mkfifo command failing on clearcase vobs

Question

I am trying to create named pipe in a directory which is created under clearcase's vobs tree (/vobs/something/something) but not checked-in. I am getting this error:

"mkfifo: No such device or address"

I am not able to understand why pipe creation is failing while other files are getting created. I am using Solaris 10. Is there any way I can create named pipes in vobs?

Answer 1

/vobs/something/something means MVFS path with a view set (as in cleartool setview).

First, try the same operation with the fumm path instead of trying to set a view. As I explain in "Python and ClearCase setview", setting a view creates a sub-shell, with all kinds of side effect for your processes (in term of environment variables and other non-heirted attributes).

So try it in /views/MyView/vobs/something/something.

---

Second, regarding pipe, check if this thread applies to your case:

Just off the top of my head if you using a pipe and not a file, then it should be specified something like this ..

destination my_pipe pipe("/data/pipes/net_pipe");

rather than

destination my_file file("/data/pipes/net_pipe");

---

Note that, for ClearCase up to 7.0.x:

ClearCase does not support adding to source control special files such as named pipes, fifos or device files. There are no type mangers available to manage these special files.

Note: Attempts to execute these files in the MVFS is not supported.

WORKAROUNDS:

• Keep multiple versions of directories with device files outside of a VOB and versioned directories/symlinks in a VOB to point to correct directory location outside the VOB.
• Keep a tar or zip archive of the tree with device files in the VOB, and extract it to a temporary workspace when needed in the development process.