Symbolic links and hard links in dynamic views

In dynamic views (which use the MVFS, or multiversion file system), VOB links behave similarly to symbolic links or hard links in Linux and the UNIX file system: symbolic links point to a file or directory element in a different location, and hard links are alternative names for a single file element.

You cannot check out a VOB symbolic link; you must check out the symbolic link target.

When you check out a hard-linked element from a specific path, other paths for the element are considered "checked out but removed." That is, to prevent you from modifying the element from multiple paths, standard checkout behavior is executed at only one path (the one from which you entered the checkout command), but view-private files are not created at other paths. For information about standard checkout behavior, see the checkout reference page in the DevOps Code ClearCase Command Reference.

Tip: In DevOps ClearCase® Explorer, the shortcut menu for a symbolic link includes the Symlinks command, which changes your context to the target (Warp to Symlink Target) or provides ClearCase commands to operate on the target without changing your context (Symlink Target Operations). You must mount the VOB that contains the target of the link. Use one of these commands to find and check out the link target. When you check in the modified link target, all associated symbolic links are updated.