From 14d8c5796acdb1887466cbf054ddd16ae11d6fa7 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Isabel Matwawana <76437239+imatwawana@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Fri, 16 May 2025 10:48:36 -0400
Subject: [PATCH] Docs: Improve raw format description and examples (#105410)

---
 .../variables/variable-syntax/index.md        | 19 +++++++++++++++----
 1 file changed, 15 insertions(+), 4 deletions(-)

diff --git a/docs/sources/dashboards/variables/variable-syntax/index.md b/docs/sources/dashboards/variables/variable-syntax/index.md
index 644b67c01d4..fd876b86847 100644
--- a/docs/sources/dashboards/variables/variable-syntax/index.md
+++ b/docs/sources/dashboards/variables/variable-syntax/index.md
@@ -136,12 +136,23 @@ Interpolation result: 'test1.|test2'
 
 ### Raw
 
-The raw format for a data source variable returns the UID (unique identifier) of the data source, rather than its name.
+Doesn't apply any data source-specific formatting to the variable.
+
+For example, in this case, there's a dashboard with a Prometheus data source and a multi-value variable.
+Grafana typically converts the variable values as follows to accommodate Prometheus:
 
 ```bash
-datasourceVariable = 'd7bbe725-9e48-4af8-a0cb-6cb255d873a3'
-String to interpolate: '${datasourceVariable:raw}'
-Interpolation result: 'd7bbe725-9e48-4af8-a0cb-6cb255d873a3'
+servers = ['test1.', 'test2']
+String to interpolate: '${servers}'
+Interpolation result: '(test1 | test2)'
+```
+
+Using the raw format, the values are returned without that formatting:
+
+```bash
+servers = ['test1.', 'test2']
+String to interpolate: '${servers:raw}'
+Interpolation result: 'test1,test2'
 ```
 
 ### Regex