Managing Change in Visual Studio with Rational Software

Welcome to the IBM Rational® ClearCase® and IBM Rational ClearQuest® integration with Microsoft® Visual Studio.

This integration adds Rational software configuration management and defect tracking tools to the Visual Studio development environment with two features, which can be implemented together or separately:

How you use these tools depends in part on how they are configured at your site.

Base ClearCase

Base ClearCase is the core set of configuration management tools. Development in base ClearCase is typically based on version control. Base ClearCase also supports the automation of development processes, including builds.

UCM

If your site uses UCM, the development process is organized around UCM projects, which are different from Visual Studio projects. UCM projects are ClearCase objects that identify a discrete set of files and directories and a common integration point for the work being performed by the team. Work in a UCM project is based on changes to activities.

ClearCase Views

The Rational ClearCase Client for Visual Studio .NET supports a close association between a Visual Studio project and one or more Rational ClearCase views. For example:
  • You store and access project sources in views.
  • A view can contain multiple projects.

Dynamic and snapshot views can be accessed across a local area network (LAN). If the WAN feature is installed, you can also create Web views to access remote resources across a wide area network (WAN).

UCM with Rational ClearQuest

Rational ClearQuest is a defect and change tracking tool. If Rational ClearQuest is integrated with UCM, you can also use it to enter and track enhancement requests, assign work activities, and assess the status of projects throughout the development lifecycle.