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AlignVariablesSection

Align variables in *** Variables *** section to columns.

Disabling the formatter

AlignVariablesSection is included in the default formatters, but it can be also run separately with:

robocop format --select AlignVariablesSection

You can also disable it:

robocop format --configure AlignVariablesSection.enabled=False

*** Variables ***
${VAR}  1
${LONGER_NAME}  2
&{MULTILINE}  a=b
...  b=c

*** Variables ***
${VAR}          1
${LONGER_NAME}  2
&{MULTILINE}    a=b
...             b=c

Align up to columns

You can configure how many columns should be aligned to the longest token in a given column. The remaining columns will use fixed length separator length --space-count. By default, only the first two columns are aligned.

Example of how AlignVariablesSection formatter behaves with default configuration and multiple columns:

*** Variables ***
${VARIABLE 1}  10  # comment
@{LIST}  a  b  c  d
${LONGER_NAME_THAT_GOES_AND_GOES}    longer value that goes and goes

*** Variables ***
${VARIABLE 1}                           10    # comment
@{LIST}                                 a    b    c    d
${LONGER_NAME_THAT_GOES_AND_GOES}       longer value that goes and goes

You can configure it to align three columns:

robocop format --configure AlignVariablesSection.up_to_column=3

[tool.robocop.format]
configure = [
    "AlignVariablesSection.up_to_column=3"
]

will result in the following formatting:

*** Variables ***
${VARIABLE 1}  10  # comment
@{LIST}  a  b  c  d
${LONGER_NAME_THAT_GOES_AND_GOES}    longer value that goes and goes

*** Variables ***
${VARIABLE 1}                           10                                  # comment
@{LIST}                                 a                                   b    c    d
${LONGER_NAME_THAT_GOES_AND_GOES}       longer value that goes and goes

To align all columns set up_to_column to 0.

Select variable types to align

It is possible to not align variables of given types. You can choose between following types: scalar ($), list (@), dict (&). Invalid variables - such as missing values or not left-aligned - will always be aligned no matter the type. You can configure types to skip using skip_types parameter:

robocop format --configure AlignVariablesSection.skip_types=dict,list

[tool.robocop.format]
configure = [
    "AlignVariablesSection.skip_types=dict,list"
]

skip_types accepts a comma-separated list of types.

Using the above configuration code will be aligned in the following way:

*** Variables ***
${VARIABLE 1}  10  # comment
@{LIST}  a
...    b
...    c
...    d
${LONGER_NAME_THAT_GOES_AND_GOES}    longer value that goes and goes
&{SOME_DICT}    key=value  key2=value

*** Variables ***
${VARIABLE 1}                           10    # comment
@{LIST}  a
...    b
...    c
...    d
${LONGER_NAME_THAT_GOES_AND_GOES}       longer value that goes and goes
&{SOME_DICT}    key=value  key2=value

Fixed width of column

It's possible to set a fixed width of the column. To configure it use fixed_width parameter:

robocop format --configure AlignVariablesSection.fixed_width=20

[tool.robocop.format]
configure = [
    "AlignVariablesSection.fixed_width=20"
]

This configuration respects up_to_column parameter:

*** Variables ***
# some comment

${VARIABLE 1}    10    # comment
@{LIST}                                 a    b    c    d
${LONGER_NAME_THAT_GOES_AND_GOES}       longer value that goes and goes

&{MULTILINE}    a=b
...     b=c
...     d=1

*** Variables ***
# some comment

${VARIABLE 1}       10    # comment
@{LIST}             a    b    c    d
${LONGER_NAME_THAT_GOES_AND_GOES}    longer value that goes and goes

&{MULTILINE}        a=b
...                 b=c
...                 d=1

Minimal width of column

It's possible to set minimal width of the column. To configure it use min_width parameter:

robocop format --configure AlignVariablesSection.min_width=20

[tool.robocop.format]
configure = [
    "AlignVariablesSection.min_width=20"
]

This configuration respects up_to_column parameter. Example where there is variable longer than min_width:

*** Variables ***
# some comment

${VARIABLE 1}    10    # comment
@{LIST}                                 a    b    c    d
${LONGER_NAME_THAT_GOES_AND_GOES}       longer value that goes and goes

&{MULTILINE}    a=b
...     b=c
...     d=1

*** Variables ***
# some comment

${VARIABLE 1}                        10    # comment
@{LIST}                              a    b    c    d
${LONGER_NAME_THAT_GOES_AND_GOES}    longer value that goes and goes

&{MULTILINE}                          a=b
...                                   b=c
...                                   d=1

Example where all variables are shorter than min_width:

*** Variables ***
# some comment

${VARIABLE 1}    10    # comment
@{LIST}                                 a    b    c    d

&{MULTILINE}    a=b
...     b=c
...     d=1

*** Variables ***
# some comment

${VARIABLE 1}       10    # comment
@{LIST}             a    b    c    d

&{MULTILINE}        a=b
...                 b=c
...                 d=1

Select lines to align

AlignVariablesSection does also support global formatting params --start-line and --end-line:

robocop format --start-line 5 --end-line 17 --configure AlignVariablesSection.up_to_column=3

[tool.robocop.format]
start-line = 5
end-line = 17
configure = [
    "AlignVariablesSection.up_to_column=3"
]

will result in the following formatting:

*** Settings ***
Documentation    This is doc


*** Variables ***
# some comment

${VARIABLE 1}  10  # comment
@{LIST}  a  b  c  d
${LONGER_NAME_THAT_GOES_AND_GOES}    longer value that goes and goes

           &{MULTILINE}  a=b
...  b=c
...         d=1

*** Keywords ***
Keyword
    Keyword Call

*** Settings ***
Documentation    This is doc


*** Variables ***
# some comment

${VARIABLE 1}  10  # comment
@{LIST}  a  b  c  d
${LONGER_NAME_THAT_GOES_AND_GOES}       longer value that goes and goes

&{MULTILINE}                            a=b
...                                     b=c
...                                     d=1

*** Keywords ***
Keyword
    Keyword Call