Configuration

behave-data can be configured via behave.ini [userdata], a YAML/JSON file, or directly in code.

behave.ini (recommended)

Use Behave’s native [userdata] section with behave_data. prefixed keys — no extra files and no collisions with other userdata:

# behave.ini
[userdata]
behave_data.null_markers = ,null,None,N/A
behave_data.secret_backend = env
behave_data.secret_path = secrets/
behave_data.load_base_dir = features/data/

setup_data(context) reads context.config.userdata automatically. No extra code needed.

Complex options

Dict-valued options use JSON strings in [userdata]:

[userdata]
behave_data.null_markers = ,null,None,N/A
behave_data.secret_backend = env
behave_data.null_markers_by_column = {"phone": ["N/A", "null"]}
behave_data.db_connections = {"default": "sqlite:///test.db"}
behave_data.type_overrides = {"age": "int"}

YAML file

Create a behave_data.yml in your project root (requires pip install behave-data[yaml]):

null_markers:
  - ""
  - "null"
  - "None"
  - "N/A"

null_markers_by_column:
  phone:
    - N/A
    - null

secret_backend: env
secret_path: secrets/
load_base_dir: features/data/
db_connections:
  default: sqlite:///test.db

JSON file

{
  "null_markers": ["", "null", "None", "N/A"],
  "secret_backend": "env",
  "secret_path": "secrets/",
  "load_base_dir": "features/data/"
}

In code

from behave_data import Config

config = Config(
    null_markers=frozenset({"", "null", "N/A"}),
    secret_backend="env",
    secret_path="secrets/",
    load_base_dir="features/data/",
)

Configuration priority

setup_data(context) resolves config in this order:

1. Explicit parameter — setup_data(context, my_config)

2. behave.ini [userdata] — if any behave_data.* keys are present in context.config.userdata

3. behave_data.yml — fallback file

Options

behave.ini key	YAML key	Default	Type	Description
behave_data.null_markers	null_markers	{"", "null", "None", "N/A"}	comma-separated	Values converted to None
behave_data.null_markers_by_column	null_markers_by_column	{}	JSON string	Per-column null marker overrides
behave_data.secret_backend	secret_backend	"file"	string	Backend for secret: placeholders
behave_data.secret_path	secret_path	"secrets/"	string	Base path for file: secrets
behave_data.load_base_dir	load_base_dir	"features/data/"	string	Base path for dynamic Examples
behave_data.db_connections	db_connections	{}	JSON string	Named database connection strings
behave_data.type_overrides	type_overrides	{}	JSON string	Per-column type overrides

Loading config manually

from behave_data import Config

# From behave.ini userdata
config = Config.from_userdata(context.config.userdata)

# From file
config = Config.from_file("behave_data.yml")

If the file does not exist, a default Config() is returned.

Passing config to setup_data

from behave_data import setup_data, Config

def before_all(context):
    setup_data(context, Config.from_file("config/behave_data.yml"))

Passing config to typed_wrap

from behave_data import typed_wrap, Config

config = Config(null_markers=frozenset({"", "missing"}))
result = typed_wrap(context.table, config).typed_dicts()