Cucumber Step definition failing - ruby-on-rails-3

Question

I have a step definition that is failing.
From the feature below i have it failing at 'And that feature has a issue' (undefined local variable at title)
Feature: Viewing issue
In order to view the issues for a feature
As a user
I want to see them on that feature's page
Background:
Given there is a release called "Confluence"
And that release has a feature:
| title | description |
| Make it shiny! | Gradients! Starbursts! Oh my! |
And that feature has a issue:
| title | description |
| First Issue | This is a first issue. |
And I am on the homepage
Scenario: Viewing issue for a given feature
When I follow "Confluence"
Then I should see "Standards compliance"
When I follow "Standards compliance"
Then I should see "First Issue"
And I should see "This is a first issue."
How do i write a step definition for it guys.
this is what i have for the features definition and it works great but i've tried doing the same for issues objects and it doesn't work
Given /^that release has a feature:$/ do |table|
table.hashes.each do |attributes|
#release.features.create!(attributes)
end
end

Answer 1

You shouldn't use instance variables in your steps, as a best practice. It makes them dependent on each other.
I'd write your steps like this (in psuedo-ish code):
Given there is a release called <name>
# create model
Given release <name> has a feature <table>
release = Release.find_by_name(<name>)
# rest of your code here is fine, but reference 'release' instead of '#release'
Given release <name>'s <feature_name> has issues <table>
release = Release.find_by_name(<name>)
feature = release.features.find_by_name(<feature_name>)
table.hashes.each do |attributes|
# create issue
end
Then your Cucumber feature would read better like this:
Given there is a release called "Confluence"
And release "Confluence" has a feature:
| title | description |
| Make it shiny! | Gradients! Starbursts! Oh my! |
And release "Confluence"'s "Make it shiny!" feature has issues
| title | description |
| First Issue | This is a first issue. |