In Specflow can I run one test as a step of another?

Question

TL;DR; How can I create a specflow test that calls another test as its first step?

Given I already have one specflow test
And I want to run another test that goes deeper than the first test  
Then I create a second test that runs the first test as its first step
And I add additional steps to test the deeper functionality

Sorry, little bit of specflow humor there.

eg I have a test that creates a sale already:

Given I want to create a sales order
And I open the sales order page
And I click the add new order button
Then a new sales order is created

And I want to have another test that tests adding a sales line

And another test that tests completing the sale

And another test that cancels the sale

And .. so on

All of those tests would start with the same first four steps as the simple test, which breaks the DRY principle. So how can I do it so that the first step of the 2nd test just runs the first test? eg something like:

Given I have run the create sales order test  // right here it just runs the first test
And I add a sales order line
Then the order total is updated

If every test starts off with the same first four lines, and later on I realize that I need to change the simple create sale test, then I will also need to go and find and fix everywhere else that repeats those four lines.

EDIT: Note that this should also be able to work across features. eg The simple test above is defined in the sales feature. But I would also have a credits feature, and that would require creating a sale each time in order to be able to credit it:

Given I want to credit a sale
And I run the create sales order test
And I complete the the sale
And I click the credit button
Then the sale is credited

Answer 1

As noted already you can use a background for this (and that's probably the best option in most situations), but you can also create a step which calls the other steps.

[Binding]
public class MySteps: Steps //Inheriting this base class is vital or the methods used below won't be available
{
    [Given("I have created an order")]
    public void CreateOrder()
    {
         Given("I want to create a sales order");
         Given("I open the sales order page");
         Given("I click the add new order button");
         Then("a new sales order is created");
    }
}

which you can then use in your scenario:

Scenario: I add another sale
    Given I have created an order
    When I add a sales order line
    Then the order total is updated

This has the advantage that this composite step can be used anywhere in the scenario and not just as a starting point. This step can then be reused across multiple features if you need

Answer 2

Use a Background:

Background:
    Given I want to create a sales order
    And I open the sales order page
    And I click the add new order button
    Then a new sales order is created

Scenario: I add another sale
    When I add a sales order line
    Then the order total is updated

Scenario: I add cancel a sale
    When I cancel a sale
    Then the order total is updated to 0

etc.

Answer 3

You don't need to run actual steps to create a sales order. Just implement a step definition that does this for you as a one-liner.

First, the fictional SalesOrder class:

public class SalesOrder
{
    public double Amount { get; set; }
    public string Description { get; set; }
}

Then the step definitions

using TechTalk.SpecFlow;
using TechTalk.SpecFlow.Assist;

[Binding]
public class SalesOrderSteps
{
    [Given("I have already created a Sales Order")]
    public void GivenIHaveAlreadyCreatedASalesOrder()
    {
        var order = new SalesOrder()
        {
            // .. set default properties
        };

        // Save to scenario context so subsequent steps can access it
        ScenarioContext.Current.Set<SalesOrder>(order);

        using (var db = new DatabaseContext())
        {
            db.SalesOrders.Add(order);
            db.SaveChanges();
        }
    }

    [Given("I have already created a Sales Order with the following attributes:")]
    public void GivenIHaveAlreadyCreatedASalesOrderWithTheFollowingAttributes(Table table)
    {
        var order = table.CreateInstance<SalesOrder>();

        // Save to scenario context so subsequent steps can access it
        ScenarioContext.Current.Set<SalesOrder>(order);

        using (var db = new DatabaseContext())
        {
            db.SalesOrders.Add(order);
            db.SaveChanges();
        }
    }
}

Now you can create Sales orders as a one-liner and optionally include some custom attributes:

Scenario: Something
    Given I have already created a Sales Order

Scenario: Something else
    Given I have already created a Sales Order with the following attributes:
        | Field       | Value             |
        | Amount      | 25.99             |
        | Description | Just a test order |

If you need to access that SalesOrder object in other step definitions without querying for it in the database, use ScenarioContext.Current.Get<SalesOrder>() to retrieve that object from the scenario context.

Answer 4

If I understand the question correctly, you want to call other scenarios across different feature files.

1. You can handle this by creating a step which would call the steps in the scenario (basically nested steps like the accepted answer above).
2. Add the created step to the Background

or

1. Create a function which would call the steps in the scenario.
2. Add a tag @create_sale_order to the scenarios that needs a sale order as precondition.
3. Implement a before scenario hook for the tag @create_sale_order and call the function created at step 1.