Python assertion error during nosetest?

Question

While testing i am getting assertion error like below

AssertionError: Actual Items Not In Expected: [{'handicapped': False, 'first_name': u'JAMES', 'substance_abuse': False, 'tobacco_use': False}]

here expected values are equal to actual . If both are same why it still expect ?

Answer 1

The "actual" data has more keys in it, which your test was apparently not written to expect. So the dicts are not equal, even if expected is a valid subdict of actual.

If you want only the keys present in expected to be present in the output, then you have a valid test failure here.

However, if you don't mind having "extra" keys in the actual output, then you should write a better assertion, for example using unittest.TestCase.assertDictContainsSubset.