Inconsistent spacing in AlignVariablesSection rule depending on variable name length

[jannekSympa]

When using robocop’s AlignVariablesSection rule to format the *** Variables *** section, the number of spaces inserted between the variable name and its value is inconsistent depending on the length of the variable name.

Example cases

Case 1 – 4 spaces between name and value:

*** Variables ***
${VARXX_CONTEXT}    ${EMPTY}    # Set in Suite Setup
${ADD_REMOVE_T1}    ${EMPTY}    # Set in Test Setup
${ADD_REMOVE_2}     ${EMPTY}    # Set in Test Setup
${ADD_REMOVE_3}     ${EMPTY}    # Set in Test Setup
${ADD_REMOVE_4}     ${EMPTY}    # Set in Test Setup

Case 2 – 7 spaces:

*** Variables ***
${VARXX_CONTEXT}        ${EMPTY}    # Set in Suite Setup
${ADD_REMOVE_TE1}       ${EMPTY}    # Set in Test Setup
${ADD_REMOVE_2}         ${EMPTY}    # Set in Test Setup
${ADD_REMOVE_3}         ${EMPTY}    # Set in Test Setup
${ADD_REMOVE_4}         ${EMPTY}    # Set in Test Setup

Case 3 – 5 spaces:

*** Variables ***
${VARXX_CONTEXT}        ${EMPTY}    # Set in Suite Setup
${ADD_REMOVE_TEST1}     ${EMPTY}    # Set in Test Setup
${ADD_REMOVE_2}         ${EMPTY}    # Set in Test Setup
${ADD_REMOVE_3}         ${EMPTY}    # Set in Test Setup
${ADD_REMOVE_4}         ${EMPTY}    # Set in Test Setup

Expected behavior

The formatter should use consistent spacing regardless of variable name length. For example, if the configuration defines a fixed alignment rule (e.g., 4 spaces between name and value), it should apply uniformly across all variables.

Actual behavior

The number of spaces varies depending on the variable name length — seemingly trying to align the ${EMPTY} tokens to a shared column, but producing inconsistent spacing when variable names differ slightly in length.

robocop, version 6.10.0
Robot Framework 7.3.2 (Python 3.12.12 on linux)

[tool.robocop.format]
    line-ending = "unix"
    line-length = 150
    reruns = 3
    configure = [
        "InlineIf.enabled=True",
        "InlineIf.line_length=150",
        "NormalizeTags.preserve_format=True",
        "NormalizeAssignments.equal_sign_type=space_and_equal_sign",
        "OrderTags.enabled=False",
        "RenameKeywords.enabled=True",
        "RenameTestCases.enabled=True",
        "RenameTestCases.capitalize_each_word=True",
        "ReplaceWithVAR.enabled=True",
    ]

[bhirsz]

The spacing in AlignVariablesSection uses special algorithm, where it calculates the total width of column (variable name + spacing) as multiplier of 4. This causes indenting easier, as many editors have fixed indent of 4 spaces. But it's not documented well and often causes confusion. I am considering changing this to fixed 4 (or whatever separator is configured for) spaces for better constistency.

Also, AlignVariablesSection formatter will always format to the lengths of the longest variable name. If you are looking for fixed spacing then consider disabling this formatter:

configure = [
    "AlignVariablesSection.enabled=False"
]

Other formatter, NormalizeSeparators, changes all spacing to fixed spacing.