Pytest: Hard-coded path - manually replace attribute

Because we are in Python, a dynamic language, we can access and replace the content of the data_file variable in the app module. This is sometimes called Monkey Patching. It works. Partially.

import app

def test_app_1():
    app.data_file = 'test_1.json'    # manually overwrite

    res = app.do_something()       # it is now test_1.json
    ...

def test_app_2():
    res = app.do_something()      # it is still test_1.json
    ...

We set the path in one of the test-functions, but it will be set in both.

pytest -v -s test_app_manually.py

test_1.json
.test_1.json
.
2 passed in 0.08s

Run test 1, we see the path we set:

pytest -v -s test_app_manually.py::test_app_1

test_1.json
.
1 passed in 0.07s

Run test 2, we see a the original path:

pytest -v -s test_app_manually.py::test_app_2

/corporate/fixed/path/data.json
.
1 passed in 0.07s