How to make "the" optional in my cucumber BDD Step Definitions?

Question

I'd like to match either of the following BDD:

Then the response status should be "200"
Then response status should be "200"

I want to make "the" optional. I want these two rules to map to the SAME step.

Here is my attempt, but it doesn't work:

@Then("^(?:the | )response status should be \"([^\"]*)\"$")
public void the_response_status_should_be(String arg1) {
    ...
}

score 4 · Accepted Answer · edited Oct 28 '16 at 20:33

4

This might work ... "^(?:the )*response status should be \"([^\"]*)\"$"

edited Oct 28 '16 at 20:33

Katie

answered Oct 28 '16 at 19:36

jgauld

2

That didn't work, but adding `?:` did! I'll edit your answer ;D – Katie Oct 28 '16 at 20:33

score 2 · Answer 2 · answered Mar 17 '20 at 13:21

2

Using Cucumber Expression this can be done quite easily just by surrounding the optional text with parentheses like this:

(the )response status should be "200"

2 Answers2