Avoid python module statements with pytest mocks

August 2, 2023

I have some settings in a file, which read from my environment:

File1.py

set1 = os.getenv(...)

SETTINGS = {
  key1: set1,
  ...
}

In another File, I am importing them:

File2.py

from File1 import SETTINGS

MyClass():
  ...

In my tests file, I am mocking the MyClass methods, however, it is trying to access env vars, due to previous imports.

Is there anyway I can mock File2 imports?

This is my tests file:

Tests.py

from unittest.mock import patch
import pytest

from File2 import MyClass

@patch.object(
    MyClass,
    "my_method",
    return_value=None,
)
def test_my_test(mock1):
  my_class = MyClass()
  ....

Summary: How do I avoid the os.getenv() for my tests?

>Solution :

Instead of trying to avoid it, you could set a value for the environment variable in your conftest.py file which would allow you to test closer to the actual code.