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About the .copyarea.dat and .copyarea.db files

Question & Answer


Question

How are the .copyarea.dat and .copyarea.db files used in a IBM® Rational® ClearCase® Remote Client (CCRC) or ClearCase Web (CCWeb) view?

Answer

OVERVIEW

Each CCRC or CCWeb view root directory (the directory tree where the files from the VOB are downloaded into the local view workspace) contains a .copyarea.dat and a .copyarea.db file. Below is a brief explanation of how these files are used.


.COPYAREA.DAT

The .copyarea.dat file is used to detect if changes have been made to the loaded files to determine if they are in a hijacked state.

The .copyarea.dat file stores information like:

  • When a view was created
  • What http server the view was originally connecting to
  • The view's Operating System platform
  • CCRC remote view tag

The contents of a .copyarea.dat file looks similar to the following:


ClearCase CopyArea|222|ed364ca8f7ee468185bfa528784055ed|a:Windows XP|1c:Thu
Mar 10 12:24:08 EST
2005|base|1f:htp://host1/ccase/bin/ccweb.exe|b:user1_host1|20

.COPYAREA.DB

The .copyarea.db file is created in each directory of a CCRC or CCWeb view which contains a list of files that are loaded in the view as well as metadata about the files.

If this file is missing or corrupt, you will notice that all or some of the loaded files will appear to be hijacked.

Also, CCRC and CCWeb keep a record of both the timestamp and a checksum for each element version downloaded. This information is stored in the .copyarea.db file in each directory.

The contents resemble something like:

ClearCase CopyAreaDB|4my_test_vob217:foo.doc|1|1028d7f8806|6000|89a7d530|
cc22d419b77542ea0da8bf1b807c616|0

or

ClearCase CopyAreaDB|4


.
2
1
5:testvob|2|0|0|0|cb9bf50026fe43ef96160518044e8c93|0

A version controlled file in a Web view is considered hijacked if it is not checked out, and:
  • The file's size has changed
    OR
  • The file's time stamp has changed
    OR
  • The file is writable, and it's checksum has changed


Note: In .copyarea.db the last number in the lines for each element indicates whether the file is checked in or out. If it is a 0, it is checked in. If it is a 1, it is checked out.



Refer to technote 1233263 Java exception error using Web views for an issue related to adding the .copyarea.db file to source control.

Refer to technote 1392432 How to reconstruct a CCRC view copy area after an unintentional deletion for information about reconstructing the .copyarea.dat file.

[{"Product":{"code":"SSSH27","label":"Rational ClearCase"},"Business Unit":{"code":"BU053","label":"Cloud & Data Platform"},"Component":"ClearCase Remote Client","Platform":[{"code":"PF002","label":"AIX"},{"code":"PF010","label":"HP-UX"},{"code":"PF016","label":"Linux"},{"code":"PF027","label":"Solaris"},{"code":"PF033","label":"Windows"}],"Version":"7.1;7.1.1;7.1.2;8.0;8.0.1","Edition":"","Line of Business":{"code":"LOB45","label":"Automation"}},{"Product":{"code":"SSSH27","label":"Rational ClearCase"},"Business Unit":{"code":"BU053","label":"Cloud & Data Platform"},"Component":"ClearCase Web (CCWeb)","Platform":[{"code":"","label":""}],"Version":"","Edition":"","Line of Business":{"code":"LOB45","label":"Automation"}}]

Document Information

Modified date:
16 June 2018

UID

swg21119280

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