>--- Forwarded mail from [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>>>3. Having ClearCase do atomic operations (eg either all entities specified get
>>>checked in or none of them do).
>>
>>ClearCase behaves the same way that CVS does in this regard: It will check
>>in everything it can (as specified on its command line), stopping at the
>>first error or interrupt or the successful completion of all checkins. Some
>>people describe this as atomic behavior, others don't. Neither tool leaves
>>the repository untouched if any file is checked in successfully.
>The people who describe this behaviour as atomic
>probably do not understand the definition of atomicity
>used in databases - an action is either entirely performed
>or not performed at all - and as used in most other
>subfields of computer programming.
Indeed. I would much rather have my version control system be based on
a transaction mechanism in the database sense, where every part of the
action I command it to perform is completed successfully or the repository
and workspace are both left untouched.
The "other" behavior in which a command is broken down into multiple
pieces, each of which are either atomic or idempotent, is useful but
not ideal. This is the behavior that CVS (and ClearCase) provides.
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