FactoryToys

This is a idea to help with Feature Management and works in a as a set of feature configuration files that can use ruby to do fancy things and ultimately simplify the process of updating your features.

The tool is designed to be use where you need to manage large numbers of features which all have very similar featureset (i.e. only one of two difference)

Can’t I just use Scenario Outlines to do this I hear you ask..

Yes some of it you can.. but the things you can’t:

Use a parameter to slightly change your hook configuration
Output actual features which is my mind makes fixing any breaks in the test easier as the feature runs each step on the screen.

Usage

Add the following lines of code tyo you capybara/cucumber env.rb file

require 'factory_toys'
FactoryToys.update_features

Updated System to only update file if the source has changed (does not handle file deletion)

Configuration Options:

Set the Directory to read the configuration files from

FactoryToys.source_directory = 'ffactories'

Set the Directory to save the features to

FactoryToys.features_directory = 'features'

Set the naming convention for the configuration options

FactoryToys.scenarios = 'feature'

Set the naming convention for the scenario template

FactoryToys.scenario = 'scenario'

Configuration File

The configuration file is made up of three main parts:

*FEATURE DESCRIPTION*

So the text to go at the top of the feature. This is mandatory and should be input as a multi line text.

feature = <<- FEATURE_DESCRIPTION
-- your feature description here --
FEATURE_DESCRIPTION

*CONFIGURATION OPTIONS*

This is used to define the grouping and output options in a hash.

my_feature = {:foreach => [:dow], :option1 => ['Sun','Mon','Tue','Wed','Thu','Fri','Sat','Sun']}

As this is straight ruby code you can you any helper, constants, etc that you can think of here.

The variable name used should be in the format:

<identifier>_feature

*SCENARIO TEMPLATE*

This is the Scenario that will be generated with the above options. This is should be input as a multi line text.

my_scenario = <<- SCENARIO_TEMPLATE
  @setup_#{dow}_settings
  Given David is Better than Tom
  When Tom is Great
  Then Dave is Better
SCENARIO_TEMPLATE

The variable name used should be in the format:

<identifier>_scenario

To Simplify the logic parts of the SCENARIO TEMNPLATE can be shared as follows

shared_scenario_part <<-DATA
  @setup_#{dow}_settings
  Given David is Better than Tom
  When Tom is Great
DATA

my_first_scenario = <<- SCENARIO_TEMPLATE
  << shared_scenario_part
  Then Dave is Better
SCENARIO_TEMPLATE

my_second_scenario = <<- SCENARIO_TEMPLATE
  << shared_scenario_part
  And There is cake
  Then Dave eats cake
SCENARIO_TEMPLATE

Note the use of ‘<< ’ to insert the shared element

ToDo

Add functionality to only rebuild the feature file if there has been a change most likely using fssm once I have a look and understand how it works..
Add other configuration options.. Not really sure what else is needed but am sure somthing will turn up
Fix the readme so it is not quite so much of a ramble.
Add generator so that templates can be generated
Rename the gem to FeatureToys (Did I fcuk up or what)

Note on Patches/Pull Requests

Fork the project.
Make your feature addition or bug fix.
Add tests for it. This is important so I don’t break it in a future version unintentionally.
Commit, do not mess with rakefile, version, or history. (if you want to have your own version, that is fine but bump version in a commit by itself I can ignore when I pull)
Send me a pull request. Bonus points for topic branches.