Fixed #18545 -- Make the 'no DJANGO_SETTINGS_MODULE' error message more useful.Thanks Nick Coghlan for the report, and Malcolm Tredinnick for review.

3 files changed, 34 insertions, 24 deletions

diff --git a/django/conf/__init__.py b/django/conf/__init__.py
index f4d17ca9f3..f5ced60735 100644
--- a/django/conf/__init__.py
+++ b/django/conf/__init__.py
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ class LazySettings(LazyObject):
     The user can manually configure settings prior to using them. Otherwise,
     Django uses the settings module pointed to by DJANGO_SETTINGS_MODULE.
     """
-    def _setup(self):
+    def _setup(self, name):
         """
         Load the settings module pointed to by the environment variable. This
         is used the first time we need any settings at all, if the user has not
@@ -37,12 +37,21 @@ class LazySettings(LazyObject):
             if not settings_module: # If it's set but is an empty string.
                 raise KeyError
         except KeyError:
-            # NOTE: This is arguably an EnvironmentError, but that causes
-            # problems with Python's interactive help.
-            raise ImportError("Settings cannot be imported, because environment variable %s is undefined." % ENVIRONMENT_VARIABLE)
+            raise ImproperlyConfigured(
+                "Requested setting %s, but settings are not configured. "
+                "You must either define the environment variable %s "
+                "or call settings.configure() before accessing settings."
+                % (name, ENVIRONMENT_VARIABLE))
 
         self._wrapped = Settings(settings_module)
 
+
+    def __getattr__(self, name):
+        if self._wrapped is empty:
+            self._setup(name)
+        return getattr(self._wrapped, name)
+
+
     def configure(self, default_settings=global_settings, **options):
         """
         Called to manually configure the settings. The 'default_settings'
diff --git a/django/core/management/__init__.py b/django/core/management/__init__.py
index 98f75e0310..b40570efc9 100644
--- a/django/core/management/__init__.py
+++ b/django/core/management/__init__.py
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ from optparse import OptionParser, NO_DEFAULT
 import imp
 import warnings
 
+from django.core.exceptions import ImproperlyConfigured
 from django.core.management.base import BaseCommand, CommandError, handle_default_options
 from django.core.management.color import color_style
 from django.utils.importlib import import_module
@@ -105,7 +106,7 @@ def get_commands():
         try:
             from django.conf import settings
             apps = settings.INSTALLED_APPS
-        except (AttributeError, EnvironmentError, ImportError):
+        except (AttributeError, ImproperlyConfigured):
             apps = []
 
         # Find and load the management module for each installed app.
diff --git a/tests/regressiontests/admin_scripts/tests.py b/tests/regressiontests/admin_scripts/tests.py
index bc0f684563..6028eac846 100644
--- a/tests/regressiontests/admin_scripts/tests.py
+++ b/tests/regressiontests/admin_scripts/tests.py
@@ -181,11 +181,11 @@ class DjangoAdminNoSettings(AdminScriptTestCase):
     "A series of tests for django-admin.py when there is no settings.py file."
 
     def test_builtin_command(self):
-        "no settings: django-admin builtin commands fail with an import error when no settings provided"
+        "no settings: django-admin builtin commands fail with an error when no settings provided"
         args = ['sqlall', 'admin_scripts']
         out, err = self.run_django_admin(args)
         self.assertNoOutput(out)
-        self.assertOutput(err, 'environment variable DJANGO_SETTINGS_MODULE is undefined')
+        self.assertOutput(err, 'settings are not configured')
 
     def test_builtin_with_bad_settings(self):
         "no settings: django-admin builtin commands fail if settings file (from argument) doesn't exist"
@@ -213,11 +213,11 @@ class DjangoAdminDefaultSettings(AdminScriptTestCase):
         self.remove_settings('settings.py')
 
     def test_builtin_command(self):
-        "default: django-admin builtin commands fail with an import error when no settings provided"
+        "default: django-admin builtin commands fail with an error when no settings provided"
         args = ['sqlall', 'admin_scripts']
         out, err = self.run_django_admin(args)
         self.assertNoOutput(out)
-        self.assertOutput(err, 'environment variable DJANGO_SETTINGS_MODULE is undefined')
+        self.assertOutput(err, 'settings are not configured')
 
     def test_builtin_with_settings(self):
         "default: django-admin builtin commands succeed if settings are provided as argument"
@@ -279,11 +279,11 @@ class DjangoAdminFullPathDefaultSettings(AdminScriptTestCase):
         self.remove_settings('settings.py')
 
     def test_builtin_command(self):
-        "fulldefault: django-admin builtin commands fail with an import error when no settings provided"
+        "fulldefault: django-admin builtin commands fail with an error when no settings provided"
         args = ['sqlall', 'admin_scripts']
         out, err = self.run_django_admin(args)
         self.assertNoOutput(out)
-        self.assertOutput(err, 'environment variable DJANGO_SETTINGS_MODULE is undefined')
+        self.assertOutput(err, 'settings are not configured')
 
     def test_builtin_with_settings(self):
         "fulldefault: django-admin builtin commands succeed if a settings file is provided"
@@ -345,11 +345,11 @@ class DjangoAdminMinimalSettings(AdminScriptTestCase):
         self.remove_settings('settings.py')
 
     def test_builtin_command(self):
-        "minimal: django-admin builtin commands fail with an import error when no settings provided"
+        "minimal: django-admin builtin commands fail with an error when no settings provided"
         args = ['sqlall', 'admin_scripts']
         out, err = self.run_django_admin(args)
         self.assertNoOutput(out)
-        self.assertOutput(err, 'environment variable DJANGO_SETTINGS_MODULE is undefined')
+        self.assertOutput(err, 'settings are not configured')
 
     def test_builtin_with_settings(self):
         "minimal: django-admin builtin commands fail if settings are provided as argument"
@@ -411,11 +411,11 @@ class DjangoAdminAlternateSettings(AdminScriptTestCase):
         self.remove_settings('alternate_settings.py')
 
     def test_builtin_command(self):
-        "alternate: django-admin builtin commands fail with an import error when no settings provided"
+        "alternate: django-admin builtin commands fail with an error when no settings provided"
         args = ['sqlall', 'admin_scripts']
         out, err = self.run_django_admin(args)
         self.assertNoOutput(out)
-        self.assertOutput(err, 'environment variable DJANGO_SETTINGS_MODULE is undefined')
+        self.assertOutput(err, 'settings are not configured')
 
     def test_builtin_with_settings(self):
         "alternate: django-admin builtin commands succeed if settings are provided as argument"
@@ -482,11 +482,11 @@ class DjangoAdminMultipleSettings(AdminScriptTestCase):
         self.remove_settings('alternate_settings.py')
 
     def test_builtin_command(self):
-        "alternate: django-admin builtin commands fail with an import error when no settings provided"
+        "alternate: django-admin builtin commands fail with an error when no settings provided"
         args = ['sqlall', 'admin_scripts']
         out, err = self.run_django_admin(args)
         self.assertNoOutput(out)
-        self.assertOutput(err, 'environment variable DJANGO_SETTINGS_MODULE is undefined')
+        self.assertOutput(err, 'settings are not configured')
 
     def test_builtin_with_settings(self):
         "alternate: django-admin builtin commands succeed if settings are provided as argument"
@@ -570,11 +570,11 @@ class DjangoAdminSettingsDirectory(AdminScriptTestCase):
         self.assertTrue(os.path.exists(os.path.join(app_path, 'api.py')))
 
     def test_builtin_command(self):
-        "directory: django-admin builtin commands fail with an import error when no settings provided"
+        "directory: django-admin builtin commands fail with an error when no settings provided"
         args = ['sqlall', 'admin_scripts']
         out, err = self.run_django_admin(args)
         self.assertNoOutput(out)
-        self.assertOutput(err, 'environment variable DJANGO_SETTINGS_MODULE is undefined')
+        self.assertOutput(err, 'settings are not configured')
 
     def test_builtin_with_bad_settings(self):
         "directory: django-admin builtin commands fail if settings file (from argument) doesn't exist"
@@ -621,7 +621,7 @@ class ManageNoSettings(AdminScriptTestCase):
     "A series of tests for manage.py when there is no settings.py file."
 
     def test_builtin_command(self):
-        "no settings: manage.py builtin commands fail with an import error when no settings provided"
+        "no settings: manage.py builtin commands fail with an error when no settings provided"
         args = ['sqlall', 'admin_scripts']
         out, err = self.run_manage(args)
         self.assertNoOutput(out)
@@ -786,7 +786,7 @@ class ManageMinimalSettings(AdminScriptTestCase):
         self.remove_settings('settings.py')
 
     def test_builtin_command(self):
-        "minimal: manage.py builtin commands fail with an import error when no settings provided"
+        "minimal: manage.py builtin commands fail with an error when no settings provided"
         args = ['sqlall', 'admin_scripts']
         out, err = self.run_manage(args)
         self.assertNoOutput(out)
@@ -852,7 +852,7 @@ class ManageAlternateSettings(AdminScriptTestCase):
         self.remove_settings('alternate_settings.py')
 
     def test_builtin_command(self):
-        "alternate: manage.py builtin commands fail with an import error when no default settings provided"
+        "alternate: manage.py builtin commands fail with an error when no default settings provided"
         args = ['sqlall', 'admin_scripts']
         out, err = self.run_manage(args)
         self.assertNoOutput(out)
@@ -895,7 +895,7 @@ class ManageAlternateSettings(AdminScriptTestCase):
         args = ['noargs_command']
         out, err = self.run_manage(args)
         self.assertNoOutput(out)
-        self.assertOutput(err, "Unknown command: 'noargs_command'")
+        self.assertOutput(err, "Could not import settings 'regressiontests.settings'")
 
     def test_custom_command_with_settings(self):
         "alternate: manage.py can execute user commands if settings are provided as argument"
@@ -927,7 +927,7 @@ class ManageMultipleSettings(AdminScriptTestCase):
         self.remove_settings('alternate_settings.py')
 
     def test_builtin_command(self):
-        "multiple: manage.py builtin commands fail with an import error when no settings provided"
+        "multiple: manage.py builtin commands fail with an error when no settings provided"
         args = ['sqlall', 'admin_scripts']
         out, err = self.run_manage(args)
         self.assertNoOutput(out)