id	summary	reporter	owner	description	type	status	component	version	severity	resolution	keywords	cc	stage	has_patch	needs_docs	needs_tests	needs_better_patch	easy	ui_ux
5453	Test database used in runtests.py does not match documented behavior	mcroydon	nobody	"As of [6184], it is impossible to set {{{TEST_DATABASE_NAME}}} and have that be used when tests/runtests.py is run.  The test runner overrides {{{settings.TEST_DATABASE_NAME}}} with the hard-coded value {{{'django_test_db'}}}, so that even if {{{TEST_DATABASE_NAME}}} is set, it will be ignored:
{{{
mattbookpro:~/code/python/sprint/django-trunk mcroydon$ python tests/runtests.py --settings=sprint.settings
Got an error creating the test database: database ""django_test_db"" already exists
}}}

After applying the patch, what actually happens matches [http://www.djangoproject.com/documentation/testing/#understanding-the-test-output the test documentation].  If your {{{DATABASE_NAME}}} is {{{""mydatabase""}}} and {{{TEST_DATABASE_NAME}}} is not set, the test framework will use  {{{""test_mydatabase""}}}:
{{{
mattbookpro:~/code/python/sprint/django-trunk mcroydon$ python tests/runtests.py --settings=sprint.settings    
Got an error creating the test database: database ""test_mydatabase"" already exists
}}}

If you set {{{TEST_DATABASE_NAME}}} to {{{""arbitrarytestdb""}}} that database will be used for testing instead:
{{{
mattbookpro:~/code/python/sprint/django-trunk mcroydon$ python tests/runtests.py --settings=sprint.settings
Got an error creating the test database: database ""arbitrarytestdb"" already exists
}}}"		closed	Testing framework	dev		fixed			Unreviewed	0	0	0	0	0	0