Reference model from a package

[mdimercurio]

I am trying to write a unit test for a model that depends on a model from a different package.

I tried referencing the model name directly in mock_ref and got the following error:

Node [dbt_project].[model] not found.

> in macro raise_error (macros/utils.sql)
> called by macro model_node (macros/utils.sql)
> called by macro graph_node (macros/utils.sql)
> called by macro build_mocks_and_expectations (macros/tests.sql)
> called by macro test (macros/tests.sql)

When trying to reference the package with mock_ref([package_name], [model_name]), I got:

'str object' has no attribute 'items'

> in macro merge_configs (macros/utils.sql)
> called by macro build_mocks_and_expectations (macros/tests.sql)
> called by macro test (macros/tests.sql)
> called by macro merge_jsons (macros/utils.sql)

[cdiniz]

Hi @mdimercurio.
We don't have this feature yet, but it makes sense to add it since 'ref' supports this functionality.
We don't have much time in the next few weeks, but we'll address this later.
Meanwhile, feel free to contribute with a pr if you will.

Thank you

[mdimercurio]

Hi @cdiniz. Thanks for the quick follow up.

I'll try to look into it in my side. I haven't looked much into the package's code so I might have a few questions for you as I dig into it

[asadbadal]

@mdimercurio +1 on this issue, any progress you might've made that you can share?

[SimonCarryer]

Hello! I was thinking about having a go at a PR for this, but to be honest it's WAY more complex than anything else I've done in dbt. I can see that the issue is with the graph_node_by_prefix macro and its cousins. They're using model.package_name which refers to the package of the model being run, not the model being referenced.

I can see a few ways around this, but I am a bit worried about unforeseen consequences. Since model names must be unique, is there a risk in just looking for the first model with a matching name? How does the ref function do this?

Is there any problem with doing something like this? It feels wrong, somehow.

{% macro graph_node_by_prefix (prefix, name) %}
  {% set matches = graph.nodes.values() | selectattr("name", "equalto", name) | selectattr("resource_type", "equalto", prefix) | list %}
  {{ return (matches[0])}}
{% endmacro %}

[cdiniz]

Hi there, we are doing a clean-up of old/inactive Issues.
Happy to open again if there is a need for that.
Thank you for collaboration!

[SimonCarryer]

Very much still needed by me! Maybe I'll get around to a PR for it too!