Developing software with ClearTeam Explorer

DevOps Code ClearCase® provides two clients for software developers: local and remote. Each client supports different mechanisms for accessing source-controlled filesystem objects. Both clients provide graphical and command-line interfaces.

The table that follows summarizes some important characteristics of the two clients.
Table 1. Characteristics of ClearCase clients for software developers
Client Network connection type Connection to repository of source-controlled objects View types User interfaces
ClearCase Local Client (CCLC) LAN only RPC connection to a Versioned Object Base (VOB)
  • Dynamic
  • Snapshot
  • GUI: ClearTeam Explorer (CTE)
  • CLI: cleartool
ClearCase Remote Client (CCRC) WAN and LAN http(s) connection to a VOB through a CCRC WAN server
  • Automatic
  • Web
  • GUI: ClearTeam Explorer (CTE)
  • CLI: rcleartool

The term view, as used in this table, refers to the mechanism for accessing versions in a VOB. For example, snapshot, automatic and web views provide copy-based mechanisms, whereas the dynamic view provides a mechanism to access versions in real time directly from VOB storage.

Another qualification of the term view refers to the configuration management model that governs the development of software. The two models are called Base ClearCase and Unified Change Management (UCM):
  • In a Base ClearCase view, you specify the configuration explicitly by rules for version selection, branching, and so on.
  • In a UCM view, the configuration is generated by ClearCase operations based on the stream used by the view.

The topics that follow describe the use of ClearCase using ClearTeam Explorer, the GUI that is common to both clients. For information on the cleartool and rcleartool command-line interfaces, refer to DevOps Code ClearCase command reference.