Cucumber Java - How to use returned String from a step in next step?

Question

I need to automate some webservices, i create some methods for that and i want to use Cucumber for that but i can't figure how to use returned value in next step.

So, i have this Feature:

Feature: Create Client and place order

  Scenario: Syntax
    Given I create client type: "66"
    And I create for client: "OUTPUTVALUEfromGiven" an account type "123"
    And I create for client: "OUTPUTVALUEfromGiven" an account type "321"
    And I want to place order for: "outputvalueFromAnd1"

and i have this Steps:

public class CreateClientSteps {


@Given("^I create client type: \"([^\"]*)\"$")
public static String iCreateClient(String clientType) {

    String clientID = "";
    System.out.println(clientType);
    try {
      clientID = util.createClient(clientType);
    } catch (IOException e) {
        e.printStackTrace();
    }
    return clientID;

}

@And("^I create for client: \"([^\"]*)\" an account type \"([^\"]*)\"$")
public static String createAccount(String clientID, String accountType) {


    String orderID = "";
    try {
        orderID = util.createAccount(clientID,accountType);
    } catch (IOException e) {
        e.printStackTrace();
    }
    return orderID;
    }
}

It's any way to use the returned values from step to step?

Thank you!

Answer 1

Sharing state between steps, which is how I interpret your question, is not done by examining a returned value. It is done by setting the value in an instance variable and later read that instance variable in another step.

I would change your steps to this in order to achieve that:

public class CreateClientSteps {
    private String clientID;
    private String orderID;

    @Given("^I create client type: \"([^\"]*)\"$")
    public void iCreateClient(String clientType) {
        System.out.println(clientType);
        try {
            clientID = util.createClient(clientType);
        } catch (IOException e) {
            e.printStackTrace();
        }
    }

    @And("^I create for client: \"([^\"]*)\" an account type \"([^\"]*)\"$")
    public void createAccount(String clientID, String accountType) {
        try {
            orderID = util.createAccount(clientID, accountType);
        } catch (IOException e) {
            e.printStackTrace();
        }
    }
}

The things I changed are

• Two fields for sharing state - other steps can read the values later
• Non static methods - Cucumber recreates the step class for every scenario, therefore I don't want the fields to be static since that would mean that their values would leak between scenarios

This is how you share state between steps in the same class. Sharing state between steps in different classes can also be done. It is a bit more complicated. Ask if you are interested.

Answer 2

I solved in other way, i know the question it's from last year but maybe someone will find this usefull in the future.

So, i created a 'ClientsMap.java' where i store the outputs from last sentences. EX:

public class ClientsMap {

private static ArrayListMultimap<Integer, String> multimapCardNumber = ArrayListMultimap.create();

...

public static void addCardNumber(String cardNumberValue) {
        multimapCardNumber.put(multimapCardNumber.size(), cardNumberValue);
    }

public static String returnSpecificCardNumber(int specificCardNumberPosition) {
        String returnedCardNumber = multimapCardNumber.get(specificCardNumberPosition - 1).get(0);
        return returnedCardNumber;
    }

    }

Then i created some specific keywords to be used in sentences like:

And I want to make a card transaction with this parameters:
      | XXX                   | 9999                        |
      | accountNumber         | account1-client1            |
      | cardNumber            | cardNumber1                 |

Then i have a method behind who check for keywords like 'cardNumber' and retrieve position of card like this:

if (paramsList[i].startsWith("cardNumber")) {
                String cardNumberPosition = paramsList[i].replaceAll("[^0-9]", "");
                paramsList[i] = returnSpecificCardNumber(Integer.valueOf(cardNumberPosition));
            }

And after each Scenario don't forget to delete map.