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TSTool / Getting Started

This chapter provides an overview of getting started with TSTool and the Bitbucket plugin commands.

Introduction

The TSTool user interface (UI) provides features to browse data, create command file workflows to process data, and view time series, tables, and other information products. The TSTool UI design follows several basic concepts and interactions.

The remainder of this documentation focuses on getting started with TSTool using the Bitbucket plugin.

Installing and Configuring TSTool

If not already done, install TSTool. TSTool is most often installed on Windows but also runs on Linux (see the OWF Software Website).

Starting TSTool

TSTool can be run in interactive mode and batch (command line) mode. Interactive mode is typically used to prototype and configure automated workflows and products. Batch mode can be used to run the software in headless mode on a server, for example on a schedule or in response to web requests.

When using the State of Colorado’s TSTool default configuration on Windows, the software can be started using Start / Programs / CDSS / TSTool-Version. The menus vary slightly depending on the operating system version.

Use the tstool script to start the software on Linux. The program can be found in the software's /bin folder. Multiple versions of TSTool can be installed to facilitate transition from older to newer versions.

To process a command file in batch mode without showing the user interface, use a command line similar to the following:

tstool -- -–commands commands.tstool

It is customary to name command files with a .tstool file extension. It may be necessary to specify a full (absolute) path to the command file when running in batch mode in order for TSTool to fully understand the working directory.

See the Running TSTool in Various Modes appendix for more information about running in batch and other modes.

Installing the Bitbucket Plugin

See the Appendix - Install Plugin documentation for instructions to install the plugin.

Using the Bitbucket Plugin Command

TSTool Bitbucket plugin commands are provided to read repository data from bitbucket.org. Additional commands may be added in the future as needed. The primary uses of the plugin commands are:

  • read lists of projects and repositories to control workflow logic, for example to automate checking repositories
  • read repository issues, for example to list issues from multiple repositories

The following is a summary of plugin commands, which are listed in the Commmands(Plugin) menu.

Bitbucket Plugin Commands

Command Description
Bitbucket Read repository data from the bitbucket.org web services.