RTC Work Item Command Line

Work Item Command Line Version 5.3

See Work Item Command Line 5.0 for instructions how to setup and install WCL.

This software is licensed under the MIT license which is as follows: MIT License

Note: All of the following examples use bash multiline syntax for legibility. Leave them out when using single line commands, or replace them with a backtick (`) if you are using powershell.

Table of Contents

Usage

-[command] {switch} {parameter[:mode]=value}

(See A RTC WorkItem Command Line Version 2 for a more complete description):

Multiple parameter/value pairs and switches can be provided separated by spaces. Commands might require specific parameters to be mandatory.

Switches influence the behavior of the operation. The switch /ignoreErrors ignores errors such as attributes or values not available.

Available commands:

-printtypes 
    repository="value" 
    user="value"   
    password="value" 
    projectArea="value" 

-printtypeattributes 
    repository="value" 
    user="value" 
    password="value" 
    projectArea="value" 
    workItemType="value"  

-printworkitem
    repository="value" 
    user="value" 
    password="value" 
    id="value"
    /allColumns 
    /asrtceclipse
    /attributeNamesAsIDs	
    /ignoreErrors 
    /suppressAttributeExceptions 
    /ignoreErrors 
    [attachmentFolder="C:\temp\export"]
    [timestampFormat="MMM d, yyyy hh:mm a"]
    [columns="Type,Id,Planned For,Filed Against,Description,Found In"]

-create 
    repository="value" 
    user="value" 
    password="value" 
    projectArea="value" 
    workItemType="value" 
    /enforceSizeLimits 
    /ignoreErrors 
    /enableDeleteAttachment 
    /enableDeleteApprovals 
    {parameter[:mode]=value}

-update 
    repository="value" 
    user="value" 
    password="value" 
    id="value" 
    /enableDeleteAttachment 
    /enableDeleteApprovals 
    /skipEmailNotification 
    /enforceSizeLimits 
    /ignoreErrors 
    {parameter[:mode]=value}

-bulkupdate 
    repository="value" 
    user="value" 
    password="value" 
    query="value"
    querysource="value"
    /enableDeleteAttachment 
    /enableDeleteApprovals 
    /skipEmailNotification 
    /enforceSizeLimits 
    /ignoreErrors 
    {parameter[:mode]=value}

-importworkitems 
    repository="value" 
    user="value" 
    password="value" 
    projectArea="value" 
    importFile="value" 
    /skipEmailNotification 
    /ignoreErrors 
    /importdebug 
    /forcelinkcreation 
    /enforceSizeLimits 
    /importmultipass
    /ignoreemptycolumnvalues
    /suppressIgnoredAttributeWarnings
    [mappingFile="C:\temp\mapping.xml"] 
    [encoding="UTF-8"] 
    [timestampFormat="MMM d, yyyy hh:mm a"] 
    [delimiter=","]

-exportworkitems
    repository="value" 
    user="value" 
    password="value"
    projectArea="value" 
    query="value" 
    exportFile="value"
    /allColumns
    /asrtceclipse 
    /suppressAttributeExceptions 
    /headerIDs 
    /ignoreErrors 
    [encoding="UTF-8"] 
    [delimiter=","] 
    [columns="Type,Id,Planned For,Filed Against,Description,Found In"] 
    [querysource="JKE Banking(Change Management),JKE Banking(Change Management)/Business Recovery Matters"] 
    [timestampFormat="MMM d, yyyy hh:mm a"]

 -migrateattribute 
    repository="value"  
    user="value" 
    password="value"  
    projectArea="value"  
    targetAttributeID="value" 
    sourceAttributeID="value"
    workItemType="value"
    /ignoreErrors 
    /skipEmailNotification

-validateoslclinks
    repository="value"
    user="value"
    password="value"
    projectArea="value"
    query="value"
    /trace
    /debug

Command parameters

Query

Provide a query name. The query by default is searched as a personal query owned by the logged in contributor. Provide a Query Source using the parameter querysource. The query source can contain a list of project area and team area names.

Query Source

Provide a list of project area and team area names.

Start in RMI server mode

Use the switch /rmiServer to start an instance as RMI server. In this mode, the process will not terminate, but wait for RMI requests to perform commands. It will service commands requested by other client instances that are started with the additional switch /rmiClient. It is not necessary to provide a command or any other input values, when starting the server as they will be ignored. Since the TeamPlatform needs to be initialized only once in this mode, the performance is considerably increased for multiple subsequent client calls.

By default, the RMI server uses the name //localhost/RemoteWorkitemCommandLineServer on port 1099. It is possible to specify a different name and port by providing a value to the switch.

The client command must be started with the same name and port as the server using the corresponding client switch

Example start as an RMI server:

/rmiServer=//clm.example.com:1199/WorkItemCommandLine

Example start as an RMI client with a command:

-create 
    /rmiClient=//clm.example.com:1199/WorkItemCommandLine 
    repository="https://clm.example.com:9443/ccm" 
    user=functional 
    password=********* 
    projectArea="Test" 
    workItemType=task 
    summary="New Item"

Please note, that the server and the client require a policy file for the security manager. A Policy file rmi_no.policy is shipped with the download. Rename and modify the file to your requirements. To enable security Java requires to call the class with the additional vm argument -Djava.security.policy=no.policy where the policy file name must exist.

WorkItem attribute parameter and value examples

Format for parameter is:

parameter[:mode]=value

No spaces are allowed between parameter, value and the =. Parameter and value can also not have spaces. Use " to enclose values with spaces.

Example: "A Space"

Parameters

Parameter is a work item attribute ID and value is a value or a list of values. Use the command -printtypeattributes to retrieve the available attribute ID's, or inspect the process configuration of your project area to extract the attribute ID's.

Values

The values are specified by a string. This is can be display name of that value (enumerations) or composed of display values of the path to this item (category, iterations, process areas). For other attributes, such as users, work item types or work items, use the ID.

Examples

• For enumeration based attributes use the display value for the enumeration literal:

  internalPriority=High

• For HTML and string based attributes use a string. HTML types like summary, description, comment and HTML support the following syntax.

  description="Plain text<br/><b>bold text</b><br/><i>italic text</i><br/><a href="https://rsjazz.wordpress.com">External RSJazz Link</a><br/>User link to <b>@ralph </b><br/>Work Item link to Defect 3 <br/>"

• For Wiki and multi line text attributes use <br> or \n for line breaks and check the syntax in the wiki editor. The Wiki syntax can be found here http://www.wikicreole.org/ .

  custom.wiki="<br>=Heading1<br><br>Plain text\n==Heading 2\n\nNormal Text **bold text** <br>**bold text**<br>//Italics//"

• For work item type, owner and some other attributes use the object ID.

  workItemType=task

  owner=tanuj

• Use the display name for simple attributes or the path composed out of the display names for hierarchical attributes.

  category=JKE/BRN

  foundIn="Sprint 2 Development"

  target="Main Development/Release 1.0/Sprint 3"

  custom.process.area="JKE Banking (Change Management)/Release Engineering"

• Dates and Timestamps have to be specified in the Java SimpleDateFormat notation. The value "unassigned" can be used to delete the date.

  dueDate="2015/02/01 12:30:00 GMT+01:00"

  dueDate="unassigned"

• Duration values are specified in milliseconds, or a hours minutes format.

  duration=1800000 correctedEstimate=3600000 timeSpent=60000

  duration="1 hour" correctedEstimate="2 hours 30 minutes" timeSpent="30 minutes"

• WorkItem attribute values of List with a specified item type such as userList. Format is using the separator ,:

  "value1,value2,...,valueN"

  Example: custom.user.list:add="deb,al,...,tanuj"

• WorkItem attributes with an general attribute value such as Item or itemList require encoding to locate the items. Format is:

  custom.item.list=value

  Where value has the form: <value>{,<value>}

  With <value> of the form <TypeDescriptor>:<Item>

  No spaces are allowed in the value list.

  Available values are:

  • Project area: ProjectArea - specified by its name.

    Example: "ProjectArea:JKE Banking (Change Management)"

  • Team area: TeamArea - specified by its name path.

    Example: "TeamArea:JKE Banking (Change Management)/Release Engineering"

  • Process area: ProcessArea - specified by its name path.

    Example: "ProcessArea:JKE Banking (Change Management)/Business Recovery Matters"

  • Category: Category - specified by its category path.

    Example: "Category:JKE/BRM"

  • User: User - specified by its id.

    Example: "User:tanuj"

  • Iteration: Iteration - specified by its name path (including the development line name).

    Example: "Iteration:Main Development/Release 1.0/Sprint 3"

  • Work item: WorkItem - specified by its id.

    Example: "WorkItem:20"

  • SCM component: SCMComponent - specified by its name.

    Example: "SCMComponent:Build"

Modes

Modes allow different types of changes to attributes such as add values, append text or remove and set other data. Supported modes are default (no mode specified), add, set, remove. If no mode is specified, the default mode for the parameter is used.

• Example for default mode: summary="This is a summary.".
• Example for add mode: summary:add=" Add this to the summary.".
• Example for set mode: summary:set="Overwite the existing summary with this.".
• Example for remove mode: custom.enumeration.list:remove=$,Unassigned.

Which modes are supported and their behavior depends on attribute type. Single value attributes typically support default and set mode, but not add and remove mode. Multiple value attributes typically support default , add , set and remove mode. Default mode for single value attributes sets the value. Default mode for multiple value attributes adds the value(s). Set mode for multiple value attributes removes the old values and then adds the new value(s). Remove mode for multiple value attributes removes the old values specified, that can be found.

String values such as HTML, Summary, Wiki type attributes support default (same behavior as set mode), set and add mode.

Special Properties

Work Item ID: Parameter "id" can not be changed.

Project Area: Parameter "projectArea" can only be specified when creating the work item. It can not be set to a different value later.

Comments

Parameter "internalComments" can be used to add a comment. This attribute only supports the default and add mode. Comments can not be removed.

Example: internalComments="This is a comment"

Subscriptions

Parameter "internalSubscriptions" can be used to subscribe a list of users using their user ID's. This attribute supports the modes default (same as) add, set and remove mode.

• Example set specific users: internalSubscriptions:set=al,tammy
• Example add users: internalSubscriptions:add=deb,tanuj,bob
• Example remove users: internalSubscriptions:remove=sally,bob

Parameter "internalTags" can be used to add a list of tags. This attribute supports the modes default (same as) add, set and remove mode.

Example: internalTags=Tag1,..,TagN

Approvals

Parameter "internalApprovals" can be used to add approvals and approvers using their user ID's. Approvals only support the modes default (same as) add, set and remove. Set and remove only affects approvals of the same type.

Format

internalApprovals[<ID>][:<mode>]="approval:Approval Name as string:userID1,..,userIDn"

Where <ID> can be left out if only one approval is specified or needs to be unique if multiple approvals are specified. Where <mode> can be left out and defaults to add.

Available modes are: set add (set as default mode) and remove.

Modes set and remove only remove approvals of the same type and must be enabled using the switch enableDeleteApprovals.

Example: internalApprovals="review:Please Review:deb,tanuj" Example: internalApprovals="verification:Please verify:sally,al"

where the user list is optional and can contain one or more users ID's

Work Item State:

Parameter "internalState" can be used to change the work item state. State change only supports the modes default and set.

Format

internalState=StateName to find a one step workflow action to change the state, and execute the action, or internalState=forceState:StateName to force the state change to the target state even if no workflow action exists

WorkFlow Action

A pseudo parameter "@workflowAction" can be used to set a workflow action to change the work item state when saving. This attribute supports only the modes default and set.

Example: @workflowAction="Stop working"

Attachments

Attachments are not stored in an attribute, therefore there is no attribute name or ID. WCL solves that by using pseudo attributes.

CSV export and import support attachments. The pseudo attribute name and type Attachment or attachment is used as column header representing the attachments.

For work item creation and update operations, a pseudo parameter @attachFile can be used to upload attachments. This attribute supports the modes default (same as) add, set and remove. Set removes all attachments, remove only removes attachments with the specified file path and description.

Format

@attachFile[<IDString>][:<mode>]="SomeFilePath,Some Description,ContentTypeID,EncodingID"

Where: <IDString> must be unique for multiple attachments in one command. If only one attachment is uploaded, the IDString can be left empty. ContentTypeID is text/plain or application/unknown or application/xml

EncodingID is UTF-8 (default) or UTF-16LE or UTF-16BE or us-ascii.

The file must be accessible and in the correct encoding.

Examples:

@attachFile="C:/temp/test.txt,Some Attachment,text/plain,UTF-8"
@attachFile_1:add="./test1.txt,Some Attachment 1,text/plain,UTF-8" @attachFile_2="./test2.txt,Some Attachment 2,text/plain,UTF-8"

A pseudo parameter @deleteAttachments can be used to delete all attachments. Modes have no influence on this attribute. This attribute supports the value yes.

Example:

@deleteAttachments=yes

Links

A pseudo parameter @link_ can be used to link the current work item to other objects. Links support the modes default (same as) add, set and remove. Set removes all links of the specified type before creating the new links.

Work Item Links

links between this work item and another work item within the same repository

Format

@link_linktype=value

The parameter value is a list of one or more work items specified by their ID. The separator is:|

@link_copied=id1|id2|...
@link_copied_from=id1|id2|...
@link_successor=id1|id2|...
@link_blocks=id1|id2|...
@link_resolves=id1|id2|...
@link_mentions=id1|id2|...
@link_predecessor=id1|id2|...
@link_parent=id1|id2|...
@link_duplicate_of=id1|id2|...
@link_duplicate=id1|id2|...
@link_related=id1|id2|...
@link_depends_on=id1|id2|...
@link_child=id1|id2|...
@link_resolved_by=id1|id2|...

Example:

@link_related=123|80

CLM Work Item Links

CLM links between this work item and another work item within the same or across repositories

Format

@link_linktype=value

The parameter value is a list of one or more work items specified by their ID (if they are in the same repository) or by the Item URI. The separator is:|

@link_affects_plan_item=id1|id2|URI2|...
@link_tracks_workitem=id1|id2|URI2|...
@link_related_change_management=id1|id2|URI2|...
@link_affected_by_defect=id1|id2|URI2|...

Example:

@link_tracks_workitem="https://clm.example.com:9443/ccm/resource/itemName/com.ibm.team.workitem.WorkItem/80|120|150"

Please note that the link "Mentions" can not directly be created during import or update operations. They can only be created indirectly by referring to work items and users in the description or comments.

CLM URI Links

CLM links between this work item and another item, described by a valid URI, in a different repository

Format

@link_linktype=value

The parameter value is a list of one or more CLM URI's for elements that support this link type. The separator is:|

@link_related_test_plan=uri1|uri2|...
@link_affects_requirement=uri1|uri2|...
@link_tested_by_test_case=uri1|uri2|...
@link_blocks_test_execution=uri1|uri2|...
@link_implements_requirement=uri1|uri2|...
@link_affects_execution_result=uri1|uri2|...
@link_related_artifact=uri1|uri2|...
@link_related_test_case=uri1|uri2|...
@link_tracks_requirement=uri1|uri2|...
@link_scm_tracks_scm_changes=uri1|uri2|...
@link_related_execution_record=uri1|uri2|...

Example: @link_affects_requirement=https://clm.example.com:9443/rm/resources/_848a30e315524069854f55e1d35a402d|https://clm.example.com:9443/rm/resources/_6c96bedb0e9a490494273eefc6e1f7c5

Please note that the link "Associate Work Item" between a change set and the work item can only be created by the SCM component and therefore not by the WCL. The link created here is the looser CLM link. Create the work item change set link using the SCM command line.

Build result Links

Links from a work item to a build result in the same repository.

Format

@link_reportAgainstBuild=buildResult1|buildResult2|...

The parameter value is a list of one or more Build results specified by their ID or their label. Prefix the build labels @. The separator is:

@link_reportAgainstBuild=id1|@BuildLabel2|...
@link_includedInBuild=id1|@BuildLabel2|...

Example:

@link_reportAgainstBuild=@_IjluoH-oEeSHhcw_WFU6CQ|P20141208-1713

Delete all links of a link type

Delete all links of a link type.

Format is:

@deleteLinks_linktype=yes

Example:

@deleteLinks_includedInBuild=yes

Encoding

Importing from a CSV file can fail if the file encoding does not match the expected encodig. An encoding can be provided for the CSV import and export. The default encoding is: UTF-8

Format is:

encoding=encodingID

	Where encodingID is UTF-8 or UTF-16LE or UTF-16BE or us-ascii.

Example:

	encoding=UTF-8

Attribute ID Aliases

The attribute IDs available to a work item type can be listed with the printtypeattributes command. It is also possible to look into the process specification. The attribute type ID's can be looked up in the RTC project area administration Web UI. Note that the Eclipse project area administation UI does not show the correct ID. For example for the category attribute, the Eclipse project area admin UI shows com.ibm.team.workitem.attribute.category but the correct value of the attribute is category. For Severity the correct ID is internalSeverity and not com.ibm.team.workitem.attribute.severity as the Eclipse Admin UI shows. To mitigate this problem and to allow to use the values similar to the constants shown in attribute customization, WCL provides a mapping for additional strings representing the same attribute ID. The table below shows which attribute ID aliases map to the predefined values.

Available mappings:

Link types

The following link types are supported. Please note that some link types might only be supported in some of the commands or use cases.

Import/Export

The import and export capabilities of the Work Item Command Line have some special behavior that are not obvious. Here a summary of those topics.

Export Modes

By default, the WCL RTC Export exports the attribute data in a format that is compatile with the WCL work item operations. It is possible to use the switch /asrtceclipse for the export. In this mode attachments are not downloaded and the attachment information is provided similar to the built in CSV export.

Attachments

The export to CSV can be used to download and store attachments. In the default mode, if the attachments column is detected in the exported attributes, the attachments are stored in a folder structure in the folder used to export the CSV file. In the CSV file, the exported attachment is referenced as path to the download location. This information can be used during import as well.

In the mode /asrtceclipse, attachment download is not supported. The exported data in the CSV file shows the same information that is provided in the RTC CSV export format.

License

Licensed under the MIT License.