Writing a test for a Django View get_context_data() method - django

Question

I am writing a test for a View where I update context to pass additional information to the template.
Problem
In writing the test, I'm having trouble accessing context from the RequestFactory.
Code
View
class PlanListView(HasBillingRightsMixin, ListView):
"""Show the Plans for user to select."""
headline = "Select a Plan"
model = Plan
template_name = "billing/plan_list.html"
def get_context_data(self, *args, **kwargs):
context = super(PlanListView, self).get_context_data(**kwargs)
context.update({
"customer": self.get_customer()
})
return context
Test
class TestPlanListView(BaseTestBilling):
def setUp(self):
super(TestPlanListView, self).setUp()
request = self.factory.get('billing:plan_list')
request.user = self.user
request.company_uuid = self.user.company_uuid
self.view = PlanListView()
self.view.request = request
self.response = PlanListView.as_view()(request)
def test_get_context_data(self, **kwargs):
context = super(self.view, self).get_context_data(**kwargs)
context.update({"customer": self.view.get_customer()})
self.assertEqual(
self.view.get_context_data(),
context
)
Question
How can I test the view's get_context_data() method?

Answer 1

Using a test client gives you access to your context.
def test_context(self):
# GET response using the test client.
response = self.client.get('/list/ofitems/')
# response.context['your_context']
self.assertIsNone(response.context['page_obj'])
self.assertIsNone(response.context['customer']) # or whatever assertion.
.....

Answer 2

If you don't want to test the full browser behavior you could use the RequestFactory instead. This factory provides a request instance that you can pass to your view. The benefit in my case was that I can test a single view function as a black box, with exactly known inputs, testing for specific outputs. Just as described in the docs.
class TestView(TemplateView):
template_name = 'base.html'
def get_context_data(self, **kwargs):
context = super().get_context_data(**kwargs)
context = {'1': 11337}
return context
# ...
def test_context(self):
factory = RequestFactory()
request = factory.get('/customer/details')
response = TestView.as_view()(request)
self.assertIsInstance(response.context_data, dict)
self.assertEqual(response.context_data['1'], 1337)