Finding the right steps

Entering steps with Step Reference and Step Autocompletion tools

testgrinder offers hundreds of steps for you to write your scenarios with. To help you find the right steps quickly, testgrinder offers two tools.

One is the Step Reference tool. You may access it from the Help page or by using the direct link on the project editor page

The Step Reference tool is there to help you explore the available steps. The steps are grouped into sections according to their purpose. When looking for a step, click through the sections on the left and see the corresponding steps on the right

Some steps come with variants. Once you find the step or a variant that you need, click it and the step will automatically copy into the clipboard. You may now go back to the project you were editing and paste the step into the scenario.

The second tool is Step Autocompletion. It kicks in automatically when you start entering a step:

The popup will list steps organized in sections just like in the Step Reference. Also, the description of the currently highlighted step is displayed.

If the highlighted step is the one you were looking for, press the Enter key to accept it. If you need to pick another step on the list, use the Up and Down keys to get to it and then press the Enter key. Or you can click the step you need using the mouse. If the step you are looking for is not listed, continue entering the step's words until the step you are looking for appears. Usually it takes just one or two words to get to the step you are looking for.

Once you select a step, the autocomplete popup will close, the step will appear in the scenario, and you will be offered a chance to fill in the step variables

The currently active variable is displayed in blue and the other variables in orange. To enter the variable value, simply type it in. To accept the entry and move on to the next variable, press either the Enter or Tab key. If you need to move back, press Shift + Tab. Once you press the Enter key (or the Tab key) on the last variable, the step entry will complete and the highlighting will be removed

If you finish the entry by pressing the Enter key (rather then the Tab key), the And keyword will be entered for you on the next line putting you in position to start working on the next step right away.

If you ever need to reopen the Autocomplete popup for a step, either move the cursor to the step's line and press Ctrl + Space, or double click the line with the mouse. This may be useful when you need to read the step's description.

If the step you pick from the Autocomplete popup has a variable with the same name as the previous step in the scenario, the Autocomplete tool will copy that variable for you. In the following example, the table name is automatically inferred from the previous line

We hope you will find the Step Reference and the Step Autocomplete tools useful in writing your scenarios. We'd like to find out from you if you find these tools useful.