5.2 ClearCase Capabilities in a Mixed Environment

This section describes the access to ClearCase data that is possible between Windows and UNIX computers. The description assumes that you have configured the computers and your network to support cross-platform access to ClearCase data structures. Specifically:

• You have configured your ClearCase installation to enable all view- and VOB-access capabilities possible for that computer's operating system.

The view- and VOB-access capabilities of a given ClearCase host often are a function of how the computer was configured during ClearCase installation. This is especially true of ClearCase on Windows hosts. For more information, see the Release Notes for Rational ClearCase and ClearCase MultiSite.

• You have installed a cross-platform file access product where necessary.

If you are using snapshot views on either UNIX or Windows, you can enable ClearCase File Service (CCFS) to allow these views to access VOBs on either UNIX or Windows. You need not install a third-party file access product.

If you are using Windows dynamic views to access files and directories in UNIX VOBs or want to access UNIX dynamic views, you must install a third-party file-access product, such as an NFS client product or an SMB server product.

See Chapter 6, Cross-Platform File Access for details about CCFS and third-party file-access products.

Windows

Windows computers can access Windows snapshot and dynamic views and UNIX dynamic views. They cannot access UNIX snapshot views.

Windows computers can access Windows VOBs using Windows snapshot and dynamic views. They can access UNIX VOBs using Windows snapshot and dynamic views, and also using UNIX dynamic views.

NOTE: Although Windows computers can access UNIX dynamic views, they cannot use those UNIX views to access Windows VOBs.

Windows Me and Windows 98 computers can access Windows snapshot views whose view storage directories are located on Windows computers. They cannot access Windows dynamic views or UNIX snapshot or dynamic views.

Windows Me and Windows 98 computers can access Windows and UNIX VOBs using Windows snapshot views.

UNIX

Using dynamic views, UNIX computers can access UNIX VOBs. Using snapshot views, UNIX computers can access UNIX VOBs or Windows VOBs. UNIX computers cannot access Windows snapshot or dynamic views.

UNIX computers can also use the ClearCase Web interface to access VOBs on Windows. For more information, see Chapter 29, Configuring a Web Server for the ClearCase Web Interface.

Constraints in a Mixed Environment

This section lists specific constraints to consider when using ClearCase in a mixed network environment:

• To access UNIX views, Windows computers must be configured to support dynamic views.

• ClearCase supports dynamic views only on UNIX and Windows computers; you cannot create or access dynamic views on a Windows Me or Windows 98 computer.

• To avoid incompatibilities caused by differences in the way the Windows and UNIX operating systems address case-sensitivity, you may need to perform some additional configuration steps. See Case-Sensitivity for details.

• You cannot create a UNIX VOB or view from a Windows computer. You cannot create a Windows VOB or view from a UNIX computer.

• You cannot use the cleartool relocate command to move elements between UNIX VOBs and Windows VOBs.

• A Windows computer cannot use a UNIX view that has symbolically linked view-private storage (mkview -ln).

• Various characters that are legal in UNIX file names are illegal in Windows file names. File names that include these characters are not recognized by the MVFS on Windows and cannot be loaded into a Windows snapshot view. VOB element names that include these characters are not visible in Windows views.

  Table 3 Characters Not Allowed in Windows File Names

  ?

  *

  /

  \

  |

  <

  >

  
  Table 3 lists these characters.