Question

We have some configuration issues that we would like to solve by putting in “special constants” in Cucumber. For example, we would like anywhere that the text "__USER__" is used in a step, that should be replaced with the current user running the app (so that we can test things like user permissions).

The strategy I was trying to take toward this was to do something like this:

BeforeStep do |step|
    domain = get_domain()
    username = get_username()
    step.text.gsub("__USER__", "#{domain}/#{username}")
end

However, there is no BeforeStep. I tried to use Before do |scenario| ... end but the scenario didn’t have anything I could use on it. How can we replace instances of "__USER__" in our code with the user (and instances of "__CURRENT_DATE__" with the current date, etc.)?

Answer 1

I think this is a case for writing more declarative steps such as When the user logs in as opposed to such things as When I fill in "txt_user_name" with "fred". It would be easy to write your step definition in that case:

When /^the user logs in$/ do
    domain = get_domain()
    username = get_username()
    fill_in "txt_user_name", :with => "#{domain}/#{username}"
end

You could even bring in a step argument transform to turn the text ‘the user’ into the username you need, so you don’t have to repeatedly make the change:

CAPTURE_USER = Transform /^(the user)$/ do |this_isnt_used|
    domain = get_domain()
    username = get_username()
    "#{domain}/#{username}"
end

When /^(#{CAPTURE_USER }) logs in$/ do |user_name|
    puts "Logging in as #{user_name}"
end

This would match the step Given the user logs in and pass in the correct user name as a parameter.

Also, looking back at your question, you could use a transform to accomplish exactly what you were trying to do and have it replace instances of __USER__, but I wouldn’t choose that option myself – it feels like it would impact the readability of the scenario too much. Your choice though!