How to write a Perl hook in IBM Rational ClearQuest to get the record ID and write it into a new field with some prefix value

Answer

You may achieve this with the following approach-

• Create a new field which is SHORT_STRING type.
• Get the value of id field, add some prefix to it
• Write this new value to the newly create field
  
  

1. Login to ClearQuest Designer with the role admin
   
   
2. Click on Record Types > Navigate to the Record Type (For example Defect) > States And Actions > Actions > Submit
   
   
3. Double click on Submit action, this will show all the Actions in right side panel
   
   
4. Select the row of Submit action and click on the cell under the Validation column. It will open a drop down button, click on it and select SCRIPTS -> Add Perl Script
   
   
5. This will Open the Validation Subroutine in Perl Script Editor
   
   Example-
   
   sub Defect_Validation {
      my($actionname, $actiontype) = @_;
      my $result;
                 # $actionname as string scalar
                 # $actiontype as long scalar
                 # $result as string scalar
                 # action is Resolve
                 # record type name is Defect
                 # Start User Code
                 # Return a non-empty string explaining why the action cannot commit
                 # with its current values. If it is valid, return an empty string.
                       # Example:
                            #    my $value_info = $entity->GetFieldValue("some field");
                            #    if (length($value_info->GetValue()) < 10)                       {
                            #        $result = "Must be at least 10 chars long";
                            #    }
                            # End User Code
                            return $result;
                            }
   
   
6. Place the following code within this subroutine before # End User Code
   
   #######################################################
   $sessionObj = $entity->GetSession();
         my $ctobj = $entity->GetFieldValue("ChangeType");
         my $changetype = $ctobj->GetValue();
   
               my $idobj = $entity->GetFieldValue("id");
               my $currid = $idobj->GetValue();
   
        if ($changetype && $currid)
    {
        if ($changetype eq "Defect")
              {
              $newcqid = "D-"."$currid";
              $entity->SetFieldValue("CQID", $newcqid);
              }
             else
         {
   $newcqid = "E-"."$currid";
   $entity->SetFieldValue("CQID", $newcqid);
         }
    }
   ########################################################
   NOTE: The below hook code will add a Prefix D- or E- to the ID field and will write into the new field CQ_ID
   
   
7. Save the work and perform Validation and check for errors
   
   
8. If no errors, perform a Test Work