Access controls on VOB objects are intended to provide a long-lived
access-control mechanism. Temporary access control is also provided through
explicit locks on individual VOB objects.
You can use the cleartool lock command to restrict
or prohibit changes at various levels. At the lowest level, you can lock an
individual element, or even an individual branch of an element. At the highest
level, you can lock an entire VOB, preventing all modifications to it.
When an object is locked, it cannot be modified by anyone, even
a privileged user or the user who created the lock. (But these users have
permission to unlock the object.) The lock command accepts
an exception list that specifies which users can modify the object while it
is locked.
Locking type objects
You
can lock type objects to prevent changes to the instances of those types.
For example:
- You can lock the branch type main to all but a select group of
users. This group can then perform integration or release-related cleanup
work on the main branches of all elements. All other users can continue
to work, but must do so on branches other than main.
- Locking a label type prevents anyone from creating or moving an instance
of that label type. Labeling all the element versions used in a particular
release, and then locking that label, provides an easy way to re-create the
release later.