Considerations for integrations with Rational ClearQuest

If you are working with or creating an integration with Rational® ClearQuest® software, you must consider how the following features might affect the integration, to ensure correct operation.

Globalization support and return string mode
Integrations with Rational ClearQuest software might receive error messages that the application must be able to handle to support mixed character-set deployments. If your environment requires a Rational ClearQuest data code page that is not the same as all local character sets for client and Web servers, you might need to modify existing integrations to handle return string errors.
Errors are returned to the calling integrating application if any of these conditions are true:
- The application writes characters that cannot be represented in the Rational ClearQuest data code page. These characters cannot be stored in the database.
- The application reads characters from a Rational ClearQuest database that cannot be represented in the local character set.
For more information, see Supporting a mixed character set deployment.
If the local character sets of all clients connected to a database set or clan match the Rational ClearQuest data code page, you do not need to consider these issues. For more information about character representations and code page settings, see the online help for the Rational ClearQuest Administrator.
Support for larger number of database IDs
Starting in version 7.0, the number of database IDs (DBIDs) supported is greater than 16 million. Rational ClearQuest API methods and queries can now return DBIDs that are greater than 16 million. This change can affect an existing integration that requires but does not check for DBIDs less than 16 million. For more information, see Working with records.
LDAP authentication
In version 7.0, the GetAccessibleDatabases method allows the user name argument (GetAccessibleDatabases(user_name)) to be either the Rational ClearQuest user name for users authenticated by Rational ClearQuest software or the LDAP user name for users authenticated by LDAP. This change might affect an integration that uses the GetAccessibleDatabases method. You can no longer use a Rational ClearQuest user name if the user is LDAP authenticated. For more information, see API support for LDAP authentication.
Client version checking for mixed-client environments
You might want to check the version of a Rational ClearQuest client you before authorize it make any changes to a user database. For more information, see Client version checking.