A quick tour of using inline variable substitution

In ModelBuilder, contents of a variable can be used as a substitute for another variable by enclosing the substituting variable in percent signs (%). Substituting variables in this manner is called inline variable substitution. A simple case of inline variable substitution is replacing some text or a value in a model with user input.

For examples of inline variable substitution, see the following:

Examples of inline model variable substitutionExamples of inline system variable substitution

Inline variable classification

Inline variables are classified into two types:

Rules for using inline variables

Search order for inline variables

When a model executes, the inline variables are identified and used in the following order:

  1. Model variables.
  2. Model environment settings.
  3. System variables (%i% and %n%).
  4. Variables in the parent model. If the currently running model is a submodel, the parent model's variables are searched.
3/3/2014