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.

This mode is especially handy when migrating from an existing Cucumber setup: step methods that already consume io.cucumber.datatable.DataTable keep working as-is, so you can move to SpecBinder without rewriting your data-table handling.

Source: examples/going-further/example-5 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/going-further/example-5
mvn test