We get the following error in Robot Framework "Keyword 'OperatingSystem.Create File' got positional argument after named arguments"

Question

The below robot framework keywords were used in one of our test cases:

${data_dict}=    Create Dictionary    apiproxy    ${APIPROXY}    request_verb    ${REQUEST_VERB}    basepath    **${basepath}**    pathsuffix    **${pathsuffix}**  

${data_file}=    generate data    ${data_dict}  

Create File    test.sh    content=${QPID_COMMAND}  ${QPID} -org ${ORG} -env ${ENVIRONMENT} -exchange ${exch_name} -queue ${queue_name} -useProtoBuf -noOfMessages  ${msg_count} -batchsize 1 -config ${data_file}  

Here the value of ${basepath}:

${basepath} = ${EMPTY} and ${pathsuffix} = /testpath/

When I try to run this, the error "Keyword 'OperatingSystem.Create File' got positional argument after named arguments" is displayed. I was not able to access the Robot framework Docs.

Answer 1

What the error literally means is that you can't put named arguments (eg: x=y) before positional arguments. In the code you show in your question you are giving the keyword a named argument of content=${QPID_COMMAND} followed by another argument that begins with ${QPID}.

Could it be that you have a typo, and that there shouldn't be two spaces between those two? Robot is seeing those two spaces before ${QPID} as a column separator, so it thinks ${QPID} is a separate argument rather than as part of the content.