Variables

Robot Framework variables are useful when:

strings change often in the tasks. With variables you only need to make these changes in one place.
creating system-independent tasks (${RESOURCES} instead of c:\resources, ${HOST} instead of 10.0.0.1:8080). Variables can be overwritten using command-line switches (--variable HOST:10.0.0.2:1234 --variable RESOURCES:/opt/resources) or environment variables.
there is a need to have objects as arguments for keywords.
different keywords need to communicate. Assign a return value from one keyword to a variable and pass it as an argument to another.
values in the task data are long or complicated (${URL} is clearer than http://long.domain.name:8080/path/to/service?foo=1&bar=2&zap=42).

Readability and flexibility

*** Settings ***
Documentation     Using variables for readability and flexibility.
Library           RPA.Browser.Selenium
Suite Teardown    Close All Browsers

*** Variables ***
${I_FEEL_LUCKY_SEARCH_BUTTON}    css:.FPdoLc > center:nth-child(1) > input:nth-child(2)
${SEARCH_URL}     https://www.google.com/search?q=
${SEARCH_TERM}    cute cat

*** Tasks ***
Search using hard-coded search URL and term
    Open Available Browser    https://www.google.com/search?q=cute+cat

*** Tasks ***
Search using variables
    Open Available Browser    ${SEARCH_URL}${SEARCH_TERM}

*** Tasks ***
Search using environment variables
    Open Available Browser    %{SEARCH_URL}%{SEARCH_TERM}
    # No modifications needed when changing the search URL or the term.
    # Configure the variables in Control Room.
    # Use devdata/env.json file for local testing.

*** Tasks ***
Search using local variables
    ${search_url}    Set Variable    https://duckduckgo.com/?q=
    ${search_term}    Set Variable    Robocorp
    Open Available Browser    ${search_url}${search_term}

*** Tasks ***
Click an element using a hard-to-understand locator
    Open Available Browser    https://www.google.com/
    Click Element    css:.FPdoLc > center:nth-child(1) > input:nth-child(2)

*** Tasks ***
Click an element using a well-named locator variable
    Open Available Browser    https://www.google.com/
    Click Element    ${I_FEEL_LUCKY_SEARCH_BUTTON}

Read more about using environment variables with Robocorp.

Different types of variables

Variable name consists of the type identifier ($, @, &, %), curly braces ({, }) and the variable name between the braces. Use capital letters with global variables in the *** Variables *** section (${SEARCH_URL}). Use small letters with local variables that are only available in certain tasks or user keywords (${search_url}).

Scalar: ${var}
List: @{var}
Dictionary: &{var}
Environment: %{var}

*** Settings ***
Documentation     Using different kinds of variables.

*** Variables ***
${STRING}         cute cat
${INT_AS_STRING}    1
${INT_AS_INT}     ${1}
${FLOAT}          ${3.14}
@{LIST}           one    two    three
&{DICTIONARY}     string=cat    int=${1}    [email protected]{LIST}
${ENVIRONMENT}    %{PATH}

*** Tasks ***
Log variables
    Log Many
    ...    ${STRING}    # cute cat
    ...    ${INT_AS_STRING}    # 1
    ...    ${INT_AS_INT}    # 1
    ...    ${FLOAT}    # 3.14
    ...    ${LIST}    # ['one', 'two', 'three']
    ...    ${LIST}[0]    # one
    ...    ${LIST}[1:]    # ['two', 'three']
    ...    ${DICTIONARY}    # {'string': 'cat', 'int': 1, 'list': ['one', 'two', 'three']}
    ...    ${DICTIONARY}[string]    # cat
    ...    ${DICTIONARY.int}    # 1
    ...    ${DICTIONARY}[list][0]    # one
    ...    ${ENVIRONMENT}    # entrypoints:bin:/Users/<username>/Projects/venv/bin...

The list (@{variable}) and dictionary (&{variable}) syntax is optional when assigning variables. You can use the list syntax when assigning a Table to a variable, but it is unnecessary.

When doing variable assignment, it's entirely valid to assign lists and dictionaries to scalar variables like this:

${my_list}=    Create list    1    2    3
${my_dict}=    Create dictionary    one=1    two=2

The reason to use the special syntax is that Robot Framework does some extra validation for you.

Validate that the keyword returns a list (or something list-like)

@{my_list}=    Create list    1    2    3

Validate that the keyword returns a dictionary (or something dictionary-like)

&{my_dict}=    Create dictionary    one=1    two=2

With dictionary variables, the assignment does another thing: it turns it into a Robot Framework DotDict. A DotDict is otherwise identical to a normal Python dictionary but allows accessing values through dot-notation: ${my_dict.two}.

Note: If you assigned to @{my_list}, you can always access it through ${my_list}, and vice-versa. They refer to the same variable.

The second place where this syntax is used is when calling keywords. With list or dictionary variables, they are unpacked as arguments automatically. If you are familiar with the Python syntax *args and **kwargs, this is similar to that.

For example, here we call the first keyword in three different ways: with individual arguments, by unpacking a list, and by unpacking a dictionary:

*** Keywords ***
An example keyword
    [Arguments]    ${first_arg}    ${second_arg}
    Log    Got arguments ${first_arg} and ${second_arg}

A second keyword
    ${as_list}=    Create list    1    2
    ${as_dict}=    Create dictionary    first_arg=1    second_arg=2
    # All three of the following will log "Got arguments 1 and 2"
    An example keyword    1    2
    An example keyword    @{as_list}
    An example keyword    &{as_dict}

This is also why it is used when FOR looping. These two examples are identical:

*** Keywords ***
Loop through scalars
    ${name_one}=    Set variable    John
    ${name_two}=    Set variable    Robert
    FOR    ${name}    IN    ${name_one}    ${name_two}    Mark
        Log    Name is ${name}
    END

Loop through list
    ${names}=    Create list    John    Robert    Mark
    FOR    ${name}    IN    @{names}
        Log    Name is ${name}
    END

If the second FOR loop used ${names} instead of @{names}, it would not loop the names inside the list but would instead only loop once and return the list itself.

So, in conclusion: We don't use the @-syntax when assigning a Table to a variable because it is optional, but it would work because a Table is list-like. We also have to use the @-syntax when looping over a Table, because we want to loop over the rows inside of it.

Assigning variables

*** Settings ***
Documentation     Assigning variables.
Library           Collections
# You can create variables in a Python file and import them:
#Variables        variables.py

*** Keywords ***
What Does The Cat Say
    [Return]    Meow!

*** Tasks ***
Assign variables
    ${string}    Set Variable    Hello, world!    # ${string} = Hello, world!
    @{list}    Create List    a    b    c    # @{list} = [ a | b | c ]
    &{dict}    Create Dictionary    key1=val1    key2=val2    # &{dict} = { key1=val1 | key2=val2 }
    ${a}    ${b}    ${c}    Create List    a    b    c    # ${a} = a, ${b} = b, ${c} = c
    ${cat_says}    What Does The Cat Say    # ${cat_says} = Meow!
    ${evaluate}    Evaluate    datetime.date.today()    # ${evaluate} = 2020-09-08
    ${inline_evaluation}
    ...    Set Variable
    ...    ${{datetime.date.today() + datetime.timedelta(1)}}    # ${inline_evaluation} = 2020-09-09

Expressions are evaluated using Python's eval function. All Python built-in functions are available. All unrecognized Python variables are considered to be modules that are automatically imported. It is possible to use all available Python modules, including the standard modules and any installed third party modules.

Built-in variables

Variable	Description
`${CURDIR}`	The path to the task data file directory.
`${EMPTY}`	Like the `${SPACE}`, but without the space. Used to pass empty arguments.
`${EXECDIR}`	The path to the task execution directory.
`${False}`	Boolean `False`.
`${None}`	Python `None`.
`${null}`	Java `null`.
`${SPACE}`	ASCII space (`\x20`).
`${TEMPDIR}`	The path to the temporary directory.
`${True}`	Boolean `True`.
`${/}`	The directory path separator. `/` in UNIX-like systems and `\` in Windows.
`${:}`	The path element separator. `:` in UNIX-like systems and `;` in Windows.
`${\n}`	The line separator. `\n` in UNIX-like systems and `\r\n` in Windows.

Runtime variables

Variable	Description
`${DEBUG_FILE}`	Debug file.
`${KEYWORD_MESSAGE}`	The error message of the current keyword.
`${KEYWORD_STATUS}`	The status of the current keyword, either `PASS` or `FAIL`.
`${LOG_FILE}`	Log file.
`${LOG_LEVEL}`	Log level
`${OUTPUT_DIR}`	Output directory.
`${OUTPUT_FILE}`	Output file.
`${PREV_TEST_MESSAGE}`	The error message of the previous task.
`${PREV_TEST_NAME}`	The name of the previous task, or an empty string if no tasks have been executed yet.
`${PREV_TEST_STATUS}`	The status of the previous task: `PASS`, `FAIL`, or an empty string when no tasks have been executed.
`${REPORT_FILE}`	Report file.
`${SUITE_DOCUMENTATION}`	The documentation of the current task suite.
`${SUITE_MESSAGE}`	The full message of the current task suite, including statistics.
`&{SUITE_METADATA}`	The metadata of the current task suite.
`${SUITE_NAME}`	The full name of the current task suite.
`${SUITE_SOURCE}`	The path to the suite file or directory.
`${SUITE_STATUS}`	The status of the current task suite, either `PASS` or `FAIL`.
`${TEST_DOCUMENTATION}`	The documentation of the current task.
`${TEST_MESSAGE}`	The message of the current task.
`${TEST_NAME}`	The name of the current task.
`${TEST_STATUS}`	The status of the current task, either `PASS` or `FAIL`.
`@{TEST_TAGS}`	The tags of the current task in alphabetical order.

I want to learn more!

Read more about variables in the Robot Framework User Guide.

August 26, 2021

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