There are three kinds of variables:
- The variables that are used by ecFlow, like ECF_HOME. 
- The variables that are defined by the user.They should not start with “ECF”.It is good practice to name these variables with capital letters.
- The variables that are generated by ecFlow, and that you can use inyour jobs, like ECF_DATE which contains the date of the suite.
Ecf Script
In the previous example, we have copied the file t1.ecf to the file t2.ecf.
Edit those two files so they call the unix sleep command with a variable
called SLEEP as a parameter.
%include <head.h> echo "I will now sleep for %SLEEP% seconds" sleep %SLEEP% %include <tail.h>
Text
Then add the variable to the suite definition:
# Definition of the suite test.
suite test
   edit ECF_INCLUDE "$HOME/course"   # replace '$HOME' with the path to your home directory
   edit ECF_HOME    "$HOME/course"
   family f1
      task t1
         edit SLEEP 20
      task t2
         edit SLEEP 20
   endfamily
endsuite
 Python
#!/usr/bin/env python2.7
import os
import ecflow  
def create_family_f1():
    f1 = ecflow.Family("f1")
    f1.add_task("t1").add_variable("SLEEP", 20)
    f1.add_task("t2").add_variable("SLEEP", 20)
    return f1      
      
print "Creating suite definition"   
defs = ecflow.Defs()
suite = defs.add_suite("test")
suite.add_variable("ECF_INCLUDE", os.getenv("HOME") + "/course")
suite.add_variable("ECF_HOME",    os.getenv("HOME") + "/course")
suite.add_family( create_family_f1() )
print defs
print "Checking job creation: .ecf -> .job0"   
print defs.check_job_creation()
print "Saving definition to file 'test.def'"
defs.save_as_defs("test.def")
What to do
- Do the modifications
- Replace the suite
- Watch in ecflowview. You should see the tasks with a status active for 20 second
 
