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How to trace Rational ClearCase build tools

Question & Answer


Question

How do you collect trace output from the IBM Rational ClearCase clearmake and omake build utilities?

Answer

Often you can get enough trace information to effectively troubleshoot a build problem by using the clearmake -d or omake -d switch that is documented in the Reference Guide. However, at times this does not give Support enough detail to effectively troubleshoot a problem. For these times, you can set ClearCase environment variables before running clearmake or omake to collect more information, specifically:

TRACE_SUBSYS <subsystem>
TRACE_VERBOSITY <number 1-4>

Where the TRACE_VERBOSITY value can be between 1-4, and 4 is the highest level of verbosity.

Note: Setting a high verbosity while tracing all subsystems will generate *lots* of output.

TRACE_SUBSYS can be the value * meaning all subsystems, or can be some combination of the build values below:

Subsystem
What is being traced
clearmake
omake
Switches for debugging general build problems:


bldr_cmShopping (including statistics) and configuration matching
X
X
bldr_objConfiguration matching on a per-object basis
X
X
bldr_crAudit processing, including incremental target CR merging; useful at verbosity 3 for seeing what's in the audit file to track down audit problems
X
X
bldr_save_audit_filesVery useful for tracking down audit problems; clearmake will save the audit files and print out the pathnames. Be sure to collect the saved files.
X
X
bldr_tgtAdditional tracing of why clearmake rebuilds instead of reuses. Also see bldr_cm and bldr_obj, which are more comprehensive.
X

mfcLists of makefiles being processed (including BOS files)
X

Switches for debugging parallel/distributed building problems:


bldr_hostSelection of acceptable abe hosts (based on settings in bldserver.control files)
X

abe_exeAbe start-up
X

bldr_commCommand-line arguments to abe; also clearmake sleep tracing
X

bldr_ctlBuild scheduling
X

bldr_execBuild script execution, including build script return codes during parallel builds
X

Miscellaneous Switches:


bldrBuild initialization and termination processing, including VOB cache statistics on termination
X

bldr_macroMakefile macro processing
X

bldr_scriptBuild script processing, including hash value used for shopping
X

bldr_vobWriting of CRs and DOs to the VOB
X
X
mf/mf_ioInclude file processing
X

mf_lexerLexer processing
X

mf_statClearmake "stat" calls
X

mf_tgt Makefile target parsing
X

mf_tgt_parseLists of targets defined
X

mf_utl Execution of shell commands (e.g. as a result of ':sh=' in Sun compat mode, '!=' in SGI pmake/smake or `` in AIX mode)
X

Note: Setting multiple subsystems is possible by using a COLON separated list (no spaces).


Example:

Microsoft® Windows®:
set  TRACE_SUBSYS=bldr_obj:bldr_cr:bldr_tgt
set  TRACE_VERBOSITY=4

UNIX® and Linux®:
setenv  TRACE_SUBSYS  bldr_obj:bldr_cr:bldr_tgt
setenv  TRACE_VERBOSITY  4

c shell/tc shell

setenv  TRACE_SUBSYS  bldr_obj:bldr_cr:bldr_tgt
setenv  TRACE_VERBOSITY  4

bourne/bash/korn shell

export  TRACE_SUBSYS="bldr_obj:bldr_cr:bldr_tgt"
export  TRACE_VERBOSITY=4

[{"Product":{"code":"SSSH27","label":"Rational ClearCase"},"Business Unit":{"code":"BU053","label":"Cloud & Data Platform"},"Component":"Clearmake - Clearaudit - Omake","Platform":[{"code":"PF002","label":"AIX"},{"code":"PF010","label":"HP-UX"},{"code":"PF016","label":"Linux"},{"code":"PF027","label":"Solaris"},{"code":"PF033","label":"Windows"}],"Version":"7.0;7.0.1;7.1;7.1.1;7.1.2;8.0;8.0.1","Edition":"","Line of Business":{"code":"LOB45","label":"Automation"}}]

Document Information

Modified date:
16 June 2018

UID

swg21149150