SYNOPSIS

DESCRIPTION

nose collects tests automatically from python source files, directories and packages found in its working directory (which defaults to the current working directory). Any python source file, directory or package that matches the testMatch regular expression (by default: (?:^|[b_.-])[Tt]est) will be collected as a test (or source for collection of tests). In addition, all other packages found in the working directory will be examined for python source files or directories that match testMatch. Package discovery descends all the way down the tree, so package.tests and package.sub.tests and package.sub.sub2.tests will all be collected.

Within a test directory or package, any python source file matching testMatch will be examined for test cases. Within a test module, functions and classes whose names match testMatch and TestCase subclasses with any name will be loaded and executed as tests. Tests may use the assert keyword or raise AssertionErrors to indicate test failure. TestCase subclasses may do the same or use the various TestCase methods available.

It is important to note that the default behavior of nose is to not include tests from files which are executable. To include tests from such files, remove their executable bit or use the --exe flag (see 'Options' section below).

Selecting Tests

To specify which tests to run, pass test names on the command line:

nosetests only_test_this.py

Test names specified may be file or module names, and may optionally indicate the test case to run by separating the module or file name from the test case name with a colon. Filenames may be relative or absolute. Examples:

nosetests test.module
nosetests another.test:TestCase.test_method
nosetests a.test:TestCase
nosetests /path/to/test/file.py:test_function

You may also change the working directory where nose looks for tests by using the -w switch:

nosetests -w /path/to/tests

Note, however, that support for multiple -w arguments is now deprecated and will be removed in a future release. As of nose 0.10, you can get the same behavior by specifying the target directories without the -w switch:

nosetests /path/to/tests /another/path/to/tests

Further customization of test selection and loading is possible through the use of plugins.

Test result output is identical to that of unittest, except for the additional features (error classes, and plugin-supplied features such as output capture and assert introspection) detailed in the options below.

Configuration

In addition to passing command-line options, you may also put configuration options in your project's setup.cfg file, or a .noserc or nose.cfg file in your home directory. In any of these standard ini-style config files, you put your nosetests configuration in a [nosetests] section. Options are the same as on the command line, with the -- prefix removed. For options that are simple switches, you must supply a value:

[nosetests]
verbosity=3
with-doctest=1

All configuration files that are found will be loaded and their options combined. You can override the standard config file loading with the -c option.

Using Plugins

There are numerous nose plugins available via easy_install and elsewhere. To use a plugin, just install it. The plugin will add command line options to nosetests. To verify that the plugin is installed, run:

nosetests --plugins

You can add -v or -vv to that command to show more information about each plugin.

If you are running nose.main() or nose.run() from a script, you can specify a list of plugins to use by passing a list of plugins with the plugins keyword argument.

0.9 plugins

nose 1.0 can use SOME plugins that were written for nose 0.9. The default plugin manager inserts a compatibility wrapper around 0.9 plugins that adapts the changed plugin api calls. However, plugins that access nose internals are likely to fail, especially if they attempt to access test case or test suite classes. For example, plugins that try to determine if a test passed to startTest is an individual test or a suite will fail, partly because suites are no longer passed to startTest and partly because it's likely that the plugin is trying to find out if the test is an instance of a class that no longer exists.

0.10 and 0.11 plugins

All plugins written for nose 0.10 and 0.11 should work with nose 1.0.

Options