Suite env variables

[VictorGrycuk]

Description

Hi, Gaucho seems to be something I wanted for a while, it's great!
However, I would like to request two features.

First, would it be possible for projects to have their own variables? That way I can add a variable at a project level and reuse it across the tasks of that same project.
I know there is an option to use environment variables, so a quick alternative could be being able to use the same env variable at a project level without having to set it on each task, if that makes sense.

Second, would it be possible to add an option to chain the tasks? If the first tasks finishes OK, the second one will be executed, and if that one finishes OK, the second one will be executed. (Discussion on #394 )

Both of these requests would make it similar to Microsoft Pipelines, in that you have a series of steps where the next depends on the previous, and all share variables.

Use Case

There are times that I need to test bot libraries and bot samples, so I need to do the following:

1. Install dependencies
2. Build the library
3. Run the library tests
4. Package the library
5. Use the created package to build a bot sample
6. Run the bot sample tests
7. Deploy or Start the bot sample

I have created several scripts that do some combination of the above steps, but it would be awesome if I can move the above steps to gaucho, check a checkbox to select which steps I want to run sequentially, and run them.

The need for variables at a project level is to be able to set the project folder location and reuse them on the tasks, or generate a bot with a specific name that I need to use on a later step.

BTW, I love that the icon looks like a mate.
Thanks.

[angrykoala]

Hi @VictorGrycuk I understand that when you say "Projects" you are referring to suites (the tabs on top)

If you don't mind, I will split this issue in two, as we are discussing 2 separate features, I'll leave the first item (project variables) in this issue and move all the discussion regarding concatenation to #394

Glad you like the logo 😄

[angrykoala]

Regarding common variables:

As you mentioned the env variables seem to be the best approach to solve this (I assume this would solve your problem).

At some point I though on adding suite-wide env variables, that would apply to a suite. The main block for implementing this is the UI. Currently, there are no suite-specific settings menu and we would need some place to add these new env variables.

I can only thing on adding a new option the the context menu that opens a new view (similar to the global settings) which allows you to configure suite env variables.

Once this is solved, it should be pretty easy to add those env variable to each task on execution.

As this feature seems like a reasonable addition, I will try to come to implement this when I can, feel free to poke around if you have an idea on how to implement this

[VictorGrycuk]

Thanks @angrykoala. From a practical point of view, env variables works just fine.

One possible workaround at the moment would be to create a task that simply setup env variables with its values, and call those variables from the other tasks, something like setx FOO "foo value".

So, I guess there is no rush to implement this at the moment. But I will be playing around with it for sure.

[angrykoala]

Hi @VictorGrycuk
Glad to know you have a workaround for that. I'll keep an eye for this to try and get this in the next release

[angrykoala]

Hi @VictorGrycuk I've been tinkering a bit with this.

Would global env variables (configured through the settings menu) work for you?. These variables would apply to every task in Gaucho

As I said the main issue with adding per-suite env variables is finding out where in the UI can this option be added without generating confusion, this is a no-brainer if these are, at a global level, in the existing settings menu.

I wouldn't discard the idea of adding per-suite variables in the future, but if global variables are enough for you, that would be implemented fairly quickly and ready for the next release

[angrykoala]

This is the updated behavior for env variables for next gaucho release:

• A new global variables section exists in settings
  

  • These variables are applied to all tasks
  • These variables are exported and imported along with the suites with the options to "Export Tasks"

• The Task-env variables section remains as it is:
  

  • In case of key collision (i.e. same env variable set in tasks and global) the task variable will override the global one

• For consistency, duplicate keys are not allowed anymore both in tasks and globally

[VictorGrycuk]

@angrykoala Sorry for the late response.

This is the updated behavior for env variables for next gaucho release:

• A new global variables section exists in settings

  • These variables are applied to all tasks
  • These variables are exported and imported along with the suites with the options to "Export Tasks"

• The Task-env variables section remains as it is:

  • In case of key collision (i.e. same env variable set in tasks and global) the task variable will override the global one

• For consistency, duplicate keys are not allowed anymore both in tasks and globally

I just gave it a try, and it works as expected.
That looks great! I really appreciate you working on this 🙂.

I will close the issue as this resolves my initial request.