Rather that writing large numbers of scenarios in Gherkin, we can write Scenario Outlines and then supply Example rows of data to fill in to those outlines - a great way of specifying a series of similar behaviours - a list of "if I do aaa with the value x then I get the result y" statements where x and y will vary, but aaa will be the same thing many times over.

This follows on from the example described [here].

Here's an example of a feature file using a scenario outline:

 Feature: Checking we know station names and passenger counts
 
 Scenario Outline: 
 When we ask for the full name for "<tlc>"
 Then we are told it is "<fullname>"
 Then we are also told it had <journeys> passengers
 
 Examples:
   | tlc  |  fullname      |  journeys   |
   | SWI  |  Swindon       |  3350444    |
   | DMH  |  Dilton Marsh  |  20084      |
   | PLY  |  Plymouth      |  2445464    |
   | SPP  |  Shippea Hill  |  12         |

Here is the implementation of those features:

  When(/^we ask for the full name for "(.*?)"$/) do |arg1|
    @station = loadStationFactory[arg1]
  end
  
  Then(/^we are told it is "(.*?)"$/) do |arg1|
    expect(@station.getFullName).to eq(arg1)
  end
  
  Then(/^we are also told it had (\d+) passengers$/) do |arg1|
    expect(@station.getPassengers).to eq(arg1.to_i)
  end

And here are the results when we run all of those tabulated tests:

 munchkin:lr grahamellis$ cucumber -s cucTables
 Feature: Checking we know station names and passenger counts
 
   Scenario Outline: 
     When we ask for the full name for "<tlc>"
     Then we are told it is "<fullname>"
     Then we are also told it had <journeys> passengers
 
     Examples: 
       | tlc | fullname     | journeys |
       | SWI | Swindon      | 3350444  |
       | DMH | Dilton Marsh | 20084    |
       | PLY | Plymouth     | 2445464  |
       | SPP | Shippea Hill | 12       |
 
 4 scenarios (4 passed)
 12 steps (12 passed)
 0m0.259s
 munchkin:lr grahamellis$

Source:
Station feature file - [here]
Step implemenation - [here]
and the file we're testing - from another module
stations.py - [here]
(written 2015-10-23)

 R221 - Ruby - Introduction to Cucumber
  [4380] Behaviour Driven Development / Ruby and Cucumber - (2015-01-02)
  [4381] Installing Cucumber (Ruby) - (2015-01-03)
  [4382] Second step Cucumber and Gherkin - beyond Hello World - (2015-01-03)
  [4383] Improved test in Cucumber with RSpec - (2015-01-03)
  [4384] Installing Cucumber on Ubuntu - cannot load such file -- mkmf (LoadError) message - (2015-01-04)
  [4386] Guide exercise to help you learn Gherkin, Cucumber and Rspec - (2015-01-06)
  [4551] Testing your new class - first steps with cucumber - (2015-10-23)

Back to Testing your new class - first steps with cucumber

Previous and next or Horse's mouth home

Forward to RUby - loading, using, changing, storing JSON format data

Strings in C - strncmp strncpy and friends
Preprocessor directives in C and C++ - what they mean
Passing information into functions in C - by name, by value
RUby - loading, using, changing, storing JSON format data
Scenario outlines - tables of values to test - in Gherkin / Cucumber
Build up classes into applications sharing data types in Ruby
Clarrissa-Marybelle - too long to really fit?
Melksham - two small townships, or one big one?
RUH Hopper - experience and thoughts forward