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Version: Release 23.1

Create an Export Hook

You can use the export hook feature to configure Release to run a Jython script for every release that is about to be archived.

For example, you can use export hooks to store all completed releases in an SQL database and later use a reporting tool to query over the data. You can do this using the community supported XLR-SQL Export hook that can be found on GitHub.

This topic describes how to create an Export Hook from scratch.

Step 1 Define a new export hook​

Add a new synthetic type to conf/synthetic.xml. For example:

<type type="acme.ElasticSearchExportHook" extends="xlrelease.ExportHook">
<property name="url" category="input" label="Elastic search server URL"/>
</type>

Add url as a property of this synthetic type. This allows you to change the value in the user interface and use it in the Jython script. You can also add more properties, such as a username or password. For more information about synthetic types, see Create custom configuration types in Release.

Step 2 Create a Jython script​

The Jython script defines actions that you want to perform with release. The scope contains following variables:

  • exportHook: An object of type ExportHook
  • release: An object of type Release
  • releaseJson: A string with serialized release
  • logger: An object of type org.slf4j.Logger; see Javadoc
tip

It is recommended that you use logger instead of print for logging.

Script storage location​

Store scripts in the ext directory, which is a part of the classpath. By default, the export hook tries to locate prefix/TypeName.py on the classpath. In the case of this example, it will be acme/ElasticSearchExportHook.py.

Alternatively, you can set a customized script path in the scriptLocation property of each export hook:

<type type="acme.ElasticSearchExportHook" extends="xlrelease.ExportHook">
<property name="url" category="input" label="Elastic search server URL"/>
<property name="scriptLocation" hidden="true" default="mypath/MyScript.py" />
</type>

It is recommended that you use the default location of ext.

Step 3 Create an instance of the export hook​

In Release, from the navigation pane, go to Configuration> Connections and configure an instance of your export hook.

Order of execution​

All export hooks are executed for all completed releases just before they are archived. The order of execution is not guaranteed.

Failure handling​

Each export hook has only one attempt to perform actions on the release. If it fails, it is not retried.

Sample export hook​

To learn more about export hooks, download the sample export hook from GitHub and customize it as desired.