pytest-dev / pytest-dev/pytest

Make --pyargs properly import modules

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type: refactoring
Dominant language
Python
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Avg merge
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Merged PRs (30d)
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Description

As discussed in https://github.com/pytest-dev/pytest/issues/4039, currently all --pyargs does is locating files/directories based on sys.path, and once finding that filenames pytest proceeds as usual.

We should instead properly import the modules based on what has been passed using pyimport/__import__. This would be more consistent and would permit to run tests from modules that are importable but are otherwise not on a file on disk.

Contributor guide

Open the contributing guide

First steps

  1. Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
  2. Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
  3. Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
  4. Open a pull request that references the issue number.

Research direction

Start by tracing the --pyargs handling and the existing pyimport/import usage described in the issue. Check how module arguments are currently resolved, then add or update tests covering importable modules that are not files on disk; done means --pyargs imports modules rather than only locating paths.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
python
Domain
cli, testing
Issue type
Feature
Difficulty
4/5
Estimated time
3-5 days
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
38/100

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