python / python/cpython

Add `addCleanup` to `unittest.subTest`

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stdlib type-feature
Dominant language
Python
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Description

Feature or enhancement

Proposal:

The unittest.subTest context (i.e. the object you get using with's as clause, currently None) should get methods to manage cleanups:

  • addCleanup
  • enterContext
  • doCleanups

And similar ones for IsolatedAsyncIOTestCase.

They should do the same thing as the same methods on TestCase, but with subtest scope.
Example usage:

for param in 'a', 'b', 'c':
    with self.subTest() as sub:
        tempfile = make_tempfile()
        sub.addCleanup(os.unlink, tempfile)
        do_actual_test(tempfile, param)

See Discuss thread for motivation/discussion.

Has this already been discussed elsewhere?

I have already discussed this feature proposal on Discourse

Links to previous discussion of this feature:

https://discuss.python.org/t/unittest-add-addcleanup-to-subtest/91827

Linked PRs
  • gh-134318

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 with the existing unittest.TestCase cleanup methods and the unittest.subTest context, then compare the corresponding IsolatedAsyncIOTestCase behavior. Read the Discourse thread and linked PR gh-134318 to understand the proposed scope. Done means the requested cleanup methods work with subtest scope for both synchronous and isolated asynchronous cases.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
python
Domain
testing-qa
Issue type
Feature
Difficulty
5/5
Estimated time
Over a week
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
25/100

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