2.2 Creating the Project

To create and set up a project, you must perform the following tasks:

• Create a repository for storing project information

• Create components that contain the set of files the developers work on

• Create baselines that identify the versions of files with which the developers start their work

To use UCM with Rational ClearQuest, you must perform additional setup steps.

Creating a PVOB

ClearCase stores file elements, directory elements, derived objects, and metadata in a repository called a versioned object base (VOB). In UCM, each project must have a project VOB (PVOB). A PVOB is a special kind of VOB that stores UCM objects, such as projects, activities, and change sets. A PVOB must exist before you can create a project. Check with your site's ClearCase administrator to see whether a PVOB has already been created. For details on creating a PVOB, see Creating the Project VOB.

Organizing Directories and Files into Components

As the number of files and directories in your system grows, you need a way to reduce the complexity of managing them. Components are the UCM mechanism for simplifying the organization of your files and directories. The elements that you group into a component typically implement a reusable piece of your system architecture. By organizing related files and directories into components, you can view your system as a small number of identifiable components, rather than as one large set of directories and files.

The directory and file elements of a component reside physically in a VOB. The component object resides in a PVOB. Within a component, you organize directory and file elements into a directory tree. In Figure 3, the directory trees for the GUI, Admin, and Reports components appear directly under the VOB's root directory. You can convert existing VOBs or directory trees within VOBs into components, or you can create a component from scratch. For details on creating a component from scratch, see Creating Components for Storing Elements. For details on converting a VOB into a component, see Making a VOB into a Component.

Figure 3 VOB Containing Multiple Components

Shared and Private Work Areas

A work area consists of a view and a stream. A view is a directory tree that shows a single version of each file in your project. A stream is a ClearCase object that maintains a list of activities and baselines and determines which versions of elements appear in your view.

A project contains one integration stream, which records the project's baselines and enables access to shared versions of the project's elements. The integration stream and a corresponding integration view represent the project's shared work area.

Each developer on the project has a private work area, which consists of a development stream and a corresponding development view. The development stream maintains a list of the developer's activities and determines which versions of elements appear in the developer's view.

In the basic UCM process, the integration stream is the project's only shared work area. You may want to create additional shared work areas for developers who are working together on specific parts of the project. You can accomplish this by creating a hierarchy of development streams. For example, you can create a development stream and designate it as the shared work area for developers working on a particular feature. Developers then create their own development streams and views under the development stream for this feature. The developers deliver work to and rebase their streams to recommended baselines in the feature's development stream. See Choosing a Stream Strategy for details on development stream hierarchies.

When you create a project from the UCM GUI, ClearCase creates the integration stream for you. If you create a project from the command-line interface, you need to create the integration stream explicitly. Developers create their development streams and development views when they join the project. See Developing Software for information on joining a project.

Starting from a Baseline

After you create project components or select existing components, you must identify and recommend the baseline or baselines that serve as the starting point for the team's developers. A baseline identifies one version of every element visible in a component. Figure 4 shows baselines named BL1 and BL2 that identify versions in component A and component B, respectively.

When developers join the project, they populate their work areas with the versions of directory and file elements represented by the project's recommended baselines. Alternatively, developers can join the project at a feature-specific development stream level, in which case they populate their work areas with the development stream's recommended baselines. This practice ensures that all members of the project team start with the same set of files.

If your project team works on multiple components, you may want to use a composite baseline. A composite baseline selects baselines in other components. In Figure 5, the ProjBL1 composite baseline selects baselines BL1 and BL2 of components A and B, respectively. The Proj component does not contain any elements of its own. It contains only the composite baseline that selects the recommended baselines of the project's components. By using a composite baseline in this manner, you can identify one baseline to represent the entire project.

Figure 4 Baselines of Two Components

Figure 5 Composite Baseline

Setting Up the UCM-ClearQuest Integration

You can use UCM without Rational ClearQuest, the change request management tool, but the integration with ClearQuest adds significant project management and activity management capabilities. When you set up a UCM project to work with ClearQuest, the integration links all project activities to ClearQuest records. You can then take advantage of UCM-ClearQuest's state transition model and ClearQuest's query, reporting, and charting features. These features allow you to do the following:

• Assign activities to developers

• Use states and state transition rules to manage activities

• Generate reports based on database queries

• Select additional development policies to be enforced

To set up the UCM-ClearQuest integration:

1. Enable a ClearQuest schema to work with UCM or use a predefined UCM-enabled schema.

2. Create or upgrade a ClearQuest user database to use the schema.

3. Enable your UCM project to work with ClearQuest.

See Overview of the UCM-ClearQuest Integration for additional information about the integration.