Is there a editor tool for editing .feature file

[Qingsong]

Hello, Guys
I wonder whether we have a light weight tool for editing .feature
file, so that our PM don't need to install VS on their laptop

Thanks
Qingsong

[Dom Finn]

They can write them in any editor they want. It's free text. I have been writing them in notepad++

You could just create a spreadsheet and then extract them after for feature files. You could even automate the  update into feature files easy enough?

[Qingsong Yao]

I found http://groups.google.com/group/watir-general/browse_thread/thread/676fab2aa5abd721?pli=1 is good for notepad++.

[chassa]

Did you look already at SpecLog (www.speclog.net), a tool we are
working on to help building living documentation systems based on
SpecFlow feature files?

+) It provides a nicer reading format for Gherkin
+) You can use it to arrange and navigate hierarchical feature trees
+) The client is a standalone .NET application that can be installed
easily on any client
+) You can sync feature files from a source code repository
+) You can sync feature tree structure across multiple clients
+) The client also allows offline viewing of feature files

SpecLog currently supports linking feature files and viewing/browsing
them, as we see this as the primary features required to involve
business into the process.
Rather than providing a Gherkin editor, SpecLog allows preparing
acceptance criteria, which can be copied into SpecFlow feature files
for further formalization and automation through the team. Business
can then review the formalized scenarios and annotate them through
SpecLog.
We are still evaluating, whether we should integrate a Gherkin editor
into SpecLog, or whether it is enough to start Visual Studio
(triggered from SpecLog, if navigating from there) for editing feature
files.

I'd be interested in your feedback, how this fits to your scenario.

Christian

[nitro52]

Speclog looks very nice. I've had a bit of a play around with it and
noticed a few things. Unfortunatly our business contains scenarios
where we need to do complex calculations. We have a data driven
feature with 10+ columns and about 500 different iterations. The UI is
a bit unresponsive when loading this feature,and the columns get
squished in the example and become unreadable.

Also i like seeing the links between requirements, is there a way to
always show them? One thing i would like to see is a better table
editor but i guess thats a bit out of scope at the moment.

[chassa]

We will improve the Gherkin display to better allow displaying broader
tables soon (allowing to use the full display width).
We are also keen on having a responsive UI, although I am not sure
that we will be able to provide a better table editing experience
than, lets say "Excel" :-).
You can permanently show relations between requirements by toggling
this on in the navigator menu.

Your usage pattern sounds interesting:
Do I understand correctly, that you are providing 500 different
examples for the same key example (scenario, acceptance criteria)? How
many of these examples are used to build a shared understanding and
how many of these examples are serving more for testing purposes to
explore different edge cases? Have you considered splitting the
example into smaller parts to reduce the number of edge cases, or is
it then not readable for business anymore?

[nitro52]

I guess mainly for testing. The Feature the scenario is testing is a
pretty core to the application. It basically performs a calculation
based on some fields, unfortunately there are about 10 different
fields and not all of them have to have a value however when they do
have a value it will affect the outcome and sometimes varies based on
other optional fields. sure it would be possible to split them into
smaller scenarios but the number of permutations i'm guessing would
turn this feature to probably about 100 scenarios each having 10 or so
iterations. Because of this i think its easy to say given i have these
fields with this data when i perform this action then the i should get
this expected result. It also makes it easier to identify boundaries
that have not been tested, its hard to see this when the test data is
split over multiple scenario's

[chassa]

I see. My gut feeling tells my I'd prefer 100 scenarios with 10 rows
each over 1 scenario with 500 rows, but it is hard to judge without
seeing the actual table, and - even more important - how people
maintain, extend, review and collaborate on these examples over time
as the product evolves.

[radv...@gmail.com]

I suggest using Excel add-in/VS Specflow add-in integration
See my post:
http://groups.google.com/group/specflow/browse_thread/thread/460dd809e92d9360

Rad

> > split over multiple scenario's- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

[jonathan...@gmail.com]

Hi

I found this tool (Specflow editor) on the following site:

https://sites.google.com/site/specfloweditor/

it looks like you can use it without the need of visual studio or import step definitions from visual studio.

[chassa]

There's now also SpecFlow+LivingDoc, which provides easy access to feature files without Visual Studio: http://specflow.org/plus/specflow-livingdoc-private-beta/

We'll eventually turn this into a web based editor, but for now it's read-only, easy to use access to feature files for everyone who doesn't use Visual Studio.