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The Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) Open Test Architecture API is a COM library that enables you to integrate external applications with ALM. COM integrates naturally with Microsoft Visual Basic, therefore the syntax and examples in this reference use Visual Basic. The examples in this project were developed with Microsoft Visual Basic 6.0 and are not necessarily valid under other development platforms.

For information about other implementation possibilities, see the Micro Focus Support Web Site or consult your support representative.

Disclaimer about Library Members for internal use:

Many items in the COM library are marked hidden. For technical reasons, these items are visible in some environments in spite of being marked hidden. Therefore, there is no way Micro Focus can prevent OTA applications from using hidden members.

Such members are not documented in this reference. Other members are explicitly labeled, "For internal use".

Micro Focus advises you not to use undocumented members or members labeled "For internal use" (or "For HP use.") If you do, be aware that Micro Focus does not support the use of hidden members by customers.

Uses of this Library

There are many ways to use Open Test Architecture programming to enhance site integration and customize ALM for your site. For example, you can:

• Add OTA code within the ALM Workflow scripts to extend Workflow capabilities.
• Create a custom test type.
• Enhance ALM VAPI-XP tests.
• Read information from an ALM project for use by an external tool or report generator, perhaps including sophisticated calculations on project data.
• Synchronize two ALM projects. For example, get defects reported by contractors on a public server and add them to the development projects inside the firewall.
• Synchronize customization data, such as custom lists, between projects on a site.
• Write a custom test execution program with sophisticated logic.
• Automatically format comment fields.
• Integrate other site tools and data with ALM. For example, have all new hires added to the ALM site users by the same system that assigns email addresses, or have your project planning tool create new ALM projects, adding the planned project resources as ALM project users with group assignments in accordance with their roles in the project.
• Integrate with other applications, such as Microsoft Excel and Word using the Microsoft Office Add-ins.
• Use with QuickTest Professional to enhance integration with other products.

Character Encoding

ALM, and therefore OTA applications, can handle text data in either Multibyte or Unicode encodings.