Skip to content

Steps Common Dates

Jump to bottom
Jörg Flade edited this page Jun 24, 2026 · 3 revisions

Common — Dates

These steps generate a date relative to today and store it in ScenarioContext. The stored value can then be used in request bodies, URL parameters, or response validation.

Create Dynamic Dates

Days in the past/future

Given that a date {int} days in the past is stored as {string}
Given that a date {int} days in the future is stored as {string}
Scenario: Create a subscription that started yesterday
  Given that a date 1 days in the past is stored as "START_DATE"
  And that the body of the request is
    """
    {
      "startDate": "${START_DATE}",
      "plan": "PREMIUM"
    }
    """
  When executing an authorized POST call to "/api/v1/subscriptions" with previously given body
  Then I ensure that the status code of the response is 201

Scenario: Schedule an event for tomorrow
  Given that a date 1 days in the future is stored as "TOMORROW"
  And that the body of the request is
    """
    { "scheduledAt": "${TOMORROW}", "type": "REMINDER" }
    """
  When executing an authorized POST call to "/api/v1/events" with previously given body
  Then I ensure that the status code of the response is 201

Months in the past/future

Given that a date {int} months in the past is stored as {string}
Given that a date {int} months in the future is stored as {string}
Scenario: Fetch invoices from the last 3 months
  Given that a date 3 months in the past is stored as "FROM_DATE"
  When executing an authorized GET call to "/api/v1/invoices?from=${FROM_DATE}"
  Then I ensure that the status code of the response is 200

Scenario: Renew a contract for 6 months ahead
  Given that a date 6 months in the future is stored as "NEW_EXPIRY"
  And that the body of the request is
    """
    { "expiresAt": "${NEW_EXPIRY}" }
    """
  When executing an authorized PATCH call to "/api/v1/contracts/con-123" with previously given body
  Then I ensure that the status code of the response is 200

Years in the past/future

Given that a date {int} years in the past is stored as {string}
Given that a date {int} years in the future is stored as {string}
Scenario: Check records from 2 years ago
  Given that a date 2 years in the past is stored as "ARCHIVE_DATE"
  When executing an authorized GET call to "/api/v1/archive?since=${ARCHIVE_DATE}"
  Then I ensure that the status code of the response is 200

Scenario: Create a long-term license valid for 5 years
  Given that a date 5 years in the future is stored as "LICENSE_EXPIRY"
  And that the body of the request is
    """
    { "validUntil": "${LICENSE_EXPIRY}" }
    """
  When executing an authorized POST call to "/api/v1/licenses" with previously given body
  Then I ensure that the status code of the response is 201

Compare a Date Against Context

The JSON-Unit matcher ${json-unit.matches:isDateOfContext}<var> validates that a date field in the response equals a date previously stored in ScenarioContext.

The context variable name follows immediately after the closing } with no space.

Note: Only the date portion is compared — the time component is ignored.

Scenario: Created subscription has the expected start date
  Given that a date 5 days in the past is stored as "EXPECTED_START"
  When executing an authorized GET call to "/api/v1/subscriptions/sub-123"
  Then I ensure that the body of the response is equal to
    """
    {
      "startDate": "${json-unit.matches:isDateOfContext}EXPECTED_START",
      "plan":      "PREMIUM"
    }
    """

Scenario: Verify both start and end dates
  Given that a date 30 days in the past is stored as "EXPECTED_START"
  And that a date 335 days in the future is stored as "EXPECTED_END"
  When executing an authorized GET call to "/api/v1/contracts/con-456"
  Then I ensure that the body of the response contains the following fields and values
    | startDate | ${json-unit.matches:isDateOfContext}EXPECTED_START |
    | endDate   | ${json-unit.matches:isDateOfContext}EXPECTED_END   |

For validating that a field simply contains any valid date (without comparing to a specific value), use ${json-unit.matches:isValidDate} — see JSON-Unit.

Examples: bdd-cucumber-gherkin-lib/src/test/resources/features/date_operations/date_operations.feature

Clone this wiki locally