The cucumber --format stepdefs stack trace is too harsh and doesn't provide a solution

[mbigras]

Summary

Thank you for this project!

I'm having an issue when using cucumber --format stepdefs when there is a typo in my step.
The cucumber --format stepdefs stack trace is too harsh and doesn't provide guidance to a solution.
Issues #953 and #955 point out a problem with using the --format stepdefs flag but don't clarify the problem or provide a solution.

The work around solution is:

• remove the step
• comment out the step
• make a stub definition of the step

Main idea

Given I first installed cucumber and aruba
And I'm not an expert at debugging Ruby applications
And I make a typo in my step
And I want to check out the avaiable step definitions to see what my typo was
When I run `cucumber --format stepdefs`
Then the command should fail
And I shouldn't be shown a 40 line Ruby stack trace
And there should be a helpful error message that looks something like:
  """
  You can't use the `--format stepdefs` flag with undefined steps!
  Implement the steps and try again.

  You can implement step definitions for undefined steps with these snippets:

  Then("the command should pass with:") do |string|
    pending # Write code here that turns the phrase above into concrete actions
  end
  """

Or, there should be a feature to just preview all the steps.
Or, the `--dry-run` switch should work.

Steps to Reproduce (for bugs)

gem install cucumber:3.1.0 aruba:0.14.5
mkdir cukular_bomb
cd cukular_bomb/
cucumber --init
cat <<'EOF' > features/support/env.rb
require 'aruba/cucumber'
EOF
cat <<'EOF' > features/helloruby.feature
Feature: Ruby's command line interface
  Scenario: Using the -e flag
    When I run `ruby -e 'print "hello world!"'`
    Then the command should pass with:
      """
      hello world!
      """
EOF
cucumber
cucumber --format stepdefs
cucumber --format stepdefs 2>&1 | awk 'END { print NR }'

Context & Motivation

Showing a user a 40 line stack trace for making a typo in the step definition is too harsh and not helpful.

Your Environment

sw_vers
ProductName:	Mac OS X
ProductVersion:	10.12.6
BuildVersion:	16G1036

gem list cucumber aruba

*** LOCAL GEMS ***

cucumber (3.1.0)
cucumber-core (3.1.0, 2.0.0)
cucumber-expressions (5.0.13)
cucumber-tag_expressions (1.1.1)
cucumber-wire (0.0.1)

*** LOCAL GEMS ***

aruba (0.14.5)

Also, there is a repo I put together that will also reproduce the error: https://github.com/mbigras/cukular_bomb

Stack trace for reference

cucumber --format stepdefs
.undefined method `step_definition' for nil:NilClass (NoMethodError)
/Users/mbigras/.gem/ruby/2.4.2/gems/cucumber-3.1.0/lib/cucumber/formatter/usage.rb:41:in `on_test_step_finished'
/Users/mbigras/.gem/ruby/2.4.2/gems/cucumber-core-3.1.0/lib/cucumber/core/event_bus.rb:34:in `block in broadcast'
/Users/mbigras/.gem/ruby/2.4.2/gems/cucumber-core-3.1.0/lib/cucumber/core/event_bus.rb:34:in `each'
/Users/mbigras/.gem/ruby/2.4.2/gems/cucumber-core-3.1.0/lib/cucumber/core/event_bus.rb:34:in `broadcast'
/Users/mbigras/.gem/ruby/2.4.2/gems/cucumber-core-3.1.0/lib/cucumber/core/event_bus.rb:40:in `method_missing'
/Users/mbigras/.gem/ruby/2.4.2/gems/cucumber-core-3.1.0/lib/cucumber/core/test/runner.rb:35:in `around_hook'
/Users/mbigras/.gem/ruby/2.4.2/gems/cucumber-core-3.1.0/lib/cucumber/core/test/around_hook.rb:12:in `describe_to'
/Users/mbigras/.gem/ruby/2.4.2/gems/cucumber-core-3.1.0/lib/cucumber/core/test/case.rb:120:in `block (2 levels) in compose_around_hooks'
/Users/mbigras/.gem/ruby/2.4.2/gems/cucumber-core-3.1.0/lib/cucumber/core/test/case.rb:121:in `compose_around_hooks'
/Users/mbigras/.gem/ruby/2.4.2/gems/cucumber-core-3.1.0/lib/cucumber/core/test/case.rb:26:in `block in describe_to'
/Users/mbigras/.gem/ruby/2.4.2/gems/cucumber-core-3.1.0/lib/cucumber/core/test/runner.rb:19:in `test_case'
/Users/mbigras/.gem/ruby/2.4.2/gems/cucumber-core-3.1.0/lib/cucumber/core/test/case.rb:25:in `describe_to'
/Users/mbigras/.gem/ruby/2.4.2/gems/cucumber-3.1.0/lib/cucumber/filters/prepare_world.rb:12:in `test_case'
/Users/mbigras/.gem/ruby/2.4.2/gems/cucumber-core-3.1.0/lib/cucumber/core/test/case.rb:25:in `describe_to'
/Users/mbigras/.gem/ruby/2.4.2/gems/cucumber-core-3.1.0/lib/cucumber/core/filter.rb:57:in `test_case'
/Users/mbigras/.gem/ruby/2.4.2/gems/cucumber-3.1.0/lib/cucumber/filters/retry.rb:18:in `test_case'
/Users/mbigras/.gem/ruby/2.4.2/gems/cucumber-core-3.1.0/lib/cucumber/core/test/case.rb:25:in `describe_to'
/Users/mbigras/.gem/ruby/2.4.2/gems/cucumber-3.1.0/lib/cucumber/filters/quit.rb:12:in `test_case'
/Users/mbigras/.gem/ruby/2.4.2/gems/cucumber-core-3.1.0/lib/cucumber/core/test/case.rb:25:in `describe_to'
/Users/mbigras/.gem/ruby/2.4.2/gems/cucumber-3.1.0/lib/cucumber/filters/broadcast_test_run_started_event.rb:20:in `block in done'
/Users/mbigras/.gem/ruby/2.4.2/gems/cucumber-3.1.0/lib/cucumber/filters/broadcast_test_run_started_event.rb:19:in `map'
/Users/mbigras/.gem/ruby/2.4.2/gems/cucumber-3.1.0/lib/cucumber/filters/broadcast_test_run_started_event.rb:19:in `done'
/Users/mbigras/.gem/ruby/2.4.2/gems/cucumber-core-3.1.0/lib/cucumber/core/filter.rb:62:in `done'
/Users/mbigras/.gem/ruby/2.4.2/gems/cucumber-core-3.1.0/lib/cucumber/core/filter.rb:62:in `done'
/Users/mbigras/.gem/ruby/2.4.2/gems/cucumber-core-3.1.0/lib/cucumber/core/filter.rb:62:in `done'
/Users/mbigras/.gem/ruby/2.4.2/gems/cucumber-core-3.1.0/lib/cucumber/core/filter.rb:62:in `done'
/Users/mbigras/.gem/ruby/2.4.2/gems/cucumber-core-3.1.0/lib/cucumber/core/filter.rb:62:in `done'
/Users/mbigras/.gem/ruby/2.4.2/gems/cucumber-core-3.1.0/lib/cucumber/core/test/filters/locations_filter.rb:20:in `done'
/Users/mbigras/.gem/ruby/2.4.2/gems/cucumber-core-3.1.0/lib/cucumber/core/filter.rb:62:in `done'
/Users/mbigras/.gem/ruby/2.4.2/gems/cucumber-core-3.1.0/lib/cucumber/core/test/filters/tag_filter.rb:18:in `done'
/Users/mbigras/.gem/ruby/2.4.2/gems/cucumber-core-3.1.0/lib/cucumber/core/compiler.rb:24:in `done'
/Users/mbigras/.gem/ruby/2.4.2/gems/cucumber-core-3.1.0/lib/cucumber/core/gherkin/parser.rb:37:in `done'
/Users/mbigras/.gem/ruby/2.4.2/gems/cucumber-core-3.1.0/lib/cucumber/core.rb:32:in `parse'
/Users/mbigras/.gem/ruby/2.4.2/gems/cucumber-core-3.1.0/lib/cucumber/core.rb:21:in `compile'
/Users/mbigras/.gem/ruby/2.4.2/gems/cucumber-3.1.0/lib/cucumber/runtime.rb:74:in `run!'
/Users/mbigras/.gem/ruby/2.4.2/gems/cucumber-3.1.0/lib/cucumber/cli/main.rb:33:in `execute!'
/Users/mbigras/.gem/ruby/2.4.2/gems/cucumber-3.1.0/bin/cucumber:9:in `<top (required)>'
/Users/mbigras/.gem/ruby/2.4.2/bin/cucumber:23:in `load'
/Users/mbigras/.gem/ruby/2.4.2/bin/cucumber:23:in `<main>'

[xtrasimplicity]

I'm not overly familiar with the codebase so I'm not sure of the feasibility, but I like the idea! :)

@mbigras, Would you be willing to work on a PR for this?

[xtrasimplicity]

I'm working on a fix for this right now. Will submit a PR when I'm ready. :)

[xtrasimplicity]

The PR to resolve this has been merged, so I'll close this off.

[lock]

This thread has been automatically locked since there has not been any recent activity after it was closed. Please open a new issue for related bugs.