About the base ClearCase® integration with Rational® ClearQuest®

Your DevOps Code ClearCase® administrator can integrate base ClearCase® projects with a Rational® ClearQuest® user database. You then associate versions of DevOps Code ClearCase® elements on which you are working and change requests in a Rational® ClearQuest® user database.

The base ClearCase® schema and Rational® ClearQuest® user databases

With Rational® ClearQuest®, data is stored in schema repositories and user databases. A schema defines the types of records in the user database and other attributes of the user database. All Rational® ClearQuest® schemas are stored in a schema repository. The Rational® ClearQuest® user database stores your change request data.

The base ClearCase® schema package provides additional information in your Rational® ClearQuest® records to track associations with DevOps Code ClearCase® versioned objects. To support associations between base ClearCase® versions and Rational® ClearQuest® record types, the schema repository needs to have this schema package applied to selected record types. Then the target Rational® ClearQuest® user database must be updated to add the new fields provided by the package.

Your Rational® ClearQuest® user database may include different record types for different purposes. The record type used by the SAMPL Rational® ClearQuest® user database supplied with the base ClearCase® integration with Rational® ClearQuest® is called a defect, but with the base ClearCase® schema package installed, any change request record type can be used.

DevOps Code ClearCase® triggers and change requests

The base ClearCase® integration with Rational® ClearQuest® consists of DevOps Code ClearCase® triggers that fire when you check out an element, cancel a checkout, or check in an element. Your DevOps Code ClearCase® administrator installs the integration triggers into each target VOB. The integration associates one or more change requests with one or more versions stored in one of the target VOBs.

  • A single change request may be associated with more than one version. The set of versions that implement the requested change is called the change set for that request.
  • A single version may be associated with more than one change request. These change requests are called the request set for that version.

Uses of the base ClearCase® integration with Rational® ClearQuest®

The base ClearCase® integration with Rational® ClearQuest® provides either of the following interfaces:

  • A window interface for users of the DevOps Code ClearCase® graphic user interfaces (GUIs), such as the File Browser of DevOps Code ClearCase® (on UNIX® systems and Linux) and DevOps ClearCase® Explorer or Windows® Explorer (on Windows® systems)
  • A text-based user interface for users of the cleartool command-line interface

The base ClearCase® integration with Rational® ClearQuest® has triggers on checkin, checkout, and cancel checkout operations. Working on versions, you can do the following:

  • Associate a version with one or more change requests when you check out or check in elements.
  • List the request sets that are associated with a project over a period of time, list the change requests associated with a specific version, and see the related hyperlinks.

Using the Rational® ClearQuest® user database, you can perform the following actions:

  • View the change set for a change request.
  • See the elements that fix a specific problem.

DevOps Code ClearCase® administrators can perform the following actions:

  • Install the related triggers in a VOB and set a policy for each VOB.
  • Specify that you receive a prompt when checking out a version, checking in a version, or both.
  • Specify that prompting occurs only for some VOBs, branch types, or element types. Associations of checked-in versions with change requests can be either optional or required.

A DevOps Code ClearCase® administrator adds the base ClearCase® schema package to a schema and applies the change to one or more change request record types. The policy that the administrator sets for one or more VOBs specifies the conditions under which you are prompted to associate versions with change requests.