Packages and integrations

A Rational ClearQuest package is a set of components that can be added to a schema to provide a complex feature or function. The feature or function becomes a permanent part of the schema.

Rational ClearQuest packages are an efficient mechanism for adding functions to a schema and for integrating schemas with other software packages. A package can add a function that many Rational ClearQuest users have found useful, such as the ability to append a list of notes to a defect record or to send an e-mail notification when a specific event occurs.

A package can also allow Rational ClearQuest software to exchange data with other IBM® software products and with some products from independent software vendors. These packages are called integration packages or integrations. See Integrating with other products for information about integration packages.

These schema components can be added through a package:

• Record types
• Form features, including tabs and new forms
• Field definitions and behaviors
• Hook code and global scripts
• Dynamic list names
• Schema validation tests
• Queries, charts, and reports

You can apply more than one package to the same schema. Usually, you can apply a package in a single operation. In other cases, you might be permitted to customize or configure a package while it is being installed, for example, changing field names. You might also be required to configure the package; for example, some integration packages require that you map the state types in the existing schema to the state types included in the package. These customizations are discussed in Rational ClearQuest schemas and packages.

To install a package for the first time, use the Package Wizard included with the Designer. For more information, see How to apply a package.

As with other changes to a schema, functions in a package are available to users only after the package is applied to the schema and the user databases are upgraded to the new version of the schema.

You do not need to worry about developing or maintaining installed packages; IBM provides new versions and supports change management of existing packages. When you upgrade Rational ClearQuest software, use the Upgrade Installed Packages feature to upgrade all packages that have been installed for a schema. For more information, see Upgrading packages and Upgrading schemas to new versions of packages

When you install a package, hooks might be added to your schema. These scripts are part of the package and not part of your hook code. These scripts cannot be deleted; they are not part of the code owned by a schema. For this reason, there is no relationship between the default language setting you select for your hook code (see Scripting languages) and the language in which the package-owned hooks are implemented.

For information about naming restrictions when using packages, see Naming restrictions.

You can use only the Package Wizard and the Upgrade Installed Packages feature with packages provided by IBM.