        mock_Config = MagicMock()
        mock_Config.MakeDevBuild = MagicMock()
        mock_Build = MagicMock()
        mock_Build.config = mock_Config
        __builtin__.super = mock_Build

        # Test with manual configuration
        self.testBuild = DevBuild("42", "devconfigfile.txt")
        self.assertFalse(mock_Config.MakeDevBuild.called)

        # Test with automated configuration
        self.testBuild = DevBuild("42")
        mock_Config.MakeDevBuild.assert_called_once_with()

        __builtin__.super = old_super

However, this produces an error:

Error
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/Users/khagler/Projects/BuildClass/BuildClass/test_devBuild.py", line 22, in test_init
    self.testBuild = DevBuild("42")
  File "/Users/khagler/Projects/BuildClass/BuildClass/DevBuild.py", line 39, in __init__
    self.config.MakeDevBuild()
AttributeError: 'DevBuild' object has no attribute 'config'

So I've got as far as getting a mock DevBuild object, but the config attribute is missing. Can anyone see what I'm missing?
-- 
                              Ken Hagler

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