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For example, in TortoiseSVN, I can find out when a directory is out-of-date or checked out by looking at the images in the corner of the directory icon. However, I don't have that with ClearCase. Inside of Eclipse, I can see what I have checked in/out, but I'm not always inside Eclipse. It appears that I can right click on the file and I see "Check Out..." as an option if the file is not checked out and "Check In..." as an option if the file is checked out.

What I really want are images or icons to let me know visually what I have checked in and out through the Windows Explorer shell. Is this possible?

Thomas Owens
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Currently, this is not done by any tool/plugin I know of, except for ClearCase Eclipse plugin (where a "recursive" option can be set, to show a "dirty" state on packages of a project if one of the files is checked out)

Since ClearCase is managed file-by-file, that would require a recursive request which may not be compatible with the speed a Windows explorer is supposed to refresh itself.

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VonC
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  • How about on a per-file basis? Is there an icon at least on a file-level? – Thomas Owens Jul 22 '09 at 20:51
  • @Thomas, not on the explorer level. The way it is done in an Eclipse plugin is through a lazy CNF (Common Navigator Framework) with icons computed through a Job (background thread). I have not seen this approach used on a Windows Explorer plugin – VonC Jul 22 '09 at 20:54
  • Thanks. I wish you were wrong, though, but you are simply confirming what my searches had turned up. – Thomas Owens Jul 22 '09 at 21:29
  • You would think though, that you could have Windows display a different Icon depending on the attributes of the directory/file. I'm not convinced this is impossible - not through a ClearCase tool, but through configuration of the OS :S – Spedge Jul 23 '09 at 08:25
  • @Spedge: the thing is: there is no global state for a CC repo, only a file-per-file state (checkout or not): to report a dirty state on a (non-checkout) directory, you would have to complete a `lsco -rec` which can be fairly long. The only alternative is to process that request when you enter a new directory... – VonC Jul 23 '09 at 11:16
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The best way I found to visually indicate which files are checked out or in is to set Windows Explorer to show file attributes for all of your ClearCase folders. Then you can determine which files are checking in or out by looking to see if the files are read-only or not. When the files are checked in, they are read-only; when they are checked out they are not read-only.

njlg
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I wonder if it'd be possible to do it this way, with a little bit of Perl? Not particularly efficient, but it's a start...

Is there is a way to change a Windows folder icon using a Perl script?

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Spedge
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  • @Spedge: the thing is: there is no global state for a CC repo, only a file-per-file state (checkout or not): to report a dirty state on a (non-checkout) directory, you would have to complete a lsco -rec which can be fairly long. The only alternative is to process that request when you enter a new directory... – VonC Jul 23 '09 at 11:17
  • Agreed. I'm just so surprised there's not a feature or tool to set the icon of a file depending on the attributes within. How does the tooltip know that the file is checked in or out anyway? There must be a golden attribute! I shall ponder. – Spedge Jul 24 '09 at 09:16