Using feature files for API test automation - 3

In here the entire user payload is read from the examples table and stored as a Map in the step definition. 

This approach is useful when you have a small number of fields in the request body, and you can easily read them from the feature file's data table.

Scenario Outline: Create User Successfully

    Given the user payload is:
      | first_name    | <first_name> |
      | last_name     | <last_name>  |
      | email         | <email>      |
      | mobile_phone  | <mobile_phone> |
      | date_of_birth | <date_of_birth> |
      | password      | <password>   |
      | username      | <username>   |

    When I send a <method> request to <path>

    Then the response status code should be <status_code>

    Examples:
    | first_name | last_name | email                 | mobile_phone | date_of_birth | password  | username | method | path           | status_code |
    | John       | Doe       | john.doe@example.com  | 1234567890  | 1990-01-01    | password | johndoe  | POST   | /users/create | 201         |

My stpe definition is as below;

public class CreateUserStepDefinitions {

    private RequestSpecification requestSpec;
    private Response response;
    private Map<String, String> userPayload = new HashMap<>();

    @Given("the user payload is:")
    public void the_user_payload_is(Map<String, String> userData) {
        this.userPayload = userData;
    }

    @When("I send a {string} request to {string}")
    public void i_send_a_request_to(String method, String path) {
        requestSpec = RestAssured.given()
                .contentType(ContentType.JSON)
                .body(userPayload);

        response = requestSpec.when()
                .request(method, path);
    }

    @Then("the response status code should be {int}")
    public void the_response_status_code_should_be(int expectedStatusCode) {
        assertEquals(expectedStatusCode, response.getStatusCode());
    }

}

Let me explain the java bits in here - 

In the method the_user_payload_is, the Map<String, String> userData parameter contains the data that was provided in the Examples table of the feature file. The data is in key-value pairs where the key represents the column header and the value represents the corresponding cell value.

this.userPayload variable is an instance variable of the class (which means it can be accessed from any method within the class). In the_user_payload_is method, we are assigning the userData map to the userPayload instance variable. This is done so that we can access the userPayload map in other methods within the class, specifically the i_send_a_request_to method.

In the i_send_a_request_to method, we are using the userPayload map as the body of the request. 

The RestAssured.given() method is used to start building the request. It is followed by the .contentType(ContentType.JSON) method, which specifies that the request body will be in JSON format. The .body(userPayload) method sets the request body as the userPayload object, which contains the data for creating a new user.

The requestSpec.when().request(method, path) method is then called to send the request to the server with the given method and path. This method returns a response object, which is stored in the response variable for later use in the_response_status_code_should_be method.