Enable Creation of Hierarchical Categories with Parent-Child Relations Using the Excel Import Utility in ETM

Hello,

The proposed workaround from IBM Support was to simulate folder structures using categories and subcategories. This is a valid approach, but it cannot be fully automated using the current ETM Excel Import Utility, which is a major limitation, and if each project in ETM needs a different structure folder it will take a lot of time to create this kind of structure.

1. Use case

In ETM, categories can be defined hierarchically (e.g., a category "Folder Structure" with values like "Folder 1", and a child category "Level 2" with values like "Folder 1.1", "Folder 1.2", etc.). This allows users to select values across multiple levels within the Test Case editor.

See example in this structure:

• Folder Structure (category)
•     Folder 1 (value)
•           Level 2  (category)
•                  Folder 1.1 (value)
•                  Folder 1.2 (value)
•                  Folder 1.3 (value)
•     Folder 2  (value)
•           Level 2  (category)
•                  Folder 2.1 (value)
•                  Folder 2.2 (value)

When building this structure manually from the ETM Project Properties admin panel, it works as expected. However, there is no way to create this hierarchy using the Excel Importer.

2. Current limitation

• Using the Excel Import Utility, we can create category types and their values, but all values are created at the top level.
• There is no way to define the "dependsOn" relationship between category types, i.e., to establish that Level 2 is a subcategory of Folder Structure, and that its values are specific to each parent value.
• This prevents defining a hierarchical category tree at the beginning of a project using automation.

3. What I propose

Please extend the ETM Excel Import Utility with the ability to:

• Define category types with hierarchical dependencies (dependsOn) between them.
• Specify values for subcategories that are tied to specific values of the parent category (not globally).
• Build full folder-like category trees via Excel, without requiring that users create artifacts (Test Cases) to define the values.

Thanks!!