Gherkin to Robot Framework Converter

Welcome to the Gherkin to Robot Framework Converter project! This tool is designed to help you bridge the gap between Gherkin's human-readable specifications and Robot Framework's powerful automation capabilities.

This project aims to parse Gherkin .feature files and automatically generate .robot files suitable for execution with Robot Framework.

Gherkin and Cucumber

Gherkin is a Business Readable, Domain Specific Language (DSL) that lets you describe software’s behavior without detailing how that behavior is implemented. It is designed to be easy to understand by non-technical stakeholders.

Cucumber is a tool that executes Gherkin specifications. It reads Gherkin documents and runs the steps defined in them. These steps are typically written in a programming language like Python or Java.

The basic Gherkin syntax includes the following keywords:

• Feature: Describes a software feature, and groups related scenarios.
• Scenario: Describes a particular example of the feature's behavior.
• Given: Describes the initial context or preconditions.
• When: Describes an action or event.
• Then: Describes the expected outcome or result.
• And, But: Used to add more Given, When, or Then steps.

Robot Framework

Robot Framework is a generic open-source automation framework. It can be used for test automation and robotic process automation (RPA). It has easy-to-use tabular syntax and it utilizes the keyword-driven testing approach. Its testing capabilities can be extended by test libraries implemented either with Python or Java.

Robot Framework's keyword-driven approach means that test cases are created using keywords, which are pre-defined or user-defined actions. This makes the tests easy to read and write, even for people who are not programmers.

Robot Framework can be used with Gherkin in a few ways:

• Converting Gherkin to Robot tests: This is what this project aims to do. By converting Gherkin .feature files into .robot files, you can leverage Robot Framework's execution engine and reporting capabilities.
• Using libraries: Some libraries allow Robot Framework to understand Gherkin syntax directly or provide a way to map Gherkin steps to Robot Framework keywords.

Gherkin Language Parser Workflow

The following diagram illustrates the process of parsing Gherkin .feature files:

graph TD
    Input[".feature file (Raw Text)"] --> Lexer["Lexical Analyzer (Tokenizer)"]
    Lexer --> Tokens["Token Stream"]
    Tokens --> Parser["Syntax Analyzer (Parser)"]
    Grammar["Gherkin Grammar Rules"] --> Parser
    Parser --> AST["Abstract Syntax Tree (AST)"]

(Note: The original D2 source for a similar diagram is available in the diagrams/gherkin_parser_workflow.d2 file.)

Project's Gherkin Parser Implementation

This project utilizes a Gherkin parser, following the principles illustrated in the diagram above, to process .feature files. The core parsing logic can be found in src/gherkbot/parser.py. The Abstract Syntax Tree (AST) generated by this parser serves as the crucial structured data input for the src/gherkbot/converter.py module. This converter module is then responsible for transforming the Gherkin AST into executable Robot Framework test cases (.robot files).

Features

• Parses Gherkin syntax from .feature files.
• Converts Gherkin scenarios into Robot Framework test cases.
• (Future) Maps Gherkin steps to Robot Framework keywords.

Usage

The ultimate goal is to provide a command-line interface (CLI) tool for seamless conversion of Gherkin feature files to Robot Framework test files.

Intended Usage (Under Development):

python -m gherkbot.cli --input path/to/your/file.feature --output path/to/your/outputfile.robot

• Input: Path to a Gherkin .feature file.
• Output: Path to the generated Robot Framework .robot file.

Currently, the CLI and the full conversion logic are under active development. You can explore the existing parser and converter modules directly:

• src/gherkbot/parser.py: Contains the Gherkin parsing logic.
• src/gherkbot/converter.py: Contains the logic for converting the parsed Gherkin AST to Robot Framework format.