robotframework / robotframework/RIDE
Wrong argument hint color when using inline keyword arguments
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- Python
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Description
The most prominent issue with highlighting I am running into now concerns operator keywords. Binary operator keywords are placed in between its arguments for readability. The highlighting expects additional arguments at the end that are already processed. In practise this means that my test cases are now cluttered with red cells, as in this basic example:

I typically use this natural language extension (robotnl) in Robot framework tests. It allows me to rewrite a basic construction like

In the more natural form

This method does however lean heavily on using inline keyword arguments. In a recent update argument highlighting changed. It now also highlights arguments for inline keyword arguments, where previously only the first keyword was considered. There are however some issues with determining which argument belongs to which keyword. See also this discussion on Robot framework issue 3187
I do like the idea of having hints for all keywords, but for now it might be safer to not support inline keyword argument highlighting. In my opinion showing too much red is worse than missing a hint in some complex situations.
Contributor guide
First steps
- Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
- Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
- Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
- Open a pull request that references the issue number.
Research direction
Start by reproducing the red argument hints in RIDE using the inline keyword-argument examples from this issue and compare the behavior with the discussion in Robot Framework issue 3187. Trace the argument-highlighting path and determine whether inline keyword argument highlighting should be disabled; done means the misleading hints no longer clutter these cases without regressing ordinary keyword hints.
Written by the indexing model from the issue text.
Assessment
- Tech stack
- python
- Domain
- tooling
- Issue type
- Bug
- Difficulty
- 3/5
- Estimated time
- 1-2 days
- Activity status
- Stale
- Clarity
- Mostly clear
- Newbie friendliness
- 45/100