BuiltIn

Library version:2.9b2
Library scope:global
Named arguments:supported

Introduction

An always available standard library with often needed keywords.

BuiltIn is Robot Framework's standard library that provides a set of generic keywords needed often. It is imported automatically and thus always available. The provided keywords can be used, for example, for verifications (e.g. Should Be Equal, Should Contain), conversions (e.g. Convert To Integer) and for various other purposes (e.g. Log, Sleep, Run Keyword If, Set Global Variable).

Table of contents

HTML error messages

Many of the keywords accept an optional error message to use if the keyword fails. Starting from Robot Framework 2.8, it is possible to use HTML in these messages by prefixing them with *HTML*. See Fail keyword for a usage example. Notice that using HTML in messages is not limited to BuiltIn library but works with any error message.

Evaluating expressions

Many keywords, such as Evaluate, Run Keyword If and Should Be True, accept an expression that is evaluated in Python. These expressions are evaluated using Python's eval function so that all Python built-ins like len() and int() are available. Evaluate allows configuring the execution namespace with custom modules, and other keywords have os and sys modules available automatically.

Examples:

Run Keyword If os.sep == '/' Log Not on Windows
${random int} = Evaluate random.randint(0, 5) modules=random

When a variable is used in the expressing using the normal ${variable} syntax, its value is replaces before the expression is evaluated. This means that the value used in the expression will be the string representation of the variable value, not the variable value itself. This is not a problem with numbers and other objects that have a string representation that can be evaluated directly, but with other objects the behavior depends on the string representation. Most importantly, strings must always be quoted, and if they can contain newlines, they must be triple quoted.

Examples:

Should Be True ${rc} < 10 Return code greater than 10
Run Keyword If '${status}' == 'PASS' Log Passed
Run Keyword If 'FAIL' in '''${output}''' Log Output contains FAIL

Starting from Robot Framework 2.9, variables themselves are automatically available in the evaluation namespace. They can be accessed using special variable syntax without the curly braces like $variable. These variables should never be quoted, and in fact they are not even replaced inside strings.

Examples:

Should Be True $rc < 10 Return code greater than 10
Run Keyword If $status == 'PASS' Log Passed
Run Keyword If 'FAIL' in $output Log Output contains FAIL
Should Be True len($result) > 1 and $result[1] == 'OK'

Notice that instead of creating complicated expressions, it is often better to move the logic into a test library.

Boolean arguments

Some keywords accept arguments that are handled as Boolean values true or false. If such an argument is given as a string, it is considered false if it is either empty or case-insensitively equal to false or no. Keywords verifying something that allow dropping actual and expected values from the possible error message also consider string no values as false. Other strings are considered true regardless their value, and other argument types are tested using same rules as in Python.

True examples:

Should Be Equal ${x} ${y} Custom error values=True # Strings are generally true.
Should Be Equal ${x} ${y} Custom error values=yes # Same as the above.
Should Be Equal ${x} ${y} Custom error values=${TRUE} # Python True is true.
Should Be Equal ${x} ${y} Custom error values=${42} # Numbers other than 0 are true.

False examples:

Should Be Equal ${x} ${y} Custom error values=False # String false is false.
Should Be Equal ${x} ${y} Custom error values=no # Also string no is false.
Should Be Equal ${x} ${y} Custom error values=${EMPTY} # Empty string is false.
Should Be Equal ${x} ${y} Custom error values=${FALSE} # Python False is false.
Should Be Equal ${x} ${y} Custom error values=no values # no values works with values argument

Note that prior to Robot Framework 2.9 some keywords considered all non-empty strings, including false and no, to be true.

Shortcuts

Call Method · Catenate · Comment · Continue For Loop · Continue For Loop If · Convert To Binary · Convert To Boolean · Convert To Bytes · Convert To Hex · Convert To Integer · Convert To Number · Convert To Octal · Convert To String · Create Dictionary · Create List · Evaluate · Exit For Loop · Exit For Loop If · Fail · Fatal Error · Get Count · Get Length · Get Library Instance · Get Time · Get Variable Value · Get Variables · Import Library · Import Resource · Import Variables · Keyword Should Exist · Length Should Be · Log · Log Many · Log To Console · Log Variables · No Operation · Pass Execution · Pass Execution If · Regexp Escape · Reload Library · Remove Tags · Repeat Keyword · Replace Variables · Return From Keyword · Return From Keyword If · Run Keyword · Run Keyword And Continue On Failure · Run Keyword And Expect Error · Run Keyword And Ignore Error · Run Keyword And Return · Run Keyword And Return If · Run Keyword And Return Status · Run Keyword If · Run Keyword If All Critical Tests Passed · Run Keyword If All Tests Passed · Run Keyword If Any Critical Tests Failed · Run Keyword If Any Tests Failed · Run Keyword If Test Failed · Run Keyword If Test Passed · Run Keyword If Timeout Occurred · Run Keyword Unless · Run Keywords · Set Global Variable · Set Library Search Order · Set Log Level · Set Suite Documentation · Set Suite Metadata · Set Suite Variable · Set Tags · Set Test Documentation · Set Test Message · Set Test Variable · Set Variable · Set Variable If · Should Be Empty · Should Be Equal · Should Be Equal As Integers · Should Be Equal As Numbers · Should Be Equal As Strings · Should Be True · Should Contain · Should Contain X Times · Should End With · Should Match · Should Match Regexp · Should Not Be Empty · Should Not Be Equal · Should Not Be Equal As Integers · Should Not Be Equal As Numbers · Should Not Be Equal As Strings · Should Not Be True · Should Not Contain · Should Not End With · Should Not Match · Should Not Match Regexp · Should Not Start With · Should Start With · Sleep · Variable Should Exist · Variable Should Not Exist · Wait Until Keyword Succeeds

Keywords

Keyword Arguments Documentation
Call Method object, method_name, *args, **kwargs

Calls the named method of the given object with the provided arguments.

The possible return value from the method is returned and can be assigned to a variable. Keyword fails both if the object does not have a method with the given name or if executing the method raises an exception.

Support for **kwargs is new in Robot Framework 2.9. Since that possible equal signs in other arguments must be escaped with a backslash like \=.

Examples:

Call Method ${hashtable} put myname myvalue
${isempty} = Call Method ${hashtable} isEmpty
Should Not Be True ${isempty}
${value} = Call Method ${hashtable} get myname
Should Be Equal ${value} myvalue
Call Method ${object} kwargs name=value foo=bar
Call Method ${object} positional escaped\=equals
Catenate *items

Catenates the given items together and returns the resulted string.

By default, items are catenated with spaces, but if the first item contains the string SEPARATOR=<sep>, the separator <sep> is used instead. Items are converted into strings when necessary.

Examples:

${str1} = Catenate Hello world
${str2} = Catenate SEPARATOR=--- Hello world
${str3} = Catenate SEPARATOR= Hello world

=>

${str1} = 'Hello world'
${str2} = 'Hello---world'
${str3} = 'Helloworld'
Comment *messages

Displays the given messages in the log file as keyword arguments.

This keyword does nothing with the arguments it receives, but as they are visible in the log, this keyword can be used to display simple messages. Given arguments are ignored so thoroughly that they can even contain non-existing variables. If you are interested about variable values, you can use the Log or Log Many keywords.
Continue For Loop

Skips the current for loop iteration and continues from the next.

Skips the remaining keywords in the current for loop iteration and continues from the next one. Can be used directly in a for loop or in a keyword that the loop uses.

Example:

:FOR ${var} IN @{VALUES}
Run Keyword If '${var}' == 'CONTINUE' Continue For Loop
Do Something ${var}

See Continue For Loop If to conditionally continue a for loop without using Run Keyword If or other wrapper keywords.

New in Robot Framework 2.8.
Continue For Loop If condition

Skips the current for loop iteration if the condition is true.

A wrapper for Continue For Loop to continue a for loop based on the given condition. The condition is evaluated using the same semantics as with Should Be True keyword.

Example:

:FOR ${var} IN @{VALUES}
Continue For Loop If '${var}' == 'CONTINUE'
Do Something ${var}

New in Robot Framework 2.8.
Convert To Binary item, base=None, prefix=None, length=None

Converts the given item to a binary string.

The item, with an optional base, is first converted to an integer using Convert To Integer internally. After that it is converted to a binary number (base 2) represented as a string such as 1011.

The returned value can contain an optional prefix and can be required to be of minimum length (excluding the prefix and a possible minus sign). If the value is initially shorter than the required length, it is padded with zeros.

Examples:

${result} = Convert To Binary 10 # Result is 1010
${result} = Convert To Binary F base=16 prefix=0b # Result is 0b1111
${result} = Convert To Binary -2 prefix=B length=4 # Result is -B0010

See also Convert To Integer, Convert To Octal and Convert To Hex.
Convert To Boolean item

Converts the given item to Boolean true or false.

Handles strings True and False (case-insensitive) as expected, otherwise returns item's truth value using Python's bool() method.
Convert To Bytes input, input_type=text

Converts the given input to bytes according to the input_type.

Valid input types are listed below:

  • text: Converts text to bytes character by character. All characters with ordinal below 256 can be used and are converted to bytes with same values. Many characters are easiest to represent using escapes like \x00 or \xff.
  • int: Converts integers separated by spaces to bytes. Similarly as with Convert To Integer, it is possible to use binary, octal, or hex values by prefixing the values with 0b, 0o, or 0x, respectively.
  • hex: Converts hexadecimal values to bytes. Single byte is always two characters long (e.g. 01 or FF). Spaces are ignored and can be used freely as a visual separator.
  • bin: Converts binary values to bytes. Single byte is always eight characters long (e.g. 00001010). Spaces are ignored and can be used freely as a visual separator.

In addition to giving the input as a string, it is possible to use lists or other iterables containing individual characters or numbers. In that case numbers do not need to be padded to certain length and they cannot contain extra spaces.

Examples (last column shows returned bytes):

${bytes} = Convert To Bytes hyvä # hyv\xe4
${bytes} = Convert To Bytes \xff\x07 # \xff\x07
${bytes} = Convert To Bytes 82 70 int # RF
${bytes} = Convert To Bytes 0b10 0x10 int # \x02\x10
${bytes} = Convert To Bytes ff 00 07 hex # \xff\x00\x07
${bytes} = Convert To Bytes 5246212121 hex # RF!!!
${bytes} = Convert To Bytes 0000 1000 bin # \x08
${input} = Create List 1 2 12
${bytes} = Convert To Bytes ${input} int # \x01\x02\x0c
${bytes} = Convert To Bytes ${input} hex # \x01\x02\x12

Use Encode String To Bytes in String library if you need to convert text to bytes using a certain encoding.

New in Robot Framework 2.8.2.
Convert To Hex item, base=None, prefix=None, length=None, lowercase=False

Converts the given item to a hexadecimal string.

The item, with an optional base, is first converted to an integer using Convert To Integer internally. After that it is converted to a hexadecimal number (base 16) represented as a string such as FF0A.

The returned value can contain an optional prefix and can be required to be of minimum length (excluding the prefix and a possible minus sign). If the value is initially shorter than the required length, it is padded with zeros.

By default the value is returned as an upper case string, but the lowercase argument a true value (see Boolean arguments) turns the value (but not the given prefix) to lower case.

Examples:

${result} = Convert To Hex 255 # Result is FF
${result} = Convert To Hex -10 prefix=0x length=2 # Result is -0x0A
${result} = Convert To Hex 255 prefix=X lowercase=yes # Result is Xff

See also Convert To Integer, Convert To Binary and Convert To Octal.
Convert To Integer item, base=None

Converts the given item to an integer number.

If the given item is a string, it is by default expected to be an integer in base 10. There are two ways to convert from other bases:

  • Give base explicitly to the keyword as base argument.
  • Prefix the given string with the base so that 0b means binary (base 2), 0o means octal (base 8), and 0x means hex (base 16). The prefix is considered only when base argument is not given and may itself be prefixed with a plus or minus sign.

The syntax is case-insensitive and possible spaces are ignored.

Examples:

${result} = Convert To Integer 100 # Result is 100
${result} = Convert To Integer FF AA 16 # Result is 65450
${result} = Convert To Integer 100 8 # Result is 64
${result} = Convert To Integer -100 2 # Result is -4
${result} = Convert To Integer 0b100 # Result is 4
${result} = Convert To Integer -0x100 # Result is -256

See also Convert To Number, Convert To Binary, Convert To Octal, Convert To Hex, and Convert To Bytes.
Convert To Number item, precision=None

Converts the given item to a floating point number.

If the optional precision is positive or zero, the returned number is rounded to that number of decimal digits. Negative precision means that the number is rounded to the closest multiple of 10 to the power of the absolute precision.

Examples:

${result} = Convert To Number 42.512 # Result is 42.512
${result} = Convert To Number 42.512 1 # Result is 42.5
${result} = Convert To Number 42.512 0 # Result is 43.0
${result} = Convert To Number 42.512 -1 # Result is 40.0

Notice that machines generally cannot store floating point numbers accurately. This may cause surprises with these numbers in general and also when they are rounded. For more information see, for example, these resources:

If you need an integer number, use Convert To Integer instead.
Convert To Octal item, base=None, prefix=None, length=None

Converts the given item to an octal string.

The item, with an optional base, is first converted to an integer using Convert To Integer internally. After that it is converted to an octal number (base 8) represented as a string such as 775.

The returned value can contain an optional prefix and can be required to be of minimum length (excluding the prefix and a possible minus sign). If the value is initially shorter than the required length, it is padded with zeros.

Examples:

${result} = Convert To Octal 10 # Result is 12
${result} = Convert To Octal -F base=16 prefix=0 # Result is -017
${result} = Convert To Octal 16 prefix=oct length=4 # Result is oct0020

See also Convert To Integer, Convert To Binary and Convert To Hex.
Convert To String item

Converts the given item to a Unicode string.

Uses __unicode__ or __str__ method with Python objects and toString with Java objects.

Use Encode String To Bytes and Decode Bytes To String keywords in String library if you need to convert between Unicode and byte strings using different encodings. Use Convert To Bytes if you just want to create byte strings.
Create Dictionary *items

Creates and returns a dictionary based on given items.

Items are given using key=value syntax same way as &{dictionary} variables are created in the Variable table. Both keys and values can contain variables, and possible equal sign in key can be escaped with a backslash like escaped\=key=value. It is also possible to get items from existing dictionaries by simply using them like &{dict}.

If same key is used multiple times, the last value has precedence. The returned dictionary is ordered, and values with strings as keys can also be accessed using convenient dot-access syntax like ${dict.key}.

Examples:

&{dict} = Create Dictionary key=value foo=bar
Should Be True ${dict} == {'key': 'value', 'foo': 'bar'}
&{dict} = Create Dictionary ${1}=${2} &{dict} foo=new
Should Be True ${dict} == {1: 2, 'key': 'value', 'foo': 'new'}
Should Be Equal ${dict.key} value

This keyword was changed in Robot Framework 2.9 in many ways:

  • Moved from Collections library to BuiltIn.
  • Support also non-string keys in key=value syntax.
  • Deprecated old syntax to give keys and values separately.
  • Returned dictionary is ordered and dot-accessible.
Create List *items

Returns a list containing given items.

The returned list can be assigned both to ${scalar} and @{list} variables.

Examples:

@{list} = Create List a b c
${scalar} = Create List a b c
${ints} = Create List ${1} ${2} ${3}
Evaluate expression, modules=None, namespace=None

Evaluates the given expression in Python and returns the results.

expression is evaluated in Python as explained in Evaluating expressions.

modules argument can be used to specify a comma separated list of Python modules to be imported and added to the evaluation namespace.

namespace argument can be used to pass a custom evaluation namespace as a dictionary. Possible modules are added to this namespace. This is a new feature in Robot Framework 2.8.4.

Variables used like ${variable} are replaced in the expression before evaluation. Variables are also available in the evaluation namespace and can be accessed using special syntax $variable. This is a new feature in Robot Framework 2.9 and it is explained more thoroughly in Evaluating expressions.

Examples (expecting ${result} is 3.14):

${status} = Evaluate 0 < ${result} < 10 # Would also work with string '3.14'
${status} = Evaluate 0 < $result < 10 # Using variable itself, not string representation
${random} = Evaluate random.randint(0, sys.maxint) modules=random, sys
${ns} = Create Dictionary x=${4} y=${2}
${result} = Evaluate x*10 + y namespace=${ns}

=>

${status} = True
${random} = <random integer>
${result} = 42
Exit For Loop

Stops executing the enclosing for loop.

Exits the enclosing for loop and continues execution after it. Can be used directly in a for loop or in a keyword that the loop uses.

Example:

:FOR ${var} IN @{VALUES}
Run Keyword If '${var}' == 'EXIT' Exit For Loop
Do Something ${var}

See Exit For Loop If to conditionally exit a for loop without using Run Keyword If or other wrapper keywords.
Exit For Loop If condition

Stops executing the enclosing for loop if the condition is true.

A wrapper for Exit For Loop to exit a for loop based on the given condition. The condition is evaluated using the same semantics as with Should Be True keyword.

Example:

:FOR ${var} IN @{VALUES}
Exit For Loop If '${var}' == 'EXIT'
Do Something ${var}

New in Robot Framework 2.8.
Fail msg=None, *tags

Fails the test with the given message and optionally alters its tags.

The error message is specified using the msg argument. It is possible to use HTML in the given error message, similarly as with any other keyword accepting an error message, by prefixing the error with *HTML*.

It is possible to modify tags of the current test case by passing tags after the message. Tags starting with a hyphen (e.g. -regression) are removed and others added. Tags are modified using Set Tags and Remove Tags internally, and the semantics setting and removing them are the same as with these keywords.

Examples:

Fail Test not ready # Fails with the given message.
Fail *HTML*<b>Test not ready</b> # Fails using HTML in the message.
Fail Test not ready not-ready # Fails and adds 'not-ready' tag.
Fail OS not supported -regression # Removes tag 'regression'.
Fail My message tag -t* # Removes all tags starting with 't' except the newly added 'tag'.

See Fatal Error if you need to stop the whole test execution.

Support for modifying tags was added in Robot Framework 2.7.4 and HTML message support in 2.8.
Fatal Error msg=None

Stops the whole test execution.

The test or suite where this keyword is used fails with the provided message, and subsequent tests fail with a canned message. Possible teardowns will nevertheless be executed.

See Fail if you only want to stop one test case unconditionally.
Get Count item1, item2

Returns and logs how many times item2 is found from item1.

This keyword works with Python strings and lists and all objects that either have count method or can be converted to Python lists.

Example:

${count} = Get Count ${some item} interesting value
Should Be True 5 < ${count} < 10
Get Length item

Returns and logs the length of the given item as an integer.

The item can be anything that has a length, for example, a string, a list, or a mapping. The keyword first tries to get the length with the Python function len, which calls the item's __len__ method internally. If that fails, the keyword tries to call the item's possible length and size methods directly. The final attempt is trying to get the value of the item's length attribute. If all these attempts are unsuccessful, the keyword fails.

Examples:

${length} = Get Length Hello, world!
Should Be Equal As Integers ${length} 13
@{list} = Create List Hello, world!
${length} = Get Length ${list}
Should Be Equal As Integers ${length} 2

See also Length Should Be, Should Be Empty and Should Not Be Empty.
Get Library Instance name

Returns the currently active instance of the specified test library.

This keyword makes it easy for test libraries to interact with other test libraries that have state. This is illustrated by the Python example below:

from robot.libraries.BuiltIn import BuiltIn

def title_should_start_with(expected):
    seleniumlib = BuiltIn().get_library_instance('SeleniumLibrary')
    title = seleniumlib.get_title()
    if not title.startswith(expected):
        raise AssertionError("Title '%s' did not start with '%s'"
                             % (title, expected))

It is also possible to use this keyword in the test data and pass the returned library instance to another keyword. If a library is imported with a custom name, the name used to get the instance must be that name and not the original library name.
Get Time format=timestamp, time_=NOW

Returns the given time in the requested format.

NOTE: DateTime library added in Robot Framework 2.8.5 contains much more flexible keywords for getting the current date and time and for date and time handling in general.

How time is returned is determined based on the given format string as follows. Note that all checks are case-insensitive.

1) If format contains the word epoch, the time is returned in seconds after the UNIX epoch (1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC). The return value is always an integer.

2) If format contains any of the words year, month, day, hour, min, or sec, only the selected parts are returned. The order of the returned parts is always the one in the previous sentence and the order of words in format is not significant. The parts are returned as zero-padded strings (e.g. May -> 05).

3) Otherwise (and by default) the time is returned as a timestamp string in the format 2006-02-24 15:08:31.

By default this keyword returns the current local time, but that can be altered using time argument as explained below. Note that all checks involving strings are case-insensitive.

1) If time is a number, or a string that can be converted to a number, it is interpreted as seconds since the UNIX epoch. This documentation was originally written about 1177654467 seconds after the epoch.

2) If time is a timestamp, that time will be used. Valid timestamp formats are YYYY-MM-DD hh:mm:ss and YYYYMMDD hhmmss.

3) If time is equal to NOW (default), the current local time is used. This time is got using Python's time.time() function.

4) If time is equal to UTC, the current time in UTC is used. This time is got using time.time() + time.altzone in Python.

5) If time is in the format like NOW - 1 day or UTC + 1 hour 30 min, the current local/UTC time plus/minus the time specified with the time string is used. The time string format is described in an appendix of Robot Framework User Guide.

Examples (expecting the current local time is 2006-03-29 15:06:21):

${time} = Get Time
${secs} = Get Time epoch
${year} = Get Time return year
${yyyy} ${mm} ${dd} = Get Time year,month,day
@{time} = Get Time year month day hour min sec
${y} ${s} = Get Time seconds and year

=>

${time} = '2006-03-29 15:06:21'
${secs} = 1143637581
${year} = '2006'
${yyyy} = '2006', ${mm} = '03', ${dd} = '29'
@{time} = ['2006', '03', '29', '15', '06', '21']
${y} = '2006'
${s} = '21'

Examples (expecting the current local time is 2006-03-29 15:06:21 and UTC time is 2006-03-29 12:06:21):

${time} = Get Time 1177654467 # Time given as epoch seconds
${secs} = Get Time sec 2007-04-27 09:14:27 # Time given as a timestamp
${year} = Get Time year NOW # The local time of execution
@{time} = Get Time hour min sec NOW + 1h 2min 3s # 1h 2min 3s added to the local time
@{utc} = Get Time hour min sec UTC # The UTC time of execution
${hour} = Get Time hour UTC - 1 hour # 1h subtracted from the UTC time

=>

${time} = '2007-04-27 09:14:27'
${secs} = 27
${year} = '2006'
@{time} = ['16', '08', '24']
@{utc} = ['12', '06', '21']
${hour} = '11'

Support for UTC time was added in Robot Framework 2.7.5 but it did not work correctly until 2.7.7.
Get Variable Value name, default=None

Returns variable value or default if the variable does not exist.

The name of the variable can be given either as a normal variable name (e.g. ${NAME}) or in escaped format (e.g. \${NAME}). Notice that the former has some limitations explained in Set Suite Variable.

Examples:

${x} = Get Variable Value ${a} default
${y} = Get Variable Value ${a} ${b}
${z} = Get Variable Value ${z}

=>

${x} gets value of ${a} if ${a} exists and string 'default' otherwise
${y} gets value of ${a} if ${a} exists and value of ${b} otherwise
${z} is set to Python None if it does not exist previously

See Set Variable If for another keyword to set variables dynamically.
Get Variables no_decoration=False

Returns a dictionary containing all variables in the current scope.

Variables are returned as a special dictionary that allows accessing variables in space, case, and underscore insensitive manner similarly as accessing variables in the test data. This dictionary supports all same operations as normal Python dictionaries and, for example, Collections library can be used to access or modify it. Modifying the returned dictionary has no effect on the variables available in the current scope.

By default variables are returned with ${}, @{} or &{} decoration based on variable types. Giving a true value (see Boolean arguments) to the optional argument no_decoration will return the variables without the decoration. This option is new in Robot Framework 2.9.

Example:

${example_variable} = Set Variable example value
${variables} = Get Variables
Dictionary Should Contain Key ${variables} \${example_variable}
Dictionary Should Contain Key ${variables} \${ExampleVariable}
Set To Dictionary ${variables} \${name} value
Variable Should Not Exist \${name}
${no decoration} = Get Variables no_decoration=Yes
Dictionary Should Contain Key ${no decoration} example_variable

Note: Prior to Robot Framework 2.7.4 variables were returned as a custom object that did not support all dictionary methods.
Import Library name, *args

Imports a library with the given name and optional arguments.

This functionality allows dynamic importing of libraries while tests are running. That may be necessary, if the library itself is dynamic and not yet available when test data is processed. In a normal case, libraries should be imported using the Library setting in the Setting table.

This keyword supports importing libraries both using library names and physical paths. When paths are used, they must be given in absolute format. Forward slashes can be used as path separators in all operating systems.

It is possible to pass arguments to the imported library and also named argument syntax works if the library supports it. WITH NAME syntax can be used to give a custom name to the imported library.

Examples:

Import Library MyLibrary
Import Library ${CURDIR}/../Library.py arg1 named=arg2
Import Library ${LIBRARIES}/Lib.java arg WITH NAME JavaLib
Import Resource path

Imports a resource file with the given path.

Resources imported with this keyword are set into the test suite scope similarly when importing them in the Setting table using the Resource setting.

The given path must be absolute. Forward slashes can be used as path separator regardless the operating system.

Examples:

Import Resource ${CURDIR}/resource.txt
Import Resource ${CURDIR}/../resources/resource.html
Import Variables path, *args

Imports a variable file with the given path and optional arguments.

Variables imported with this keyword are set into the test suite scope similarly when importing them in the Setting table using the Variables setting. These variables override possible existing variables with the same names. This functionality can thus be used to import new variables, for example, for each test in a test suite.

The given path must be absolute. Forward slashes can be used as path separator regardless the operating system.

Examples:

Import Variables ${CURDIR}/variables.py
Import Variables ${CURDIR}/../vars/env.py arg1 arg2
Keyword Should Exist name, msg=None

Fails unless the given keyword exists in the current scope.

Fails also if there are more than one keywords with the same name. Works both with the short name (e.g. Log) and the full name (e.g. BuiltIn.Log).

The default error message can be overridden with the msg argument.

See also Variable Should Exist.
Length Should Be item, length, msg=None

Verifies that the length of the given item is correct.

The length of the item is got using the Get Length keyword. The default error message can be overridden with the msg argument.
Log message, level=INFO, html=False, console=False, repr=False

Logs the given message with the given level.

Valid levels are TRACE, DEBUG, INFO (default), HTML, WARN, and ERROR. Messages below the current active log level are ignored. See Set Log Level keyword and --loglevel command line option for more details about setting the level.

Messages logged with the WARN or ERROR levels will be automatically visible also in the console and in the Test Execution Errors section in the log file.

Logging can be configured using optional html, console and repr arguments. They are off by default, but can be enabled by giving them a true value. See Boolean arguments section for more information about true and false values.

If the html argument is given a true value, the message will be considered HTML and special characters such as < in it are not escaped. For example, logging <img src="image.png"> creates an image when html is true, but otherwise the message is that exact string. An alternative to using the html argument is using the HTML pseudo log level. It logs the message as HTML using the INFO level.

If the console argument is true, the message will be written to the console where test execution was started from in addition to the log file. This keyword always uses the standard output stream and adds a newline after the written message. Use Log To Console instead if either of these is undesirable,

If the repr argument is true, the given item will be passed through a custom version of Python's pprint.pformat() function before logging it. This is useful, for example, when working with strings or bytes containing invisible characters, or when working with nested data structures. The custom version differs from the standard one so that it omits the u prefix from Unicode strings and adds b prefix to byte strings.

Examples:

Log Hello, world! # Normal INFO message.
Log Warning, world! WARN # Warning.
Log <b>Hello</b>, world! html=yes # INFO message as HTML.
Log <b>Hello</b>, world! HTML # Same as above.
Log <b>Hello</b>, world! DEBUG html=true # DEBUG as HTML.
Log Hello, console! console=yes # Log also to the console.
Log Hyvä \x00 repr=yes # Log 'Hyv\xe4 \x00'.

See Log Many if you want to log multiple messages in one go, and Log To Console if you only want to write to the console.

Arguments html, console, and repr are new in Robot Framework 2.8.2.

Pprint support when repr is used is new in Robot Framework 2.8.6, and it was changed to drop the u prefix and add the b prefix in Robot Framework 2.9.
Log Many *messages

Logs the given messages as separate entries using the INFO level.

Supports also logging list and dictionary variable items individually.

Examples:

Log Many Hello ${var}
Log Many @{list} &{dict}

See Log and Log To Console keywords if you want to use alternative log levels, use HTML, or log to the console.
Log To Console message, stream=STDOUT, no_newline=False

Logs the given message to the console.

By default uses the standard output stream. Using the standard error stream is possibly by giving the stream argument value STDERR (case-insensitive).

By default appends a newline to the logged message. This can be disabled by giving the no_newline argument a true value (see Boolean arguments).

Examples:

Log To Console Hello, console!
Log To Console Hello, stderr! STDERR
Log To Console Message starts here and is no_newline=true
Log To Console continued without newline.

This keyword does not log the message to the normal log file. Use Log keyword, possibly with argument console, if that is desired.

New in Robot Framework 2.8.2.
Log Variables level=INFO

Logs all variables in the current scope with given log level.
No Operation

Does absolutely nothing.
Pass Execution message, *tags

Skips rest of the current test, setup, or teardown with PASS status.

This keyword can be used anywhere in the test data, but the place where used affects the behavior:

  • When used in any setup or teardown (suite, test or keyword), passes that setup or teardown. Possible keyword teardowns of the started keywords are executed. Does not affect execution or statuses otherwise.
  • When used in a test outside setup or teardown, passes that particular test case. Possible test and keyword teardowns are executed.

Possible continuable failures before this keyword is used, as well as failures in executed teardowns, will fail the execution.

It is mandatory to give a message explaining why execution was passed. By default the message is considered plain text, but starting it with *HTML* allows using HTML formatting.

It is also possible to modify test tags passing tags after the message similarly as with Fail keyword. Tags starting with a hyphen (e.g. -regression) are removed and others added. Tags are modified using Set Tags and Remove Tags internally, and the semantics setting and removing them are the same as with these keywords.

Examples:

Pass Execution All features available in this version tested.
Pass Execution Deprecated test. deprecated -regression

This keyword is typically wrapped to some other keyword, such as Run Keyword If, to pass based on a condition. The most common case can be handled also with Pass Execution If:

Run Keyword If ${rc} < 0 Pass Execution Negative values are cool.
Pass Execution If ${rc} < 0 Negative values are cool.

Passing execution in the middle of a test, setup or teardown should be used with care. In the worst case it leads to tests that skip all the parts that could actually uncover problems in the tested application. In cases where execution cannot continue do to external factors, it is often safer to fail the test case and make it non-critical.

New in Robot Framework 2.8.
Pass Execution If condition, message, *tags

Conditionally skips rest of the current test, setup, or teardown with PASS status.

A wrapper for Pass Execution to skip rest of the current test, setup or teardown based the given condition. The condition is evaluated similarly as with Should Be True keyword, and message and *tags have same semantics as with Pass Execution.

Example:

:FOR ${var} IN @{VALUES}
Pass Execution If '${var}' == 'EXPECTED' Correct value was found
Do Something ${var}

New in Robot Framework 2.8.
Regexp Escape *patterns

Returns each argument string escaped for use as a regular expression.

This keyword can be used to escape strings to be used with Should Match Regexp and Should Not Match Regexp keywords.

Escaping is done with Python's re.escape() function.

Examples:

${escaped} = Regexp Escape ${original}
@{strings} = Regexp Escape @{strings}
Reload Library name_or_instance

Rechecks what keywords the specified library provides.

Can be called explicitly in the test data or by a library itself when keywords it provides have changed.

The library can be specified by its name or as the active instance of the library. The latter is especially useful if the library itself calls this keyword as a method.

New in Robot Framework 2.9.
Remove Tags *tags

Removes given tags from the current test or all tests in a suite.

Tags can be given exactly or using a pattern where * matches anything and ? matches one character.

This keyword can affect either one test case or all test cases in a test suite similarly as Set Tags keyword.

The current tags are available as a built-in variable @{TEST TAGS}.

Example:

Remove Tags mytag something-* ?ython

See Set Tags if you want to add certain tags and Fail if you want to fail the test case after setting and/or removing tags.
Repeat Keyword times, name, *args

Executes the specified keyword multiple times.

name and args define the keyword that is executed similarly as with Run Keyword, and times specifies how many the keyword should be executed. times can be given as an integer or as a string that can be converted to an integer. If it is a string, it can have postfix times or x (case and space insensitive) to make the expression more explicit.

If times is zero or negative, the keyword is not executed at all. This keyword fails immediately if any of the execution rounds fails.

Examples:

Repeat Keyword 5 times Go to Previous Page
Repeat Keyword ${var} Some Keyword arg1 arg2
Replace Variables text

Replaces variables in the given text with their current values.

If the text contains undefined variables, this keyword fails. If the given text contains only a single variable, its value is returned as-is and it can be any object. Otherwise this keyword always returns a string.

Example:

The file template.txt contains Hello ${NAME}! and variable ${NAME} has the value Robot.

${template} = Get File ${CURDIR}/template.txt
${message} = Replace Variables ${template}
Should Be Equal ${message} Hello Robot!
Return From Keyword *return_values

Returns from the enclosing user keyword.

This keyword can be used to return from a user keyword with PASS status without executing it fully. It is also possible to return values similarly as with the [Return] setting. For more detailed information about working with the return values, see the User Guide.

This keyword is typically wrapped to some other keyword, such as Run Keyword If or Run Keyword If Test Passed, to return based on a condition:

Run Keyword If ${rc} < 0 Return From Keyword
Run Keyword If Test Passed Return From Keyword

It is possible to use this keyword to return from a keyword also inside a for loop. That, as well as returning values, is demonstrated by the Find Index keyword in the following somewhat advanced example. Notice that it is often a good idea to move this kind of complicated logic into a test library.

*** Variables ***
@{LIST} =    foo    baz

*** Test Cases ***
Example
    ${index} =    Find Index    baz    @{LIST}
    Should Be Equal    ${index}    ${1}
    ${index} =    Find Index    non existing    @{LIST}
    Should Be Equal    ${index}    ${-1}

*** Keywords ***
Find Index
   [Arguments]    ${element}    @{items}
   ${index} =    Set Variable    ${0}
   :FOR    ${item}    IN    @{items}
   \    Run Keyword If    '${item}' == '${element}'    Return From Keyword    ${index}
   \    ${index} =    Set Variable    ${index + 1}
   Return From Keyword    ${-1}    # Also [Return] would work here.

The most common use case, returning based on an expression, can be accomplished directly with Return From Keyword If. Both of these keywords are new in Robot Framework 2.8.

See also Run Keyword And Return and Run Keyword And Return If.
Return From Keyword If condition, *return_values

Returns from the enclosing user keyword if condition is true.

A wrapper for Return From Keyword to return based on the given condition. The condition is evaluated using the same semantics as with Should Be True keyword.

Given the same example as in Return From Keyword, we can rewrite the Find Index keyword as follows:

*** Keywords ***
Find Index
   [Arguments]    ${element}    @{items}
   ${index} =    Set Variable    ${0}
   :FOR    ${item}    IN    @{items}
   \    Return From Keyword If    '${item}' == '${element}'    ${index}
   \    ${index} =    Set Variable    ${index + 1}
   Return From Keyword    ${-1}    # Also [Return] would work here.

See also Run Keyword And Return and Run Keyword And Return If.

New in Robot Framework 2.8.
Run Keyword name, *args

Executes the given keyword with the given arguments.

Because the name of the keyword to execute is given as an argument, it can be a variable and thus set dynamically, e.g. from a return value of another keyword or from the command line.
Run Keyword And Continue On Failure name, *args

Runs the keyword and continues execution even if a failure occurs.

The keyword name and arguments work as with Run Keyword.

Example:

Run Keyword And Continue On Failure Fail This is a stupid example
Log This keyword is executed

The execution is not continued if the failure is caused by invalid syntax, timeout, or fatal exception.
Run Keyword And Expect Error expected_error, name, *args

Runs the keyword and checks that the expected error occurred.

The expected error must be given in the same format as in Robot Framework reports. It can be a pattern containing characters ?, which matches to any single character and *, which matches to any number of any characters. name and *args have same semantics as with Run Keyword.

If the expected error occurs, the error message is returned and it can be further processed/tested, if needed. If there is no error, or the error does not match the expected error, this keyword fails.

Examples:

Run Keyword And Expect Error My error Some Keyword arg1 arg2
${msg} = Run Keyword And Expect Error * My KW
Should Start With ${msg} Once upon a time in

Errors caused by invalid syntax, timeouts, or fatal exceptions are not caught by this keyword.
Run Keyword And Ignore Error name, *args

Runs the given keyword with the given arguments and ignores possible error.

This keyword returns two values, so that the first is either string PASS or FAIL, depending on the status of the executed keyword. The second value is either the return value of the keyword or the received error message. See Run Keyword And Return Status If you are only interested in the execution status.

The keyword name and arguments work as in Run Keyword. See Run Keyword If for a usage example.

Errors caused by invalid syntax, timeouts, or fatal exceptions are not caught by this keyword. Otherwise this keyword itself never fails.
Run Keyword And Return name, *args

Runs the specified keyword and returns from the enclosing user keyword.

The keyword to execute is defined with name and *args exactly like with Run Keyword. After running the keyword, returns from the enclosing user keyword and passes possible return value from the executed keyword further. Returning from a keyword has exactly same semantics as with Return From Keyword.

Example:

Run Keyword And Return My Keyword arg1 arg2
# Above is equivalent to:
${result} = My Keyword arg1 arg2
Return From Keyword ${result}

Use Run Keyword And Return If if you want to run keyword and return based on a condition.

New in Robot Framework 2.8.2.
Run Keyword And Return If condition, name, *args

Runs the specified keyword and returns from the enclosing user keyword.

A wrapper for Run Keyword And Return to run and return based on the given condition. The condition is evaluated using the same semantics as with Should Be True keyword.

Example:

Run Keyword And Return If ${rc} > 0 My Keyword arg1 arg2
# Above is equivalent to:
Run Keyword If ${rc} > 0 Run Keyword And Return My Keyword arg1 arg2

Use Return From Keyword If if you want to return a certain value based on a condition.

New in Robot Framework 2.8.2.
Run Keyword And Return Status name, *args

Runs the given keyword with given arguments and returns the status as a Boolean value.

This keyword returns Boolean True if the keyword that is executed succeeds and False if it fails. This is useful, for example, in combination with Run Keyword If. If you are interested in the error message or return value, use Run Keyword And Ignore Error instead.

The keyword name and arguments work as in Run Keyword.

Example:

${passed} = Run Keyword And Return Status Keyword args
Run Keyword If ${passed} Another keyword

Errors caused by invalid syntax, timeouts, or fatal exceptions are not caught by this keyword. Otherwise this keyword itself never fails.

New in Robot Framework 2.7.6.
Run Keyword If condition, name, *args

Runs the given keyword with the given arguments, if condition is true.

The given condition is evaluated in Python as explained in Evaluating expressions, and name and *args have same semantics as with Run Keyword.

Example, a simple if/else construct:

${status} ${value} = Run Keyword And Ignore Error My Keyword
Run Keyword If '${status}' == 'PASS' Some Action arg
Run Keyword Unless '${status}' == 'PASS' Another Action

In this example, only either Some Action or Another Action is executed, based on the status of My Keyword. Instead of Run Keyword And Ignore Error you can also use Run Keyword And Return Status.

Variables used like ${variable}, as in the examples above, are replaced in the expression before evaluation. Variables are also available in the evaluation namespace and can be accessed using special syntax $variable. This is a new feature in Robot Framework 2.9 and it is explained more thoroughly in Evaluating expressions.

Example:

Run Keyword If $result is None or $result == 'FAIL' Keyword

Starting from Robot version 2.7.4, this keyword supports also optional ELSE and ELSE IF branches. Both of these are defined in *args and must use exactly format ELSE or ELSE IF, respectively. ELSE branches must contain first the name of the keyword to execute and then its possible arguments. ELSE IF branches must first contain a condition, like the first argument to this keyword, and then the keyword to execute and its possible arguments. It is possible to have ELSE branch after ELSE IF and to have multiple ELSE IF branches.

Given previous example, if/else construct can also be created like this:

${status} ${value} = Run Keyword And Ignore Error My Keyword
Run Keyword If '${status}' == 'PASS' Some Action arg ELSE Another Action

The return value is the one of the keyword that was executed or None if no keyword was executed (i.e. if condition was false). Hence, it is recommended to use ELSE and/or ELSE IF branches to conditionally assign return values from keyword to variables (to conditionally assign fixed values to variables, see Set Variable If). This is illustrated by the example below:

${var1} = Run Keyword If ${rc} == 0 Some keyword returning a value
... ELSE IF 0 < ${rc} < 42 Another keyword
... ELSE IF ${rc} < 0 Another keyword with args ${rc} arg2
... ELSE Final keyword to handle abnormal cases ${rc}
${var2} = Run Keyword If ${condition} Some keyword

In this example, ${var2} will be set to None if ${condition} is false.

Notice that ELSE and ELSE IF control words must be used explicitly and thus cannot come from variables. If you need to use literal ELSE and ELSE IF strings as arguments, you can escape them with a backslash like \ELSE and \ELSE IF.

Starting from Robot Framework 2.8, Python's os and sys modules are automatically imported when evaluating the condition. Attributes they contain can thus be used in the condition:

Run Keyword If os.sep == '/' Unix Keyword
... ELSE IF sys.platform.startswith('java') Jython Keyword
... ELSE Windows Keyword
Run Keyword If All Critical Tests Passed name, *args

Runs the given keyword with the given arguments, if all critical tests passed.

This keyword can only be used in suite teardown. Trying to use it in any other place will result in an error.

Otherwise, this keyword works exactly like Run Keyword, see its documentation for more details.
Run Keyword If All Tests Passed name, *args

Runs the given keyword with the given arguments, if all tests passed.

This keyword can only be used in a suite teardown. Trying to use it anywhere else results in an error.

Otherwise, this keyword works exactly like Run Keyword, see its documentation for more details.
Run Keyword If Any Critical Tests Failed name, *args

Runs the given keyword with the given arguments, if any critical tests failed.

This keyword can only be used in a suite teardown. Trying to use it anywhere else results in an error.

Otherwise, this keyword works exactly like Run Keyword, see its documentation for more details.
Run Keyword If Any Tests Failed name, *args

Runs the given keyword with the given arguments, if one or more tests failed.

This keyword can only be used in a suite teardown. Trying to use it anywhere else results in an error.

Otherwise, this keyword works exactly like Run Keyword, see its documentation for more details.
Run Keyword If Test Failed name, *args

Runs the given keyword with the given arguments, if the test failed.

This keyword can only be used in a test teardown. Trying to use it anywhere else results in an error.

Otherwise, this keyword works exactly like Run Keyword, see its documentation for more details.

Prior to Robot Framework 2.9 failures in test teardown itself were not detected by this keyword.
Run Keyword If Test Passed name, *args

Runs the given keyword with the given arguments, if the test passed.

This keyword can only be used in a test teardown. Trying to use it anywhere else results in an error.

Otherwise, this keyword works exactly like Run Keyword, see its documentation for more details.

Prior to Robot Framework 2.9 failures in test teardown itself were not detected by this keyword.
Run Keyword If Timeout Occurred name, *args

Runs the given keyword if either a test or a keyword timeout has occurred.

This keyword can only be used in a test teardown. Trying to use it anywhere else results in an error.

Otherwise, this keyword works exactly like Run Keyword, see its documentation for more details.
Run Keyword Unless condition, name, *args

Runs the given keyword with the given arguments, if condition is false.

See Run Keyword If for more information and an example.
Run Keywords *keywords

Executes all the given keywords in a sequence.

This keyword is mainly useful in setups and teardowns when they need to take care of multiple actions and creating a new higher level user keyword would be an overkill.

Examples:

Run Keywords Initialize database Start servers Clear logs
Run Keywords ${KW 1} ${KW 2}
Run Keywords @{KEYWORDS}

In this example, we call Run Keywords with three different combination of arguments. Keyword names and arguments can come from variables, as demonstrated in the second and third row.

Starting from Robot Framework 2.7.6, keywords can also be run with arguments using upper case AND as a separator between keywords. The keywords are executed so that the first argument is the first keyword and proceeding arguments until the first AND are arguments to it. First argument after the first AND is the second keyword and proceeding arguments until the next AND are its arguments. And so on.

Examples:

Run Keywords Initialize database db1 AND Start servers server1 server2
Run Keywords Initialize database ${DB NAME} AND Start servers @{SERVERS} AND Clear logs
Run Keywords ${KW} AND @{KW WITH ARGS}

Notice that the AND control argument must be used explicitly and thus cannot itself come from a variable. If you need to use literal AND string as argument, you can either use variables or escape it with a backslash like \AND.
Set Global Variable name, *values

Makes a variable available globally in all tests and suites.

Variables set with this keyword are globally available in all test cases and suites executed after setting them. Setting variables with this keyword thus has the same effect as creating from the command line using the options --variable or --variablefile. Because this keyword can change variables everywhere, it should be used with care.

See Set Suite Variable for more information and examples.
Set Library Search Order *search_order

Sets the resolution order to use when a name matches multiple keywords.

The library search order is used to resolve conflicts when a keyword name in the test data matches multiple keywords. The first library (or resource, see below) containing the keyword is selected and that keyword implementation used. If the keyword is not found from any library (or resource), test executing fails the same way as when the search order is not set.

When this keyword is used, there is no need to use the long LibraryName.Keyword Name notation. For example, instead of having

MyLibrary.Keyword arg
MyLibrary.Another Keyword
MyLibrary.Keyword xxx

you can have

Set Library Search Order MyLibrary
Keyword arg
Another Keyword
Keyword xxx

This keyword can be used also to set the order of keywords in different resource files. In this case resource names must be given without paths or extensions like:

Set Library Search Order resource another_resource

NOTE:

  • The search order is valid only in the suite where this keywords is used.
  • Keywords in resources always have higher priority than keywords in libraries regardless the search order.
  • The old order is returned and can be used to reset the search order later.
  • Library and resource names in the search order are both case and space insensitive.
Set Log Level level

Sets the log threshold to the specified level and returns the old level.

Messages below the level will not logged. The default logging level is INFO, but it can be overridden with the command line option --loglevel.

The available levels: TRACE, DEBUG, INFO (default), WARN, ERROR and NONE (no logging).
Set Suite Documentation doc, append=False, top=False

Sets documentation for the current test suite.

By default the possible existing documentation is overwritten, but this can be changed using the optional append argument similarly as with Set Test Message keyword.

This keyword sets the documentation of the current suite by default. If the optional top argument is given a true value (see Boolean arguments), the documentation of the top level suite is altered instead.

The documentation of the current suite is available as a built-in variable ${SUITE DOCUMENTATION}.

New in Robot Framework 2.7. Support for append and top were added in 2.7.7.
Set Suite Metadata name, value, append=False, top=False

Sets metadata for the current test suite.

By default possible existing metadata values are overwritten, but this can be changed using the optional append argument similarly as with Set Test Message keyword.

This keyword sets the metadata of the current suite by default. If the optional top argument is given a true value (see Boolean arguments), the metadata of the top level suite is altered instead.

The metadata of the current suite is available as a built-in variable ${SUITE METADATA} in a Python dictionary. Notice that modifying this variable directly has no effect on the actual metadata the suite has.

New in Robot Framework 2.7.4. Support for append and top were added in 2.7.7.
Set Suite Variable name, *values

Makes a variable available everywhere within the scope of the current suite.

Variables set with this keyword are available everywhere within the scope of the currently executed test suite. Setting variables with this keyword thus has the same effect as creating them using the Variable table in the test data file or importing them from variable files.

Possible child test suites do not see variables set with this keyword by default. Starting from Robot Framework 2.9, that can be controlled by using children=<option> as the last argument. If the specified <option> is a non-empty string or any other value considered true in Python, the variable is set also to the child suites. Parent and sibling suites will never see variables set with this keyword.

The name of the variable can be given either as a normal variable name (e.g. ${NAME}) or in escaped format as \${NAME} or $NAME. Variable value can be given using the same syntax as when variables are created in the Variable table.

If a variable already exists within the new scope, its value will be overwritten. Otherwise a new variable is created. If a variable already exists within the current scope, the value can be left empty and the variable within the new scope gets the value within the current scope.

Examples:

Set Suite Variable ${SCALAR} Hello, world!
Set Suite Variable ${SCALAR} Hello, world! children=true
Set Suite Variable @{LIST} First item Second item
Set Suite Variable &{DICT} key=value foo=bar
${ID} = Get ID
Set Suite Variable ${ID}

To override an existing value with an empty value, use built-in variables ${EMPTY}, @{EMPTY} or &{EMPTY}:

Set Suite Variable ${SCALAR} ${EMPTY}
Set Suite Variable @{LIST} @{EMPTY} # New in RF 2.7.4
Set Suite Variable &{DICT} &{EMPTY} # New in RF 2.9

NOTE: If the variable has value which itself is a variable (escaped or not), you must always use the escaped format to set the variable:

Example:

${NAME} = Set Variable \${var}
Set Suite Variable ${NAME} value # Sets variable ${var}
Set Suite Variable \${NAME} value # Sets variable ${NAME}

This limitation applies also to Set Test Variable, Set Global Variable, Variable Should Exist, Variable Should Not Exist and Get Variable Value keywords.
Set Tags *tags

Adds given tags for the current test or all tests in a suite.

When this keyword is used inside a test case, that test gets the specified tags and other tests are not affected.

If this keyword is used in a suite setup, all test cases in that suite, recursively, gets the given tags. It is a failure to use this keyword in a suite teardown.

The current tags are available as a built-in variable @{TEST TAGS}.

See Remove Tags if you want to remove certain tags and Fail if you want to fail the test case after setting and/or removing tags.
Set Test Documentation doc, append=False

Sets documentation for the current test case.

By default the possible existing documentation is overwritten, but this can be changed using the optional append argument similarly as with Set Test Message keyword.

The current test documentation is available as a built-in variable ${TEST DOCUMENTATION}. This keyword can not be used in suite setup or suite teardown.

New in Robot Framework 2.7. Support for append was added in 2.7.7.
Set Test Message message, append=False

Sets message for the current test case.

If the optional append argument is given a true value (see Boolean arguments), the given message is added after the possible earlier message by joining the messages with a space.

In test teardown this keyword can alter the possible failure message, but otherwise failures override messages set by this keyword. Notice that in teardown the initial message is available as a built-in variable ${TEST MESSAGE}.

It is possible to use HTML format in the message by starting the message with *HTML*.

Examples:

Set Test Message My message
Set Test Message is continued. append=yes
Should Be Equal ${TEST MESSAGE} My message is continued.
Set Test Message *HTML* <b>Hello!</b>

This keyword can not be used in suite setup or suite teardown.

Support for append was added in Robot Framework 2.7.7 and support for HTML format in 2.8.
Set Test Variable name, *values

Makes a variable available everywhere within the scope of the current test.

Variables set with this keyword are available everywhere within the scope of the currently executed test case. For example, if you set a variable in a user keyword, it is available both in the test case level and also in all other user keywords used in the current test. Other test cases will not see variables set with this keyword.

See Set Suite Variable for more information and examples.
Set Variable *values

Returns the given values which can then be assigned to a variables.

This keyword is mainly used for setting scalar variables. Additionally it can be used for converting a scalar variable containing a list to a list variable or to multiple scalar variables. It is recommended to use Create List when creating new lists.

Examples:

${hi} = Set Variable Hello, world!
${hi2} = Set Variable I said: ${hi}
${var1} ${var2} = Set Variable Hello world
@{list} = Set Variable ${list with some items}
${item1} ${item2} = Set Variable ${list with 2 items}

Variables created with this keyword are available only in the scope where they are created. See Set Global Variable, Set Test Variable and Set Suite Variable for information on how to set variables so that they are available also in a larger scope.
Set Variable If condition, *values

Sets variable based on the given condition.

The basic usage is giving a condition and two values. The given condition is first evaluated the same way as with the Should Be True keyword. If the condition is true, then the first value is returned, and otherwise the second value is returned. The second value can also be omitted, in which case it has a default value None. This usage is illustrated in the examples below, where ${rc} is assumed to be zero.

${var1} = Set Variable If ${rc} == 0 zero nonzero
${var2} = Set Variable If ${rc} > 0 value1 value2
${var3} = Set Variable If ${rc} > 0 whatever

=>

${var1} = 'zero'
${var2} = 'value2'
${var3} = None

It is also possible to have 'else if' support by replacing the second value with another condition, and having two new values after it. If the first condition is not true, the second is evaluated and one of the values after it is returned based on its truth value. This can be continued by adding more conditions without a limit.

${var} = Set Variable If ${rc} == 0 zero
... ${rc} > 0 greater than zero less then zero
${var} = Set Variable If
... ${rc} == 0 zero
... ${rc} == 1 one
... ${rc} == 2 two
... ${rc} > 2 greater than two
... ${rc} < 0 less than zero

Use Get Variable Value if you need to set variables dynamically based on whether a variable exist or not.
Should Be Empty item, msg=None

Verifies that the given item is empty.

The length of the item is got using the Get Length keyword. The default error message can be overridden with the msg argument.
Should Be Equal first, second, msg=None, values=True

Fails if the given objects are unequal.

Optional msg and values arguments specify how to construct the error message if this keyword fails:

  • If msg is not given, the error message is <first> != <second>.
  • If msg is given and values gets a true value, the error message is <msg>: <first> != <second>.
  • If msg is given and values gets a false value, the error message is simply <msg>.

values is true by default, but can be turned to false by using, for example, string false or no values. See Boolean arguments section for more details.
Should Be Equal As Integers first, second, msg=None, values=True, base=None

Fails if objects are unequal after converting them to integers.

See Convert To Integer for information how to convert integers from other bases than 10 using base argument or 0b/0o/0x prefixes.

See Should Be Equal for an explanation on how to override the default error message with msg and values.

Examples:

Should Be Equal As Integers 42 ${42} Error message
Should Be Equal As Integers ABCD abcd base=16
Should Be Equal As Integers 0b1011 11
Should Be Equal As Numbers first, second, msg=None, values=True, precision=6

Fails if objects are unequal after converting them to real numbers.

The conversion is done with Convert To Number keyword using the given precision.

Examples:

Should Be Equal As Numbers ${x} 1.1 # Passes if ${x} is 1.1
Should Be Equal As Numbers 1.123 1.1 precision=1 # Passes
Should Be Equal As Numbers 1.123 1.4 precision=0 # Passes
Should Be Equal As Numbers 112.3 75 precision=-2 # Passes

As discussed in the documentation of Convert To Number, machines generally cannot store floating point numbers accurately. Because of this limitation, comparing floats for equality is problematic and a correct approach to use depends on the context. This keyword uses a very naive approach of rounding the numbers before comparing them, which is both prone to rounding errors and does not work very well if numbers are really big or small. For more information about comparing floats, and ideas on how to implement your own context specific comparison algorithm, see http://randomascii.wordpress.com/2012/02/25/comparing-floating-point-numbers-2012-edition/.

See Should Not Be Equal As Numbers for a negative version of this keyword and Should Be Equal for an explanation on how to override the default error message with msg and values.
Should Be Equal As Strings first, second, msg=None, values=True

Fails if objects are unequal after converting them to strings.

See Should Be Equal for an explanation on how to override the default error message with msg and values.
Should Be True condition, msg=None

Fails if the given condition is not true.

If condition is a string (e.g. ${rc} < 10), it is evaluated as a Python expression as explained in Evaluating expressions and the keyword status is decided based on the result. If a non-string item is given, the status is got directly from its truth value.

The default error message (<condition> should be true) is not very informative, but it can be overridden with the msg argument.

Examples:

Should Be True ${rc} < 10
Should Be True '${status}' == 'PASS' # Strings must be quoted
Should Be True ${number} # Passes if ${number} is not zero
Should Be True ${list} # Passes if ${list} is not empty

Variables used like ${variable}, as in the examples above, are replaced in the expression before evaluation. Variables are also available in the evaluation namespace and can be accessed using special syntax $variable. This is a new feature in Robot Framework 2.9 and it is explained more thoroughly in Evaluating expressions.

Examples:

Should Be True $rc < 10
Should Be True $status == 'PASS' # Expected string must be quoted

Starting from Robot Framework 2.8, Should Be True automatically imports Python's os and sys modules that contain several useful attributes:

Should Be True os.linesep == '\n' # Unixy
Should Be True os.linesep == '\r\n' # Windows
Should Be True sys.platform == 'darwin' # OS X
Should Be True sys.platform.startswith('java') # Jython
Should Contain item1, item2, msg=None, values=True

Fails if item1 does not contain item2 one or more times.

Works with strings, lists, and anything that supports Python's in operator. See Should Be Equal for an explanation on how to override the default error message with msg and values.

Examples:

Should Contain ${output} PASS
Should Contain ${some_list} value
Should Contain X Times item1, item2, count, msg=None

Fails if item1 does not contain item2 count times.

Works with strings, lists and all objects that Get Count works with. The default error message can be overridden with msg and the actual count is always logged.

Examples:

Should Contain X Times ${output} hello 2
Should Contain X Times ${some list} value 3
Should End With str1, str2, msg=None, values=True

Fails if the string str1 does not end with the string str2.

See Should Be Equal for an explanation on how to override the default error message with msg and values.
Should Match string, pattern, msg=None, values=True

Fails unless the given string matches the given pattern.

Pattern matching is similar as matching files in a shell, and it is always case-sensitive. In the pattern, * matches to anything and ? matches to any single character.

See Should Be Equal for an explanation on how to override the default error message with msg and values.
Should Match Regexp string, pattern, msg=None, values=True

Fails if string does not match pattern as a regular expression.

Regular expression check is implemented using the Python re module. Python's regular expression syntax is derived from Perl, and it is thus also very similar to the syntax used, for example, in Java, Ruby and .NET.

Things to note about the regexp syntax in Robot Framework test data:

1) Backslash is an escape character in the test data, and possible backslashes in the pattern must thus be escaped with another backslash (e.g. \\d\\w+).

2) Strings that may contain special characters, but should be handled as literal strings, can be escaped with the Regexp Escape keyword.

3) The given pattern does not need to match the whole string. For example, the pattern ello matches the string Hello world!. If a full match is needed, the ^ and $ characters can be used to denote the beginning and end of the string, respectively. For example, ^ello$ only matches the exact string ello.

4) Possible flags altering how the expression is parsed (e.g. re.IGNORECASE, re.MULTILINE) can be set by prefixing the pattern with the (?iLmsux) group like (?im)pattern. The available flags are i (case-insensitive), m (multiline mode), s (dotall mode), x (verbose), u (Unicode dependent) and L (locale dependent).

If this keyword passes, it returns the portion of the string that matched the pattern. Additionally, the possible captured groups are returned.

See the Should Be Equal keyword for an explanation on how to override the default error message with the msg and values arguments.

Examples:

Should Match Regexp ${output} \\d{6} # Output contains six numbers
Should Match Regexp ${output} ^\\d{6}$ # Six numbers and nothing more
${ret} = Should Match Regexp Foo: 42 (?i)foo: \\d+
${match} ${group1} ${group2} =
... Should Match Regexp Bar: 43 (Foo|Bar): (\\d+)

=>

${ret} = 'Foo: 42'
${match} = 'Bar: 43'
${group1} = 'Bar'
${group2} = '43'
Should Not Be Empty item, msg=None

Verifies that the given item is not empty.

The length of the item is got using the Get Length keyword. The default error message can be overridden with the msg argument.
Should Not Be Equal first, second, msg=None, values=True

Fails if the given objects are equal.

See Should Be Equal for an explanation on how to override the default error message with msg and values.
Should Not Be Equal As Integers first, second, msg=None, values=True, base=None

Fails if objects are equal after converting them to integers.

See Convert To Integer for information how to convert integers from other bases than 10 using base argument or 0b/0o/0x prefixes.

See Should Be Equal for an explanation on how to override the default error message with msg and values.

See Should Be Equal As Integers for some usage examples.
Should Not Be Equal As Numbers first, second, msg=None, values=True, precision=6

Fails if objects are equal after converting them to real numbers.

The conversion is done with Convert To Number keyword using the given precision.

See Should Be Equal As Numbers for examples on how to use precision and why it does not always work as expected. See also Should Be Equal for an explanation on how to override the default error message with msg and values.
Should Not Be Equal As Strings first, second, msg=None, values=True

Fails if objects are equal after converting them to strings.

See Should Be Equal for an explanation on how to override the default error message with msg and values.
Should Not Be True condition, msg=None

Fails if the given condition is true.

See Should Be True for details about how condition is evaluated and how msg can be used to override the default error message.
Should Not Contain item1, item2, msg=None, values=True

Fails if item1 contains item2 one or more times.

Works with strings, lists, and anything that supports Python's in operator. See Should Be Equal for an explanation on how to override the default error message with msg and values.

Examples:

Should Not Contain ${output} FAILED
Should Not Contain ${some_list} value
Should Not End With str1, str2, msg=None, values=True

Fails if the string str1 ends with the string str2.

See Should Be Equal for an explanation on how to override the default error message with msg and values.
Should Not Match string, pattern, msg=None, values=True

Fails if the given string matches the given pattern.

Pattern matching is similar as matching files in a shell, and it is always case-sensitive. In the pattern * matches to anything and ? matches to any single character.

See Should Be Equal for an explanation on how to override the default error message with msg and values.
Should Not Match Regexp string, pattern, msg=None, values=True

Fails if string matches pattern as a regular expression.

See Should Match Regexp for more information about arguments.
Should Not Start With str1, str2, msg=None, values=True

Fails if the string str1 starts with the string str2.

See Should Be Equal for an explanation on how to override the default error message with msg and values.
Should Start With str1, str2, msg=None, values=True

Fails if the string str1 does not start with the string str2.

See Should Be Equal for an explanation on how to override the default error message with msg and values.
Sleep time_, reason=None

Pauses the test executed for the given time.

time may be either a number or a time string. Time strings are in a format such as 1 day 2 hours 3 minutes 4 seconds 5milliseconds or 1d 2h 3m 4s 5ms, and they are fully explained in an appendix of Robot Framework User Guide. Optional reason can be used to explain why sleeping is necessary. Both the time slept and the reason are logged.

Examples:

Sleep 42
Sleep 1.5
Sleep 2 minutes 10 seconds
Sleep 10s Wait for a reply
Variable Should Exist name, msg=None

Fails unless the given variable exists within the current scope.

The name of the variable can be given either as a normal variable name (e.g. ${NAME}) or in escaped format (e.g. \${NAME}). Notice that the former has some limitations explained in Set Suite Variable.

The default error message can be overridden with the msg argument.

See also Variable Should Not Exist and Keyword Should Exist.
Variable Should Not Exist name, msg=None

Fails if the given variable exists within the current scope.

The name of the variable can be given either as a normal variable name (e.g. ${NAME}) or in escaped format (e.g. \${NAME}). Notice that the former has some limitations explained in Set Suite Variable.

The default error message can be overridden with the msg argument.

See also Variable Should Exist and Keyword Should Exist.
Wait Until Keyword Succeeds retry, retry_interval, name, *args

Runs the specified keyword and retries if it fails.

name and args define the keyword that is executed similarly as with Run Keyword. How long to retry running the keyword is defined using retry argument either as timeout or count. retry_interval is the time to wait before trying to run the keyword again after the previous run has failed.

If retry is given as timeout, it must be in Robot Framework's time format (e.g. 1 minute, 2 min 3 s, 4.5) that is explained in an appendix of Robot Framework User Guide. If it is given as count, it must have times or x postfix (e.g. 5 times, 10 x). retry_interval must always be given in Robot Framework's time format.

If the keyword does not succeed regardless of retries, this keyword fails. If the executed keyword passes, its return value is returned.

Examples:

Wait Until Keyword Succeeds 2 min 5 sec My keyword argument
${result} = Wait Until Keyword Succeeds 3x 200ms My keyword

All normal failures are caught by this keyword. Errors caused by invalid syntax, test or keyword timeouts, or fatal exceptions (caused e.g. by Fatal Error) are not caught.

Running the same keyword multiple times inside this keyword can create lots of output and considerably increase the size of the generated output files. Starting from Robot Framework 2.7, it is possible to remove unnecessary keywords from the outputs using --RemoveKeywords WUKS command line option.

Support for specifying retry as a number of times to retry is a new feature in Robot Framework 2.9.