We COMMONLY use files written in SIMPLE text format (usually in the .robot form, or in the format of .txt) in Robot Framework, but we can also use files written in Tab separated format or TSV. The PLAIN text data can then be embedded in reStructured text format files.

The space-separated format, in which bits of data, such as keywords and their arguments, are separated from each other with two or more spaces, is the most frequent way to construct Robot Framework data. The pipe separated format, in which the separator is the pipe character surrounded by spaces (|), is another OPTION.

The --extension option can be used to change the default extension of executed files, which is .robot. Although resource files can utilize the .robot extension, it is advised that they use the dedicated .resource extension. The UTF-8 encoding must be used to save files that contain non-ASCII characters.

reStructuredText files are also supported by Robot Framework, allowing standard Robot Framework data to be inserted within code blocks. With reStructuredText files, either the .rst or .rest extension can be used, but the --extension option must be used to ENABLE parsing when executing a directory.