3.1 Accessing Files

The Views tab in ClearCase Explorer provides access to views (see About Rational ClearCase Explorer). By default, ClearCase Explorer creates shortcuts to all base ClearCase views that you own and places the shortcuts on the General page of the Views tab.

Starting Dynamic Views

To access files from a dynamic view, you must start the view and activate the VOBs that contain your source files.

Starting the view also starts a view_server process, which maps the data in the VOBs that are activated on your computer into a directory tree. VOBs that you activate appear as subdirectories of a view. Then you browse the VOB as you would any other directory.

If you assign a view to a drive letter, ClearCase starts the view when you log on to your computer. If you do not assign a view to a drive letter but have a ClearCase Explorer shortcut to the view, ClearCase starts the view when you click the shortcut.

To start a dynamic view that was created from a UNIX host, you must first use the Region Synchronizer to import the view's view-tag into your Windows network region. Then, refresh the view shortcuts in ClearCase Explorer.

To Start Dynamic Views

1. In the ClearCase Explorer Shortcut pane, click Views. Then, click General or the page in which the shortcut to the dynamic view resides.

2. Click the shortcut for the view.

The view-tag appears as the top-level folder in the Folder pane with folders below for the active VOBs (see About Rational ClearCase Explorer). If you do not have a shortcut, refresh the view shortcuts (if you own the view or created the view-tag). To access other dynamic views from ClearCase Explorer (for example, to access a team member's view), add a view shortcut to the Views tab. For information on creating or modifying shortcuts in ClearCase Explorer, refer to ClearCase Explorer online help.

The ClearCase Explorer title bar shows the location of the view in your computer's namespace. Any command you issue from ClearCase Explorer that requires a pathname uses the pathname displayed in the title bar.

If you are unable to start a dynamic view that is on another host, check with your administrator to make sure that you can access the view's view storage directory. For more information, see the Administrator's Guide for Rational ClearCase.

To Activate VOBs

To access files from a dynamic view, you must activate the VOBs that contain your source files.

1. On the Windows desktop, click Start > Programs > Rational ClearCase Administration > Mount VOB.

2. In the Mount dialog box, select the VOBs containing your source files.

3. Select Reconnect at Logon to activate the VOBs when you log on.

4. Click Mount.

5. In ClearCase Explorer, click View > Refresh to see the activated VOBs as folders in the Folder pane.

Accessing Snapshot Views

To access files from a snapshot view, use the view shortcut in ClearCase Explorer.

1. In the ClearCase Explorer Shortcut pane, click Views. Then, click General or the page in which the shortcut to the snapshot view resides.

2. Click the shortcut for the view.

If you do not have a shortcut, either refresh the view shortcuts (if you own the view) or add a view shortcut (if someone else owns the view; see To Access Another's Snapshot View from ClearCase Explorer).

The view-tag appears as the top-level folder in the Folder pane with folders below for the elements loaded in the view (see About Rational ClearCase Explorer). The ClearCase Explorer title bar shows the location of the view in your computer's namespace. Any command you issue from ClearCase Explorer that requires a pathname uses the pathname displayed in the title bar.

If you are unable to access a snapshot view that is on another host or its storage location is on another host, check with your administrator to make sure that you can access the view's view directory or view storage location. For more information, see the Administrator's Guide for Rational ClearCase.

If you plan on working disconnected from the network, follow the guidelines in Appendix A, Working in a Snapshot View While Disconnected from the Network.

Accessing Views from Windows Explorer

This section describes how to access snapshot views and dynamic views from Windows Explorer.

Accessing Snapshot Views from Windows Explorer

A snapshot view is a directory tree in a standard file system (plus some hidden, administrative files). You can access it through Windows Explorer as you would access any other directory tree in a file system. For information on assigning a snapshot view to a drive letter, see Using the subst Command for Snapshot View Access.

Accessing Someone Else's Snapshot View from Windows Explorer

You can access someone else's snapshot view as you would access any other directory on another computer. If the directory's owner has shared the directory and set up the proper permissions, you can use Network Neighborhood to access the view. If you want to perform ClearCase operations in the view, see To Register Another's Snapshot View for Windows Explorer Use.

Accessing Dynamic Views from Windows Explorer

You can access any view that you have started on your computer from the dynamic-views-drive (by default, drive M) in Windows Explorer. If you assign the view to a drive letter, you can also access it from the drive letter in Windows Explorer. For information on assigning dynamic views to drive letters, see ClearCase online help.