Before setting case-sensitivity options in dynamic views (Windows)

On Windows® computers, you can configure the multiversion file system (MVFS) settings for case-sensitivity (which determine the interpretation of lowercase and uppercase characters in names of folders and files in dynamic views) at the following times:

When a Rational® ClearCase® configuration is set up, during site preparation default MVFS settings for case-sensitivity are established.
When you set Rational ClearCase properties through the Rational ClearCase Control Panel, you can change default MVFS settings established during site preparation.

The MVFS settings for case-sensitivity are as follows:

You can select Case Insensitive MVFS (better; that is, have MVFS ignore case differences during file lookups) or clear the option (that is, have MVFS consider case differences during file lookups).
If you clear Case Insensitive MVFS, you can do either of the following:
- Clear Case Preserving (default; that is, have MVFS convert file and folder names to lowercase when it creates new files, folders, elements, and versions).
- Select Case Preserving (that is, have MVFS preserve the case of file and folder names when it creates new files, folders, elements, and versions).

Regardless of these settings, cleartool, clearmake, and cleartool subcommands are always case-sensitive.

Tip: If you change any MVFS settings, the new settings do not take effect until you restart your computer.

When to use case-sensitive file lookups

In general, it is better to select Case Insensitive MVFS whenever possible. Only in the following cases, configure your MVFS settings to use case-sensitive file lookups and to preserve the case of file and folder names:

If you use applications, such as some Java™ compilers, that require the case of file names to be preserved
If elements have names that differ only in case

In this mode, many Windows applications may fail when they try to access files whose names do not match case exactly.

For view-private files and folders and for Rational ClearCase elements that you plan to access from Windows computers, it is better that you not rely on names that differ in case. A case-insensitive MVFS on a Windows computer cannot distinguish between items with the same name but differing case. Under these circumstances, the results of any file access are undefined.

NFS client products and case-sensitivity

NFS client software for Windows computers affects the behavior that Rational ClearCase users see. Most NFS client products can convert to lowercase the file names that they create, and some do so by default. To avoid file access problems caused by case-conversion conflicts, disable automatic case conversion for NFS client products.

Be aware that, if you select Case Preserving (disable case conversion) and create Linux® or UNIX® files without MVFS intervention (that is, you create files outside any VOB namespace), you may end up with Linux or UNIX files with names like UTIL.OBJ, because some PC tools generate uppercase names. This does not happen for a view-private object that you create in a VOB namespace if you clear Case Preserving (the default). In this case, the MVFS converts the name to lowercase (that is, util.obj) when it creates the file.