Organizing directories and files into components

As the number of files and directories in your system grows, you need a way to reduce the complexity of managing them. Components are the UCM mechanism for simplifying the organization of your files and directories. The elements that you group into a component typically implement a reusable piece of your system architecture. By organizing related files and directories into components, you can view your system as a small number of identifiable components, rather than as one large set of directories and files.

The directory and file elements of a component reside physically in a VOB. The component object resides in a PVOB. Within a component, you organize directory and file elements into a directory tree (see the following figure).

The directory trees for the GUI, Admin, and Reports components appear directly under the VOB root directory. You can convert existing VOBs or directory trees within VOBs into components, or you can create a component from scratch.