Listener version 3 got library, resource file and variable file import related methods in RF 7.1 (#5008). With libraries and resource file we pass the model objects representing them to these methods, but we don't currently have such model objects representing variable files. In RF 7.1 the variables_import method thus only gets a dictionary with same information as the matching listener version 2 method.

The plan is to heavily refactor variable related code and proper model objects will certainly be implemented as part of that. Once such objects are available, the variables_import method should be updated to get these objects instead of the current dictionary. The change will be backwards incompatible, but the method getting a model object that contains more information that the current dictionary and that also can be modified is worth that.

The initial plan was to not add variables_import until suitable model objects are available. That would have meant that there's still one method that the listener v3 API doesn't have at all, and it was considered better to add the method and enhance it later. Even the initial method allows getting notifications about variable file imports when using the more powerful listener v3 API.