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          


        

Answer 1

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(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();

        // Save to scenario context so subsequent steps can access it
        ScenarioContext.Current.Set(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() to retrieve that object from the scenario context.