sofiaqiriazi/flaskr-tdd

Flaskr: Intro to Flask, Test Driven Development (TDD), and jQuery

Flaskr - Intro to Flask, Test Driven Development, and jQuery

As many of you know, Flaskr - a mini-blog-like-app - is the app you build for the official tutorial for Flask, the awesome, Python-based micro web framework. I've gone through the tutorial more times than I care to admit. Anyway, I wanted to take the tutorial a step further by adding test driven development and adding in a bit of jQuery. This post is that tutorial. Enjoy.

Also, if you are completely new to Flask and/or web development in general, it's important to grasp these basic fundamental concepts:

1. The difference between GET and POST request and how functions within the app handle each.
2. What a "request" is.
3. How HTML pages are rendered and/or returned to the end user.

Change Log

• 11/11/2013: Added information on requests.
• 11/19/2013: Fixed typo. Updated unit tests.
• 11/29/2013: Updated unit tests.
• 12/06/2013: Added Bootstrap 3 styles
• 02/20/2014: Completed AJAX.
• 02/25/2014: Upgraded to SQLAlchemy.
• 08/24/2014: PEP8 updates.

Test Driven Development?

Test Driven Development (TDD) is an iterative development cycle that emphasizes writing automated tests before writing the actual feature of function. Put another way, TDD combines building and testing. This process not only helps ensure correctness of the code - but also helps to indirectly evolve the design and architecture of the project at hand.

TDD usually follows the "Red-Green-Refactor" cycle, as shown in the image above:

1. Write a test
2. Run the test (it should fail)
3. Write just enough code for the test to pass
4. Refactor code and retest, again and again (if necessary)

Project Setup

Create a new directory to store the project.

$ mkdir flaskr-tdd
$ cd flaskr-tdd

Install pip, which is a package management system for Python, similar to gem or npm for Ruby and Node, respectively.

$ easy_install pip

Now install virtualenv to create an isolated environment for development.

This is standard practice. Always, always, ALWAYS use virtualenv. If you don't, you will eventually run into problems with compatibility between different dependencies. Just do it.

$ pip install virtualenv

Activate your virtualenv.

$ virtualenv --no-site-packages env
$ source env/bin/activate

You know that you are in a virtual env, as the actual "env" is now show before the $ in your terminal - (env). To exit the virtual environment, use the command deactivate, then you can reactivate by navigating back to the directory and running - source env/bin/activate.

Install Flask.

$ pip install Flask

First Test

Let's start with a simple "hello, world" app.

Create a test file:

$ touch app-test.py

Open this file in a text editor. I use Sublime. Add the following code:

from app import app

import unittest

class BasicTestCase(unittest.TestCase):

  def test_index(self):
    tester = app.test_client(self)
    response = tester.get('/', content_type='html/text')
    self.assertEqual(response.status_code, 200)
    self.assertEqual(response.data, "Hello, World!")

if __name__ == '__main__':
    unittest.main()

Essentially, we're testing whether the response that we get back is "200" and that "Hello, World!" is displayed.

Run the test

$ python app-test.py

If all goes well, this will fail.

Now add the code for this to pass.

$ touch app.py

Code:

from flask import Flask
app = Flask(__name__)

@app.route("/")
def hello():
    return "Hello, World!"

if __name__ == "__main__":
    app.run()

Run the app:

$ python app.py

Then Navigate to http://localhost:5000/. You should see "Hello, World!" on your screen.

Return to the terminal. Kill the server with Ctrl+C.

Run the test again:

$ python app-test.py
.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Ran 1 test in 0.016s

OK

Nice.

Flaskr Setup

Add structure.

Add two folders, "static" and "templates", in the project root. Your file structure should now look like this:

├── app-test.py
├── app.py
├── static
└── templates

SQL Schema

Create a new file called "schema.sql" and add the following code:

drop table if exists entries;
create table entries (
  id integer primary key autoincrement,
  title text not null,
  text text not null
);

This will setup a single table with three fields - "id", "title", and "text". SQLite will be used for our RDMS since it's built in to the standard Python library and requires no configuration.

Second Test

Let's create the basic file for running our application. But first we need to write a test.

Simply alter "app-test.py":

from app import app

import unittest

class BasicTestCase(unittest.TestCase):

  def test_index(self):
    tester = app.test_client(self)
    response = tester.get('/', content_type='html/text')
    self.assertEqual(response.status_code, 404)

if __name__ == '__main__':
    unittest.main()

So, we are expecting a 404 error. Run the test. This will fail.

Update app.py

# imports
import sqlite3
from flask import Flask, request, session, g, redirect, url_for, \
     abort, render_template, flash, jsonify

# configuration
DATABASE = 'flaskr.db'
DEBUG = True
SECRET_KEY = 'my_precious'
USERNAME = 'admin'
PASSWORD = 'admin'

# create and initialize app
app = Flask(__name__)
app.config.from_object(__name__)


if __name__ == '__main__':
    app.run()

Here, we add in all required imports, create a configuration section for global variables, initialize the app, and then finally run the app.

Run it

$ python app.py

Launch the server. You should see the 404 error because no routes or views are setup. Return to the terminal. Kill the server. Now run the unit test. It should pass.

Database Setup

Essentially, we want to open a database connection, create the database/schema if it doesn't already exist, then close the connection each time the application is ran.

How do we test for the existence of a file?

Update "app-test.py"

from app import app
import unittest
import os

class BasicTestCase(unittest.TestCase):

  def test_index(self):
    tester = app.test_client(self)
    response = tester.get('/', content_type='html/text')
    self.assertEqual(response.status_code, 404)

  def test_database(self):
	tester = os.path.exists("flaskr.db")
  	self.assertTrue(tester)

if __name__ == '__main__':
    unittest.main()

Run it to make sure it fails. Now add the following code to "app.py".

# connect to database
def connect_db():
    """Connects to the database."""
    rv = sqlite3.connect(app.config['DATABASE'])
    rv.row_factory = sqlite3.Row
    return rv

# create the database
def init_db():
    with app.app_context():
        db = get_db()
        with app.open_resource('schema.sql', mode='r') as f:
            db.cursor().executescript(f.read())
        db.commit()

# open database connection
def get_db():
    if not hasattr(g, 'sqlite_db'):
        g.sqlite_db = connect_db()
    return g.sqlite_db

# close database connection
@app.teardown_appcontext
def close_db(error):
    if hasattr(g, 'sqlite_db'):
        g.sqlite_db.close()

And add our init_db() function at the bottom of app.py to make sure we start the server each time with a fresh database.

if __name__ == '__main__':
    init_db()
    app.run()

Now it is possible to create a database by starting up a Python shell and importing and calling the init_db function:

>>> from app import init_db
>>> init_db()

Close the shell, then run the test again. Does it pass?

Templates and Views

Next, we need to set up the Templates and associated Views, which define the routes. Think about this from a user standpoint. We need to log users in and out. Once logged in, users need to be able to post. Finally, we need to display posts.

Write some tests for this.

Unit Tests

Take a look at the final code. I added docstrings for explanation.

import app
import unittest
import os
import tempfile

class BasicTestCase(unittest.TestCase):

  def test_index(self):
    """initial test. ensure flask was set up correctly"""
    tester = app.app.test_client(self)
    response = tester.get('/', content_type='html/text')
    self.assertEqual(response.status_code, 200)

  def test_database(self):
  	"""initial test. ensure that the database exists"""
	tester = os.path.exists("flaskr.db")
  	self.assertEqual(tester, True)

class FlaskrTestCase(unittest.TestCase):

    def setUp(self):
        """Set up a blank temp database before each test"""
        self.db_fd, app.app.config['DATABASE'] = tempfile.mkstemp()
        app.app.config['TESTING'] = True
        self.app = app.app.test_client()
        app.init_db()

    def tearDown(self):
        """Destroy blank temp database after each test"""
        os.close(self.db_fd)
        os.unlink(app.app.config['DATABASE'])

    def login(self, username, password):
    	"""Login helper function"""
        return self.app.post('/login', data=dict(
            username=username,
            password=password
        ), follow_redirects=True)

    def logout(self):
    	"""Logout helper function"""
        return self.app.get('/logout', follow_redirects=True)

    # assert functions

    def test_empty_db(self):
        """Ensure database is blank"""
        rv = self.app.get('/')
        assert b'No entries here so far' in rv.data

    def test_login_logout(self):
        """Test login and logout using helper functions"""
        rv = self.login(app.app.config['USERNAME'],app.app.config['PASSWORD'])
        assert b'You were logged in' in rv.data
        rv = self.logout()
        assert b'You were logged out' in rv.data
        rv = self.login(app.app.config['USERNAME'] + 'x',app.app.config['PASSWORD'])
        assert b'Invalid username' in rv.data
        rv = self.login(app.app.config['USERNAME'],app.app.config['PASSWORD'] + 'x')
        assert b'Invalid password' in rv.data

    def test_messages(self):
        """Ensure that user can post messages"""
        self.login(app.app.config['USERNAME'],app.app.config['PASSWORD'])
        rv = self.app.post('/add', data=dict(
            title='<Hello>',
            text='<strong>HTML</strong> allowed here'
        ), follow_redirects=True)
        assert b'No entries here so far' not in rv.data
        assert b'&lt;Hello&gt;' in rv.data
        assert b'<strong>HTML</strong> allowed here' in rv.data


if __name__ == '__main__':
    unittest.main()

If you run the tests now, all will fail except for test_database. Let's get these all green, one at a time.

Show Entries

First, add a View for displaying the entires to "app.py".

@app.route('/')
def show_entries():
	"""Searches the database for entries, then displays them."""
    db = get_db()
    cur = db.execute('select * from entries order by id desc')
    entries = cur.fetchall()
    return render_template('index.html', entries=entries)

Then add the "index.html" template to the "templates" folder.

<!doctype html>
<title>Flaskr</title>
<link rel=stylesheet type=text/css href="{{ url_for('static', filename='style.css') }}">
<div class=page>
  <h1>Flaskr-TDD</h1>
  <div class=metanav>
  {% if not session.logged_in %}
    <a href="{{ url_for('login') }}">log in</a>
  {% else %}
    <a href="{{ url_for('logout') }}">log out</a>
  {% endif %}
  </div>
  {% for message in get_flashed_messages() %}
    <div class=flash>{{ message }}</div>
  {% endfor %}
  {% block body %}{% endblock %}
</div>
  {% if session.logged_in %}
    <form action="{{ url_for('add_entry') }}" method=post class=add-entry>
      <dl>
        <dt>Title:
        <dd><input type=text size=30 name=title>
        <dt>Text:
        <dd><textarea name=text rows=5 cols=40></textarea>
        <dd><input type=submit value=Share>
      </dl>
    </form>
  {% endif %}
  <ul class=entries>
  {% for entry in entries %}
    <li><h2>{{ entry.title }}</h2>{{ entry.text|safe }}
  {% else %}
    <li><em>No entries yet. Add some!</em>
  {% endfor %}
  </ul>

Run the tests now. You should see:

Ran 5 tests in 0.046s

FAILED (failures=1, errors=2)

User Login and Logout

Update "app.py":

@app.route('/login', methods=['GET', 'POST'])
def login():
    """User login/authentication/session management."""
    error = None
    if request.method == 'POST':
        if request.form['username'] != app.config['USERNAME']:
            error = 'Invalid username'
        elif request.form['password'] != app.config['PASSWORD']:
            error = 'Invalid password'
        else:
            session['logged_in'] = True
            flash('You were logged in')
            return redirect(url_for('index'))
    return render_template('login.html', error=error)


@app.route('/logout')
def logout():
	"""User logout/authentication/session management."""
    session.pop('logged_in', None)
    flash('You were logged out')
    return redirect(url_for('index'))

In the above login() function, the decorator indicates that the route can accept either a GET or POST request. Put simply, a request is initiated by the end user when they access the /login url. The difference between these requests is simple: GET is used for simply accessing a webpage, while POST is used when information is sent to the server. Thus, when a user simply accesses the /login url, they are using a GET request, but when they attempt to login, a POST request is used.

Add the template, "login.html":

<!doctype html>
<title>Flaskr-TDD | Login</title>
<link rel=stylesheet type=text/css href="{{ url_for('static', filename='style.css') }}">
<div class=page>
  <h1>Flaskr</h1>
  <div class=metanav>
  {% if not session.logged_in %}
    <a href="{{ url_for('login') }}">log in</a>
  {% else %}
    <a href="{{ url_for('logout') }}">log out</a>
  {% endif %}
  </div>
  {% for message in get_flashed_messages() %}
    <div class=flash>{{ message }}</div>
  {% endfor %}
  {% block body %}{% endblock %}
</div>
  <h2>Login</h2>
  {% if error %}<p class=error><strong>Error:</strong> {{ error }}{% endif %}
  <form action="{{ url_for('login') }}" method=post>
    <dl>
      <dt>Username:
      <dd><input type=text name=username>
      <dt>Password:
      <dd><input type=password name=password>
      <dd><input type=submit value=Login>
    </dl>
  </form>

Run the tests again. Same results as last time, right?

Look at one of the errors - BuildError: ('index', {}, None)

Essentially, we are trying to redirect to the index() function, which does not exist. Rename the show_entries() function as index() then retest.

Next, add in a View for adding entries:

@app.route('/add', methods=['POST'])
def add_entry():
    """Add new post to database."""
    if not session.get('logged_in'):
        abort(401)
    db = get_db()
    db.execute('insert into entries (title, text) values (?, ?)',
                 [request.form['title'], request.form['text']])
    db.commit()
    flash('New entry was successfully posted')
    return redirect(url_for('index'))

Retest.

Now you should see:

======================================================================
FAIL: test_empty_db (__main__.FlaskrTestCase)
Ensure database is blank
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "app-test.py", line 49, in test_empty_db
    assert b'No entries here so far' in rv.data
AssertionError

----------------------------------------------------------------------
Ran 5 tests in 0.072s

FAILED (failures=1)

This error is asserting that when the route / is hit, the message "No entries here so far" is returned. Check the "index.html" Template. The message actually reads "No entries yet. Add some!". So update the test and then retest:

Ran 5 tests in 0.076s

OK

Perfect.

Add some color

Save the following styles to "style.css" in the "static" folder.

body            { font-family: sans-serif; background: #eee; }
a, h1, h2       { color: #377BA8; }
h1, h2          { font-family: 'Georgia', serif; margin: 0; }
h1              { border-bottom: 2px solid #eee; }
h2              { font-size: 1.2em; }

.page           { margin: 2em auto; width: 35em; border: 5px solid #ccc;
                  padding: 0.8em; background: white; }
.entries        { list-style: none; margin: 0; padding: 0; }
.entries li     { margin: 0.8em 1.2em; }
.entries li h2  { margin-left: -1em; }
.add-entry      { font-size: 0.9em; border-bottom: 1px solid #ccc; }
.add-entry dl   { font-weight: bold; }
.metanav        { text-align: right; font-size: 0.8em; padding: 0.3em;
                  margin-bottom: 1em; background: #fafafa; }
.flash          { background: #CEE5F5; padding: 0.5em;
                  border: 1px solid #AACBE2; }
.error          { background: #F0D6D6; padding: 0.5em; }

Test

Run you app, login (user/pass = "admin"), post, logout. Then run your tests to ensure that they still pass.

jQuery

Now let's add some simple jQuery.

Open "index.html" and add a class to the <li> tag that displays each entry:

<li class="entry"><h2 id={{ entry.id }}>{{ entry.title }}</h2>{{ entry.text|safe }}

Also add the following scripts to the <head>:

<script src="http://code.jquery.com/jquery-1.10.2.min.js"></script>
<script src="http://netdna.bootstrapcdn.com/bootstrap/3.0.0/js/bootstrap.min.js"></script>
<script type=text/javascript src="{{url_for('static', filename='main.js') }}"></script>

Create a "main.js" file in your "static" directory and add the following code:

$(function() {
  console.log( "ready!" );
  $('.entry').on('click', function(){
    var entry = this;
    var post_id = $(this).find('h2').attr('id');
    $.ajax({
      type:'GET',
      url: '/delete' + '/' + post_id,
      context: entry,
      success:function(result){
        if(result['status'] === 1){
          $(this).remove();
          console.log(result);
        }
      }
    });
  });
});

Add a new function to "app.py" to remove the post from the database:

@app.route('/delete/<post_id>', methods=['GET'])
def delete_entry(post_id):
    '''Delete post from database'''
    result = { 'status':0, 'message': 'Error'  }
    try:
        db = get_db()
        db.execute('delete from entries where id=' + post_id)
        db.commit()
        result = { 'status':1, 'message': "Post Deleted" }
    except Exception as e:
        result = { 'status':0, 'message': repr(e) }

    return jsonify(result)

Finally, add a new test:

def test_delete_message(self):
    """Ensure the messages are being deleted"""
    rv = self.app.get('/delete/1')
    data = json.loads(rv.data)
    self.assertEqual(data['status'], 1)

Test this out by adding two new entries, click on one of them. It should be removed from the DOM as well as the database. Double check this. (Thanks to Srijan for updating this.)

Heroku

To push this to Heroku, first install the Heroku Toolbelt.

Install a test server called gunicorn:

$ pip install gunicorn

Create a Procfile:

$ touch Procfile

And add the following code:

web: gunicorn app:app

Create a "requirements.txt" file to specify the external dependencies that need to be installed:

$ pip freeze > requirements.txt

Create a ".gitignore" file:

$ touch .gitignore

And include the following code:

env
*.pyc
*.DS_Store

Add a local Git repo:

$ git init
$ git add .
$ git commit -m "initial"

Deploy to Heroku:

$ heroku create
$ git push heroku master
$ heroku open

TEST!

More Color

Let's go ahead and update the styles to Bootstrap 3.

First, comment out the styles in "style.css".

Remove that stylesheet -

<link rel=stylesheet type=text/css href="{{ url_for('static', filename='style.css') }}">

-from both "index.html" and "login.html".

Then add this stylesheet to both files:

<link rel=stylesheet type=text/css href="http://netdna.bootstrapcdn.com/bootstrap/3.0.3/css/bootstrap.min.css">

Replace the code in "login.html" with:

<!doctype html>
<html>
  <head>
    <title>Flaskr-TDD | Entries</title>
    <link href="http://netdna.bootstrapcdn.com/bootstrap/3.0.0/css/bootstrap.min.css" rel="stylesheet" media="screen">
    <script src="http://code.jquery.com/jquery-1.10.2.min.js"></script>
    <script src="http://netdna.bootstrapcdn.com/bootstrap/3.0.0/js/bootstrap.min.js"></script>
    <script type=text/javascript src="{{url_for('static', filename='main.js') }}"></script>
  </head>
  <body>
    <div class="container">
      <h1>Flaskr</h1>
      {% for message in get_flashed_messages() %}
        <div class="flash">{{ message }}</div>
      {% endfor %}
      <h3>Login</h3>
      {% if error %}<p class="error"><strong>Error:</strong> {{ error }}{% endif %}
      <form action="{{ url_for('login') }}" method="post">
        <dl>
          <dt>Username:
          <dd><input type="text" name="username">
          <dt>Password:
          <dd><input type="password" name="password">
          <br>
          <br>
          <dd><input type="submit" class="btn btn-default" value="Login">
          <span>Use "admin" for username and password</span>
        </dl>
      </form>
    </div>
  </body>
</html>

And replace the code in "index.html" with:

<!doctype html>
<html>
  <head>
    <title>Flaskr-TDD | Entries</title>
    <link href="http://netdna.bootstrapcdn.com/bootstrap/3.0.0/css/bootstrap.min.css" rel="stylesheet" media="screen">
    <script src="http://code.jquery.com/jquery-1.10.2.min.js"></script>
    <script src="http://netdna.bootstrapcdn.com/bootstrap/3.0.0/js/bootstrap.min.js"></script>
    <script type=text/javascript src="{{url_for('static', filename='main.js') }}"></script>
  </head>
  <body>
    <div class="container">
      <h1>Flaskr-TDD</h1>
      {% if not session.logged_in %}
        <a href="{{ url_for('login') }}">log in</a>
      {% else %}
        <a href="{{ url_for('logout') }}">log out</a>
      {% endif %}
      {% for message in get_flashed_messages() %}
        <div class="flash">{{ message }}</div>
      {% endfor %}
      {% if session.logged_in %}
        <form action="{{ url_for('add_entry') }}" method="post" class="add-entry">
          <dl>
            <dt>Title:
            <dd><input type="text" size="30" name="title">
            <dt>Text:
            <dd><textarea name="text" rows="5" cols="40"></textarea>
            <br>
            <br>
            <dd><input type="submit" class="btn btn-default" value="Share">
          </dl>
        </form>
      {% endif %}
      <br>
      <ul class="entries">
      {% for entry in entries %}
        <li class="entry"><h2>{{ entry.title }}</h2>{{ entry.text|safe }}
      {% else %}
        <li><em>No entries yet. Add some!</em>
      {% endfor %}
      </ul>
    </div>
  </body>
</html>

Upgrade to SQLAlchemy

Time to upgrade to Flask-SQLAlchemy, in order to better manage our database.

Setup

Start by installing Flask-SQLAlchemy:

$ pip install Flask-SQLAlchemy

Create a "db_create.py" file, then add the following code:

# db_create.py


from app import db
from models import Flaskr

# create the database and the db table
db.create_all()

# commit the changes
db.session.commit()

This file will be used to create our new database. Go ahead and delete the old .db along with the "schema.sql" file. Next add a "models.py" file, which will be used to generate the new schema:

from app import db


class Flaskr(db.Model):

    __tablename__ = "flaskr"

    post_id = db.Column(db.Integer, primary_key=True)
    title = db.Column(db.String, nullable=False)
    text = db.Column(db.String, nullable=False)

    def __init__(self, title, text):
        self.title = title
        self.text = text

    def __repr__(self):
        return '<title {}>'.format(self.body)

Update app.py

# imports
from flask import Flask, request, session, g, redirect, url_for, \
     abort, render_template, flash, jsonify
from flask.ext.sqlalchemy import SQLAlchemy
import os

# grabs the folder where the script runs
basedir = os.path.abspath(os.path.dirname(__file__))

# configuration
DATABASE = 'flaskr.db'
DEBUG = True
SECRET_KEY = 'my_precious'
USERNAME = 'admin'
PASSWORD = 'admin'

# defines the full path for the database
DATABASE_PATH = os.path.join(basedir, DATABASE)

# the database uri
SQLALCHEMY_DATABASE_URI = 'sqlite:///' + DATABASE_PATH

# create app
app = Flask(__name__)
app.config.from_object(__name__)
db = SQLAlchemy(app)

import models

@app.route('/')
def index():
    """Searches the database for entries, then displays them."""
    entries = db.session.query(models.Flaskr)
    return render_template('index.html', entries=entries)


@app.route('/add', methods=['POST'])
def add_entry():
    """Adds new post to the database."""
    if not session.get('logged_in'):
        abort(401)
    new_entry = models.Flaskr(request.form['title'], request.form['text'])
    db.session.add(new_entry)
    db.session.commit()
    flash('New entry was successfully posted')
    return redirect(url_for('index'))


@app.route('/login', methods=['GET', 'POST'])
def login():
    """User login/authentication/session management."""
    error = None
    if request.method == 'POST':
        if request.form['username'] != app.config['USERNAME']:
            error = 'Invalid username'
        elif request.form['password'] != app.config['PASSWORD']:
            error = 'Invalid password'
        else:
            session['logged_in'] = True
            flash('You were logged in')
            return redirect(url_for('index'))
    return render_template('login.html', error=error)


@app.route('/logout')
def logout():
    """User logout/authentication/session management."""
    session.pop('logged_in', None)
    flash('You were logged out')
    return redirect(url_for('index'))

@app.route('/delete/<int:post_id>', methods=['GET'])
def delete_entry(post_id):
    """Deletes post from database"""
    result = { 'status':0, 'message': 'Error'  }
    try:
        new_id = post_id
        db.session.query(models.Flaskr).filter_by(post_id=new_id).delete()
        db.session.commit()
        result = { 'status':1, 'message': "Post Deleted" }
        flash('The entry was deleted.')
    except Exception as e:
        result = { 'status':0, 'message': repr(e) }
    return jsonify(result)

if __name__ == '__main__':
    app.run()

Notice the changes in the config at the top, as well the means in which we're now accessing and manipulating the database in each function - via SQLAlchemy instead of vanilla SQL.

Run create_db.py to create the initial database:

$ python create_db.py

index.html

Update this line:

<li class="entry"><h2 id={{ entry.post_id }}>{{ entry.title }}</h2>{{ entry.text|safe }}

Pay attention to the post_id. Check the database to ensure that there is a matching field.

Tests

Finally, update the tests:

from app import app, db
import unittest
import os
import tempfile
from flask import json

TEST_DB = 'test.db'

class BasicTestCase(unittest.TestCase):

    def test_index(self):
        """inital test. ensure flask was set up correctly"""
        tester = app.test_client(self)
        response = tester.get('/', content_type='html/text')
        self.assertEqual(response.status_code, 200)

    def test_database(self):
        """inital test. ensure that the database exists"""
        tester = os.path.exists("flaskr.db")
        self.assertTrue(tester)


class FlaskrTestCase(unittest.TestCase):


    def setUp(self):
        """Set up a blank temp database before each test"""
        basedir = os.path.abspath(os.path.dirname(__file__))
        app.config['TESTING'] = True
        app.config['SQLALCHEMY_DATABASE_URI'] = 'sqlite:///' + \
                os.path.join(basedir, TEST_DB)
        self.app = app.test_client()
        db.create_all()

    def tearDown(self):
        """Destroy blank temp database after each test"""
        db.drop_all()

    def login(self, username, password):
        """Login helper function"""
        return self.app.post('/login', data=dict(
            username=username,
            password=password
        ), follow_redirects=True)

    def logout(self):
        """Logout helper function"""
        return self.app.get('/logout', follow_redirects=True)

    # assert functions

    def test_empty_db(self):
        """Ensure database is blank"""
        rv = self.app.get('/')
        self.assertIn(b'No entries yet. Add some!', rv.data)

    def test_login_logout(self):
        """Test login and logout using helper functions"""
        rv = self.login(app.config['USERNAME'], app.config['PASSWORD'])
        self.assertIn(b'You were logged in', rv.data)
        rv = self.logout()
        self.assertIn(b'You were logged out', rv.data)
        rv = self.login(app.config['USERNAME'] + 'x', app.config['PASSWORD'])
        self.assertIn(b'Invalid username', rv.data)
        rv = self.login(app.config['USERNAME'], app.config['PASSWORD'] + 'x')
        self.assertIn(b'Invalid password', rv.data)

    def test_messages(self):
        """Ensure that user can post messages"""
        self.login(app.config['USERNAME'], app.config['PASSWORD'])
        rv = self.app.post('/add', data=dict(
            title='<Hello>',
            text='<strong>HTML</strong> allowed here'
        ), follow_redirects=True)
        self.assertNotIn(b'No entries here so far', rv.data)
        self.assertIn(b'&lt;Hello&gt;', rv.data)
        self.assertIn(b'<strong>HTML</strong> allowed here', rv.data)

    def test_delete_message(self):
        """Ensure the messages are being deleted"""
        rv = self.app.get('/delete/1')
        data = json.loads(rv.data)
        self.assertEqual(data['status'], 1)


if __name__ == '__main__':
    unittest.main()

We're mostly updating the setUp() and tearDown() methods. Pay close attention to a few additional changes (app.app change to just app.)

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Conclusion

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