Automate Testing with Behat

Behat is a PHP framework for automated testing. In our blog we discuss the advantages of using Behat to continuously test your site. This guide demonstrates how to install Behat and Mink, and how to write simple tests.

Before You Begin

This guide requires:

• A local installation of Composer.
• A locally running dev site or remote site URL to point tests to.
• An empty project directory. In the commands below we assume the directory ~/projects/simple-behat-test.

Install Behat and Mink

1. Behat and Mink are both written in PHP, so it makes sense that they are managed with Composer. That means installing them in a project is quick and easy:

   cd ~/projects/simple-behat-tests
   composer require --dev behat/behat behat/mink-extension behat/mink-goutte-driver behat/mink-selenium2-driver

2. Now that we've downloaded Behat, Mink, and a browser driver, we need to initialize Behat:

   ./vendor/bin/behat --init

   The output should read:

   +d features - place your *.feature files here
   +d features/bootstrap - place your context classes here
   +f features/bootstrap/FeatureContext.php - place your definitions, transformations and hooks here

Configure Behat

1. Behat is configured with the file behat.yml. If you haven't used YAML before, visit yaml.org for more information. Make the new file, and add contents below. Remember to replace https://your-site-url/ with the actual URL to your site:

   behat.yml

   default:
     suites:
       default:
         contexts:
           - FeatureContext
           - Behat\MinkExtension\Context\MinkContext
   
     extensions:
       Behat\MinkExtension:
         base_url: https://your-site-url/
         goutte: ~
         selenium2: ~

2. Now, let's check out what step definitions are available to us:

   ./vendor/bin/behat -dl

   This command will return a list of available step definitions. Don't worry about parsing through the list now.

Write and Run Tests

Next, we can take some of the steps we listed above, most of which are provided by Mink, and write our first test. Behat tests have the .feature extension and are located in the features directory by default.

1. Create a file named visit-homepage.feature inside the features directory, with the following contents:

   Feature: Visibility of the homepage
     In order to have confidence that my site is accessible
     As a site administrator
     I want to verify I can visit the homepage
   
     Scenario: Verify the homepage
       When I am on the homepage
       Then the response status code should be 200

2. Now that we have things setup and created our first test, let's run Behat:

   ./vendor/bin/behat --strict --colors  --format-settings='{"paths": false}'.

   You should see output like this:

   

   Note: The extra parameters are not required, just a common set of preferences. Here's what they do:

   • --strict: Makes Behat run in strict mode, meaning proper exit codes are thrown if tests pass/fail. This is critical for use on Continuous Integration so that jobs there will pass or fail along with the Behat tests.
   • --colors: Ensures a colorized output, making the tests a bit more legible.
   • --format-settings='{"paths": false}': Stops Behat from printing file paths and line numbers next to each step in the test, which can get noisy. If tests are failing, this can be re-enabled to help debug.

Next Steps

Review the available step definitions again by running ./vendor/bin/behat -dl, and create more tests by adding additional .feature files to the features directory.

If you find you are repeating the same things over and over, such as logging into WordPress or Drupal, try framework extensions. Each one adds additional steps, specific to their corresponding framework:

• Behat WordPress Extension
• Behat Drupal Extension

More Resources

• Composer Fundamentals and Workflows
• Behat.org