scenario outlinesΒΆ

On our first description file, zero.feature, all scenarios were similar. This made us repeat most of the text again and again.

Isn’t there a better way to deal with this - when several scenarios are almost equal and only some values change?

Yes, there is! :) You just need to use scenarios outlines.

An example is shown bellow:

Feature: Compute factorial
  In order to play with Lettuce
  As beginners
  We'll implement factorial

  Scenario Outline: Factorials [0-4]
    Given I have the number <number>
    When I compute its factorial
    Then I see the number <result>

  Examples:
    | number | result |
    | 0      | 1      |
    | 1      | 1      |
    | 2      | 2      |
    | 3      | 6      |
    | 4      | 24     |

This way, you will only need to provide the values that really change, reducing “copy & paste” work and making your tests more clear.

Note

If you overwrite zero.feature using the example above, and goto step [e], you’ll see your description expanding to the five previous scenarious:

../_images/screenshot7.png