What are the potential Perl hook/script upgrade issues with IBM Rational ClearQuest 8.0.1?

Cause

ClearQuest 8.0.1 uses Perl 5.16.1, which is stricter than Perl 5.8.6. In addition, Perl 5.16.1 has deprecated some Perl language capabilities or modules. As a result, scripts that were written for Perl 5.8.6 might result in errors when these are used in ClearQuest 8.0.1. The Perl Programming Documentation web site describes changes in each Perl release. Following is a summary of errors encountered during testing and suggested solutions.

• Scripts written for Perl 5.8.6 and used with ClearQuest 8.0.1 might have errors

Perl 5.16.1 might interpret ambiguous list context differently than Perl 5.8.6. In some cases, you might need to add parentheses to ensure that the list context is interpreted as expected by your Perl code. Without the parentheses, you might see errors similar to these:

• HTTP Code: Error:Can't locate object method "previous" via package "Content" (perhaps you forgot to load "Content"?) at C:/Program Files (x86)/IBM/RationalSDLC/common/lib/perl5/site_perl/5.16.1/HTTP/Response.pm line 105.
• Error Code:Error:Can't locate object method "previous" via package "Content" (perhaps you forgot to load "Content"?) at C:/Program Files (x86)/IBM/RationalSDLC/common/lib/perl5/site_perl/5.16.1/HTTP/Response.pm line 105.
• Error Message: Error:Can't locate object method "previous" via package "Content" (perhaps you forgot to load "Content"?) at C:/Program Files (x86)/IBM/RationalSDLC/common/lib/perl5/site_perl/5.16.1/HTTP/Response.pm line 105.

Example
In the following example, additional parentheses are needed after POST and $content when you use Perl 5.16.1:


$response = $ua->request(POST($api_url . '/defects/GTS/' . $resultset->GetColumnValue(1) . '/notes.xml',

Content_Type => 'application/xml',

Content => $content));

• Alternatives to using the switch.pm Perl module with cqperl or ratlperl

In Perl Version 5.12 and later, the switch.pm module is no longer included with the standard distribution because it has been deprecated by the Perl organization. ClearQuest 8.0.1 continues to ship the switch.pm module with Perl 5.16.1. However, customers should plan to stop using this module and move to the newer techniques. For more information, see Technote 1621637, Alternatives to using switch.pm Perl module with cqperl or ratlperl.


• Socket6 ratlperl 5.16.1 module requires the import call

Typically, you use Socket6 with the require command to use the Socket6 module, as shown in the following example:


use constant IPV6_IS_SUPPORTED =>
eval { require Socket6 } &&
eval { require IO::Socket::INET6 };


However, in Perl 5.16.1, using the require command alone causes errors. To eliminate errors, use the import command along with the require command, as shown in the following example:


use constant IPV6_IS_SUPPORTED =>
eval { require Socket6; Socket6->import; } &&
eval { require IO::Socket::INET6; IO::Socket::INET6->import };


• Reconnect to SSLv3 fails after a failed attempt to connect to SSLv23

In the file /opt/rational/common/lib/perl5/site_perl/5.8.6/i686-linux-multi/Net/SSL.pm, the default behavior is to connect to SSLv23. If this connection fails, the failover to SSLv3 does not work. To resolve this issue, you might need to change your script code to explicitly connect to SSLv3, as shown in the following example:


LWP::UserAgent->new(ssl_opts=>{'SSL_version'=>'SSLv3'})


• Adding Perl modules to ratlperl

The scripts that are included with Perl are located in the subdirectory where ratlperl is installed. To point to this Perl subdirectory, add the following path to the beginning of the user PATH environment variable:

On UNIX:
/opt/rational/common/bin/perl

On Windows:
RationalCommonDirectory/perl

• Deprecated syntax in Perl 5.12 causes errors in ClearQuest 8.0.1

Perl 5.12 deprecates use of the defined function on hashes and arrays.