Clever Geek Handbook

Move Clearcase to X

I was asked to pick the open source alternative Clearcase-UCM and I need advice on what would be the best match. Below are some of the options I have collected:

  • Half of the development teams use the Integration view, development view, reinstallation and delivery methodology. The rest just work right on the private view integration flow as if it were a trunk.
  • all commands use baselines to mark versions.
  • They say they are facing merger issues with Clearcase-UCM, so the alternative should have well-planned capabilities.
  • Zero maintenance - no VCS administrator for the tool.
  • Windows based development, so the tool should have good win32 support.
  • IDE integration (eclipse).
  • Mac OS support.
  • Nice to have: migration tool.

Which tool is appropriate for both working methods (neither group is going to use the other method)? I have svn, mercurial and git as alternatives so far. will one of them match? Are there any other options?

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I can't speak for a migration tool, but Mercurial has done a great job for us. We have a mix of WinXP, Mac OS X and Linux users and there was no interference. I don't use an IDE, but I believe Aptana acquired the pydev group (Python for Eclipse), so I wouldn't be too surprised if they had that.



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By using UCM and creating a baseline, you are effectively identifying the revision of a predefined subset of the repository (a UCM component defined in Vob, unless you have defined one VOB as a component)

So, if you are using SVN, Git, or Mercurial, you should understand that each of your UCM components will actually be one (SVN-Git-or-Mercurial) repository.

Also, you will need to recreate the concept of UCM dependencies ("baseline changes" that none of these tools have.)

The closest approximation principle is described in this SO answer : it can be done, but remains tame.

Note: "Zero maintenance - no VCS administrator for the tool" .... errr good luck with this:



  • Reserve copy
  • DRP (Disaster Recovery Plan)
  • correct access for certain repositories with "sensitive" content
  • client scripting and encapsulation for specific operations
  • ....

There isn't any tool that you choose, you will need an administrator (not full time, but still quite involved in admin tasks)

In terms of "tracability", mostly introduced in UCM, but also a thread hierarchy to define a merge workflow, it doesn't carry over well to Git / Mercurial: the tools are different.

For Git, a commit is the closest thing to an activity, especially since " git rebase -i

" (interactive redirection) allows you to override the contents of the commit (a bit like when you select the action again for a new order)
As for merging, since they are so easy in Git or Mercurial, there is no real "merge workflow" formally defined with a delivery / redirect operation.
Rather, private branches are created and used / merged as the user sees fit, with some of those branches being published to another external repository.

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To some extent, the technical details are easy to deal with - you can use it with MacOSX, or you can't, etc. The tricky bits are "services" that you buy as part of your CC license, and they won't be obvious to developers, and developers won't even have to bother.

Your company's assets will be in vaults that are managed by the instrument you choose and moving from one instrument to another is not always easy. Thus, a lot depends on the life cycle of your products. Are they on the market within 6 months, 6 years, or even longer? The problem with some of these tools has only been around for a few years, and they are subject to fashion to some degree. Git is coming out, Bazaar seems to be out of control.

My advice would be to look at what Rational provides as per your current arrangement and try to find a tool supported by a service provider that will provide you with an equivalent service. Then compare the costs.

You may also need to think about how you will get the new tool from the ClearCase developers. In my experience, migration tools are 80% of people. They may moan bitterly about it for the moment, but when things don't go well with a new tool in your zero maintenance scenario, their look can change ... was there.

If they have problems with the merge, there is no guarantee that solving another tool will solve it. If the problem persists after migration, you will know that it is not the tool that is the problem.

Any instrument can be null. It breaks, you don't fix it and move on to another "tool of the month".

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