To switch into Gherkin Text Editor Mode use the mode buttons in the footer section of the editor panel
* Note that in the Data Center version of the app the mode buttons are located on the left and the Save & Cancel buttons on the right
Syntax Highlighting
Gherkin Keywords
All Gherkin keywords are highlighted using colour and bold font
No '*'
Note that using * (asterisk character) as a step keyword is not supported as it does not improve readability of the examples
User Story Keywords
The commonly used set of user story keywords (As a, I want to, So that) can be entered in the Feature title section like below:
User story keywords don’t need to be at the start of the line and you can use either lower or upper case as needed
The 'to’ part in the “I want to“ keyword can be omitted and in the “As a” keyword you can enter either “As a“ or “As an”
Simple Step Parameters
Simple parameters (those that are on the same line as the step keyword) can be highlighted by simply wrapping them in single or double quotes
Scenario Outline Parameters
<> delimited step parameters which are used as part of Scenario Template or Scenario Outline are highlighted automatically in orange
Use autocomplete
Use autocompletion support to quickly populate Examples table header section with the names of the parameters that you have used in parameterized steps above. Simply press 'Ctrl+Space' to bring up the auto completion menu
Scenario outline parameters are also supported inside tabular step parameters
Doc String Step Parameters
Doc strings are highlighted in purple colour
Backticks ```
The use of backtick characters instead of quotes is supported
XML Step Parameters
If you enter 'xml' after the opening characters of a doc strings parameter then any XML that you enter before the closing doc strings characters is automatically syntax highlighted
Tags
Tags are highlighted in grey colour
Comments
Comments are highlighted in grey colour
Fold comments
Comments spanning several lines can be conveniently folded using fold/unfold gutter icons
Questions & Answers
A comment prefix character '#' is used followed by ‘Q:' or 'A:’ to highlight questions and answers respectively. Or the more elaborate version: “Question:“ and “Answer:”
Tip - you can turn off the showing of gutter icons on the left via an editor menu option shown below
Invalid text
If there is any text that according to the Cucumber Gherkin syntax does not belong to any of the Feature file elements, then it is underlined in red and an error icon is shown in the gutter
Note that such errors to be highlighted the 'Errors' option in the Gutter options drop down menu must be turned on as shown below
Autocomplete
Press keyboard shortcut Ctrl+Space or Alt+Click to bring up the autocomplete options menu.
Gherkin keywords
Available options are dependent on where the cursor is currently positioned within the feature file.
Tip - to quickly change the Step keyword simply hover over and do Alt+Click to show the autocomplete options menu. Picking an option will replace the already entered keyword that is temporarily highlighted in yellow.
Examples table header
Inside the header row of an example table the autocomplete menu contains names of the scenario parameters that have been entered above using the <> step parameter syntax.
Autocomplete can also be triggered if the cursor is inside the already entered column header text to easily replace the header value with another
Autocomplete can also be triggered by placing the cursor after the last header column and pressing 'Ctrl+Space'
Once the option is picked the autocomplete will also enter the necessary '|' divider characters for the new column and place the cursor in the next cell down
If you need to rename a scenario parameter that you have already entered in several of the scenario steps, do it by updating the last occurrence that is in the Examples header section.
This way the other occurrences above will be updated automatically and momentarily highlighted in yellow as you type to indicate the automatic renaming.
Auto Formatting
Correct line indentation
Spaces are used to indent relevant sections of a Feature according to the format rules of Gherkin. To correct indentation warnings, simply click the highlighted toolbar button. Clicking on the highlighted button while holding the Shift key will remove indentation from all lines.
No Tabs
Note that using the Tab characters for indentation is not supported. Whenever you press the Tab key two spaces will be inserted instead.
If you are pasting Feature content from external editors, any Tabs that are pasted may lead to auto indentation not working.
Indent only selected lines
You can also selectively apply the indentation corrections to only the sections that have been selected
Automatic alignment of tables
Columns in data tables used in step parameters as well as tables in the Examples sections are automatically aligned as you type
Note that for the automatic alignment to work the editor option shown below must be turned on
Remove trailing white space
To delete unnecessary white space from a table column, simply place the cursor at the end of the cell’s white space and press the Backspace key or double click to select the white space and press the Delete key.
Syntax Checking
Any Gherkin syntax errors are automatically highlighted so that they could be easily corrected.
Out of order Gherkin keywords
Hovering over the highlighted error will give more details in a pop up message
Missing data table header names
Missing data table cells
Missing Examples table value
Unused Scenario parameter
Duplicate Examples table column
Incorrect indentation
A warning is shown for any lines that are not at expected indentation level according to Gherkin syntax
Tip - to correct indentation of a data table, simply place the cursor before the leading cell of any of the rows and press Space or Tab key to adjust indentation of all rows together
To unindent press Delete key or Shift+Tab
Fold Sections
The following Feature sections can be folded:
Feature
Background
Rule
Scenario
Examples
Comments that span consecutive lines
Doc string step parameters
Fold gutter icons
Use the pointed triangle icons in the editor gutter to fold/unfold different Feature sections
Folded section summary
Folded lines have trailing arrow like symbols along with any gutter markers contained within the folded range. Clicking on it will unfold the range.
Fold sections on page load
It is often useful to have certain sections folded when the issue page loads in order to minimize information overload when you simply want to quickly review the issue at a high level without going into the details. This behaviour can be turned on/off using the Editor preferences option highlighted below.
Fold all Scenarios
To fold or unfold all Scenarios in one operation use the highlighted toolbar buttons
Fold all Rules
To fold or unfold all Rules in one operation use the highlighted toolbar buttons and hold ‘Alt’ key while clicking
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