Conditional IF / ELSE IF / ELSE execution in Robot Framework

Sometimes, there is a need to execute some keywords conditionally. Starting from Robot Framework 4.0 there is a separate if expression syntax, but there are also other ways to execute keywords conditionally. Notice that if the logic gets complicated, it is typically better to move it into a custom Python library. - Robot Framework User Guide

`IF`, `ELSE IF`, `ELSE`, `Run Keyword Unless`, `Run Keyword If`

How to use if-else conditions in Robot Framework? The following article demonstrates how to do IF / ELSE IF / ELSE logic in Robot Framework using the IF, ELSE IF, and ELSE constructs (Robot Framework 4), and the Run Keyword Unless and Run Keyword If keywords (Robot Framework 3 and 4). Complicated if-else conditional logic might fit better in a Python library that exposes a keyword for the robot, to keep things simple robot-code-wise.

See the Conditional execution chapter in the Robot Framework User Guide for more information on using if-else logic in Robot Framework.

Code examples

Firstly, here's a quick reference guide covering most basic constructions in one concise code example. For more information scroll further down and check out the detailed explanations!

*** Settings ***
Documentation     IF / ELSE IF / ELSE example using Robot Framework.
...               How to use conditional execution.

*** Tasks ***
Use IF construct in Robot Framework
    IF    ${True}
        Log    This line IS executed.
    END
    IF    ${False}
        Log    This line is NOT executed.
    END
    IF    "cat" == "cat"
        Log    This line IS executed.
    END
    IF    "cat" != "dog"
        Log    This line IS executed.
    END
    IF    "cat" == "dog"
        Log    This line is NOT executed.
    END
    IF    "cat" == "cat" and "dog" == "dog"
        Log    This line IS executed.
    END
    IF    "cat" == "cat" and "dog" == "cat"
        Log    This line is NOT executed.
    END
    IF    1 == 1
        Log    This line IS executed.
    END
    IF    2 < 1
        Log    This line is NOT executed.
    END
    IF    2 <= 2
        Log    This line IS executed.
    END
    IF    len("cat") == 3
        Log    This line IS executed.
    END
    IF    (1 == 1 and 2 == 2) and 3 == 3
        Log    This line IS executed since the expressions evaluate to True.
    END
    IF    (1 == 2 or 3 == 4) or 3 == 3
        Log    This line IS executed since one of the expressions evaluates to True.
    END

Use inline IF construct in Robot Framework
    IF  "cat" == "cat"    Log    This is logged.    ELSE    Log    This is NOT logged.

Use IF / ELSE construct in Robot Framework
    IF    1 == 1
        Log    This line IS executed.
    ELSE
        Log    This line is NOT executed.
    END
    IF    1 == 2
        Log    This line is NOT executed.
    ELSE
        Log    This line IS executed.
    END

Use IF / ELSE IF construct in Robot Framework
    IF    1 == 1
        Log    This line IS executed.
    ELSE IF    2 == 2
        Log    This line is NOT executed.
    END
    IF    1 == 2
        Log    This line is NOT executed.
    ELSE IF    2 == 2
        Log    This line IS executed.
    END
    IF    1 == 2
        Log    This line is NOT executed.
    ELSE IF    2 == 3
        Log    This line is NOT executed.
    END

Use IF / ELSE IF / ELSE construct in Robot Framework
    IF    1 == 1
        Log    This line IS executed.
    ELSE IF    2 == 2
        Log    This line is NOT executed.
    ELSE
        Log    This line is NOT executed.
    END
    IF    1 == 2
        Log    This line is NOT executed.
    ELSE IF    2 == 2
        Log    This line IS executed.
    ELSE
        Log    This line is NOT executed.
    END
    IF    1 == 2
        Log    This line is NOT executed.
    ELSE IF    2 == 3
        Log    This line is NOT executed.
    ELSE
        Log    This line IS executed.
    END

Use Run Keyword If in Robot Framework
    Run Keyword If    ${True}    Log    This line IS executed.
    Run Keyword If    ${False}    Log    This line is NOT executed.

Use Run Keyword Unless in Robot Framework
    Run Keyword Unless    ${True}    Log    This line is NOT executed.
    Run Keyword Unless    ${False}    Log    This line IS executed.

Writing IF expressions

The IF construct starts with IF followed by a Python expression:

IF    1 == 1

The Python expression evaluates to a boolean value - either True or False. When constructing a boolean expression in Python, you have the following operators available:

Python Comparison Operators

Comparison operators are used to compare two values:

Python Operator	Description	Example	Eample result
`==`	Equal	`1 == 1`	`True`
`!=`	Not equal	`1 != 1`	`False`
`>`	Greater than	`1 > 1`	`False`
`<`	Less than	`1 < 2`	`True`
`>=`	Greater than or equal to	`1 >= 1`	`True`
`<=`	Less than or equal to	`1 <= 0`	`False`

Python Logical Operators

Logical operators are used to combine conditional statements:

Python Operator	Description	Example	Example result
`and`	Return `True` if both statements are true	`1 == 1 and 2 == 2`	`True`
`or`	Return `True` if on of the statements is true	`1 == 1 or 1 == 2`	`True`
`not`	Reverse the result, returns `False` if the result is `True`	`not (1 == 1 and 2 == 2)`	`False`

Python Identity Operators

Identity operators are used to compare the objects, not if they are equal, but if they are actually the same object, with the same memory location:

Python Operator	Description	Example	Eample result
`is`	Returns `True` if both variables are the same object	`x = os(); y = os(); x is y`	`True`
`is not`	Returns `True` if both variables are not the same object	`x = os(); y = re(); x is not y`	`True`

Python Membership Operators

Membership operators are used to test if a sequence is presented in an object:

Python Operator	Description	Example	Eample result
`in`	Returns `True` if a sequence with the specified value is present in the object	`x = [1,2]; 1 in x`	`True`
`not in`	Returns `True` if a sequence with the specified value is not present in the object	`x = [1,2]; 4 not in x`	`True`

The IF construct

The lines after the expression are the IF construct body. There can be one or many lines:

IF    1 == 1
    Log    This is the IF construct body. It can span many lines!
    Log    Another line!

The lines in the IF construct body are executed only if the Python expression evaluates to True. If the Python expression evaluates to False, the lines in the body are not executed:

IF    1 == 1
    Log    This line IS executed.

IF    1 == 2
    Log    This line is NOT executed.

The IF construct ends with END:

IF    1 == 1
    Log    This is the IF construct body. It can span many lines!
END

Any Python expression that evaluates to True or False is allowed. Here we check the length of a string using the len Python function:

IF    len("cat") == 3
    Log    This line IS executed.
END

The IF / ELSE construct

The IF / ELSE construct is similar to the basic IF construct. If the IF expression evaluates to True, the execution continues in the IF construct body:

IF    1 == 1
    Log    This line is executed.
END

The ELSE construct handles the scenario where the IF expression evaluates to False:

IF    1 == 2
    Log    This line is NOT executed.
ELSE
    Log    This line IS executed.
END

The IF / ELSE IF / ELSE construct

The IF / ELSE IF / ELSE construct enables evaluating multiple separate expressions. If any of the expressions evaluates to True, the lines in that body will get executed. The other lines are ignored:

IF    1 == 1
    Log    This line IS executed. ELSE IF and ELSE are ignored.
ELSE IF    2 == 2
    Log    This line is NOT executed since the IF expression evaluated to True.
ELSE
    Log    This line is NOT executed since the IF expression evaluated to True.
END

IF    1 == 2
    Log    This line is NOT executed since the expression evaluated to False.
ELSE IF    2 == 2
    Log    This line IS executed since the IF expression evaluated to False
    Log    and the ELSE IF expression evaluated to True.
ELSE
    Log    This line is NOT executed since the ELSE IF expression evaluated to True.
END

IF    1 == 2
    Log    This line is NOT executed.
ELSE IF    2 == 3
    Log    This line is NOT executed.
ELSE
    Log    This line IS executed since other expressions evaluated to False.
END

You can have multiple ELSE IF statements:

IF    1 == 2
    Log    This line is NOT executed.
ELSE IF    2 == 3
    Log    This line is NOT executed.
ELSE IF    3 == 3
    Log    This line IS executed.
ELSE
    Log    This line is NOT executed.
END

Inline IF

Starting from Robot Framework 5, IF statements can be written on one line:

*** Tasks ***
Inline IF: No need for IF / END construct
    IF    True    Log    Inline IF is nice!

Inline IF / ELSE
    IF    False    Log    False    ELSE    Log    True

Inline IF / ELSE IF / ELSE: Not pretty but works!
    IF    False    Log    False    ELSE IF    False    Log    False    ELSE    Log    True

Inline IF: Conditional variable assignment
    ${value}=    IF    True    Get Current Date    ELSE    Get Time

How to use multiple conditions: `and` / `or`

The IF and ELSE IF expressions can have multiple conditions. Since the expressions are Python, you can use and and or to add multiple conditions:

IF    1 == 1 and 2 == 2
    Log    This line IS executed since both expressions evaluate to True.
END

IF    1 == 2 or 2 == 2
    Log    This line IS executed since one of the expressions evaluates to True.
END

You can group conditions using parentheses (()):

IF    (1 == 1 and 2 == 2) and 3 == 3
    Log    This line IS executed since the expressions evaluate to True.
END

IF    (1 == 2 or 3 == 4) or 3 == 3
    Log    This line IS executed since one of the expressions evaluates to True.
END

Comparing string conditions

The IF condition expression is evaluated as Python. In Python, you need to quote (") strings. When using strings in a Python expression in Robot Framework, you need to quote (") the strings.

In the following example, the ${string_condition} is a Robot Framework variable. Even though Robot Framework internally converts cat to a string, you still need to quote the variable if using it as a string in the IF condition:

${string_condition}=    Set Variable    cat
IF   "${string_condition}" == "cat"

This example where the string variable is not quoted would NOT work and would cause an error:

${string_condition}=    Set Variable    cat
IF   ${string_condition} == "cat"

Skip task execution on IF condition: `Skip If`, `Skip`

Robot Framework 4 added the support for skipping tasks on IF condition using the Skip If keyword, or the unconditional Skip keyword. The following robot demonstrates how to skip task execution on IF condition using the new skip functionality in Robot Framework 4:

*** Settings ***
Documentation     How to skip task execution on IF condition using the
...               new skip functionality in Robot Framework 4.
Library           RPA.FileSystem

*** Variables ***
${FILE_PATH}=     ${CURDIR}${/}file.txt

*** Tasks ***
Conditional task: Skip if a specific file exists
    ${file_exists}=    Does File Exist    ${FILE_PATH}
    Skip If    ${file_exists}
    Create File    ${FILE_PATH}    Content

*** Tasks ***
Main task
    ${content}=    Read File    ${FILE_PATH}

The first time the robot is run, it will run both tasks and mark their status as PASS:

==============================================================================
Tasks :: How to skip task execution on IF condition using the new skip func...
==============================================================================
Conditional task: Skip if a specific file exists                      | PASS |
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Main task                                                             | PASS |
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tasks :: How to skip task execution on condition using the new ski... | PASS |
2 tasks, 2 passed, 0 failed
==============================================================================

The second time, the conditional task is skipped, and marked as SKIP:

==============================================================================
Tasks :: How to skip task execution on IF condition using the new skip func...
==============================================================================
Conditional task: Skip if a specific file exists                      | SKIP |
True
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Main task                                                             | PASS |
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tasks :: How to skip task execution on IF condition using the new ... | PASS |
2 tasks, 1 passed, 0 failed, 1 skipped
==============================================================================

Python libraries can raise an exception that tells that the test should be skipped. The easiest way is using the new robot.api.SkipExecution exception.

Learn more about Robot Framework syntax

Use the Robot Framework cheat sheet and quick reference in your daily development to look up how to work with tasks, keywords, arguments, for loops, conditional if / else / else if execution, variables, lists, dictionaries, libraries, etc.

February 2, 2022