UPDATE: Technical Bulletin #40

TO: All Sites Using ClearCase 4.1 on UNIX or Windows
FROM: Customer Support
DATE: 3/16/01
SUBJECT: Technical Bulletin Number 40

ClearCase Patches p4.1-7 and p4.1.NT-12 Cause Merge Manager and Clearmake to Crash Rational Engineering has found that ClearCase Patches p4.1-7 and p4.1.NT-12 cause clearmake and the graphical Merge Manager to dump core under certain conditions. These patches were issued January 26, 2001 as mandatory patches for the UNIX and Windows platforms.

ClearCase Patches p4.1-7 and p4.1.NT-12 have been removed from the patch list and web site and will be replaced soon with successor versions. The patches cause problems for users who rely on either clearmake or the graphical Merge Manager.

A regression introduced by Patches p.4.1-7 and p4.1.NT-12 causes the graphical Merge Manager to fail and dump core under various conditions. The workaround is to use the command line version of the Merge Manager which is unaffected by this problem.

In addition, a clearmake regression in these patches causes clearmake to dump core when building makefile targets that meet all of the following conditions:

• The makefile target is a pathname and not a simple filename
• The makefile creates one or more of the directories in that target pathname
• The makefile creates derived objects in that target pathname

The following file is an example of a makefile which meets all these conditions and would cause clearmake to dump core if you have applied Patch p4.1-7 or Patch p4.1.NT-12:

dir/file:

-mkdir dir
touch $@

The workaround is to invoke clearmake with the -F option. Note that this option suppresses the creation of derived objects, disables configuration lookup, and causes clearmake to use timestamps for rebuild decisions.

The patch that fixes these problems will soon be available. However, if the workarounds for these problems are unsuitable for you and if you cannot wait until the new patch becomes available, Rational recommends that you remove these patches.

To remove Patch p4.1-7 from your UNIX system:

1. Uninstall ClearCase.
2. Create a new release area without Patch p4.1-7 applied. If you have kept a backup copy of the release area, use the backup copy.
3. Install your ClearCase servers and clients.

• If your site uses a ClearCase release area for applying patches, please follow these instructions: Go to the network directory from which you install ClearCase. This directory contains patches. Go to the directory clearcase_p4.1.NT-12. In this directory, you will find backout.exe. Run this executable to begin the backout process. When this is complete, reinstall ClearCase from this release area.
• If your site does not use a ClearCase release area for applying patches, please follow these instructions: First, uninstall ClearCase. To complete the uninstall, you must reboot the machine. Reinstall ClearCase from the non-patched release area. Reapply necessary patches individually as needed. Rational apologizes for any inconvenience this may have caused.

Any Questions?

Please contact Rational Support

Technical Bulletin Number 40 - 3/16/01