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Variables

A variable in BuildMaster is a special value that can change based on the current build or release. These variables may be used in your deployment plans as direct value substitutions in text fields, or you may use them to control which Action Groups execute.

Creating a Variable

To create a build-level variable in an Application, first click on "Settings" in the navigation menu, then "Manage Variables":

Clicking the "Create New Variable" page will allow you to select a variable type from a list of defined variable types.

Types of Variables

Dropdown List	Constrained to a set of predefined values. (Example: value may be "yes" or "no")
Free Text	Any text may be supplied.
Numeric	Any numeric value may be supplied.
Regular Expression	Any text that validates against a supplied .NET-style regular expression.

Selecting the type of variable will display a page used for configuring the variable's scope, default values, and any other configuration required for that type of variable. For Dropdown List variables, the following settings may be used to create a simple Yes/No variable at the Application Build level:

See Predicates for information on how to use variables to control Action Group execution.

Note that variables are a part of BuildMaster's extensibility engine.

Using a Variable Value

Variables may be used in any BuildMaster Action that accepts text input. For example, a Create File Action may be used to write the current Release Number to a text file as part of a deployment plan:

Any variable may be used in this manner, whether it is a system-defined variable like RELNO or any user-defined application variable. Simply use the %VARIABLENAME% notation to have BuildMaster make the replacement.

Escaping % Characters in Configuration Files and Actions

Since BuildMaster recognizes the percent sign as the start of the variable name in a line, it is necessary to escape its literal use in actions and configuration files with another % in front of it: %% . This will be replaced with a single % sign by the variables engine.

For example, if you have a configuration file that contains a URL of:

http://example.com/action?url=http%3A%2F%2Fexample.com%2Fother

You'll need to escape the % signs to prevent issues with the variable system:

http://example.com/action?url=http%%3A%%2F%%2Fexample.com%%2Fother

Built-In Variables

For your convenience, BuildMaster has a number of built-in variables which may be used in any deployment plan:

Variable	Replace With
RELNO	The release number of the current build.
BLDNO	The current build number.
REFAPPID	If there is a referenced deployable for this application, the numeric ID of that deployable's host application.
REFAPPNAME	If there is a referenced deployable for this application, the name of that deployable's host application.
REFRELNO	If there is a referenced deployable for this application, its release number.
REFBLDNO	If there is a referenced deployable for this application, its build number. If you have set "UseFurthestBuild" to "True" in the advanced configuration, this will use the build number from the furthest environment (as opposed to the largest build number).
PREVRELNO	The release number of the most recently deployed release.
PREVBLDNO	The build number of the most recently deployed release.
LASTBLDNO	The most recent build number for the current release that was created before the current build number.
DATE1	A timestamp in the format of YYYYMMDD.
DATE2	A timestamp in the format of YYYYMMDDHHMMSS.
DATE:d	A timestamp in a custom format, where d is a valid .NET date/time format string.
APPID	The numeric ID of the current application in BuildMaster.
APPNAME	The name of the current application.
APPDESC	The description of the current application.
RELNAME	The name of the release of the current build.
ENVID	The environment ID of the currently executing build.
ENVNAME	The environment name of the currently executing build.
DEPID	The ID of the deployable associated with the currently executing action group.
DEPNAME	The name of the deployable associated with the currently executing action group.
EXECUSER	The name of the user that initiated the execution.
SRCDIR	The path to the current source directory for a remote action.
TRGTDIR	The path to the current target directory for a remote action.
APPDIR	The path to the "Application Home Directory" (represented in paths by a ~\).
LASTEXITCODE	The exit code of the last process launched by an action.
LASTEXITCODEHEX	The exit code (in hexadecimal) of the last process launched by an action.
YOUR_VARIABLE_NAME	The value of the variable with the name YOUR_VARIABLE_NAME.