Data Driven Testing Using Examples Keyword in SpecFlow

In the last chapter of Parameterization in Cucumber, we learned how to parameterize data. But with that trick, only limited functionality can be achieved of Data-Driven. As the test can be run multiple times. But by now that you know the anatomy of a Data-Driven test, here’s a trick that simplifies the process of Data-Driven testing using Cucumber. Cucumber inherently supports Data-Driven testing by the use of the Scenario Outline and Examples section. It is with these keywords that Cucumber allows for easy Data-Driven testing to be completed where no changes need to be made to the Java file. In this tutorial we learn, How to Implement a Scenario Outline in Data-Driven testing using Examples Keyword?

Example keyword can only be used with the Scenario Outline Keyword.

Scenario Outline – This is used to run the same scenario for 2 or more different sets of test data. E.g. In our scenario, if you want to register another user you can data drive the same scenario twice.
Examples – All scenario outlines have to be followed with the Examples section. This contains the data that has to be passed on to the scenario.

Data-Driven Testing Using Examples Keyword

If you understood the concept of Parameterization in Cucumber, you would find this one very easy. In this tutorial as well I am taking the same LogIn test scenario.

1) Enter the Example Data just below the LogIn Scenario of the Feature File.

Note: The table must have a header row corresponding to the variables in the Scenario Outline steps.

The Examples section is a table where each argument variable represents a column in the table, separated by “|”. Each line below the header represents an individual run of the test case with the respective data. As a result, if there are 3 lines below the header in the Examples table, the script will run 3 times with its respective data.

2) Need to update the Statement in the feature file, which tells Cucumber to enter username & Password.

And User enters <username> and <password>

Cucumber understands the above statement syntax and looks for the Examples Keyword in the test to read the Test Data.

The complete code will look like this:

Feature: Login Action

Scenario Outline: Successful Login with Valid Credentials
	Given User is on Home Page
	When User Navigate to LogIn Page
	And User enters "<username>" and "<password>"
	Then Message displayed Login Successfully
Examples:
    | username   | password |
    | testuser_1 | Test@153 |
    | testuser_2 | Test@153 |

Feature: Login Action

Scenario Outline: Successful Login with Valid Credentials

Given User is on Home Page

When User Navigate to LogIn Page

And User enters "<username>" and "<password>"

Then Message displayed Login Successfully

Examples:

| username | password |

| testuser_1 | Test@153 |

| testuser_2 | Test@153 |

3) There are no changes in TestRunner class.

package cucumberTest;

import org.junit.runner.RunWith;
import cucumber.api.CucumberOptions;
import cucumber.api.junit.Cucumber;

@RunWith(Cucumber.class)
@CucumberOptions(
		features = "Feature"
		,glue={"stepDefinition"}
		)

public class TestRunner {

}

package cucumberTest;

import org.junit.runner.RunWith;

import cucumber.api.CucumberOptions;

import cucumber.api.junit.Cucumber;

@RunWith(Cucumber.class)

@CucumberOptions(

features = "Feature"

,glue={"stepDefinition"}

)

public class TestRunner {

}

4) There are no changes in Test_Steps file from the previous chapter.

package stepDefinition;

import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit;

import org.openqa.selenium.By;
import org.openqa.selenium.WebDriver;
import org.openqa.selenium.firefox.FirefoxDriver;

import cucumber.api.java.en.Given;
import cucumber.api.java.en.Then;
import cucumber.api.java.en.When;

public class Test_Steps {
		public static WebDriver driver;
	@Given("^User is on Home Page$")
	public void user_is_on_Home_Page() throws Throwable {
		driver = new FirefoxDriver();
	    driver.manage().timeouts().implicitlyWait(10, TimeUnit.SECONDS);
	    driver.get("http://www.store.demoqa.com");
	}

	@When("^User Navigate to LogIn Page$")
	public void user_Navigate_to_LogIn_Page() throws Throwable {
		driver.findElement(By.xpath(".//*[@id='account']/a")).click();
	}

	@When("^User enters \"(.*)\" and \"(.*)\"$")
	public void user_enters_UserName_and_Password(String username, String password) throws Throwable {
		driver.findElement(By.id("log")).sendKeys(username); 	 
	    driver.findElement(By.id("pwd")).sendKeys(password);
	    //driver.findElement(By.id("login")).click();
	}

	@Then("^Message displayed Login Successfully$")
	public void message_displayed_Login_Successfully() throws Throwable {
		System.out.println("Login Successfully");
	}

	@When("^User LogOut from the Application$")
	public void user_LogOut_from_the_Application() throws Throwable {
		driver.findElement (By.xpath(".//*[@id='account_logout']/a")).click();
	}

	@Then("^Message displayed LogOut Successfully$")
	public void message_displayed_LogOut_Successfully() throws Throwable {
		System.out.println("LogOut Successfully");
	}

}

package stepDefinition;

import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit;

import org.openqa.selenium.By;

import org.openqa.selenium.WebDriver;

import org.openqa.selenium.firefox.FirefoxDriver;

import cucumber.api.java.en.Given;

import cucumber.api.java.en.Then;

import cucumber.api.java.en.When;

public class Test_Steps {

public static WebDriver driver;

@Given("^User is on Home Page$")

public void user_is_on_Home_Page() throws Throwable {

driver = new FirefoxDriver();

driver.manage().timeouts().implicitlyWait(10, TimeUnit.SECONDS);

driver.get("http://www.store.demoqa.com");

}

@When("^User Navigate to LogIn Page$")

public void user_Navigate_to_LogIn_Page() throws Throwable {

driver.findElement(By.xpath(".//*[@id='account']/a")).click();

}

@When("^User enters \"(.*)\" and \"(.*)\"$")

public void user_enters_UserName_and_Password(String username, String password) throws Throwable {

driver.findElement(By.id("log")).sendKeys(username);

driver.findElement(By.id("pwd")).sendKeys(password);

//driver.findElement(By.id("login")).click();

}

@Then("^Message displayed Login Successfully$")

public void message_displayed_Login_Successfully() throws Throwable {

System.out.println("Login Successfully");

}

@When("^User LogOut from the Application$")

public void user_LogOut_from_the_Application() throws Throwable {

driver.findElement (By.xpath(".//*[@id='account_logout']/a")).click();

}

@Then("^Message displayed LogOut Successfully$")

public void message_displayed_LogOut_Successfully() throws Throwable {

System.out.println("LogOut Successfully");

}

5) Run the test by Right Click on TestRunner class and Click Run As > JUnit Test Application.

This takes the parameterization one step further: now our scenario has “variables” and they get filled in by the values in each row. To be clear: by defining this, the scenario will run two times, passing in one row at a time. This makes it very easy to define a lot of examples, edge cases, and special outcomes. Instead of hardcoding the test data, variables are defined in the Examples section and used in the Scenario Outline section.

Note: Please create your own username & password for the test, if you supply wrong UserName & Password 3 times, your IP will get blocked.

Data Driven Testing Using Examples Keyword

Data-Driven Testing Using Examples Keyword

Author: Lakshay Sharma

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