Fredastaire

Fredastaire adds step methods to mocha tests that have two impacts:

• Your test cases' setup code is significantly more readable
• You only have to write the same setup steps once

Table of contents

• Setup
• Usage
  • Tests
  • Step definitions
• Full API

---

Setup

1. npm install fredastaire --save-dev or yarn add fredastaire -D
2. Define your steps wherever you like. (example below)
3. Write some tests that use given. (example below)
4. Run your tests with the fredastaire ui, requiring your steps file: mocha ./tests/some-tests.js --ui fredastaire --require <your steps file>

Usage

1. Tests

Just call given('with some string'). The string will be used to identify which step definition to call (more on that later).

There's also when and and, which are aliases of given.

TODO: Add given, when, and to the test output.

// /your/project/tests/astronauts-test.js
 
const state = {
    spaceThings: [],
    astronauts: [],
};
 
let res;
 
describe('Interesting space apparatus example', function() {
    given('there are two spacethings', {container: state.spaceThings});
 
    and('there is one astronaut', {container: state.astronauts});
 
    when('i request a space thing that has an astronaut', {
        id: state.spaceThings[0].id,
        container: res,
    });
 
    it('should give me one space thing', function() {
      expect(res.body.spacething).to.not.be.null;
      expect(res.body.spacething.id).to.equal(state.spacethings[0].id);
    });
 
    it('should have an astronaut with the space thing', function() {
        expect(res.body.spacething.astronaut).to.not.be.null;
        expect(res.body.spacething.astronaut.id).to.equal(state.astronauts[0].id);
    });
});

2. Step definitions

Step definitions are the places where you put your setup code for individual tests.

// /your/project/wherever/you/like/your-definitions.js
 
const addSteps = require('fredastaire/steps');
const request = require('whatever/you/like/for/requesting/stuff');
 
addSteps({
  'there are two space things': function({container, spaceThing1={}, spaceThing2={}}) {
    container = [SpaceThings.create(spaceThing1), SpaceThings.create(spaceThing2)];
  },
 
  'there is one astronaut': function({container, astronaut={}}) {
    container = SpaceAstronaut.create(astronaut);
  },
 
  'i request a space thing that has an astronaut': function({id, container}) {
    return request.get('/space-things/' + id)
    .then(response => container = response);
  }
});

Full API

Methods

---

given, and, when

given('there is something', {named: 'whatever'});

Calls a defined step inside a before. given, and and when are all the same function, so use them in whatever order you like. Return a promise to handle async behavior.

Arguments

{string} name -- The name used to identify the step.

So if you define a step named "this is a step", then you would run the step using given('this is a step').

{object} data -- Whatever you need to pass to the step.

Pass whatever your step needs to can create something specific.

---

addSteps

addSteps({
  'there is something': function(data) {
        global.thing = {...data};
  }
});

Registers steps which are triggered with given.

Arguments

{object} steps -- The name and function to be triggered by given.

The objects you pass to addSteps are all merged together, so when you call given(name), it calls steps[name](). *So if you pass the same key twice to addSteps, the first step will be replaced by the second.

---

getSteps()

Gets all the steps you've defined