Write a scenario

You write a scenario in the editor, as rows of plain-language instructions. Open it with Edit on a scenario, or by creating one with New scenario or Duplicate. The editor has:

• the scenario’s name, which you can edit in place, and its type
• Discard, Save changes and Run scenario, with the save status next to them: Unsaved changes, or when and by whom the scenario was last saved
• a toolbar with Show last run, undo and redo, the action and node counters, Scenario settings and the keyboard shortcuts
• the Outline on the left, to jump to a section or a row
• the Setup, Main and Teardown sections. See How a scenario is built

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Kinds of rows

Write each Instruction the way you’d tell a teammate, in up to 4,000 characters. Type @ to use an input, a saved value, an output of an import, a variable, a secret or a property in it. See References. Every row has a Name, shown in the outline and in run results. It follows the instruction until you change it, and it’s unique inside its section or Step.

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Add and arrange rows

To add a row, click Add at the end of a section, Add inside under a Step, or + before a row. The Add a row menu lists:

• Actions: Act, Assert, Extract and Wait
• Structure: Step and Import
• Quick starts: Sign in with a secret, No error is shown and Page has loaded

Pick one with the arrow keys and Enter, or press 1–6. The row opens in a dialog: fill it in and click Add, or Cancel. Click a row to edit it in the same dialog, and click Done to keep your changes. The … menu on a row offers Edit, Duplicate and Delete. Drag a row to move it, into a Step or out of one. With the keyboard, move a row with Alt and the arrow keys. See Keyboard shortcuts.

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Scenario settings

Click Scenario settings, at the top of the outline or in the toolbar: Inputs and outputs are covered in Inputs, references and imports.

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Problems and warnings

The editor checks the scenario as you type, the same way a save does. What it finds shows on the rows, in the outline and above the sections.

• Errors break the scenario’s rules, and IronBee refuses to save them. For example: Main has no action, a Step is empty, the scenario has more than 60 actions, or two scenarios would import each other.
• Warnings don’t stop saving, but a run that reaches the row ends in a run error, or stops before it starts. For example:
  • a row reads a value before the row that writes it
  • a secret, variable or property isn’t defined in any environment, or only in some
  • a reference can mean two secrets

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Save your changes

Click Save changes, or press ⌘S (Ctrl+S). Discard drops the changes you haven’t saved. If you clicked it by mistake, undo it.

• If someone else saved the scenario after you opened it, the editor lists Their changes and asks what to do:
  • Load latest replaces your edits with their version.
  • Save mine anyway replaces their changes with yours.
  • Keep editing closes the dialog.
• If you try to leave with unsaved changes, a Leave without saving? dialog asks you to confirm.
• Run scenario saves your changes first, then opens the run dialog.

A saved change applies from the next run. Scenarios that import this one also run the new version from their next run. A save that would break one of them is refused, and the editor names the scenario it would break.

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Keyboard shortcuts

Click the keyboard icon in the toolbar to see them in the editor. On Windows and Linux, use Ctrl for ⌘ and Alt for ⌥.

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Limits

The counters in the toolbar show how many actions and nodes the scenario uses. A counter appears under a field as it nears its limit.

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What’s next?