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

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

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

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

-i, --include¶: 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¶: Directory in which to store JUnit reports.

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

-f, --format¶: 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¶: 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.

--no-capture¶: Don’t capture stdout (any stdout output will be printed immediately.)

--capture¶: Capture stdout (any stdout output will be printed if there is a failure.) This is the default behaviour. This switch is used to override a configuration file setting.

--no-capture-stderr¶: Don’t capture stderr (any stderr output will be printed immediately.)

--capture-stderr¶: Capture stderr (any stderr output will be printed if there is a failure.) This is the default behaviour. This switch is used to override a configuration file setting.

--no-logcapture¶: Don’t capture logging. Logging configuration will be left intact.

--logcapture¶: Capture logging. All logging during a step will be captured and displayed in the event of a failure. This is the default behaviour. This switch is used to override a configuration file setting.

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

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

--logging-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 all other logging handlers.

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

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

-o, --outfile¶: Write to specified file instead of stdout.

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

-r, --runner¶: 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¶: 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, --tags¶: Only execute features or scenarios with tags matching TAG_EXPRESSION. Pass “–tags-help” 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¶: Use keywords for a language other than English.

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

--lang-help¶: 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)”

NOTES:

The tag-prefix “@” is optional.
An empty tag-expression is “true” (select-anything).

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]
format=plain
logging_clear_handlers=yes
logging_filter=-suds

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

[tool.behave]
format = "plain"
logging_clear_handlers = true
logging_filter = "-suds"

NOTE: toml does not support ‘%’ interpolations.

Configuration 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 Parameters¶

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

dry_run : bool: Invokes formatters without executing the steps.

userdata_defines : sequence<text>: Define user-specific data for the config.userdata dictionary. Example: -D foo=bar to store it in config.userdata[“foo”].

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}”).

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.

stdout_capture : bool: Capture stdout (any stdout output will be printed if there is a failure.) This is the default behaviour. This switch is used to override a configuration file setting.

stderr_capture : bool: Capture stderr (any stderr output will be printed if there is a failure.) This is the default behaviour. This switch is used to override a configuration file setting.

log_capture : bool: Capture logging. All logging during a step will be captured and displayed in the event of a failure. This is the default behaviour. This switch is used to override a configuration file setting.

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 all other logging handlers.

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

outfiles : sequence<text>: Write to specified file instead of 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: auto_detect). With “v1”, only tag-expressions v1 are supported. With “v2”, only tag-expressions v2 are supported. With “auto_detect”, tag- expressions v1 and v2 are auto-detected.

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 : sequence<text>: Define default tags when non are provided. See –tags for more information.

tags : sequence<text>: Only execute certain features or scenarios based on the tag expression given. 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.