Behat

This dialog is available only when the PHP and Behat plugins are installed and enabled. The plugins are activated by default. If the plugins are disabled, enable them on the Installed tab of the Plugins page as described in Install plugins.

Use this dialog to create a configuration to be used for running and debugging unit tests on PHP applications using the Behat framework.

Before you start

To run Behat tests:

Install and configure the Behat framework on your computer as described in Behat.
Make sure the PHP and Behat plugins are enabled. The plugins are activated by default. If the plugins are disabled, enable them on the Installed tab of the Plugins page as described in Install plugins.

Test Runner area

In this area, specify the scenarios to launch and the command line switches to be passed to Behat.

Item	Description
Test scope	In this area, specify the location of scenarios or the configuration file where they are listed. Directory: select this option to have all the scenarios in a directory launched. In the Directory field, specify the directory to search for .feature files with scenarios in. Type the path to the directory manually or click Browse and select the desired directory in the Choose Test Directory dialog that opens. File: select this option to have all the scenarios in a specific .feature file launched. In the File field, specify the .feature file to search the scenarios in. Type the path to the file manually or click Browse and select the desired directory in the dialog that opens. In the Class field, specify the desired class. Type the class name manually or click Browse and select the desired class in the tree view, that opens. Scenario: select this option to have a specific scenario launched. In the File field, specify the .feature file to search for the scenario in. Type the filename manually or click Browse and select the desired file in the tree view, that opens. In the Scenario field, specify the desired scenario. Defined in the configuration file: select this option to have Behat execute the tests from a dedicated .yml configuration file. By default, Behat uses the configuration file appointed in the Test Runner area of the Test Frameworks page. In its turn, this can be either the native configuration file (behat.yml or config/behat.yml) or any other YML configuration file, which you specified as Default during the initial configuration of Behat in PhpStorm. To have the default for all Behat run configurations file used, clear the Use alternative configuration file checkbox. To launch scenarios from a custom configuration file, select the Use alternative configuration file checkbox and specify the location of the desired YML file in the field next to it. To open the Behat page and specify another default configuration file to use, click the button.

Item

Description

Test scope

In this area, specify the location of scenarios or the configuration file where they are listed.

Directory: select this option to have all the scenarios in a directory launched.
In the Directory field, specify the directory to search for .feature files with scenarios in. Type the path to the directory manually or click Browse and select the desired directory in the Choose Test Directory dialog that opens.
File: select this option to have all the scenarios in a specific .feature file launched.
1. In the File field, specify the .feature file to search the scenarios in. Type the path to the file manually or click Browse and select the desired directory in the dialog that opens.
2. In the Class field, specify the desired class. Type the class name manually or click Browse and select the desired class in the tree view, that opens.
Scenario: select this option to have a specific scenario launched.
1. In the File field, specify the .feature file to search for the scenario in. Type the filename manually or click Browse and select the desired file in the tree view, that opens.
2. In the Scenario field, specify the desired scenario.
Defined in the configuration file: select this option to have Behat execute the tests from a dedicated .yml configuration file.
By default, Behat uses the configuration file appointed in the Test Runner area of the Test Frameworks page. In its turn, this can be either the native configuration file (behat.yml or config/behat.yml) or any other YML configuration file, which you specified as Default during the initial configuration of Behat in PhpStorm.
- To have the default for all Behat run configurations file used, clear the Use alternative configuration file checkbox.
- To launch scenarios from a custom configuration file, select the Use alternative configuration file checkbox and specify the location of the desired YML file in the field next to it.
- To open the Behat page and specify another default configuration file to use, click the button.

Command Line area

In this area, choose a PHP interpreter and customize its behavior by specifying the options and arguments to be passed to the PHP executable file.

Item	Description
Interpreter	The list contains all the currently configured local and remote PHP interpreters. Choose one of the configured PHP interpreters from the list, or click and define a new interpreter as described in Configure local PHP interpreters and Configure remote PHP interpreters.
Interpreter options	In this field, specify the options to be passed to the PHP executable file. They override the default behavior of the PHP interpreter or ensure that additional activities are performed. If necessary, click and type the desired options in the Command Line Options dialog. Type each option on a new line. When you close the dialog, they are all displayed in the Command line options field with spaces as separators.
Custom working directory	In this field, specify the location of the files that are outside the folder with tests and are referenced in your tests through relative paths. This setting does not block the test execution because the location of tests is always specified through a full path to the corresponding files and/or directories. By default, the field is empty, and the working directory is the root of the project.
Environment variables	In this field, specify the environment variables be passed to the built-in server. See Environment Variables in Apache for details.

Common settings

When you edit a run configuration (but not a run configuration template), you can specify the following options:


Name	Specify a name for the run/debug configuration to quickly identify it when editing or running the configuration, for example, from the Run popup `Alt+Shift+F10`.
Allow parallel run	Select to allow running multiple instances of this run configuration in parallel. By default, it is disabled, and when you start this configuration while another instance is still running, PhpStorm suggests to stop the running instance and start another one. This is helpful when a run/debug configuration consumes a lot of resources and there is no good reason to run multiple instances.
Store as project file	Save the file with the run configuration settings to share it with other team members. The default location is .idea/runConfigurations. However, if you do not want to share the .idea directory, you can save the configuration to any other directory within the project. By default, it is disabled, and PhpStorm stores run configuration settings in .idea/workspace.xml.

Name

Specify a name for the run/debug configuration to quickly identify it when editing or running the configuration, for example, from the Run popup Alt+Shift+F10.

Allow parallel run

Select to allow running multiple instances of this run configuration in parallel.

By default, it is disabled, and when you start this configuration while another instance is still running, PhpStorm suggests to stop the running instance and start another one. This is helpful when a run/debug configuration consumes a lot of resources and there is no good reason to run multiple instances.

Store as project file

Save the file with the run configuration settings to share it with other team members. The default location is .idea/runConfigurations. However, if you do not want to share the .idea directory, you can save the configuration to any other directory within the project.

By default, it is disabled, and PhpStorm stores run configuration settings in .idea/workspace.xml.

The tree view of run/debug configurations has a toolbar that helps you manage configurations available in your project as well as adjust default configurations templates.

Item	Shortcut	Description
	`Alt+Insert`	Create a run/debug configuration.
	`Alt+Delete`	Delete the selected run/debug configuration. Note that you cannot delete default configurations.
	`Ctrl+D`	Create a copy of the selected run/debug configuration. Note that you create copies of default configurations.
		The button is displayed only when you select a temporary configuration. Click this button to save a temporary configuration as permanent.
		Move into new folder / Create new folder. You can group run/debug configurations by placing them into folders. To create a folder, select the configurations within a category, click , and specify the folder name. If only a category is in focus, an empty folder is created. Then, to move a configuration into a folder, between the folders or out of a folder, use drag or and buttons. To remove grouping, select a folder and click .
		Click this button to sort configurations in the alphabetical order.

Before launch

In this area, you can specify tasks to be performed before starting the selected run/debug configuration. The tasks are performed in the order they appear in the list.

Item	Shortcut	Description
	`Alt+Insert`	Click this icon to add one of the following available tasks: Run External tool: select to run an external application. In the dialog that opens, select one or multiple applications you want to run. If it is not defined in PhpStorm yet, add its definition. For more information, see External tools and External Tools. Run Another Configuration: select to execute another run/debug configuration. In the dialog that opens, select the configuration to be run. Launch Web Browser: select this option to have a browser started. In the dialog that opens, select the type of the browser and provide the start URL. Also, specify if you want the browser be launched with JavaScript debugger. Run File Watchers: select this option to have PhpStorm apply all the currently active File Watchers. Run Grunt task: select this option to run a Grunt task. In the Grunt task dialog that opens, specify the Gruntfile.js where the required task is defined, select the task to execute, and specify the arguments to pass to the Grunt tool. Specify the location of the Node.js interpreter, the parameters to pass to it, and the path to the grunt-cli package. Run gulp task: select this option to run a Gulp task. In the Gulp task dialog that opens, specify the Gulpfile.js where the required task is defined, select the task to execute, and specify the arguments to pass to the Gulp tool. Specify the location of the Node.js interpreter, the parameters to pass to it, and the path to the gulp package. Run npm script: select this option to execute an npm script. In the NPM Script dialog that opens, specify the npm run/debug configuration settings. Compile TypeScript: select to run the built-in TypeScript compiler and thus make sure that all the changes you made to your TypeScript code are reflected in the generated JavaScript files. In the TypeScript Compile Settings dialog that opens, select or clear the Check errors checkbox to configure the behaviour of the compiler in case any errors are detected: If the Check errors checkbox is selected, the compiler will show all the errors and the run configuration will not start. If the Check errors checkbox is cleared, the compiler will show all the detected errors but the run configuration still will be launched. Run Phing target: add this task to execute the specified Phing target prior to running or debugging. To appoint a Phing target, click Browse and select the desired target in the dialog that opens. Generate CoffeeScript Source Maps: select this option to generate the source maps for your CoffeeScript sources. In the dialog that opens, specify where your CoffeeScript source files are located. Upload files to Remote Host: select this option to have the application files automatically uploaded to the server according to the default server access configuration. Run Remote External Tool: adds a remote SSH external tool.
	`Alt+Delete`	Click this icon to remove the selected task from the list.
	`Enter`	Click this icon to edit the selected task. Make the necessary changes in the dialog that opens.
/	`Alt+Up`/`Alt+Down`	Click these icons to move the selected task one line up or down in the list. The tasks are performed in the order that they appear in the list.
Show this page		Select this checkbox to show the run/debug configuration settings prior to actually starting the run/debug configuration.
Activate tool window		By default this checkbox is selected and the Run or the Debug tool window opens when you start the run/debug configuration. Otherwise, if the checkbox is cleared, the tool window is hidden. However, when the configuration is running, you can open the corresponding tool window for it yourself by pressing `Alt+4` or `Alt+5`.

Last modified: 19 March 2022