Python Mocking a function from an imported module

Question

I want to understand how to @patch a function from an imported module.

This is where I am so far.

app/mocking.py:

Answer 1

When you are using the patch decorator from the unittest.mock package you are not patching the namespace the module is imported from (in this case app.my_module.get_user_name) you are patching it in the namespace under test app.mocking.get_user_name.

To do the above with Mock try something like the below:

from mock import patch
from app.mocking import test_method 

class MockingTestTestCase(unittest.TestCase):

    @patch('app.mocking.get_user_name')
    def test_mock_stubs(self, test_patch):
        test_patch.return_value = 'Mocked This Silly'
        ret = test_method()
        self.assertEqual(ret, 'Mocked This Silly')

The standard library documentation includes a useful section describing this.

Answer 2

While Matti John's answer solves your issue (and helped me too, thanks!), I would, however, suggest localizing the replacement of the original 'get_user_name' function with the mocked one. This will allow you to control when the function is replaced and when it isn't. Also, this will allow you to make several replacements in the same test. In order to do so, use the 'with' statment in a pretty simillar manner:

from mock import patch

class MockingTestTestCase(unittest.TestCase):

    def test_mock_stubs(self):
        with patch('app.mocking.get_user_name', return_value = 'Mocked This Silly'):
            ret = test_method()
            self.assertEqual(ret, 'Mocked This Silly')