<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC
"-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
<link rel=
"STYLESHEET" href=
"lib.css" type='text/css'
/>
<link rel=
"SHORTCUT ICON" href=
"../icons/pyfav.png" type=
"image/png" />
<link rel='start' href='../index.html' title='Python Documentation Index'
/>
<link rel=
"first" href=
"lib.html" title='Python Library Reference'
/>
<link rel='contents' href='contents.html'
title=
"Contents" />
<link rel='index' href='genindex.html' title='Index'
/>
<link rel='last' href='about.html' title='About this document...'
/>
<link rel='help' href='about.html' title='About this document...'
/>
<link rel=
"next" href=
"doctest-how-it-works.html" />
<link rel=
"prev" href=
"doctest-simple-testmod.html" />
<link rel=
"parent" href=
"module-doctest.html" />
<link rel=
"next" href=
"doctest-how-it-works.html" />
<meta name='aesop' content='information'
/>
<title>5.2.2 Simple Usage: Checking Examples in a Text File
</title>
<div id='top-navigation-panel' xml:id='top-navigation-panel'
>
<table align=
"center" width=
"100%" cellpadding=
"0" cellspacing=
"2">
<td class='online-navigation'
><a rel=
"prev" title=
"5.2.1 Simple Usage: Checking"
href=
"doctest-simple-testmod.html"><img src='../icons/previous.png'
border='
0' height='
32' alt='Previous Page' width='
32'
/></A></td>
<td class='online-navigation'
><a rel=
"parent" title=
"5.2 doctest "
href=
"module-doctest.html"><img src='../icons/up.png'
border='
0' height='
32' alt='Up One Level' width='
32'
/></A></td>
<td class='online-navigation'
><a rel=
"next" title=
"5.2.3 How It Works"
href=
"doctest-how-it-works.html"><img src='../icons/next.png'
border='
0' height='
32' alt='Next Page' width='
32'
/></A></td>
<td align=
"center" width=
"100%">Python Library Reference
</td>
<td class='online-navigation'
><a rel=
"contents" title=
"Table of Contents"
href=
"contents.html"><img src='../icons/contents.png'
border='
0' height='
32' alt='Contents' width='
32'
/></A></td>
<td class='online-navigation'
><a href=
"modindex.html" title=
"Module Index"><img src='../icons/modules.png'
border='
0' height='
32' alt='Module Index' width='
32'
/></a></td>
<td class='online-navigation'
><a rel=
"index" title=
"Index"
href=
"genindex.html"><img src='../icons/index.png'
border='
0' height='
32' alt='Index' width='
32'
/></A></td>
<div class='online-navigation'
>
<b class=
"navlabel">Previous:
</b>
<a class=
"sectref" rel=
"prev" href=
"doctest-simple-testmod.html">5.2.1 Simple Usage: Checking
</A>
<b class=
"navlabel">Up:
</b>
<a class=
"sectref" rel=
"parent" href=
"module-doctest.html">5.2 doctest
</A>
<b class=
"navlabel">Next:
</b>
<a class=
"sectref" rel=
"next" href=
"doctest-how-it-works.html">5.2.3 How It Works
</A>
<!--End of Navigation Panel-->
<H2><A NAME=
"SECTION007220000000000000000"></A><A NAME=
"doctest-simple-testfile"></A>
5.2.2 Simple Usage: Checking Examples in a Text
Another simple application of doctest is testing interactive examples
in a text file. This can be done with the
<tt class=
"function">testfile()
</tt>
<div class=
"verbatim"><pre>
doctest.testfile(
"example.txt")
That short script executes and verifies any interactive Python
examples contained in the file
<span class=
"file">example.txt
</span>. The file content
is treated as if it were a single giant docstring; the file doesn't
need to contain a Python program! For example, perhaps
<span class=
"file">example.txt
</span>
<div class=
"verbatim"><pre>
This is an example text file in reStructuredText format. First import
``factorial`` from the ``example`` module:
>>> from example import factorial
>>> factorial(
6)
Running
<code>doctest.testfile(
"example.txt")
</code> then finds the error
<div class=
"verbatim"><pre>
File
"./example.txt", line
14, in example.txt
As with
<tt class=
"function">testmod()
</tt>,
<tt class=
"function">testfile()
</tt> won't display anything
unless an example fails. If an example does fail, then the failing
example(s) and the cause(s) of the failure(s) are printed to stdout, using
the same format as
<tt class=
"function">testmod()
</tt>.
By default,
<tt class=
"function">testfile()
</tt> looks for files in the calling
module's directory. See section
<A href=
"doctest-basic-api.html#doctest-basic-api">5.2.4</A> for a
description of the optional arguments that can be used to tell it to
look for files in other locations.
Like
<tt class=
"function">testmod()
</tt>,
<tt class=
"function">testfile()
</tt>'s verbosity can be
set with the
<b class=
"programopt">-v
</b> command-line switch or with the optional
keyword argument
<var>verbose
</var>.
For more information on
<tt class=
"function">testfile()
</tt>, see
section
<A href=
"doctest-basic-api.html#doctest-basic-api">5.2.4</A>.
<div class='online-navigation'
>
<table align=
"center" width=
"100%" cellpadding=
"0" cellspacing=
"2">
<td class='online-navigation'
><a rel=
"prev" title=
"5.2.1 Simple Usage: Checking"
href=
"doctest-simple-testmod.html"><img src='../icons/previous.png'
border='
0' height='
32' alt='Previous Page' width='
32'
/></A></td>
<td class='online-navigation'
><a rel=
"parent" title=
"5.2 doctest "
href=
"module-doctest.html"><img src='../icons/up.png'
border='
0' height='
32' alt='Up One Level' width='
32'
/></A></td>
<td class='online-navigation'
><a rel=
"next" title=
"5.2.3 How It Works"
href=
"doctest-how-it-works.html"><img src='../icons/next.png'
border='
0' height='
32' alt='Next Page' width='
32'
/></A></td>
<td align=
"center" width=
"100%">Python Library Reference
</td>
<td class='online-navigation'
><a rel=
"contents" title=
"Table of Contents"
href=
"contents.html"><img src='../icons/contents.png'
border='
0' height='
32' alt='Contents' width='
32'
/></A></td>
<td class='online-navigation'
><a href=
"modindex.html" title=
"Module Index"><img src='../icons/modules.png'
border='
0' height='
32' alt='Module Index' width='
32'
/></a></td>
<td class='online-navigation'
><a rel=
"index" title=
"Index"
href=
"genindex.html"><img src='../icons/index.png'
border='
0' height='
32' alt='Index' width='
32'
/></A></td>
<div class='online-navigation'
>
<b class=
"navlabel">Previous:
</b>
<a class=
"sectref" rel=
"prev" href=
"doctest-simple-testmod.html">5.2.1 Simple Usage: Checking
</A>
<b class=
"navlabel">Up:
</b>
<a class=
"sectref" rel=
"parent" href=
"module-doctest.html">5.2 doctest
</A>
<b class=
"navlabel">Next:
</b>
<a class=
"sectref" rel=
"next" href=
"doctest-how-it-works.html">5.2.3 How It Works
</A>
<span class=
"release-info">Release
2.4.2, documentation updated on
28 September
2005.
</span>
<!--End of Navigation Panel-->
See
<i><a href=
"about.html">About this document...
</a></i> for information on suggesting changes.