Give example on how to write multiple @Before Hooks?

   August 13, 2024

Certainly! In Cucumber, you can write multiple @Before hooks to perform different setup tasks before executing your scenarios. Each hook can be annotated with the @Before keyword, and you can also specify tags to control which hooks should run for specific scenarios.

Example of Multiple @Before Hooks

Here’s an example in Java using Cucumber with JUnit that demonstrates how to write and use multiple @Before hooks:

import io.cucumber.java.Before;
import io.cucumber.java.Scenario;

public class Hooks {

    // First @Before hook
    @Before(order = 1)
    public void setUpDatabase() {
        // Code to set up the database
        System.out.println("Setting up the database...");
        // e.g., connect to the database, create test data, etc.
    }

    // Second @Before hook
    @Before(order = 2)
    public void startBrowser() {
        // Code to start the browser
        System.out.println("Starting the browser...");
        // e.g., WebDriver initialization
    }

    // Third @Before hook with a specific tag
    @Before("@UI")
    public void setUpUI() {
        // Code to set up UI testing environment
        System.out.println("Setting up UI testing environment...");
        // This hook will only run for scenarios tagged with @UI
    }
}

Explanation of the Example

  1. First Hook (setUpDatabase):
  • This hook is responsible for setting up the database before each scenario runs. It is executed first because it has the highest priority (order = 1).
  1. Second Hook (startBrowser):
  • This hook starts the browser and is executed after the first hook due to its order (order = 2).
  1. Third Hook (setUpUI):
  • This hook is tagged with @UI, meaning it will only run for scenarios that have this specific tag. This allows you to have specialized setup tasks that are only relevant for certain tests.

Running the Hooks

When you run your Cucumber tests, the hooks will execute in the following order for each scenario:

  1. setUpDatabase (order = 1)
  2. startBrowser (order = 2)
  3. If the scenario is tagged with @UI, then setUpUI will also run.

Example Scenario

Here’s how you might define a scenario that would trigger the hooks:

@UI
Feature: User Login

  Scenario: Successful login with valid credentials
    Given I am on the login page
    When I enter valid username and password
    Then I should be logged in

In this example, when the scenario runs, all three @Before hooks will execute in the specified order, ensuring that the necessary setup is completed before the scenario is executed.

Summary

Using multiple @Before hooks allows you to organize your setup code effectively, ensuring that various aspects of your test environment are prepared before each scenario runs. You can control the execution order and selectively run hooks based on tags, making your test setup flexible and maintainable.

Author: learnwithdey