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--format option

Use the --format option to tell RSpec how to format the output.

RSpec ships with several formatters built in. By default, it uses the progress formatter, which generates output like this:

....F.....*.....

A '.' represents a passing example, 'F' is failing, and '*' is pending.

Use the documentation formatter to see the documentation strings passed to describe, it, and their aliases:

$ rspec spec --format documentation

You can also specify an output target ($stdout by default) with an --out option immediately following the --format option:

$ rspec spec --format documentation --out rspec.txt

Run rspec --help to see a listing of available formatters.

Background​

Given a file named "example_spec.rb" with:

RSpec.describe "something" do
  it "does something that passes" do
    expect(5).to eq(5)
  end

  it "does something that fails" do
    expect(5).to eq(4)
  end

  it "does something that is pending", :pending => true do
    expect(5).to be < 3
  end

  it "does something that is skipped", :skip => true do
    expect(5).to be < 3
  end
end

Progress bar format (default)​

When I run rspec --format progress example_spec.rb

Then the output should contain ".F**".

Documentation format​

When I run rspec example_spec.rb --format documentation

Then the output should contain:

something
  does something that passes
  does something that fails (FAILED - 1)
  does something that is pending (PENDING: No reason given)
  does something that is skipped (PENDING: No reason given)

Documentation format saved to a file​

When I run rspec example_spec.rb --format documentation --out rspec.txt

Then the file "rspec.txt" should contain:

something
  does something that passes
  does something that fails (FAILED - 1)
  does something that is pending (PENDING: No reason given)
  does something that is skipped (PENDING: No reason given)

Multiple formats and output targets​

When I run rspec example_spec.rb --format progress --format documentation --out rspec.txt

Then the output should contain ".F**"

And the file "rspec.txt" should contain:

something
  does something that passes
  does something that fails (FAILED - 1)
  does something that is pending (PENDING: No reason given)
  does something that is skipped (PENDING: No reason given)