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cucumberacceptance-testingscenarios
Zack
Zack

Reputation: 6606

Use the same examples in multiple Cucumber scenario outlines

How do I structure tests for the following program:

I'm writing a unit test framework for simulated combinatorial circuits. This framework will support multiple digital logic simulators (JLS, Logisim, TKGate, etc.) Thus, each test should be run once for each supported simulator.

My first idea is to do something like this:

Scenario Outline:  Test of valid circuit
  when I run DLUnit with "testCircuit1.<type> testFile"
  Then I should see "All tests (4) passed." on stdout
  Examples:
      | type |
      | jls  |  # extension for JLS files
      | circ |  # extension for Logisim files
      | v    |  # extension for tkgate files

Scenario Outline:  Test of invalid circuit
  when I run DLUnit with "brokenCircuit1.<type> testFile"
  Then I should see "There were failures" on stdout
  Examples:
      | type |
      | jls  |
      | circ |
      | v    |

 # Many more tests to follow

Although this will technically work, it results in feature code that may be difficult to maintain: Each feature is followed by a list of supported simulators. Adding support for an additional simulator would require adding the same line to each test.

I could also create jls.feature, then use sed to automatically create logisim.feature and tkgate.feature; but, I'd like to avoid that type of complexity if Cucumber offers a simpler built-in solution.

Upvotes: 3

Views: 1503

Answers (2)

Dave Schweisguth
Dave Schweisguth

Reputation: 37617

Perhaps you could do something like this in RSpec:

describe DLUnit do
  [
    'jls', 'testCircuit1', true,
    'jls', 'brokenCircuit1', false,
    # ...
  ].each do |simulator, circuit, expected_validity|
    it "with the #{simulator} simulator finds the #{circuit} circuit #{expected_validity ? 'valid' : 'invalid' }" do
      actual_output = DLUnit.run "#{circuit.simulator}" # obviously I'm making this part up
      expect(actual_output).to include(expected_validity ? 'passed' : 'failures')
    end
  end
end

The test code itself is a little involved, but you only have to write it once, and the RSpec output should be clear.

Upvotes: 1

Grasshopper
Grasshopper

Reputation: 9058

Not much of an upgrade to what you already have but how about merging into one scenario outline. Addition of new simulator you will need to make two changes in one examples table. Also you can make it more configurable in terms of changes in a different valid test file for two simulators or different result messages. But same can be done for your existing solution all be it you will have to do change the steps and examples.

Scenario Outline:  Testing circuit
  when I run <kind> DLUnit with "<circuit>.<type> testFile"
  Then I should see <result> on stdout

      Examples: 
      | type | kind    | circuit         | result               |
      | jls  | valid   | testCircuit1    | All tests (4) passed |
      | jls  | invalid | brokenCircuit1  | There were failures  |
      | circ | valid   | testCircuit1    | All tests (4) passed |
      | circ | invalid | brokenCircuit1  | There were failures  |
      | v    | valid   | testCircuit1    | All tests (4) passed |
      | v    | invalid | brokenCircuit1  | There were failures  |

Upvotes: 0

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