How do you test that a Python function throws an exception?

Use TestCase.assertRaises (or TestCase.failUnlessRaises) from the unittest module, for example:

import mymod

class MyTestCase(unittest.TestCase):
    def test1(self):
        self.assertRaises(SomeCoolException, mymod.myfunc)

---

Since Python 2.7 you can use context manager to get ahold of the actual Exception object thrown:

import unittest

def broken_function():
    raise Exception('This is broken')

class MyTestCase(unittest.TestCase):
    def test(self):
        with self.assertRaises(Exception) as context:
            broken_function()

        self.assertTrue('This is broken' in context.exception)

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

http://docs.python.org/dev/library/unittest.html#unittest.TestCase.assertRaises

In Python 3.5, you have to wrap context.exception in str, otherwise you'll get a TypeError

self.assertTrue('This is broken' in str(context.exception))

---

The code in my previous answer can be simplified to:

def test_afunction_throws_exception(self):
    self.assertRaises(ExpectedException, afunction)

And if afunction takes arguments, just pass them into assertRaises like this:

def test_afunction_throws_exception(self):
    self.assertRaises(ExpectedException, afunction, arg1, arg2)

---

How do you test that a Python function throws an exception? How does one write a test that fails only if a function doesn't throw an expected exception?

Short Answer:

Use the self.assertRaises method as a context manager:

    def test_1_cannot_add_int_and_str(self):
        with self.assertRaises(TypeError):
            1 + '1'

Demonstration

The best practice approach is fairly easy to demonstrate in a Python shell.

The unittest library

In Python 2.7 or 3:

import unittest

In Python 2.6, you can install a backport of 2.7's unittest library, called unittest2, and just alias that as unittest:

import unittest2 as unittest

Example tests

Now, paste into your Python shell the following test of Python's type-safety:

class MyTestCase(unittest.TestCase):
    def test_1_cannot_add_int_and_str(self):
        with self.assertRaises(TypeError):
            1 + '1'
    def test_2_cannot_add_int_and_str(self):
        import operator
        self.assertRaises(TypeError, operator.add, 1, '1')

Test one uses assertRaises as a context manager, which ensures that the error is properly caught and cleaned up, while recorded.

We could also write it without the context manager, see test two. The first argument would be the error type you expect to raise, the second argument, the function you are testing, and the remaining args and keyword args will be passed to that function.

I think it's far more simple, readable, and maintainable to just to use the context manager.

Running the tests

To run the tests:

unittest.main(exit=False)

In Python 2.6, you'll probably need the following:

unittest.TextTestRunner().run(unittest.TestLoader().loadTestsFromTestCase(MyTestCase))

And your terminal should output the following:

..
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Ran 2 tests in 0.007s

OK
<unittest2.runner.TextTestResult run=2 errors=0 failures=0>

And we see that as we expect, attempting to add a 1 and a '1' result in a TypeError.

For more verbose output, try this:

unittest.TextTestRunner(verbosity=2).run(unittest.TestLoader().loadTestsFromTestCase(MyTestCase))

---

Your code should follow this pattern (this is a unittest module style test):

def test_afunction_throws_exception(self):
    try:
        afunction()
    except ExpectedException:
        pass
    except Exception:
       self.fail('unexpected exception raised')
    else:
       self.fail('ExpectedException not raised')

On Python < 2.7 this construct is useful for checking for specific values in the expected exception. The unittest function assertRaises only checks if an exception was raised.

---

from: http://www.lengrand.fr/2011/12/pythonunittest-assertraises-raises-error/

First, here is the corresponding (still dum :p) function in file dum_function.py :

def square_value(a):
   """
   Returns the square value of a.
   """
   try:
       out = a*a
   except TypeError:
       raise TypeError("Input should be a string:")

   return out

Here is the test to be performed (only this test is inserted):

import dum_function as df # import function module
import unittest
class Test(unittest.TestCase):
   """
      The class inherits from unittest
      """
   def setUp(self):
       """
       This method is called before each test
       """
       self.false_int = "A"

   def tearDown(self):
       """
       This method is called after each test
       """
       pass
      #---
         ## TESTS
   def test_square_value(self):
       # assertRaises(excClass, callableObj) prototype
       self.assertRaises(TypeError, df.square_value(self.false_int))

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

We are now ready to test our function! Here is what happens when trying to run the test :

======================================================================
ERROR: test_square_value (__main__.Test)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "test_dum_function.py", line 22, in test_square_value
    self.assertRaises(TypeError, df.square_value(self.false_int))
  File "/home/jlengrand/Desktop/function.py", line 8, in square_value
    raise TypeError("Input should be a string:")
TypeError: Input should be a string:

----------------------------------------------------------------------
Ran 1 test in 0.000s

FAILED (errors=1)

The TypeError is actullay raised, and generates a test failure. The problem is that this is exactly the behavior we wanted :s.

To avoid this error, simply run the function using lambda in the test call :

self.assertRaises(TypeError, lambda: df.square_value(self.false_int))

The final output :

----------------------------------------------------------------------
Ran 1 test in 0.000s

OK

Perfect !

... and for me is perfect too!!

Thansk a lot Mr. Julien Lengrand-Lambert

This test assert actually returns a false positive. That happens because the lambda inside the 'assertRaises' is the unit that raises type error and not the tested function.

---

As I haven't seen any detailed explanation on how to check if we got a specific exception among a list of accepted one using context manager, or other exception details I will add mine (checked on python 3.8).

If I just want to check that function is raising for instance TypeError, I would write:

with self.assertRaises(TypeError):
    function_raising_some_exception(parameters)

If I want to check that function is raising either TypeError or IndexError, I would write:

with self.assertRaises((TypeError,IndexError)):
    function_raising_some_exception(parameters)

And if I want even more details about the Exception raised I could catch it in a context like this:

# Here I catch any exception    
with self.assertRaises(Exception) as e:
    function_raising_some_exception(parameters)

# Here I check actual exception type (but I could
# check anything else about that specific exception,
# like it's actual message or values stored in the exception)
self.assertTrue(type(e.exception) in [TypeError,MatrixIsSingular])

---

If you are using pytest you can use pytest.raises(Exception):

Example:

def test_div_zero():
    with pytest.raises(ZeroDivisionError):
        1/0

And the result:

pigueiras@pigueiras$ py.test
================= test session starts =================
platform linux2 -- Python 2.6.6 -- py-1.4.20 -- pytest-2.5.2 -- /usr/bin/python
collected 1 items 

tests/test_div_zero.py:6: test_div_zero PASSED

Or you can build your own contextmanager to check if the exception was raised.

import contextlib

@contextlib.contextmanager
def raises(exception):
    try:
        yield 
    except exception as e:
        assert True
    else:
        assert False

And then you can use raises like this:

with raises(Exception):
    print "Hola"  # Calls assert False

with raises(Exception):
    raise Exception  # Calls assert True

---

If you are using Python 3, in order to assert an exception along with its message, you can use assertRaises in context manager and pass the message as a msg keyword argument like so:

import unittest

def your_function():
    raise RuntimeError('your exception message')

class YourTestCase(unittest.TestCase):
    def test(self):
        with self.assertRaises(RuntimeError, msg='your exception message'):
            your_function()


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

---

I use doctest[1] almost everywhere because I like the fact that I document and test my functions at the same time.

Have a look at this code:

def throw_up(something, gowrong=False):
    """
    >>> throw_up('Fish n Chips')
    Traceback (most recent call last):
    ...
    Exception: Fish n Chips

    >>> throw_up('Fish n Chips', gowrong=True)
    'I feel fine!'
    """
    if gowrong:
        return "I feel fine!"
    raise Exception(something)

if __name__ == '__main__':
    import doctest
    doctest.testmod()

If you put this example in a module and run it from the command line both test cases are evaluated and checked.

[1] Python documentation: 23.2 doctest -- Test interactive Python examples

---

There are a lot of answers here. The code shows how we can create an Exception, how we can use that exception in our methods, and finally, how you can verify in a unit test, the correct exceptions being raised.

import unittest

class DeviceException(Exception):
    def __init__(self, msg, code):
        self.msg = msg
        self.code = code
    def __str__(self):
        return repr("Error {}: {}".format(self.code, self.msg))

class MyDevice(object):
    def __init__(self):
        self.name = 'DefaultName'

    def setParameter(self, param, value):
        if isinstance(value, str):
            setattr(self, param , value)
        else:
            raise DeviceException('Incorrect type of argument passed. Name expects a string', 100001)

    def getParameter(self, param):
        return getattr(self, param)

class TestMyDevice(unittest.TestCase):

    def setUp(self):
        self.dev1 = MyDevice()

    def tearDown(self):
        del self.dev1

    def test_name(self):
        """ Test for valid input for name parameter """

        self.dev1.setParameter('name', 'MyDevice')
        name = self.dev1.getParameter('name')
        self.assertEqual(name, 'MyDevice')

    def test_invalid_name(self):
        """ Test to check if error is raised if invalid type of input is provided """

        self.assertRaises(DeviceException, self.dev1.setParameter, 'name', 1234)

    def test_exception_message(self):
        """ Test to check if correct exception message and code is raised when incorrect value is passed """

        with self.assertRaises(DeviceException) as cm:
            self.dev1.setParameter('name', 1234)
        self.assertEqual(cm.exception.msg, 'Incorrect type of argument passed. Name expects a string', 'mismatch in expected error message')
        self.assertEqual(cm.exception.code, 100001, 'mismatch in expected error code')


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

---

I just discovered that the Mock library provides an assertRaisesWithMessage() method (in its unittest.TestCase subclass), which will check not only that the expected exception is raised, but also that it is raised with the expected message:

from testcase import TestCase

import mymod

class MyTestCase(TestCase):
    def test1(self):
        self.assertRaisesWithMessage(SomeCoolException,
                                     'expected message',
                                     mymod.myfunc)

---

You can use assertRaises from the unittest module

import unittest

class TestClass():
  def raises_exception(self):
    raise Exception("test")

class MyTestCase(unittest.TestCase):
  def test_if_method_raises_correct_exception(self):
    test_class = TestClass()
    # note that you dont use () when passing the method to assertRaises
    self.assertRaises(Exception, test_class.raises_exception)

---

For those on Django, you can use context manager to run the faulty function and assert it raises the exception with a certain message using assertRaisesMessage

with self.assertRaisesMessage(SomeException,'Some error message e.g 404 Not Found'):
    faulty_funtion()

---

For await/async aiounittest there is a slightly different pattern:

https://aiounittest.readthedocs.io/en/latest/asynctestcase.html#aiounittest.AsyncTestCase

async def test_await_async_fail(self):
    with self.assertRaises(Exception) as e:
        await async_one()

---

This will raise TypeError if setting stock_id to an Integer in this class will throw the error, the test will pass if this happens and fails otherwise

def set_string(prop, value):
   if not isinstance(value, str):
      raise TypeError("i told you i take strings only ")
   return value

class BuyVolume(ndb.Model):
    stock_id = ndb.StringProperty(validator=set_string)

from pytest import raises
buy_volume_instance: BuyVolume = BuyVolume()
with raises(TypeError):
  buy_volume_instance.stock_id = 25

---

Unit testing with unittest would be preferred, but if you would like a quick fix, we can catch the exception, assign it to a variable, and see if that variable is an instance of that exception class.

Lets assume our bad function throws a ValueError.

    try:
      bad_function()
    except ValueError as e:
      assert isinstance(e, ValueError)

---

There are 4 options (you'll find full example in the end):

assertRaises with context manager

def test_1_raises_context_manager(self):
    with self.assertRaises(RuntimeError):
        your_function()

assertRaises one-liner

Pay attention: instead of function call, here you use your function as callable (without round brackets).

def test_2_raises_oneliner(self):
    self.assertRaises(RuntimeError, your_function)

assertRaisesRegex with context manager

Second parameter is regex expression and is mandatory. This option you should use if you want check exception message.

def test_3_raises_regex_context_manager(self):
    with self.assertRaisesRegex(RuntimeError, r'.* exception message'):
        your_function()

assertRaisesRegex one-liner

Second parameter is regex expression and is mandatory. This option you should use if you want check exception message.

Pay attention: instead of function call, here you use your function as callable (without round brackets).

def test_4_raises_regex_oneliner(self):
    self.assertRaisesRegex(RuntimeError, r'.* exception message', your_function)

Full code example:

import unittest

def your_function():
    raise RuntimeError('your exception message')

class YourTestCase(unittest.TestCase):

    def test_1_raises_context_manager(self):
        with self.assertRaises(RuntimeError):
            your_function()

    def test_2_raises_oneliner(self):
        self.assertRaises(RuntimeError, your_function)

    def test_3_raises_regex_context_manager(self):
        with self.assertRaisesRegex(RuntimeError, r'.* exception message'):
            your_function()

    def test_4_raises_regex_oneliner(self):
        self.assertRaisesRegex(RuntimeError, r'.* exception message', your_function)

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

Although it's up to developer which style to follow I prefer both methods using context manager.

---

While all the answers are perfectly fine, I was looking for a way to test if a function raised an exception without relying on unit testing frameworks and having to write test classes.

I ended up writing the following:

def assert_error(e, x):
    try:
        e(x)
    except:
        return
    raise AssertionError()

def failing_function(x):
    raise ValueError()

def dummy_function(x):
    return x

if __name__=="__main__":
    assert_error(failing_function, 0)
    assert_error(dummy_function, 0)

And it fails on the right line :

Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "assert_error.py", line 16, in <module>
    assert_error(dummy_function, 0)
  File "assert_error.py", line 6, in assert_error
    raise AssertionError()
AssertionError

---