Setting session variables whilst testing with Django's TestCase

session_enabled_test_case.py

"""
Attempting to set session variables directly from TestCases can
be error prone.  Use this super-class to enable session modifications
from within your tests.

Usage
-----

class MyTest(SessionEnabledTestCase):

    def test_with_session_support(self):
        session = self.get_session()
        session['some-key'] = 'some-value'
        session.save()
        self.set_session_cookies(session)
        
        response = self.client.get('/')
        
        self.assertIn(
            ('some-key', 'some-value'), 
            response.client.session.items())
            
"""
from django.conf import settings as django_settings
from django.test import TestCase as TestCase
from django.utils.importlib import import_module


class SessionEnabledTestCase(TestCase):

    def get_session(self):
        if self.client.session:
            session = self.client.session
        else:
            engine = import_module(django_settings.SESSION_ENGINE)
            session = engine.SessionStore()
        return session

    def set_session_cookies(self, session):
        # Set the cookie to represent the session
        session_cookie = django_settings.SESSION_COOKIE_NAME
        self.client.cookies[session_cookie] = session.session_key
        cookie_data = {
            'max-age': None,
            'path': '/',
            'domain': django_settings.SESSION_COOKIE_DOMAIN,
            'secure': django_settings.SESSION_COOKIE_SECURE or None,
            'expires': None}
        self.client.cookies[session_cookie].update(cookie_data)

Great work! However import modules shoud change as follow:

# tested in django 1.11
from django.conf import settings as django_settings
from django.test import TestCase
from importlib import import_module

django.utils.importlib has been obsolete since Django 1.7 and was removed in 1.9. import_module can be imported from importlib directly. See here for more info

"whilst" is an anachronism that's no longer widely used and does not differ from "while" except in its relative disuse.

Where would this go in a Django project?

Place it at the top-most part of your tests, right below your imports then inherit from it in your tests that require session variables.

I love the use of "whilst" I am overcome with whimsy.