Tech Tip: ALM Limitation with Title Length and Special Characters

[gilta03]

This document can also be viewed here: https://support.ca.com/us/knowledge-base-articles.TEC1375292.html 

 

Issue:

When trying to export test cases from Agile Requirements Designer to ALM, I am receiving errors such as 'ALM has failed' and 'Bulk operation failed'. 

 

 

 

 

Steps to reproduce the issue:

1. Using example flow 'Make Tea' from C:\Program Files\Grid-Tools\AgileDesigner\examples, I modified the flow to have new block titles.
2. From the Path Explorer, I generated test cases and stored them successfully.
3. I then connected to HP Application Lifecycle Management connector and logged in. 
4. I clicked the 'Setup Configuration' button and ensured mappings were correct 
5. In the Path Explorer again, I exported the test cases to HP ALM. 

• Using the ALM REST connector debugging provided a log file with the error messages. Used these directions to enable debugging: https://support.ca.com/us/knowledge-base-articles.TEC1471231.html
• Using this documentation for creating mapping and export: https://docops.ca.com/ca-agile-requirements-designer/2-6/en/integrations/integration-with-lifecycle-tools/integrate-with-hpe-alm-rest 
  
  

Environment:

CA Agile Requirements Designer (ARD)- Agile Designer + HP ALM Application Lifecycle Management

Cause:

The root cause of this issue was an ALM limitation in not accepting certain special characters in the Title/Test Case Name field. For example, ?,'/!
The reason you do not received a message with this information specifically is because the ALM APIs are limited and do not provide a sufficient error message for the problem. 

You may also receive this error message if your Title/Test Case Name is too long. There is a character limit in ALM which can be increased or decreased by your ALM administrator. 

We found the issue by copy/pasting the test case name into the Title field in ALM. If you test the title names from within ALM, you will receive a specific error message.

Resolution:

Development is currently working on an enhancement to improve this ALM limitation. In the meantime, here are some workarounds that can be used:

Option #1 
- When creating new test cases, do not add any special characters in the 'Name' field, but instead add them in the 'Description' field. 
- For example: 
Name: Have Water 
Description: Have Water? 

 

 

 

 

 

Option #2 
- Before exporting your test cases in Path Explorer, remove the special characters from the test case name. 

 

 

 

 

Option #3: 
- In your ALM mappings/configuration, under the Description field's AgileDesigner Field Name, change the drop down option to 'Description of Blocks'. 
- When you export to ALM, in the description field, you will see all the titles/names of blocks as is with the special characters included. 
- This will not be in the main title in ALM, but at least the real titles with special characters will be available in ALM.

 

 

Additional Information:

If you experience any further, please open a support case by going to https://support.ca.com/irj/portal/newhome or calling one of these numbers https://www.ca.com/us/services-support/ca-support/contact-support.html.