With Django, you can setup unit test data with fixtures. YAML fixtures are nicer than JSON or XML. But, honestly, setting up an object graph by looking at a flattened out text file is not fun. And using the application to setup test data, then exporting to fixtures is distracting. Examples coming soon.

Wing4.0 is a Django release. Here are the details. You should be able to find out what you need there. So I think I'll just put up some pictures.

Normal view method with a quick test class T to put in the context

Awesome!!! Breakpoints in a template.

While parked on that breakpoint, use the Debug Probe (pictured) and Call Stack (not pictured)

Note the test_func actually was called

Overview

The graph_models command of Django-Extensions will draw you a nice DB schema for your defined models.py. It's simple to use this to rapidly model your DB.

Steps

1. In a Django application, make some changes to models.py
2. Run this in an application directory (change 'yourapp') in your Django project to generate and display a graph
   python manage.py graph_models -o yourapp_models.png yourapp
3. Now you can view the graph with a png viewer - firefox will work
   firefox myapp_models.png
4. make changes to models.py, and repeat

You can group lines 2 and 3 like this. But, beware that if there is an error in the models, you might be looking at the old png There is one nice side affect. The models are validated when you create the graph. So, when the graph looks right , you can be assured that the models will be clean and ready for a migration. (You migrate, right? If not, try South) Comments welcome!!

If you want to use the python method locale.currency() to format numbers, you need to make sure you aren't set to the 'C' locale.

You can use the following and serve the code up with Django runserver with no problem. The Python documentation says that this call '...sets the locale...user’s default setting (typically specified in the LANG environment variable).'

If you use Apache, and WSGI to serve up your Django App, you need to include the locale value explicitly. Otherwise you may find the error: Currency formatting is not possible using the 'C' locale.

Incidentally, for my code to be internationalized, I will need to set the locale based on a User preference anyway, so relying on the server environment's setting would not be correct even if it worked.

One of the powerful features of WingIDE is that you can debug python code, even web applications and Django, with an interactive debugger that is fast and very feature full.

In this article I discuss how I use it with Django. Suppose you have a unit test that hits a relational DB. With Django you can run python manage.py test, to run these tests. When you test this way, Django will do the following

1. Create a test database, syncdb your tables, and load any data fixtures
2. Run the tests
3. Drop the test database

WingIDE has a Unit Testing interface, but it only allows you to run the tests. In other words, it only runs Step 2 above. I have found no easy way to have Wing do Step 1, then run your selected tests within Wing's Testing system, then do Step 3. I'm working on a way to do this, and will blog about it someday. For now, I run the Django Test system through Wing Debug system, and not through the testing system. Like this.

1. In your Django project, in Wing, Choose to edit the file properties for manage.py.
2. In the 'Debug' tab of this dialog, and the 'Run Arguments' box type test (and optionally the app name to run tests just for that app).
3. Now choose to Debug manage.py by right clicking on that file and choosing Debug Selected

This will cause WingIDE to run the Django test framework. Output will go into the Debug I/O panel. Wing will even stop at breakpoints and enter the debugger.

The advantages of this method

The tests can be run either on the commandline or within WingIDE without any changes or hacks to the source and it is simple to set up.

The disadvantages of this method

You don't get to use the rich Wing interface for running tests which would allow you to run individual tests on demand. Beware too that you might be using manage.py to run the Django runserver within WingIDE. That is also configured in the manage.py Debug dialog. You can only configure one argument to manage.py at a time.