# How can i use the value of a variable i created inside the template node
**URL:** https://discourse.nodered.org/t/how-can-i-use-the-value-of-a-variable-i-created-inside-the-template-node/54780
**Category:** Dashboard
**Tags:** node-red-dashboard
**Created:** [6 December 2021 14:51 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/how-can-i-use-the-value-of-a-variable-i-created-inside-the-template-node/54780 "2021-12-06T14:51:13Z")
**Posts on this page:** 14
**Page:** 2
### Author:  [@Colin](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/Colin)
#### Post date: [6 December 2021 16:30 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/how-can-i-use-the-value-of-a-variable-i-created-inside-the-template-node/54780/22 "2021-12-06T16:30:25Z")
OK, that does make it tricky. How are you going to read the files if they are not on the same machine that is running node-red?
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### Author:  [@hanine](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/hanine)
#### Post date: [6 December 2021 16:35 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/how-can-i-use-the-value-of-a-variable-i-created-inside-the-template-node/54780/23 "2021-12-06T16:35:25Z")
no they are on the same machine it's just that they are of big sizes which seems to be a problem for node red to pass between nodes
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### Author:  [@Colin](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/Colin)
#### Post date: [6 December 2021 16:44 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/how-can-i-use-the-value-of-a-variable-i-created-inside-the-template-node/54780/24 "2021-12-06T16:44:13Z")
So the files are accessible to the node-red server. I still don't understand exactly what you are trying to do on the dashboard. If it is just a matter of selecting files from a list, can't you use a dashboard dropdown node?
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### Author:  [@hanine](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/hanine)
#### Post date: [6 December 2021 16:48 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/how-can-i-use-the-value-of-a-variable-i-created-inside-the-template-node/54780/25 "2021-12-06T16:48:39Z")
its not a list it's an input like this
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### Author:  [@hanine](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/hanine)
#### Post date: [6 December 2021 16:48 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/how-can-i-use-the-value-of-a-variable-i-created-inside-the-template-node/54780/26 "2021-12-06T16:48:49Z")
```auto
```
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### Author:  [@Colin](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/Colin)
#### Post date: [6 December 2021 16:52 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/how-can-i-use-the-value-of-a-variable-i-created-inside-the-template-node/54780/27 "2021-12-06T16:52:54Z")
Why don't you just read the file in node red rather than upload it?
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### Author:  [@hanine](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/hanine)
#### Post date: [6 December 2021 16:54 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/how-can-i-use-the-value-of-a-variable-i-created-inside-the-template-node/54780/28 "2021-12-06T16:54:30Z")
can you explain more please i didn't understand
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### Author:  [@Colin](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/Colin)
#### Post date: [6 December 2021 16:57 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/how-can-i-use-the-value-of-a-variable-i-created-inside-the-template-node/54780/29 "2021-12-06T16:57:58Z")
You said the files are on the same machine that is running node-red. In that case you can use a File In node to read the file directly from disc.
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### Author:  [@hanine](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/hanine)
#### Post date: [6 December 2021 17:01 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/how-can-i-use-the-value-of-a-variable-i-created-inside-the-template-node/54780/30 "2021-12-06T17:01:56Z")
they can be chosen dynamically it's not a one static file it changes and you can also choose multiple files and you can choose different files each time that's the problem and the size of the files are big so that's what's causing the problem. I can pass them through node i figured how from the documentation you provided to me but its causing a problem because of the file size
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### Author:  [@Colin](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/Colin)
#### Post date: [6 December 2021 17:03 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/how-can-i-use-the-value-of-a-variable-i-created-inside-the-template-node/54780/31 "2021-12-06T17:03:54Z")
Do you mean that you cannot use a File In node because they are too big?
How big are they?
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### Author:  [@hanine](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/hanine)
#### Post date: [6 December 2021 17:05 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/how-can-i-use-the-value-of-a-variable-i-created-inside-the-template-node/54780/32 "2021-12-06T17:05:52Z")
yes i can't pass the encoding because they are big its more then 1,430 KB
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### Author:  [@Colin](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/Colin)
#### Post date: [6 December 2021 17:08 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/how-can-i-use-the-value-of-a-variable-i-created-inside-the-template-node/54780/33 "2021-12-06T17:08:09Z")
That is not a large file, I thought you were going to say they are multiple GB.
The right way to do this is with a File node. I suggest you start a new thread describing what problem you are having.
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### Author:  [@hanine](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/hanine)
#### Post date: [7 December 2021 10:31 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/how-can-i-use-the-value-of-a-variable-i-created-inside-the-template-node/54780/34 "2021-12-07T10:31:53Z")
Thank you I am trying to fix it with a file node
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### Author:  [@system](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/system)
#### Post date: [6 January 2022 10:32 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/how-can-i-use-the-value-of-a-variable-i-created-inside-the-template-node/54780/35 "2022-01-06T10:32:22Z")
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