Cucumber Data Tables

The CUCUMBER_DATA_TABLE mode — Gherkin data tables are passed as Cucumber DataTable objects, giving you the full Cucumber DataTable API for conversions and POJO mapping.

Source: examples/common-use-cases/example-2 on GitHub.

What this demonstrates

• @Gherkin2JUnitOptions(dataTableParameterType = CUCUMBER_DATA_TABLE) switches the mode
• Step methods receive DataTable instead of List<XxxParam>
• The generator emits a createDataTable(String tableLines) helper that parses pipe-delimited text blocks
• You must provide a getTableConverter() method somewhere in the class hierarchy
• Access to the full Cucumber API: asList(), asMap(), asMaps(), POJO mapping
• Requires the cucumber-java dependency

When to pick this mode

Aspect	LIST_OF_OBJECT_PARAMS (default)	CUCUMBER_DATA_TABLE
Parameter type	List<GeneratedParam>	DataTable
Type safety	Compile-time (typed fields)	Runtime (string-based)
POJO mapping	Automatic (generated classes)	Manual (DataTableTypeRegistry)
Dependencies	None	cucumber-java
Best for	New projects, compile-time safety	Migrating from Cucumber, complex conversions

Generated call site

myCartContainsTheFollowingProducts(createDataTable("""
        |name               |qty|unit price|
        |Wireless Headphones|1  |59.99     |
        |Coffee Beans 1kg   |3  |12.50     |
        """));

POJO mapping with DataTableTypeRegistry

registry.defineDataTableType(new DataTableType(
        Product.class,
        (Map<String, String> row) -> new Product(
                row.get("name"),
                Integer.parseInt(row.get("qty")),
                Double.parseDouble(row.get("unit price"))
        )
));

// Inside the step method:
List<Product> products = dataTable.asList(Product.class);

Run it

cd examples/common-use-cases/example-2
mvn test