# Variable within Variable

**URL:** <https://forum.ansible.com/t/variable-within-variable/21491>\
**Category:** Ansible Project\
**Created:** [May 19, 2016, 1:47pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/variable-within-variable/21491 "2016-05-19T13:47:17Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Pr0fess0rM](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ba9def/32.png) [@Pr0fess0rM](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Pr0fess0rM)\
**Post date:** [May 19, 2016, 1:47pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/variable-within-variable/21491/1 "2016-05-19T13:47:17Z")

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Hey guys,

I have a variable {{ basket }} and it has a string for contents. The contents will change every time I run the playbook and I need a way to translate the contents of the basket, let’s say “apple” to another name, let’s say “JameslikesApples”. But if the contents were “banana” it would have a completely different translation like “IwentToSanFrancisco”.

I’ve made a dictionary declaring “apple: ‘JameslikesApples’” and on the next line: “banana: ‘IwentToSanFrancisco’”. I need to be able to reference “JameslikesApples” in a shell command and I just can’t see a way around it. I’ve tried {{ {{ basket }} }} but Ansible doesn’t accept the quadruple braces.

Any and all help is appreciated!

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**Author:** ![Josh\_Smift1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bcef8e/32.png) [@Josh\_Smift1](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Josh_Smift1)\
**Post date:** [May 19, 2016, 5:36pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/variable-within-variable/21491/2 "2016-05-19T17:36:09Z")

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> I've made a dictionary declaring "apple: 'JameslikesApples'" and on the  
> next line: "banana: 'IwentToSanFrancisco'". I need to be able to  
> reference "JameslikesApples" in a shell command and I just can't see a  
> way around it. I've tried {{ {{ basket }} }} but Ansible doesn't accept  
> the quadruple braces.

The double-braces tell Ansible to start parsing Jinja, so once you've done  
that, doing it again doesn't do you any good.

What does your dictionary look like? If you had something like

&nbsp;&nbsp;basket:  
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;apple: JameslikesApples  
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;banana: IwentToSanFrancisco

and then you somewhere set

&nbsp;&nbsp;fruit: banana

(or 'fruit: apple') then I'd expect

&nbsp;&nbsp;basket[fruit]

to do the right thing -- you'd change the value of fruit, and get the  
right string from the basket.

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;-Josh (jbs@care.com)

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**Author:** ![Mike\_Biancaniello](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/dec6dc/32.png) [@Mike\_Biancaniello](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Mike_Biancaniello)\
**Post date:** [May 19, 2016, 7:09pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/variable-within-variable/21491/3 "2016-05-19T19:09:05Z")

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You can reference variables within variables.

e.g.

# group\_vars/all

`