¶ Using RESTwithUS Variables
RESTwithUS variables work in many ways like traditional programming language variables: You create a variable, select a suitable name for it (e.g. name variable CustomerId if you plan to store the id of the customer there), assign some value to the variable and then use the value elsewhere in the application.
This allows you to:
- Store values that you want to use repeatedly (like API key, user name, or password) in one place.
- Make your code and operation settings readable and easily assign custom values to any header, URL part, or JSON node.
- Use advanced logic when processing JSON requests or response bodies.
¶ Set Variable Value
You can set the variable value in many places ranging from provider settings to code. Let's have a look at the options:
¶ Provider Variables
If there is a value used in every provider operation (or is just used repeatedly) – and it is prone to change in the future – best way is to store it in provider variables. A typical example is API keys: they are the same for every provider operation, you may need to change them in the future, plus it’s a sensitive information.
As an added value consider, that you will be storing the value in one place – so if there comes the time to change an API key, you just need to change it in one place and you're done.
To set provider variables select your API provider fron the list and open Related / Variables:
Now enter all provider variables and their values:
- If some of the variables contain sensitive information like API keys or passwords, you can checkthe Hide Value option. Such variable value won’t be plainly visible on the page, plus it gets encrypted when exporting whole-provider settings.
- For environment-specific variables like API keys or passwords consider checking Do not Overwrite Value checkbox. These variables won't be transferred in the .rwu provider package and they must be set in a target environment.
¶ Operation Variables
Operation variables can be set in the same way like provider variables, just this time select your operation from the list and open Related / Variables:
This time the variable value will be used for the selected operation only – plus you can't use Hide Value and Do not Overwrite Value options here.
¶ Get Variable Value from Request/Response Node
The idea here is to save the contents of a JSON node into a variable – and use the variable later in the operation. Let's say you have following JSON response and you want to save the countryCode node value to a variable and work with it later. Select the countryCode node and open Details / Details from menu:
Go to the Variables tab and fill in your variable name into Variable Name field:
Tip: You can set a variable value like this in Request, Response and even in the Entity schema.
¶ Set Variable Value with Code
You can use ADD_VARIABLE function from API Script RWU codeunit to set the variable value with code.
If you want to use the variable in operation URL, URL parameters or headers, use the following code (with an empty string as a first parameter):
APIScriptRWU.ADD_VARIABLE('','CustomerId',1); //Sets the variable CustomerId = 1
If you want to use the variable in JSON request node, use the code like this (specify exact JSON node where you want to use the variable):
APIScriptRWU.ADD_VARIABLE('/name','CustomerName','Contoso Ltd.'); //Sets the variable CustomerName in name node
¶ Get Variable Value
¶ Basic Syntax
To get the variable value, use syntax:
{{!VariableName}}(e.g.{{!ApiKey}}) for a required variable. If any required variable in a request is empty, the operation will end up with error.{{VariableName}}(e.g.{{ApiKey}}) for an optional variable. Optional variables are just deleted from the operation, if they have no value.
¶ Where Can You Use Variables
You can use variables almost everywhere:
- Provider URL:
- Operation URL:
- Operation URL parameters:
- User Name and Password for Basic authentication:
- Provider and operation headers:
- JSON schema:
