Specflow all steps have been defined in this file already

If you’ve received the following error: Specflow all steps have been defined in this file already then you’ve come to the right place.

Let me show you how to fix your Specflow for visual studio step definitions.

• Specflow Steps are not binding or show up red
• Regenerating the SpecFlow for Visual Studio .cache feature files
• How do you generate step definitions in SpecFlow?
• How do I go to step definition from feature file in Visual Studio?
• How do you regenerate SpecFlow feature files?
• Can not find custom tool SpecFlowSingleFileGenerator?
• How do you make steps in SpecFlow?

Specflow Steps are not binding or show up red

I love using SpecFlow, in fact I use it everyday and depend heavily on it to test my code. Blogging about my use of SpecFlow has long been on my to-do list, but for some reason I haven’t got to it…

On the rare occasion though Visual Studio loses my step bindings and they appear red. Luckily there is a simple fix for this.

Regenerating the SpecFlow for Visual Studio .cache feature files

SpecFlow creates a .cache file in your Temp folder that holds these bindings to speed things up. If that file gets out of whack, you can delete it:

1. Exit Visual Studio.
2. Open Windows Explorer.
3. In the address bar, type %TEMP% and hit Enter to go to your temp folder.
4. Find the files whose names start with “specflow-stepmap-YourProjectName” with a .cache extension.
5. Delete those files.
6. Start Visual Studio again.

If you do this, it’ll take a little time for SpecFlow to regenerate the bindings.

Until this is done, if you right-click on a step and select “Go To Step Definition”, Visual Studio will reply “Step bindings are still being analyzed. Please wait.”

Once SpecFlow rebuilds the .cache files everything will be back to normal.

How do you generate step definitions in SpecFlow?

Right-click editor and click Generating step definition from the menu. Upon opening your features file, you will see an option dialog.

Selecting an option for this step will give the skeleton code the correct size.

How do I go to step definition from feature file in Visual Studio?

Place your cursor in the steps in your feature files. Click on the right mouse button in the menu (F12).

How do you regenerate SpecFlow feature files?

It can be restored by right-clicking a project with specs and choosing “Regulate feature file”. This operation regenerates all features which slows down projects with many feature files.

Can not find custom tool SpecFlowSingleFileGenerator?

SpecFlowSingleFilegenerator does not exist. If you click the SpecFlow extension and choose Running the Custom Tool, verify it has been activated and installed.

How do you make steps in SpecFlow?

Download feature files. Right-click and select “definite steps”. Type the name of the class into this field. Select create to create a new step definition file if you need to copy methods from the clipbook to a step description skeleton.