test(fixtures): factory_boy factories + delegate make_* helpers (#1272)

CONTRIBUTING.md

@@ -264,7 +264,7 @@ The suite has two complementary styles:
 | **Unit** | `SimpleTestCase` + `MagicMock` | Pure logic — formatters, BibTeX generation, single-method behavior. No DB; runs in milliseconds. |
 | **Integration** | `DatabaseTestCase` (subclass of Django's `TestCase`, in `website/tests/base.py`) | View, queryset, template, and URL-routing regressions. Each test runs inside a transaction that is rolled back, so tests stay isolated. |
 
-The `DatabaseTestCase` base provides `make_person`, `make_publication`, `make_talk`, and `make_news_item` helpers built on plain `Model.objects.create()` — use those rather than hand-rolling fixtures.
+The `DatabaseTestCase` base provides `make_person`, `make_publication`, `make_talk`, and `make_news_item` helpers — use those rather than hand-rolling fixtures. They're thin wrappers over the `factory_boy` factories in `website/tests/factories.py`, which are the single source of truth for building model instances; reach for a factory directly when you need an entity the helpers don't cover or want to customize fields.
 
 ### When to add a test
 

requirements.txt

@@ -123,4 +123,19 @@ django-ckeditor==6.7.3
 pyOpenSSL==26.0.0
 
 # Requests - HTTP library for Python
-requests==2.33.0
+requests==2.33.0
+
+# -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# Testing
+# -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# factory_boy - model fixtures for the test suite (#1272). The de-facto Django
+# standard; we use explicit factories (website/tests/factories.py) over
+# model_bakery because they're easier to debug with our M2M / SortedManyToMany /
+# ProjectRole-through relationship graph. Pulls in Faker (pinned below) as a dep.
+# See: https://factoryboy.readthedocs.io/
+factory_boy==3.3.3
+
+# Faker - realistic fake data (names, sentences, dates) used by the factories.
+# Dependency of factory_boy; pinned explicitly so test data stays reproducible.
+# See: https://faker.readthedocs.io/
+Faker==40.23.0

website/tests/base.py

@@ -12,103 +12,69 @@
 coverage incrementally. See #1267 for the broader plan.
 """
 
-from django.core.files.uploadedfile import SimpleUploadedFile
-from django.test import TestCase
+from datetime import date as _date
 
+from django.test import TestCase
 
-# Minimal 1x1 GIF used to satisfy Person.image / Person.easter_egg without
-# touching the filesystem. Person.save() picks a random Star Wars image when
-# either field is empty, opening a real file from media/. Pre-setting both
-# with this SimpleUploadedFile skips the fallback branch entirely.
-_GIF_1PX = (
-    b"GIF89a\x01\x00\x01\x00\x80\x00\x00\xff\xff\xff\x00\x00\x00"
-    b"!\xf9\x04\x01\x00\x00\x00\x00,\x00\x00\x00\x00\x01\x00\x01"
-    b"\x00\x00\x02\x02D\x01\x00;"
+from website.tests.factories import (
+    NewsItemFactory,
+    PersonFactory,
+    ProjectFactory,
+    PublicationFactory,
+    TalkFactory,
+    VideoFactory,
+    image_upload,
 )
 
 
-def _make_image_upload(name):
-    """Return a SimpleUploadedFile that satisfies an ImageField."""
-    return SimpleUploadedFile(name, _GIF_1PX, content_type="image/gif")
-
-
 class DatabaseTestCase(TestCase):
     """
     Shared base for tests that touch the database. Provides small fixture
-    helpers (make_person / make_publication / make_news_item) built on
-    plain Model.objects.create() — no third-party fixture library. Each
-    test runs inside a transaction and is rolled back, so tests stay
-    isolated without manual cleanup.
-
-    Why a base class instead of module-level helpers: subclasses can
-    override the defaults in setUp() and the helpers can grow without
-    cluttering the module namespace.
+    helpers (make_person / make_publication / make_news_item / ...) that
+    delegate to the factory_boy factories in :mod:`website.tests.factories`
+    (#1272). The factories are the single source of truth for building
+    instances; these helpers preserve the original keyword API (notably the
+    ``year`` shorthand) so the existing suite keeps working unchanged. Each
+    test runs inside a transaction and is rolled back, so tests stay isolated
+    without manual cleanup.
+
+    Why keep the helpers at all: they encode test-friendly defaults (fixed
+    dates via ``year``, ``with_thumbnail`` for the project visibility backfill)
+    and give subclasses a stable seam to override in ``setUp()``. Tests that
+    want richer fixtures (Faker values, batches, the relationship graph) can
+    import and use the factories directly.
     """
 
     def make_person(self, first_name="Jane", last_name="Doe", **kwargs):
         """
-        Create and return a Person. Image fields are pre-populated to
-        skip Person.save()'s Star Wars fallback (which reads a real file
-        from media/). Override by passing image=... explicitly.
+        Create and return a Person. Image fields are pre-populated by
+        PersonFactory to skip Person.save()'s Star Wars fallback (which reads a
+        real file from media/). Override by passing image=... explicitly.
         """
-        from website.models import Person
-        kwargs.setdefault(
-            "image", _make_image_upload(f"{first_name}_{last_name}.gif")
-        )
-        kwargs.setdefault(
-            "easter_egg",
-            _make_image_upload(f"{first_name}_{last_name}_egg.gif"),
-        )
-        return Person.objects.create(
+        return PersonFactory(
             first_name=first_name, last_name=last_name, **kwargs
         )
 
     def make_publication(self, title="A Test Paper", year=2024, **kwargs):
         """
         Create and return a Publication with sensible defaults: post-lab-
-        formation date, conference venue, a forum name, and a dummy PDF
-        (display_pub_snippet.html unconditionally renders pub.pdf_file.url,
-        so tests that go through the publications view need one to render).
-        Override via kwargs.
+        formation date (from ``year``), conference venue, a forum name, and a
+        dummy PDF (display_pub_snippet.html unconditionally renders
+        pub.pdf_file.url, so tests that go through the publications view need
+        one to render). Override via kwargs.
         """
-        from datetime import date as _date
-        from website.models import Publication
-        from website.models.publication import PubType
         kwargs.setdefault("date", _date(year, 1, 1))
-        kwargs.setdefault("forum_name", "CHI")
-        kwargs.setdefault("pub_venue_type", PubType.CONFERENCE)
-        kwargs.setdefault(
-            "pdf_file",
-            SimpleUploadedFile(
-                f"{title.replace(' ', '_')}.pdf",
-                b"%PDF-1.4 test",
-                content_type="application/pdf",
-            ),
-        )
-        return Publication.objects.create(title=title, **kwargs)
+        return PublicationFactory(title=title, **kwargs)
 
     def make_talk(self, title="A Test Talk", year=2024, **kwargs):
         """
         Create and return a Talk. Artifact.save() generates a thumbnail
-        from pdf_file (via ImageMagick) on every save, so we provide a
-        small valid PDF and let it run; tests that don't care about the
+        from pdf_file (via ImageMagick) on every save, so the factory provides
+        a small valid PDF and lets it run; tests that don't care about the
         thumbnail just ignore it.
         """
-        from datetime import date as _date
-        from website.models import Talk
-        from website.models.talk import TalkType
         kwargs.setdefault("date", _date(year, 1, 1))
-        kwargs.setdefault("forum_name", "CHI")
-        kwargs.setdefault("talk_type", TalkType.CONFERENCE_TALK)
-        kwargs.setdefault(
-            "pdf_file",
-            SimpleUploadedFile(
-                f"{title.replace(' ', '_')}.pdf",
-                b"%PDF-1.4 test",
-                content_type="application/pdf",
-            ),
-        )
-        return Talk.objects.create(title=title, **kwargs)
+        return TalkFactory(title=title, **kwargs)
 
     def make_video(self, title="A Test Video", year=2024, **kwargs):
         """
@@ -117,23 +83,18 @@ def make_video(self, title="A Test Video", year=2024, **kwargs):
         would raise), and the video snippet embeds it. date is set so
         get_most_recent_artifact_date() has something to sort on.
         """
-        from datetime import date as _date
-        from website.models import Video
         kwargs.setdefault("date", _date(year, 1, 1))
-        kwargs.setdefault("video_url", "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ")
-        return Video.objects.create(title=title, **kwargs)
+        return VideoFactory(title=title, **kwargs)
 
     def make_news_item(self, title="Test News", author=None, **kwargs):
         """
         Create and return a News item. `author` is intentionally optional
         (the FK is nullable with on_delete=SET_NULL) so tests can exercise
         the authorless code path that caused the original /news/158/ bug.
         """
-        from datetime import date as _date
-        from website.models import News
         kwargs.setdefault("date", _date(2024, 1, 1))
         kwargs.setdefault("content", "Test news body.")
-        return News.objects.create(title=title, author=author, **kwargs)
+        return NewsItemFactory(title=title, author=author, **kwargs)
 
     def make_project(self, name="A Test Project", short_name=None,
                      with_thumbnail=False, **kwargs):
@@ -149,12 +110,11 @@ def make_project(self, name="A Test Project", short_name=None,
                 visibility backfill. Defaults to False to avoid touching the
                 filesystem unnecessarily.
         """
-        from website.models import Project
         if short_name is None:
             short_name = name.lower().replace(" ", "")
         if with_thumbnail:
             kwargs.setdefault(
                 "gallery_image",
-                _make_image_upload(f"{short_name}_thumb.gif"),
+                image_upload(f"{short_name}_thumb.gif"),
             )
-        return Project.objects.create(name=name, short_name=short_name, **kwargs)
+        return ProjectFactory(name=name, short_name=short_name, **kwargs)