tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-73401872320017167082024-03-13T07:41:14.581-04:00IBM ToolsIntroduction of IBM Tools for software developers.IBM Crewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02411304889474958651noreply@blogger.comBlogger58125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7340187232001716708.post-1947899587873573642013-06-04T10:36:00.000-04:002013-06-04T10:36:00.704-04:00SoftLayer Acquisition<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-aoMwYX4H2fs/Ua36sOS-K0I/AAAAAAAAAGE/8clFUzvXtOA/s1600/Softlayer.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-aoMwYX4H2fs/Ua36sOS-K0I/AAAAAAAAAGE/8clFUzvXtOA/s320/Softlayer.jpg" width="320" yya="true" /></a></div>
IBM is buying SoftLayer. Not sure how much they are paying. The goal is to beef up IBM's cloud computing offering. In fact, IBM is going to stand up a new division in the company to service cloud computing specifically. Heck. Might as well treat this as a new wholly owned subsidiary.<br /><br />
SoftLayer is known for hosting the cloud for customers. They can do a private cloud if need be. Apparently they already have a lot of customers.IBM Crewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02411304889474958651noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7340187232001716708.post-69540032301974955362013-04-22T16:35:00.000-04:002013-04-22T16:35:24.224-04:00Rational Upgrade<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-GgNv6UPDFJw/UXWeRrOmBqI/AAAAAAAAAFw/Mxea19rwYuM/s1600/Rational.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" dua="true" height="135" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-GgNv6UPDFJw/UXWeRrOmBqI/AAAAAAAAAFw/Mxea19rwYuM/s320/Rational.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
It is that time once again. Got to upgrade my Rational tool set. Funny. I heard a lot of tools are changing names. Or to be precise, some new tools shall replace older once in the next version of the Rational Suite. Another oddity is that not all tools are getting upgraded.<br /><br />
My tried and true apps are getting upgraded to version 8.0.0.5. This includes Clearcase and ClearQuest. Rational Rose, which I only seldomly used, is still staying at version 7.0.0.4. Not sure if this is due to IBM not having an upgrade, or my customer not buying it.<br /><br />
All I know is that I need to make sure my work is ready for the big upgrade. At least my toolset is staying the same. Seems like the testers have to get ready for some new programs that replace the ones they use that are being phased out. Let's hope this goes smoothly.<br /><br />
I have requested to manually control the upgrade on each of my machines. I get the executable to do the install. Somebody else must be taking care of the back end. It is most favorable that I am going to be in between tasks during the upgrade. It would suck if a delivery crossed the update dates.IBM Crewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02411304889474958651noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7340187232001716708.post-70848136712061482922013-03-15T16:48:00.001-04:002013-03-15T16:48:31.801-04:00IBM PureSystems<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I was reading a trade press magazine. Saw an ad for IBM <a href="http://ibm.com/simplify">PureSystems</a>. Had not heard that term before. Decided to browse over to IBM to figure out what was up. I started with the PureSystems brochure. Wow. This thing was full of buzzwords. Must come straight from the sales and/or marketing department. But what the heck are they really selling here?<br />
<br />
PureSystems appears to be an umbrella over three subsystems:<br />
<ol>
<li>IBM PureFlex System</li>
<li>IBM PureApplication System</li>
<li>IBM PureData System</li>
</ol>
Now the PureFlex appears to revolve around the hardware side of the house. You know - computers, storage, and networking. The main idea behind it is that you manage all of this with a single console. The goal is to improve IT costs. This is being offered as an infrastructure as a serivce.<br />
<br />
Next is PureApplication. This seems to be the most nebulous of all. They mention that it is some sort of platform or framework. It allows you to define patterns. Yeah. I suspect it might actually refer to the software side of the house. This is offered as a platform as a service.<br />
<br />
Finally there is PureData. This is a platform. Yep. You guessed it. This targets your big data needs. This is done via cloud based data management. It is sold via a platform as a service.<br />
<br />
I get the feeling that you are supposed to choose one of these three, depending on your needs. Wouldn't you need all three though? Of course the brochure directs you to talk to IBM sales. I guess that answers what this is all about. It is some sort of sales channel. Sales as a service anyone?IBM Crewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02411304889474958651noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7340187232001716708.post-34020188672531792032012-09-17T22:22:00.000-04:002012-09-17T22:22:47.494-04:00Suspicious Activity<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-peZNjCEkwMw/UFfY4j57kXI/AAAAAAAAAFI/O0Prk8Lolzg/s1600/IBMhack.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="236" width="310" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-peZNjCEkwMw/UFfY4j57kXI/AAAAAAAAAFI/O0Prk8Lolzg/s320/IBMhack.jpg" /></a></div>It has been a long while since I have accessed my blog. So when I tried to bring it up, Google said the blog was not availble. WTF? I tried logging into my <a href="http://blog-chief.blogspot.com/">Blogger</a> account. Google said there was some suspicious activity with my account. I had to prove I was the owner of the account first. Oh what a nightmare.<br /><br />
Luckily I am the real owner. Google asked me a lot of questions. Of course I knew all the right answers. I created this account myself. I am not the <a href="http://black-of-hat.blogspot.com/">hacker</a> that has been trying to get into the account. I guess it is a good think that Google sandboxed my account. Otherwise some unscrupulous individuals may have been able to take over the darn thing. This still has me irked.<br /><br />
Now in other non-technical IBM news, Jim Cramer has recommended IBM as a buy. Now Kramer might seem a little over the top. I also don't buy based on his recommendations. However others do. Perhaps that may drive the stock price up. Seems it is already relatively high.<br /><br />
I also heard some buzz that Warren Buffet has been reading over IBM quarterly reports for over 10 years. Not sure if that means Buffet will eventually invest. Could also be some sort of rumor mill. But it is interesting nonetheless.IBM Crewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02411304889474958651noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7340187232001716708.post-19812601821540757332011-09-22T15:05:00.002-04:002011-09-22T15:09:07.236-04:00Battery Failure<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-hm7-FsJcjQ0/TnuHAkSW73I/AAAAAAAAAE0/GuJgACmf0gI/s1600/T61.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 300px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-hm7-FsJcjQ0/TnuHAkSW73I/AAAAAAAAAE0/GuJgACmf0gI/s320/T61.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5655262200904216434" /></a>My company procided me with a ThinkPad T-Series laptop. I have had this laptop for a few years now. Not sure whether the thing was new when I got it. Until last week, the thing has been working fine. The only occasional slowness was my only concern.<br /><br />This past week I noticed a strange error message as I moused over the battery in the Windows system tray. It stated that the battery had failed and needed to be replaced. I kept that thought in the back of my mind. Later I tried to move my laptop to another room. As soon as I unplugged the laptop, the thing went blank. Doh.<br /><br />Later I tried booting up the system, and it would not start Windows. I kept getting a blue screen of death stating the mount volume was unmountable. Ouch. My desktop support guy said the battery was not under warrenty. Now I need to get a new battery purchased. Sounds like a good time to back my stuff up again.IBM Crewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02411304889474958651noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7340187232001716708.post-71543743320516412532011-07-01T13:52:00.002-04:002011-07-01T13:56:47.809-04:00Phase Change Memory<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-1ftaG-dvTh0/Tg4KWh2NJII/AAAAAAAAAEs/EXks4ju0j3g/s1600/PCM.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 246px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-1ftaG-dvTh0/Tg4KWh2NJII/AAAAAAAAAEs/EXks4ju0j3g/s320/PCM.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5624444366791451778" /></a><br />IBM has announced a breakthrough in their phase change memory (PCM). This is non volatile memory like flash. It keeps the data when the power is turned off. The big news is that this memory is 100 times faster than flash.<br /><br />The worst case latency for the memory is 10 micro seconds. This statistic is 100 times the performance of flash memory. The PCM has had a capacity breakthrough as well. Previously only 1 bit per cell was reliable. IBM is now working with a configuraiton that works with 4 bits per cell. PCM memory size is going up soon.<br /><br />IBM envisions this memory to be used all over the place. It can be in PCs for ultra fast startup. It can be used in the cloud. It can even be used in mobile phone applications.IBM Crewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02411304889474958651noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7340187232001716708.post-86350632393947936212011-05-02T09:32:00.004-04:002011-05-02T09:35:55.744-04:00Project Orion<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LVUHMicx0Ks/Tb6yhCnw1TI/AAAAAAAAAEY/K4FdA-WdwuE/s1600/Orion.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 220px; height: 320px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LVUHMicx0Ks/Tb6yhCnw1TI/AAAAAAAAAEY/K4FdA-WdwuE/s320/Orion.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5602111267204551986" /></a>IBM is making progress on their Project Orion. The goal is to product an IDE like Eclipse that runs on the web. They just put out a Beta release for around 5k developers.<br /><br />I think of Eclipse as being an IDE for Java. However Orion intends to work for any programming language. For example, they want Orion to be able to handle JavaScript development.<br /><br />The beauty of being a web app is that it can download code in real time from the web. IBM plans to integrate other free tools into Orion. This could be things such as Git, Bugzilla, and/or Jira.IBM Crewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02411304889474958651noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7340187232001716708.post-12442885654709629842011-01-31T11:08:00.002-05:002011-01-31T11:11:59.904-05:00Watson Plays Jeopardy<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_mjVn_-i8XLc/TUbejZFbI3I/AAAAAAAAAEM/6sSd49pKasU/s1600/Watson.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 210px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5568382688900621170" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_mjVn_-i8XLc/TUbejZFbI3I/AAAAAAAAAEM/6sSd49pKasU/s320/Watson.jpg" /></a>IBM has developed a computer named Watson to compete on the game show Jeopardy. It is going to be pitted against two of the best human Jeopardy players ever.<br /><br />Watson has a lot of computer memory. It has a fixed store of data is has "learned". It then needs to use the clues from the Jeopardy game to use this memory to answer the questions.<br /><br />Watson is composed of a bunch of IBM Power 750 servers. The thing actually understands the nuances of the English language.<br /><br />There is talk about commercial applications of this technology. But first IBM will need to figure out how to run the Watson program on something less than a massive computer.IBM Crewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02411304889474958651noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7340187232001716708.post-78946611113387094092010-07-29T16:15:00.003-04:002010-07-29T16:20:55.672-04:00ClearQuest is a Dog<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_mjVn_-i8XLc/TFHhdSmHItI/AAAAAAAAADw/3GK4u9fph3g/s1600/ClearQuest.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5499424513320231634" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_mjVn_-i8XLc/TFHhdSmHItI/AAAAAAAAADw/3GK4u9fph3g/s320/ClearQuest.JPG" border="0" /></a>I finally got my <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">ClearQuest</span> client upgraded to version 7.1. This thing looks and feels a lot different than the earlier version I am used to. For starters, the thing takes forever to launch. I spend a lot of time looking at the splash screen. The screen states that the product was built with Eclipse, and uses Java. Maybe that is part of the slowness.<br /><br />When I do a query that results in many defects, the results are now paginated. Previously <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">ClearQuest</span> would put each of these defects in a single huge spreadsheet control for me to navigate. Now I need to guess which page the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">resullts</span> will be on. If my guess is off, I need to click on the other results pages. Poorly done.<br /><br />I cannot <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">resize</span> the preview pane for the defect I want to look at. What the heck? Somebody has determined the optimal layout of screen real estate for the query results and the preview. Great. The problem now is that I feel like I used to have much more room in the preview. At least I can double click a query result row and get a <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">popup</span> window will all the details.<br /><br />From everything I have seen in the past week, I want my old version of the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">ClearQuest</span> client back.IBM Crewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02411304889474958651noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7340187232001716708.post-27276757402447671982010-07-19T17:30:00.002-04:002010-07-19T17:35:46.371-04:00Rational Tool Upgrade Trouble<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_mjVn_-i8XLc/TETD-a-sGMI/AAAAAAAAADo/3BvgoPnXIaQ/s1600/Tools.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 240px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 175px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5495732922460412098" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_mjVn_-i8XLc/TETD-a-sGMI/AAAAAAAAADo/3BvgoPnXIaQ/s320/Tools.jpg" /></a>Our customer upgraded their Rational Tools Suite to version 7 this past weekend. As expected, the upgrade did not go smoothly. Here was the plan. The servers were going to be upgraded on the weekend. An upgrade icon was going to be pushed out to workstations to allow users to control when the client tools would be upgraded.<br /><br />A lot of people did not receive the icon for the upgrade. I got the icon on one of my machines. <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_0" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">However</span> when I clicked the icon, I got an error because I did not have enough room on my C: drive. It seems that I need at least 1G of free space on my C: drive. Now my machine is a virtual one with a <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_1" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">measly</span> 10G of space on C:. Most of that space is currently used. I am now spending a lot of time trying to hack away at drive space used.<br /><br />I know I may be in the minority. New computers have <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_2" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">massive</span> C: drives. But come on. Is this some major code bloat in the latest version. It would be best if I could just install those tools I actually need. That is a small list. I require <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_3" class="blsp-spelling-error">ClearQuest</span> and <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_4" class="blsp-spelling-error">Clearcase</span>. It would also be nice if I could specify what options are installed for these two products. Microsoft does that all the time and gives me the options to not install pieces. Can we get that from IBM here?IBM Crewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02411304889474958651noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7340187232001716708.post-62821932016998106332010-07-08T22:29:00.004-04:002010-07-08T22:34:49.014-04:00Rational Upgrade<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_mjVn_-i8XLc/TDaJo1HoT1I/AAAAAAAAADg/ZKERqLLs2ZY/s1600/Rational.gif"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 253px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 168px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5491728130171752274" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_mjVn_-i8XLc/TDaJo1HoT1I/AAAAAAAAADg/ZKERqLLs2ZY/s320/Rational.gif" /></a>My customer decided to finally upgrade to the latest version of <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_0" class="blsp-spelling-error">Clearcase</span> and <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_1" class="blsp-spelling-error">ClearQuest</span>. The upgrade was timed to happen between releases of other critical software. The plan is that the system administrators are going to upgrade the servers over the weekend. They are also going to push out a client upgrade program over the weekend.<br /><br />People are supposed to keep their computers online over the weekend. Then on Monday, they are to launch the client program upgrade install. There is a story out that the last time we upgraded, things did not work too well. It was a while before we were able to access the <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_2" class="blsp-spelling-error">ClearQuest</span> data. I am doing a couple backups of my <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_3" class="blsp-spelling-error">ClearQuest</span> data myself just in case. I cannot afford to be offline from <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_4" class="blsp-spelling-error">ClearQuest</span> for more than a day or two.IBM Crewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02411304889474958651noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7340187232001716708.post-31164373417931036582010-04-12T17:52:00.002-04:002010-04-12T17:53:49.988-04:00Enterprise Generation Language<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_mjVn_-i8XLc/S8OWP9MCdmI/AAAAAAAAADY/pqu_zvquguQ/s1600/Enterprise.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 256px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_mjVn_-i8XLc/S8OWP9MCdmI/AAAAAAAAADY/pqu_zvquguQ/s320/Enterprise.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5459372374170433122" border="0" /></a> <p class="MsoNormal" style=""><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">IBM has announced their Enterprise Generation Language (<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">EGL</span>). This is a new language to help with modernization legacy systems. The big idea is to convert legacy apps to the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">EGL</span>. Then you can compile the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">EGL</span> to a modern language and platform. Some applicable legacy environments to convert from in clued green screened terminal apps. The benefit from the conversion is that you can avoid any 3<sup>rd</sup> party licensing costs.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style=""><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">A main destination language that <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">EGL</span> targets is COBOL. You can compile <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">EGL</span> into COBOL for the IBM <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">CICS</span> or <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">iSeries</span> hardware platforms. You can also compile the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">EGL</span> to Java to run on <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">Websphere</span> or Tomcat. Finally you can compile <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">EGL</span> to JavaScript to run in a web browser.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style=""><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">All of this <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">EGL</span> business is a shortcut from manually porting legacy code to a specific target system. A lot of legacy code has already been rewritten in Java. However the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11">EGL</span> case does sound good if you need to target multiple environments. Just convert the legacy code once to the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12">EGL</span>. Then you let the software do the hard work of porting to multiple environments. How do you like that?<o:p></o:p></span></p>IBM Crewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02411304889474958651noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7340187232001716708.post-7234089297172745422009-11-10T00:23:00.000-05:002009-11-10T00:24:13.537-05:00The IBM Cloud<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_mjVn_-i8XLc/Svj4xGxewEI/AAAAAAAAADQ/bC0uHHrUBAk/s1600-h/Cloud.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5402341275546337346" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 319px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_mjVn_-i8XLc/Svj4xGxewEI/AAAAAAAAADQ/bC0uHHrUBAk/s320/Cloud.jpg" border="0" /></a>IBM recently announced that they are providing a free public cloud for development and test. This will allow developers to quickly work in a virtual machine. Obviously they are doing this to get their cloud to catch on, and generate paying customers later. I like the idea.<br /><br />In conjunction with their cloud service offering, IBM has released the Rational Software Delivery Services. These are a bunch of tools to do development and test in their cloud. So far I have not done any cloud computing. But IBM seems to be making it very easy to try out.<br /><br />Now that IBM has led the way with a free offering, I wonder if competitors like Amazon will follow suit. There is nothing better that companies coming out with free services for developers.IBM Crewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02411304889474958651noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7340187232001716708.post-14743721863457751212009-10-27T20:49:00.003-04:002009-10-27T20:54:03.877-04:00Justice Problems<img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5397447040428348226" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 265px" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_mjVn_-i8XLc/SueVfIK3E0I/AAAAAAAAADI/Ie9vlI5_XjQ/s320/DOJ.jpg" border="0" />I recently read that the Computer and Communications Industry Association (<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">CCIA</span>) has it out for IBM. They have been trying to persuade the U.S. Department of Justice to look into monopolistic behavior at IBM.<br /><br />Here is the heart of the matter. <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Previously</span> IBM had licensed their OS to run on other mainframes. However they discontinued this policy back in 2006. Now competitors that sell mainframe clones want to force the company to relent.<br /><br />Information Week magazine seems to think that this is just good business practices followed by IBM. They are not giving their tools to competitors. What do you think?IBM Crewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02411304889474958651noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7340187232001716708.post-39483234036290770002009-09-26T12:15:00.002-04:002009-09-26T12:20:12.355-04:00Open Configuration Management<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_mjVn_-i8XLc/Sr4-S18H00I/AAAAAAAAADA/A65BuHeV_tA/s1600-h/Open.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5385810697819509570" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 212px" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_mjVn_-i8XLc/Sr4-S18H00I/AAAAAAAAADA/A65BuHeV_tA/s320/Open.jpg" border="0" /></a>Last year IBM created the Open Services for <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Lifecycle</span> Collaboration. It is also known as the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">OSLC</span>. The group has defined their <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">OSLC</span> CM 1.0 specification. In essence it defines how to integrate with a change management system.<br /><br />The <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">OSLC</span> is not specific to IBM's products. It is an open standard. However you can expect <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">ClearQuest</span> to conform to the standard. Maybe this can help me have some custom program interact and even control <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">Clearcase</span> on my box.<br /><br />This reminds me of how Microsoft opened up a spec for tools to interact with Integrated Development Environments before. Their Visual Studio followed the standard and allowed developers to write plus ins. This seems like a promising move that will benefit all.IBM Crewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02411304889474958651noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7340187232001716708.post-19880029327542687292009-08-12T21:44:00.004-04:002009-08-12T21:48:42.564-04:00Big Artificial Intelligence<img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5369258274557292578" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 212px" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_mjVn_-i8XLc/SoNv9AJQcCI/AAAAAAAAAC4/YTOTlIYUppI/s320/Watson.jpg" border="0" />Do you remember IBM's Deep Blue that defeated Kasparov in chess? Well that was the early edition. Now IBM has another computer that is poised to beat humans at a tough game. May I present Watson to you.<br /><br />Watson will test its understanding by playing Jeopardy against Ken Jennings. Ken is the all time champ in Jeopardy history. Sure any program to do a Google to try to answer Jeopardy questions. However that will not help the computer beat a smart human like Jennings.<br /><br />The Watson system will use some smarts to process the language from the host. Then it will analyze a database to determine the best answer. Get this. It will respond in a robot voice. I was expecting some weird metal robot from the 70's. However Watson is just a program running on a special IBM computer. To tell the truth, I am not sure I will be cheering for the computer. I like Ken Jennings.IBM Crewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02411304889474958651noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7340187232001716708.post-37386701275850131572009-07-07T21:38:00.002-04:002009-07-07T21:43:49.000-04:00Rational Insight<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_mjVn_-i8XLc/SlP4s4-gpII/AAAAAAAAACw/j5K9pj3THbM/s1600-h/Insight.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5355897831966155906" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 309px" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_mjVn_-i8XLc/SlP4s4-gpII/AAAAAAAAACw/j5K9pj3THbM/s320/Insight.jpg" border="0" /></a>I just heard that IBM has released the Rational Insight tool. The press on the product says it does a lot of things. However the executive summary is that it assists with managing software development. So I don't think us rank and file developers will be using it.<br /><br />Rational Insight will give management a bunch of metrics. I assume it plugs into the other Rational Suite of tools to collects its info. I would prefer if it did this without bothering me (a very busy developer).<br /><br />In studying this new software offering a little more carefully, it seems that it is a set of tools itself. One part of the tool deals with <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">requirements</span>. Another deals with <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">architecture</span>. I hope that my customer agreement under which we license the Rational Suite includes this new tool. I would like to play with it a bit. Or maybe there is a free download somewhere in the IBM web site. I will let you know what else I find.IBM Crewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02411304889474958651noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7340187232001716708.post-76199391526429286672009-03-24T16:26:00.002-04:002009-03-24T16:27:12.479-04:00Change<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_mjVn_-i8XLc/SclCBirZzOI/AAAAAAAAACo/40m2oKmuBN0/s1600-h/Change.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5316853429343735010" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 309px" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_mjVn_-i8XLc/SclCBirZzOI/AAAAAAAAACo/40m2oKmuBN0/s320/Change.jpg" border="0" /></a>Yesterday I got this week’s issue of Information Week. IBM had taken out four full pages ads in the magazine. That’s a large portion as this is a thin weekly magazine. The theme of these ads was “Conversations for a Smarter Planet”. Here is the kicker. I had no idea what they were talking about.<br /><br />Two of the four ad pages were giant images. The other two pages had the following headlines: (1) A mandate for change is a mandate for smart, and (2) How can we make our smart systems smarter? These pages then had a lot of text on them. The closing line was “Join us and see what others are thinking at ibm.com/change”.<br /><br />I figured these ads were just teasers, and that the meat was at the web site. I decided to bite. There seemed to be five bullets at the bottom of the page. Somehow I already got to the second bullet which was about intelligence. The byline was “intelligence to build solutions for business.”<br /><br />By clicking some buttons I proceeded to the next bullet. The text talked about smarter governance. There were also links to topics like <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">SOA</span> and <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">RFID</span> among others. I saw something about being green and recycling as well.<br /><br />At this point I had viewed some ads in the magazine, and was trying to navigate the web site. But I still had little clue as to what IBM was selling. There were two further bullets at the bottom of the page which were inaccessible. They were collaboration and infrastructure. No matter how many links I clicked, I could not get these buttons enabled.<br /><br />Yeah I know IBM is making some good money these days. However I don’t think their latest advertising efforts are working. At least they make not sense to me.IBM Crewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02411304889474958651noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7340187232001716708.post-29467310819692424182009-03-23T21:40:00.002-04:002009-03-23T21:41:23.300-04:00VOB Versus View<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_mjVn_-i8XLc/Scg6LhsAUPI/AAAAAAAAACg/YOkF6X6EEwk/s1600-h/View.bmp"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5316563329806782706" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 214px" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_mjVn_-i8XLc/Scg6LhsAUPI/AAAAAAAAACg/YOkF6X6EEwk/s320/View.bmp" border="0" /></a>I normally deal with only two views for my development work. One view is my development view which holds C++ application source code. The other view is my database view which holds scripts and stored procedures. These two locations for code I work with are also located in separate <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">VOBs</span>.<br /><br />Whenever I need access to the data from one of the views, I mount the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">VOB</span> for that specific view. This works fine when I just work with one of these views. However strange things happen when I mount both <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">VOBs</span>. Each view can see the folders in the expected <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">VOB</span>, as well as the other <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">VOB</span>.<br /><br />This would be cool if I could get access to everything I need through one view. However it does not work like that. If I have the database <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">VOB</span> mounted, but use the development view, I can see the database folders. However I cannot do any work with files in those folders. I have to use my database view to access the files correctly.<br /><br />What is this? This can’t be the normal way Rational <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">Clearcase</span> works. It just does not make sense. I get that I may need to use more than one view to access more than one type of files. However why is everything visible in the view, but not usable? That seems like something is wrong.<br /><br />I would not put it past the people who set up my views and <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">VOBs</span>. Perhaps they configured stuff incorrectly. The problem is that I don’t know a lot about the details of how views and <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">VOBs</span> work. However something is wrong in the first place if the tool allows you to set up a bum configuration in the first place.<br /><br />In the past I never thought I would say this. But I am starting to miss <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">PVCS</span> Version Manager. We had a clunky old version of that software made for Windows 3.1. However there were a lot of things that worked right and easily in that system.IBM Crewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02411304889474958651noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7340187232001716708.post-85393993867210007772009-03-13T16:33:00.003-04:002009-03-13T16:37:41.527-04:00Clearcase View Problems<img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5312773302198635954" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 251px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_mjVn_-i8XLc/SbrDK4m6jbI/AAAAAAAAACY/2F8vBn_mABQ/s320/Clearcase.jpg" border="0" />I continue to have problems with views I do not access frequently. Personally I blame the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Clearcase</span> admins who manage our customer's repositories. They got some type of scripts which disable then delete inactive views. I would not mind if my views got deleted and I could recreate them. However once the script does its job, the view remains but I cannot use it.<br /><br />Normally you need to open a trouble ticket with the help desk to get issues like these resolved. But I have found that is more trouble than it is worth. I took matters into my own hands. I had work to do. First I viewed the properties of the View (no pun). Then I clicked the Advanced tab. I copied down the Global Address of the view.<br /><br />With the Global Address location in hand, I navigated the network to the location. Each of my views had a folder on the network. Usually I would not like to mess with file structures that <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Clearcase</span> uses. But I needed to get past this problem. I renamed the directory for my old corrupted view. Then I was able to recreate the view. Problem solved. Something still sucks with this process though.IBM Crewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02411304889474958651noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7340187232001716708.post-27328850090566332602008-10-21T18:51:00.003-04:002008-10-21T18:53:30.348-04:00Clearcase Defaults<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_mjVn_-i8XLc/SP5dG7SOzQI/AAAAAAAAABs/Eqke_XCQ4nY/s1600-h/Default.png"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5259743788390075650" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_mjVn_-i8XLc/SP5dG7SOzQI/AAAAAAAAABs/Eqke_XCQ4nY/s320/Default.png" border="0" /></a>Every time I start up <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Clearcase</span>, the rightmost pane displays a bunch of text starting with the following paragraphs:<br /><br /><em>Dynamic View<br /><br />Your project's source files are stored in one or more <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">ClearCase</span> data repositories called <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">VOBs</span> (<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">versioned</span> object bases). This view allows you to access those source files.<br /><br />Each time you check out, modify, and check a file back in, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">ClearCase</span> creates a new version that records the changes. Version control is just one of the features that enable your team to manage changes and coordinate access to sources.<br /></em><br />The text goes on and on about dynamic views. All of these may be interesting information. However I don’t need to know that any more. I want to see the contents of the select folder in <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">Clearcase</span>.<br /><br />So each time I launch <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">Clearcase</span>, I have to realize this, find the Windows splitter bar, and move it down to expose the pane with the folder contents. This is very poor design. Why is <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">Clearcase</span> wasting my time? Can’t I set it up to hide this stupid view?<br /><br />I am going to do some research. There is no reason why I should have to fight with the tool every time I launch it. Shame on the IBM Rational user interface team responsible for <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">Clearcase</span>.IBM Crewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02411304889474958651noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7340187232001716708.post-30870451718204496132008-09-19T19:23:00.003-04:002008-09-19T19:24:31.273-04:00Clearcase Labels<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_mjVn_-i8XLc/SNQ0iK2uCEI/AAAAAAAAABk/if76KvvwK9w/s1600-h/Labels.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5247877227427530818" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_mjVn_-i8XLc/SNQ0iK2uCEI/AAAAAAAAABk/if76KvvwK9w/s320/Labels.jpg" border="0" /></a>Our project uses <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Clearcase</span> labels to control <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">versioning</span> in software releases. Development puts the label on files that get changed and need to be sent out to customers. Then configuration management (CM) picks up the files with the labels that development specifies. CM proceeds to use the new files to produce a build. Our project is in maintenance mode. So for the most part, we just change a few files here and there to fix bugs. However this year we added a bunch of new features to the applications. We also upgraded our tools which resulted in a lot of files changing. Development needed to label a lot of files in <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Clearcase</span>. It was not intuitively obvious how to do this quickly.<br /><br />Here is the process I normally use to apply labels to changed files in <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Clearcase</span>. I use <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">Clearcase</span> Type Explorer to create a new label. Then I manually find the changed files using <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">Clearcase</span> Explorer. I get the properties of the file, and click on the Labels tab. At that point I added the label I previously created with Type Explorer. This works fine for a small amount of files. However sometimes we have a lot of files to add.<br /><br />Previously we had a Java developer on staff who took over our build scripts. In fact he rewrote them using Ant. Part of the build involved putting a label on all the latest files. He figured out how to <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">programmatically</span> label all the files in our project using Ant. Unfortunately this developer has moved on to a new project. So when a current developer needed to label a large directory full of files, he followed in the Java guy’s footsteps and wrote an Ant script to do this.<br /><br />All of this sounds very strange. I would think it is a common operation to label multiple files in <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">Clearcase</span>. I would hope that the solution is not to label them one by one. And I would also think that IBM does not want every customer to write some custom code to do this automatically. Why can’t I select multiple files in <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">Clearcase</span> Explorer, and apply a label to all of them?IBM Crewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02411304889474958651noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7340187232001716708.post-6754380940184665892008-09-13T23:30:00.003-04:002008-09-13T23:36:39.280-04:00Clearcase Access<img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5245714635642435698" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_mjVn_-i8XLc/SMyFqwqI-HI/AAAAAAAAABc/sfmpjtWnArg/s320/Clearcase.gif" border="0" />IBM provides the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Clearcase</span> source control tool as part of the Rational Suite. This product is highly configurable, and perfect for revision control in the enterprise. However some <a href="http://susops.blogspot.com/2007/11/keep-alive.html"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Clearcase</span> policy</a> as demonstrated in the <a href="http://susops.blogspot.com/">Software Maintenance</a> blog are clearly counterproductive.<br /><br />Developers make use of different views in the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Clearcase</span> environment to work different code sets or version. On bigger projects these views can grow quickly in number. <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Clearcase</span> administrators need to develop policies to keep the view universe in check. However these policies should be created and enforced to the benefit of the developer user community.<br /><br /><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">Clearcase</span> is, after all, a tool to be used by software developers. Its purpose is to maintain version control of files. It is meant as an aid to software development. Of course it benefits configuration management as well. However, it must serve its original purpose for it to be put to its best use.IBM Crewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02411304889474958651noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7340187232001716708.post-43949097085198121532008-09-02T18:24:00.002-04:002008-09-02T18:25:32.143-04:00Clearcase Woes<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_mjVn_-i8XLc/SL29QNNHJXI/AAAAAAAAABU/HV-RXqw8sxc/s1600-h/Clearcase.gif"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5241553627449337202" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_mjVn_-i8XLc/SL29QNNHJXI/AAAAAAAAABU/HV-RXqw8sxc/s320/Clearcase.gif" border="0" /></a>Every time I boot up my computer these days I get an <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">albd</span> server error. This is the first thing that is supposed to run when you start <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Clearcase</span>. From past experience I know <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Clearcase</span> Explorer does not work when I get the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">albd</span> server error. So I manually choose Control Panel in <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">Clearcase</span>. Then I attempt to start <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">Clearcase</span>. For a long time the status is “start pending”. Finally <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">Clearcase</span> is started. So I launch <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">Clearcase</span> Explorer. It comes up so I am feeling better. However when I try to mount a <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">VOB</span>, I get no <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">VOB</span> choices.<br /><br />This <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">Clearcase</span> has been a headache ever since we switched to using it for source code control. We only do it because our client has standardized on it. Yes I imagine <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11">Clearcase</span> is powerful. However I am looking for a solution that works with minimal effort and upkeep from me. My job is not to muck around with <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12">Clearcase</span> settings. I am supposed to code new features for our customer, with the occasional debugging of problems in the software we write.<br /><br />Last time I had <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_13">Clearcase</span> problems, I went to our local <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_14">Clearcase</span> guy. He was able to get it working on my machine. However this is not his main job. The right way is to submit a trouble ticket with our client’s help desk. That will take forever. I need my source code control now. So I check out any web pages I can find on the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_15">albd</span> server. It seems this process is required for <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_16">VOBs</span> and views. I could figure that out based on the things not working on my machine.<br /><br />There is some promise from the IBM Knowledge Collection. They have a whole lot of ideas on how to debug a broke down <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_17">albd</span> server. The key advice is to check out the logs. So I go to Event Viewer on Windows. I see a whole bunch of <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_18">Clearcase</span> errors. They fall under to categories: (1) can’t find <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_19">albd</span> server on a specific host, and (2) can’t find <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_20">albd</span>. Nice details on that last error description huh? So I guess I need to find out what is wrong with the server that <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_21">albd</span> cannot find. Too bad that is not a server controlled by our team. I might just have to submit a trouble ticket after all. Bad show <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_22">Clearcase</span>.IBM Crewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02411304889474958651noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7340187232001716708.post-69364696492418595202008-08-04T20:39:00.004-04:002008-08-04T20:46:44.175-04:00Clearcase HaltedI return to work from vacation today. Reported to a new office location too. When I logged in, I saw some error flash by about the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Clearcase</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">VOB</span> not being able to be mounted. OK. I had other work to deal with in the morning. When things settled down, I launched <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Clearcase</span> Explorer to check up on <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Clearcase</span>. I got an error message stating there was a problem with licensing. It recommended I run the licensing program. I tried to run the Rational License tool. There were no entries in the license list for <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">Clearcase</span>. Clicking a button for help took me to an IBM web page. I don't want to buy any more licenses. My customer has a huge <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">Clearcase</span> license already.<br /><br />Now I had heard other people encountering <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">Clearcase</span> problems too. Their fix was to kill <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">Blackice</span>. I killed the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">Blackice</span> Windows process. Then I stopped the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">Blackice</span> service. <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">Clearcase</span> still had a problem. Then I remembered that I logged into a virtual machine and ran <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11">Clearcase</span> fine. So I went to my virtual session and exited the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12">Clearcase</span> Explorer. Now I was able to run <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_13">Clearcase</span> on my own machine. But there were no files to be viewed. I tried to mount the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_14">VOB</span> for my view. The <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_15">VOB</span> Mount dialog box came back with no <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_16">VOB</span> choices. I felt like I was in some real trouble here.<br /><br />Finally I broke down and called over our <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_17">Clearcase</span> guru. It is not his job to fix my <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_18">Clearcase</span> problems. But he is always willing to lend a hand. He exited <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_19">Clearcase</span> Explorer and ran the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_20">Homebase</span> (a program I never seem to launch). Then he said my server was not running. He used the tool to launch the server. It then showed that the server was running. He typed some commands at the Windows command prompt to mount my <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_21">VOB</span>. Then things were peachy. Why did I have to bring the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_22">Clearcase</span> expert in? Maybe it is time for me to read the manual or take some <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_23">Clearcase</span> training. I don't know. I just do not have a good feeling for this software.IBM Crewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02411304889474958651noreply@blogger.com0