Selecting the Rational ClearCase stream or branch to synchronize

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Choose the Rational® ClearCase® branch (or stream for Rational ClearCase UCM users) that synchronizes with the IBM® Engineering Workflow Management (EWM) source control.

Procedure

  • Determine the branches to be synchronized:
    • To limit complexity for maintaining synchronized environments, minimize the number of Rational ClearCase branches that are synchronized. If you must select a single branch, choose the integration branch for current development. It is simplest to do all maintenance work for old releases in Rational ClearCase, but if you must maintain old releases in EWM, you can also create synchronized streams for the maintenance branches.
  • Determine whether you must synchronize directly with the Rational ClearCase integration branch or a child branch of the integration branch:
    • If most or all development work for that integration branch is done in only one repository (for example, in Rational ClearCase or in EWM, but not in both), then it is simplest to synchronize directly with the Rational ClearCase integration branch.
    • If a significant amount of work on that integration branch is being done in both Rational ClearCase and EWM repositories, then is it most effective to create a child branch of that integration branch, and then use that child branch as the synchronization branch. At appropriate times, a developer would then findmerge/deliver changes from the synchronization branch to the integration branch, and then findmerge/rebase changes from the integration branch to the synchronization branch. You can also automate the findmerge/deliver and findmerge/rebase operations by writing scripts that run before and after synchronization. For more information, see Running custom scripts before and after synchronization.
    Note: Do not use the main branch when creating a synchronized stream (see Step 9 of Creating a ClearCase Synchronized Stream and merge workspace). The branch type is locked while synchronization occurs, and it is not advisable to have the main branch locked in this way. For more information, see Configuration specification details for base Rational ClearCase.
  • Determine whether you must synchronize directly with the EWM integration stream or a child stream of the integration stream:
    • If the team that uses EWM source control wants Rational ClearCase changes to be automatically delivered to the EWM source control (and merged as necessary) during each synchronization, then it is simplest to synchronize directly with the EWM integration stream.
    • If the team that uses EWM source control wants the code to remain isolated from the Rational ClearCase changes until explicitly requested, then it is most effective to synchronize with a child stream of the integration stream.