Clearcase Tips Number 03 - managing label conventions with perl

I previously showed you how to use a shell script with Rational Clearcase, to alert you when a new branch type was created.

In this post, I will show you how to use a Perl script to enforce Clearcase labeling conventions. This example is directed toward Clearcase on UNIX (i.e. Solaris or similar) and assumes you have Perl installed, working and have a basic knowledge of how to program in Perl. It is a reworked version of the windows script supplied by IBM on Developerworks.

This is a long post, but a good one if you are a new clearcase admin who needs to enforce label names.

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Clearcase Tips Number 02 - Triggers and email

I was looking for a simple way to have someone emailed when an event occurred in Rational Clearcase, like a new branch type being created. If you run Clearcase on UNIX (i.e. Solaris or similar) you can whip up a simple shell script and create your trigger. I will assume you have sendmail or similar already configured on your host so that mail utilities can send smtp mail

Lets have a go at it.

Write a shell script that uses mailx to send a message with some Clearcase trigger variables embedded in it, something like this:

# Comma delimited email list of mail recipients
adminmail="youraddress@your.domain.com"
#This gets the host name
host=`uname -a |awk '{print $2}'`
 
#Begin send of message
echo "\
Creation of brtype \"$CLEARCASE_BRTYPE\"
by: $CLEARCASE_USER
comment: $CLEARCASE_COMMENT" \
| /usr/bin/mailx -s "[$host:CLEARCASE] New branchtype $CLEARCASE_BRTYPE created"

You can download this mail_new_brtype.sh if you are in a rush.

In this script you will see a number of variables starting with $CLEARCASE. These variables will be populated as environment variables when a trigger event occurs and launches the shell script.

The script should be saved somewhere it can be run on the UNIX server hosting the VOB, so when Clearcase triggers it can run the script. An appropriate location would be in the home directory of the VOB owner, for example:
/home/ccadmin/ccscripts/mail_new_brtype.sh

One you have saved the script, you need to actually make the trigger in Clearcase. Consider the following on creating this trigger type

• We need the trigger to run after the event, this is what is known as a “Post Operation”
• We want the trigger to be enacted after a new type is made, of type branchtype.
• We want the trigger to execute our shell script on the event occurring

You can research these options by viewing the man page of the command used to make a new trigger type:
cleartool man mktrtype

Once you have had a read of the man page, you should see some examples and options that can be used. Have a go at running the command yourself. This is what I came up with and should cover all our considerations:
cleartool mktrtype -c "Trigger to email cfgmgr on new brtype creation" -type -postop mktype -brtype -all -exec /home/ccadmin/ccscripts/mail_new_brtype.sh new_branch_trigger
My example shown here is relevant to Clearcase V6, so YMMV.

Once that has been run, you can see your new trigger listed in the trigger type list:
cleartool lstype -kind trtype
18-Dec.10:27   ccadmin     trigger type "new_branch_trigger"
  "Trigger to email cfgmgr on new brtype creation"


Next time a user creates a branch type, you will receive an email with the branch type name, branch type comment and whom created it!

Look for more upcoming tips; including how to make a trigger use a perl script to validate label names.

Rational Clearcase appreciation

I’m coming to appreciate IBM’s Rational Clearcase, aside from the price point of course. But work have a license for it, and I have to use it. Don’t get me wrong, CVS is fantastic for tracking your small projects or larger ones with average complexity. I still use CVS for my own code, BUT clearcase has these features built in that you just start to take for granted. Here is a list of the ones I think make it a cut above CVS on a time intensive and complex project:

• Editing commit comments from the GUI or cmd line
• Triggers - including haveing pre and post operation triggers - some of mine are in perl!
• Labels vs CVS tags
• Element based branching based upon a view configspec
• Clear Merge Manager - This one is a lifesaver!
• renaming elements, specifically directories from GUI or cmd line

You can see from my short list that there are some things there that are powerful and make life very easy in a multi stream multi branch project management environment.
A case in point: I spent the last 3 hours baselining our Development, and testing branches - being 3 branches. We have started a new release cycle after our product has gone live in production, but there are still release fixes and defects being resolved that will get applied to production at a later date (2nd drop).
By baselining and labelling my code in these branches, I can easily track code changes across both the new development cycles and the concurrent release fixes.

On the whole, after half a year using Rational Clearcase, I can say the experience - despite the initial VERY LARGE learning curve - has been positive.

Clearcase Tips number 01

I found myself writing down example commands in clearcase (V6), so I thought I would share them. If you have ever needed to find files like you do in UNIX, but want to be clearcase specific, then these commands will give you a quick headstart on using the cleartool find command:

How do I list all files and file versions going into a specific build that is labelled?
Assume your label is TR1_PRE_RELEASE

  cleartool find . -version 'lbtype (TR1_PRE_RELEASE)' -print

How do I find the latest versions on branch xyz?
In this example, branch xyz is the tst branch

  cleartool find . -version 'version (.../tst/LATEST)' -print

How do I find the latest versions on xyz branch WITHOUT a specific label?
For this example the xyz branch is the main (default clearcase) branch, and the label is TR1_PRE_RELEASE

  cleartool find . -version 'version (/main/LATEST) && ! lbtype(TR1_PRE_RELEASE)' -print

How do I see what in the filesystem has changed from clearcase?
This example only works if you have set your view on the same machine where the file system to compare is.

  cd /<clearcase mount path>/
  clearfsimport -preview -recurse /<your app dir>/* .|grep -v unchan |grep -v identi

I hope that gives you incentive to go and read the clearcase find documentation and learn more for yourself by trying.

Clearcase Element Permissions on Unix

I was wondering how to set permissions on an element in clearcase under unix. You can’t just use your normal chmod. After reading “Phil for Humanity” I had the answer:
cleartool protect -chmod 550 myscript.sh
Quite simple after all. Your file, in this case myscript.sh, will now have the permissions you want.
Remember however, if you try to set write permissions on a file element, it wont set. The clearcase man page for protect advises that write perms are ignored - instead to obtain write permission to a file element, it must be checked out.
In the case of a directory element the write permission allows you to create view-private files.
Don’t forget the umask should be set correctly before you start creating files!