Using behave¶

The command-line tool behave has a bunch of command-line arguments and is also configurable using configuration files.

Values defined in the configuration files are used as defaults which the command-line arguments may override.

Command-Line Arguments¶

You may see the same information presented below at any time using behave -h.

-C, --no-color¶: Disable colored mode.

--color COLORED¶: Use colored mode or not (default: auto).

-d, --dry-run¶: Invokes formatters without executing the steps.

-D NAME=VALUE, --define NAME=VALUE¶: Define user-specific data for the config.userdata dictionary. Example: -D foo=bar to store it in config.userdata[“foo”].

-e PATTERN, --exclude PATTERN¶: Don’t run feature files matching regular expression PATTERN.

-i PATTERN, --include PATTERN¶: Only run feature files matching regular expression PATTERN.

--no-junit¶: Don’t output JUnit-compatible reports.

--junit¶: Output JUnit-compatible reports. When junit is enabled, all stdout and stderr will be redirected and dumped to the junit report, regardless of the “–capture” and “–no-capture” options.

--junit-directory PATH¶: Directory in which to store JUnit reports.

-j NUMBER, --jobs NUMBER, --parallel NUMBER¶: Number of concurrent jobs to use (default: 1). Only supported by test runners that support parallel execution.

-f FORMATTER, --format FORMATTER¶: Specify a formatter. If none is specified the default formatter is used. Pass “–format help” to get a list of available formatters.

--steps-catalog¶: Show a catalog of all available step definitions. SAME AS: “– format=steps.catalog –dry-run –no-summary -q”.

--no-skipped¶: Don’t print skipped steps (due to tags).

--show-skipped¶: Print skipped steps. This is the default behaviour. This switch is used to override a configuration file setting.

--no-snippets¶: Don’t print snippets for unimplemented steps.

--snippets¶: Print snippets for unimplemented steps. This is the default behaviour. This switch is used to override a configuration file setting.

--no-multiline¶: Don’t print multiline strings and tables under steps.

--multiline¶: Print multiline strings and tables under steps. This is the default behaviour. This switch is used to override a configuration file setting.

-n NAME_PATTERN, --name NAME_PATTERN¶: Select feature elements (scenarios, …) to run which match part of the given name (regex pattern). If this option is given more than once, it will match against all the given names.

--capture¶: Enable capture mode (stdout/stderr/log-output). Any capture output will be printed on a failure/error.

--no-capture¶: Disable capture mode (stdout/stderr/log-output).

--capture-stdout¶: Enable capture of stdout.

--no-capture-stdout¶: Disable capture of stdout.

--capture-stderr¶: Enable capture of stderr.

--no-capture-stderr¶: Disable capture of stderr.

--capture-log, --logcapture¶: Enable capture of logging output.

--no-capture-log, --no-logcapture¶: Disable capture of logging output.

--capture-hooks¶: Enable capture of hooks (except: before_all).

--no-capture-hooks¶: Disable capture of hooks.

--logging-level LOG_LEVEL¶: Specify a level to capture logging at. The default is INFO - capturing everything.

--logging-format LOG_FORMAT¶: Specify custom format to print statements. Uses the same format as used by standard logging handlers. The default is “%(levelname)s:%(name)s:%(message)s”.

--logging-datefmt LOG_DATE_FORMAT¶: Specify custom date/time format to print statements. Uses the same format as used by standard logging handlers.

--logging-filter LOG_FILTER¶: Specify which statements to filter in/out. By default, everything is captured. If the output is too verbose, use this option to filter out needless output. Example: –logging-filter=foo will capture statements issued ONLY to foo or foo.what.ever.sub but not foobar or other logger. Specify multiple loggers with comma: filter=foo,bar,baz. If any logger name is prefixed with a minus, eg filter=-foo, it will be excluded rather than included.

--logging-clear-handlers¶: Clear existing logging handlers (during capture-log).

--no-logging-clear-handlers¶: Keep existing logging handlers (during capture-log).

--no-summary¶: Don’t display the summary at the end of the run.

--summary¶: Display the summary at the end of the run.

-o FILENAME, --outfile FILENAME¶: Write formatter output to output-file (default: stdout).

-q, --quiet¶: Alias for –no-snippets –no-source.

-r RUNNER_CLASS, --runner RUNNER_CLASS¶: Use own runner class, like: “behave.runner:Runner”

--no-source¶: Don’t print the file and line of the step definition with the steps.

--show-source¶: Print the file and line of the step definition with the steps. This is the default behaviour. This switch is used to override a configuration file setting.

--stage TEXT¶: Defines the current test stage. The test stage name is used as name prefix for the environment file and the steps directory (instead of default path names).

--stop¶: Stop running tests at the first failure.

-t TAG_EXPRESSION, --tags TAG_EXPRESSION¶: Only execute features or scenarios with tags matching TAG_EXPRESSION. Use --tags-help option for more information.

-T, --no-timings¶: Don’t print the time taken for each step.

--show-timings¶: Print the time taken, in seconds, of each step after the step has completed. This is the default behaviour. This switch is used to override a configuration file setting.

-v, --verbose¶: Show the files and features loaded.

-w, --wip¶: Only run scenarios tagged with “wip”. Additionally: use the “plain” formatter, do not capture stdout or logging output and stop at the first failure.

--lang LANG¶: Use keywords for a language other than English.

--lang-list¶: List the languages available for –lang.

--lang-help LANG¶: List the translations accepted for one language.

--tags-help¶: Show help for tag expressions.

--version¶: Show version.

Tag Expression¶

TAG-EXPRESSIONS selects Features/Rules/Scenarios by using their tags. A TAG-EXPRESSION is a boolean expression that references some tags.

EXAMPLES:

–tags=@smoke –tags=”not @xfail” –tags=”@smoke or @wip” –tags=”@smoke and @wip” –tags=”(@slow and not @fixme) or @smoke” –tags=”not (@fixme or @xfail)” –tags=”@smoke and {config.tags}”

NOTES:

The tag-prefix “@” is optional.
An empty tag-expression is “true” (select-anything).
Use “{config.tags}” placeholder on command-line to use tag-expressions from the config-file (from: “tags” or “default_tags”).

TAG-INHERITANCE:

A Rule inherits the tags of its Feature
A Scenario inherits the tags of its Feature or Rule.
A Scenario of a ScenarioOutline/ScenarioTemplate inherit tags from this ScenarioOutline/ScenarioTemplate and its Example table.

Configuration Files¶

Configuration files for behave are called either “.behaverc”, “behave.ini”, “setup.cfg”, “tox.ini”, or “pyproject.toml” (your preference) and are located in one of three places:

the current working directory (good for per-project settings),
your home directory ($HOME), or
on Windows, in the %APPDATA% directory.

If you are wondering where behave is getting its configuration defaults from you can use the “-v” command-line argument and it’ll tell you.

Configuration files must start with the label “[behave]” and are formatted in the Windows INI style, for example:

[behave]
default_format = plain
default_tags = not (@xfail or @not_implemented)
junit = true
junit_directory = build/behave.reports
logging_level = WARNING

Alternatively, if using “pyproject.toml” instead (note the “tool.” prefix):

[tool.behave]
default_format = "plain"
default_tags = "not (@xfail or @not_implemented)"
junit = true
junit_directory = "build/behave.reports"
logging_level = "WARNING"

NOTE: toml does not support ‘%’ interpolations.

Configuration File Parameter Types¶

The following types are supported (and used):

text

This just assigns whatever text you supply to the configuration setting.

bool

This assigns a boolean value to the configuration setting. The text describes the functionality when the value is true. True values are “1”, “yes”, “true”, and “on”. False values are “0”, “no”, “false”, and “off”. TOML: toml only accepts its native true

sequence<text>

These fields accept one or more values on new lines, for example a tag expression might look like:

default_tags= (@foo or not @bar) and @zap

which is the equivalent of the command-line usage:

--tags="(@foo or not @bar) and @zap"

TOML: toml can use arrays natively.

Configuration File Parameters¶

color : Colored (Enum)¶: Use colored mode or not (default: auto).

dry_run : bool¶: Invokes formatters without executing the steps.

exclude_re : text¶: Don’t run feature files matching regular expression PATTERN.

include_re : text¶: Only run feature files matching regular expression PATTERN.

junit : bool¶: Output JUnit-compatible reports. When junit is enabled, all stdout and stderr will be redirected and dumped to the junit report, regardless of the “–capture” and “–no-capture” options.

junit_directory : text¶: Directory in which to store JUnit reports.

jobs : positive_number¶: Number of concurrent jobs to use (default: 1). Only supported by test runners that support parallel execution.

default_format : text¶: Specify default formatter (default: pretty).

format : sequence<text>¶: Specify a formatter. If none is specified the default formatter is used. Pass “–format help” to get a list of available formatters.

steps_catalog : bool¶: Show a catalog of all available step definitions. SAME AS: “– format=steps.catalog –dry-run –no-summary -q”.

scenario_outline_annotation_schema : text¶: Specify name annotation schema for scenario outline (default=”{name} – @{row.id} {examples.name}”).

use_nested_step_modules : bool¶: Use subdirectories of steps directory to import steps (default: false).

show_skipped : bool¶: Print skipped steps. This is the default behaviour. This switch is used to override a configuration file setting.

show_snippets : bool¶: Print snippets for unimplemented steps. This is the default behaviour. This switch is used to override a configuration file setting.

show_multiline : bool¶: Print multiline strings and tables under steps. This is the default behaviour. This switch is used to override a configuration file setting.

name : sequence<text>¶: Select feature elements (scenarios, …) to run which match part of the given name (regex pattern). If this option is given more than once, it will match against all the given names.

capture : bool¶: Enable capture mode (stdout/stderr/log-output). Any capture output will be printed on a failure/error.

capture_stdout : bool¶: Enable capture of stdout.

capture_stderr : bool¶: Enable capture of stderr.

capture_log : bool¶: Enable capture of logging output.

capture_hooks : bool¶: Enable capture of hooks (except: before_all).

logging_level : text¶: Specify a level to capture logging at. The default is INFO - capturing everything.

logging_format : text¶: Specify custom format to print statements. Uses the same format as used by standard logging handlers. The default is “%(levelname)s:%(name)s:%(message)s”.

logging_datefmt : text¶: Specify custom date/time format to print statements. Uses the same format as used by standard logging handlers.

logging_filter : text¶: Specify which statements to filter in/out. By default, everything is captured. If the output is too verbose, use this option to filter out needless output. Example: logging_filter = foo will capture statements issued ONLY to “foo” or “foo.what.ever.sub” but not “foobar” or other logger. Specify multiple loggers with comma: logging_filter = foo,bar,baz. If any logger name is prefixed with a minus, eg logging_filter = -foo, it will be excluded rather than included.

logging_clear_handlers : bool¶: Clear existing logging handlers (during capture-log).

summary : bool¶: Display the summary at the end of the run.

outfiles : sequence<text>¶: Write formatter output to output-file (default: stdout).

paths : sequence<text>¶: Specify default feature paths, used when none are provided.

tag_expression_protocol : TagExpressionProtocol (Enum)¶: Specify the tag-expression protocol to use (default: v2). Only tag- expressions v2 are supported (since: behave v1.4.0).

quiet : bool¶: Alias for –no-snippets –no-source.

runner : text¶: Use own runner class, like: “behave.runner:Runner”

show_source : bool¶: Print the file and line of the step definition with the steps. This is the default behaviour. This switch is used to override a configuration file setting.

stage : text¶: Defines the current test stage. The test stage name is used as name prefix for the environment file and the steps directory (instead of default path names).

stop : bool¶: Stop running tests at the first failure.

default_tags : text¶: Use default tags when non are provided. Alternative to tags : text (if missing).

tags : text¶: Select a subset of features/rules/scenarios to execute based on the tag expression. See below for how to code tag expressions in configuration files.

show_timings : bool¶: Print the time taken, in seconds, of each step after the step has completed. This is the default behaviour. This switch is used to override a configuration file setting.

verbose : bool¶: Show the files and features loaded.

wip : bool¶: Only run scenarios tagged with “wip”. Additionally: use the “plain” formatter, do not capture stdout or logging output and stop at the first failure.

lang : text¶: Use keywords for a language other than English.

Additional Configuration File Sections¶

Section: behave.userdata¶

This section is used to define user-specific paramters (aka: userdata) for the config.userdata dictionary.

FILE: behave.ini¶

[behave.userdata]
foo = Alice
bar = Bon

Alternatively, if using “pyproject.toml”:

FILE: pyproject.toml¶

[tool.behave.userdata]
foo = "Alice"
bar = "Bob"

which is the equivalent of the command-line usage:

SHELL¶

behave -D foo=Alice -D bar=Bob ...

See Userdata for usage examples, type conversion and advanced use cases.

Section: behave.formatters¶

This configuration file section is used to:

Define aliases for own formatters
Override the mapping of builtin formatters

FILE: behave.ini¶

[behave.formatters]
allure = allure_behave.formatter:AllureFormatter
html   = behave_html_formatter:HTMLFormatter
html-pretty = behave_html_pretty_formatter:PrettyHTMLFormatter

FILE: pyproject.toml¶

[tool.behave.formatters]
allure = "allure_behave.formatter:AllureFormatter"
html   = "behave_html_formatter:HTMLFormatter"
html-pretty = "behave_html_pretty_formatter:PrettyHTMLFormatter"

You can then use this formatter alias on the command-line (or in the config-file):

SHELL¶

behave -f html --output=report.html ...

See Formatters and Reporters for more information.

Section: behave.runners¶

This configuration file section is used to:

Define aliases for own test runners
Override the mapping of builtin test runners

FILE: behave.ini¶

[behave.runners]
mine = behave4me.runner:SuperDuperRunner

FILE: pyproject.toml¶

[behave.runners]
mine = "behave4me.runner:SuperDuperRunner"

You can then use this runner alias on the command-line:

SHELL¶

behave --runner=mine ...

See Runners for more information.