Question & Answer
Question
How do you remove IBM Rational ClearCase checkout references that are cataloged in the VOB database for removed or inaccessible view using the "rmview" command?
Cause
Any one the following symptoms may be experienced:
- Attempts to perform a checkout results in the following error:
%cleartool co foo.c
cleartool: Error: Element "foo.c" is already checked out to view "<no-tag-in-region>".
- Attempts to uncheckout a file result in the following error:
%cleartool unco foo.c
"Cannot_generate_name_for_checkout_in_view:.."
You may also see errors such as the following if the view storage directory has been renamed:
- Attempt to checkout an element which was checked out to a view whose view storage director name was changed reports the error:
cleartool: Error: Branch "\main" of element is checked out reserved by view checked-out_ref_test_sview ("V357978ms2:c:\ClearCase_Storage\views\user1\tkajiwara\checked-out_ref_test_sview.vws").
cleartool: Error: Unable to check out "a.txt".
- After checking out an element to a snapshot view and renaming the view storage directory, trying to unco the element from the snapshot view reports an error:
C:\SnapshotViews\checked-out_ref_test_sview\vob03\a>cleartool unco a.txt
cleartool: Error: Operation "view_get_prop(VIEW_PROP_WEBVIEW)" failed: view storage directory or control files unavailable -- additional information may be present in the view server host's view log.
The checkout may be failing because the file is already checked out reserved to a view that was either removed or is no longer accessible on the network.
In the following cases, you need to remove the reference from the VOB database to checkout the file from a different view.
- If a view has become inaccessible.
- If a view was deleted unintentionally and the VOB database still holds references to the checkouts.
Note: If the view still exists and you do not wish to uncheckout the element (potentially losing the changes made), review technote 1129391: How to Checkout (reserved) an element that is already checked out (reserved) in another view for another possible solution.
Answer
Important Note: Only run this procedure if the data contained in the view (the checkouts) are no longer needed or if the view no longer exists. This operation performs an uncheckout in the VOB database for all elements that were related to the view. If a view still exists and you use the procedure below to delete records relating to it from any VOB, make sure that the view is removed immediately.
MULTISITE CONSIDERATIONS:
If removing the view checkout references from a replicated VOB, the rmview command should be run at the site where the view checkouts were originally performed. If the original replica no longer exists, you can run the rmview on the site that pulled mastership from the deleted replica.
See the rmview document from product documentation.
PROCEDURE:
- Determine what the UUID is of the old view.
- Command to run if the view exists:
From the command line you will need to runcleartool lsview -long
and find the view and copy its uuid number.
If you have more than one region, you may have to add the -region option to the lsview command designating the non-current region name.
Example:
cleartool lsview -long TEST
Tag: TEST
Global path: \\MYHOST\VIEW\TEST.vws
Server host: MYHOST
Region: Your_Region
Active: YES
View tag uuid:fa7fc590.42f34d53.ae68.b6:30:f5:30:c5:a4
Text mode: unix
View on host: Your_Host
View server access path: C:\VIEW\TEST.vws
View uuid: fa7fc590.42f34d53.ae68.b6:30:f5:30:c5:a4
View owner: MYDOMAIN\user1
- Command to run if the view is removed:
From the command line you will need to runcleartool describe -l vob:\<vobname>
and find the view and copy its uuid number.
Example:
cleartool describe -long vob:\baseccvob
versioned object base "\baseccvob"
created 04-Oct-04.16:48:26 by user1.group1@MYHOST
VOB family feature level: 4
VOB storage host:pathname "MYHOST:C:\CC_Store\vob\baseccvob.vbs"
VOB storage global pathname "\\MYHOST\cc\vob\baseccvob.vbs"
database schema version: 54
VOB ownership:
owner MYDOMAIN\user1
group MYDOMAIN\group1
VOB holds objects from the following views:
MYHOST:C:\VIEW\TEST.vws [uuid a7fc590.42f34d53.ae68.b6:30:f5:30:c5:a4]
Attributes:
FeatureLevel = 4
Hyperlinks:
AdminVOB@687@\baseccvob -> vob:\proj_1
- Remove all the references to the VOB (which will perform the uncheckout). From the command line you will need to run
cleartool rmview -uuid <long uuid #> -avobs
to remove all the checked out references from all VOBs in that region.
Example:
%cleartool rmview -uuid fa7fc590.42f34d53.ae68.b6:30:f5:30:c5:a4 -avobs
Removed references to view "fa7fc590.42f34d53.ae68.b6:30:f5:30:c5:a4" from VOB "\VOB1".
Removed references to view "fa7fc590.42f34d53.ae68.b6:30:f5:30:c5:a4" from VOB "\VOB2".
Removed references to view "fa7fc590.42f34d53.ae68.b6:30:f5:30:c5:a4" from VOB "\VOB3".
Removed references to view "fa7fc590.42f34d53.ae68.b6:30:f5:30:c5:a4" from VOB "\VOB4".
- Verify if the references have been removed from the VOB.
- Use the command
cleartool describe -l vob:\<vobname>
to ensure the checkout are gone.
If the references have not been removed, follow the instructions in technote 1146797: What to do when cleartool rmview -uuid does not remove view references.
Note: If a directory has been unchecked out, then all new elements created when it was checked out are no longer referenced by that directory. Consequently, they were all moved to the lost+found directory.
To restore these files from the lost+found directory, see technote 1120317: About the lost+found directory.
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Document Information
Modified date:
29 September 2018
UID
swg21122515