I have created a symbolic link (see below) to a version controlled file from a different vob (VOB_II) and the file is visible from a dynamic view whereas it’s not visible from the UCM snapshot view.
A.txt --> ..\..\..\VOB_II\SampleDir\A.txt
I have the following selection and load rules.
element \VOB_II\SampleDir\A.txt ...\branch1\LATEST
load \VOB_II\ SampleDir
Any ideas why the file is not getting loaded in the snapshot view? I could not figure out what’s wrong. Any help or inputs are much appreciated.
First, do a cleartool ls in C:\path\to\my\view\VOB_II\SampleDir
The status can explain why the element is not loaded.
Typically, you need selections rules that selects also the parent folders (SampleDir and Vob_II) before being able to select A.txt.
I would recommend at least adding an element * /main/LATEST (stop rule)
element \VOB_II\SampleDir\A.txt ...\branch1\LATEST
element * /main/LATEST
load \VOB_II\ SampleDir
Second, it looks like you are trying to load the actual A.txt (the one in VOB_II\SampleDir\A.txt), and not the symbolic link one the A.txt pointing to ..\..\..\VOB_II\SampleDir\A.txt
I don't know where is that symbolic link A.txt. In Vob_I?
Third, see "Symbolic links in snapshot views"
Snapshot views created from Linux or the UNIX system maintain standard symbolic link behavior.
In the context of loading a snapshot view, links are treated as:
VOB links (those that point to objects inside the VOB) and
non-VOB links (those that point outside the VOB).
Hard VOB links are followed; symbolic links are copy-created.
If a VOB link cannot be resolved, an error results.
Non-VOB links are resolved, if possible, but it is not an error if they cannot be resolved.
Snapshot views created from a Rational ClearCase host running Windows software do not support links.
VOB symbolic link behavior is approximated in the following ways:
If a load rule selects a symbolic link, the link target is copied into the view at the link path.
Related
I'm new to CC and I'm coming from Git and Mercurial background, probably thats why ClearCase confused me so much. I've been assigned a task to migrate latest CC's revisions to Git. Problem is that I couldn't manage to checkout any branch other than main in CC.
I have a view that displays all VOB's /main/LATEST revision. I assume, main branch's latest revision.
element * CHECKEDOUT
element * /main/LATEST
Now I need to get the list of other branches in a particular VOB. To do that, I navigate from terminal in that folder and run
cleartool lstype -kind brtype -invob /%VOB_NAME%
and I can see the list of branches. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I assume, it displays only the branches relevant to VOB(%VOB_NAME%).
Now I need to checkout the branches. What is the standard way of doing this. I tried updating config spec with something like:
element * /%VOB_NAME%/%BRANCH_NAME%/LATEST but it doesn't seem to work.
Pretty sure I'm not doing it correctly.
Also for migration purpose, I'll need to automate the steps to acquire branches and checkout the branches. I guess updating config spec to switch branch in a view takes some time and probably is an async operation, so is there a way to determine when view finishes updating?
Or maybe there's command line option to switch branch for a particular VOB in a view?
So in short, here's my questions I'm struggling with:
Than
Am I acquiring VOB branches correctly?
How can I checkout a particular branch?
Is there a way to determine when checkout finishes?
thanks
UPDATE
ok I tried #VonC's recommendation so my config spec looks like this:
element * CHECKEDOUT
element * .../heine_1/LATEST
element * /main/LATEST
If I'm guessing correctly, one VOB containing branch named heine_1 should checkout that particular branch, the rest of VOBs will stay on main branch, but this is not the case. When I run cleartool ls inside that VOB, its still on main branch. All folders are postfixed with Rule: /main/LATEST. So I guess it didn't switch the branch.
Thanks
There are a few questions in the original question and the comments.
Addressing the configspec issue first...
The syntax of an element rule is:
element {path} {version rule} {optional clauses}
If you need a VOB-specific rule, you can do something like this:
element \myvob\... ...\myvobbranch\LATEST
element \myvob\... \main\LATEST -mkbranch myvobbranch
The "..." in the path means "this location and everything underneath it."
The "..." in the "version rule" means that the branch name is at the end, so this would match /main/myvobbranch/LATEST, /main/br1/myvobbranch/LATEST, etc.
If you're working on a branch, you generally want new files or work to appear on the branch you are working in, and the second line makes that happen.
Everything in a configspec is case sensitive, so be aware that "LATEST" is not "latest."
Since the view was created for you, I'm reasonably certain that it is a dynamic view. If it is mapped to a drive, it's definitely dynamic. If you need to know for sure, you can CD into the "working area" of your view and run "cleartool lsview -pro -full -cview" and look at the "attributes" line. The line for a dynamic view will look like this:
Properties: dynamic readwrite shareable_dos
On the direct questions:
Yes, you are acquiring the branch list correctly.
By default the checkout is done using the version selected by the view, you can use cleartool checkout -branch {full branch path} {file name} to check out the latest on a branch, or cleartool checkout -version {version id} {file name} to check out a version other than the latest on a branch. I would not recommend either as a normal practice. The -branch will cause checkins to go to the element's parent branch. The -version would require add a requirement to perform a merge to get the checkin to complete, which would also go to the version's parent branch.
Checkout is finished when the command finishes.
A big "new user gotcha" is that directories are also versioned objects. If you're adding files to source control, you need to remember to check the directory in so that they are visible by others with similarly configured views. The ClearCase GUIs have this behavior as a default if you started the process with the directory NOT checked out, but not if you explicitly checked out the directory beforehand.
When I execute a "cleartool ls filename##specificVersion", I see
filename [not loaded]
What does this mean?
For background information, I was trying to also execute a cleartool mkbranch, and was a "Element not found" error. So, for a sanity check, I tried a cleartool ls.
"not loaded" means the file:
is selected (by the selection rules element * ...) but:
not loaded by the load rules (load /xx/yy...)
You can see both sets of rules by doing a cleartool catcs anywhere within your view (or cleartool edcs to edit said rules)
This is typical of a snapshot view, which is the only one having "load rules" (as opposed to a dynamic view)
See:
"Before accessing files not loaded into snapshot views":
A snapshot view contains only the set of elements that you specify in the load rules of your view. (In UCM, by default, your view loads all of your project source files.)
When you restrict the scope of a view, it contains only a subset of elements in the VOB. During the course of a development cycle, you may need to see a version of an element that is not loaded into your snapshot view.
You can view nonloaded files or copy them into your view for build purposes, but you cannot check them out. Only file elements that are loaded into your view can be checked out.
"To copy a nonloaded element into a snapshot view"
cleartool get -to filename path
cleartool get -to prog.c.previous.version prog.c##/main/v3.1_fix/10
I have created a symbolic link for folder1 to make it available in vob2\rootdir from vob1\rootdir.
And I labeled the whole directory folder1 recursively in vob1.
But when I modified the configspec of dynamic view to load folder1, it was loaded under vob1; But I couldn't see that folder in vob2\rootdir. Pls help.
First you don't modify a config spec to load anything in a dynamic view: you only modify selection rules, there is no load rules (as opposed to snapshot view).
If you were actually using a snapshot view (with a path different from M:\ or /views), then beware of symlink resolution issue like this one.
Finally, if your config spec doesn't select vob2/rootdir, or if it doesn't select the version which recorded the symlink, you wouldn't be able to see said symlink.
That means, labelling vob1/folder1 isn't enough: you need to make sure that:
/vob2 is labelled
/vobs2/rootdir is labelled as well
In other words, the parent folders of your final selection target (target being '/vobs/rootdir/folder1) must be selected.
Is it possible in clearcase to checkout a file for modification such that it is impossible to check it back in? I’m going to be hacking some files on a private branch, only some of which I want to ever check in. I want to eliminate the possibility of accidentally checking in unwanted changes. (I know we can write a trigger to check for magic keywords in the checkout comment; I'm look for something built-in to CC.)
"Hacking some files" is spelled in ClearCase lingo: hijacked files in a snapshot view.
All you have to do is to:
lock those files (except for the few developers you know are likely to checkout/checkin the files: cleartool lock -nusers userA,userB,... aFile)
create a snapshot view
change the read/write right (at the OS level, nothing to do with ClearCase here)
modify them directly (without checkout them first, hence the "hijacked" state)
The OP Kevin Little adds in the comment:
Alas, we only use dynamic views
Easy enough:
"Hacking some files" is also spelled in ClearCase lingo: eclipsed files in a dynamic view.
All you have to do is to:
lock those files (except for the few developers you know are likely to checkout/checkin the files: cleartool lock -nusers userA,userB,... aFile)
create a dynamic view
copy the files you need to modify as aFile.tmp
modify the config spec to not select them
copy them back to their original name (they became "eclipsed" as their private version override their official versioned counterpart)
remove the "none" selection rules from the config spec
modify them directly
To not select them, add to the config spec (ct edcs) before the other rules:
element /a/path/to/aFile1 -none
element /a/path/to/aFile2 -none
...
To restore them, all you have to do is move or remove those files.
They will be dynamically be replaced by their original and still versioned element.
I don't know about the administration. From a user standpoint, you could have 2 views. In one view, checkout the files you don't want to check in. In the other view (your view), check them out unreserved. Then, if you try to check them in, you'll get an error because they're checked out to the other view.
Good morning,
is there any way to exclude only one particular directory from a snapshot's load statement, e.g. I want to load a whole vob named 'PM_CT' except the \PM_CT\lost+found directory
... is there an elegant way to do it? And how would I generally exclude all lost+found directories across multiple loaded vobs?
Cheers and Thanks,
-Jörg
I would like to make an addition to the previously posted answer:
The lost+found directories
To exclude the lost+found directories across all VOBs you can modify the previously proposed selection rule to be more generic:
#Skip the lost+found directories
element .../lost+found -none
However, using the '-none' flag causes the Windows ClearCase client to list errors when updating a snapshot view:
Unable to load "lost+found": no version selected in configuration specification.
Unable to load "lost+found".
It also does not properly unload any previously loaded folders or files, so you may need to recreate your snapshot view (or unload/reload the VOB) with the new selection rule if you really want to clean out the lost+found directories...
Elegance
For excluding any normal folder, the "elegant way" would be to specifically load the /main/0 version of the folder:
#Exclude the contents of a directory
element /VOB_name/folder_path /main/0
This will cause the folder to be loaded as empty and will not produce an error. It will also properly unload any loaded files. It unfortunately does not work for the lost+found directory, because it is always listed as version /main/0.
element /PM_CT/lost+found -none
The "elegant" way consists of:
adding a selection rule (here "-none")
loading all PM_CT without aking any question (load /PM_CT), if your view is a snapshot one
Note: in a config spec, always use "/": it is easier, and Windows as well as Unix ClearCase views will be able to interpret it.
Caveats:
the previous solution is for one vob, I do not think you could use "wildcard" for multiple vobs
the '-none' option can cause a snapshot view to fail during a deliver or rebase (UCM merge): for that kind of operation, a dynamic view would be more suited. That is for CC 2003.06 and early 7.0. I think it works better with the latest CC7.1.0.2
Note: that selection rule can also be used for dynamic views, in order to mask some directory you would not want to see.