Rational ClearCase Commands Reference

APPLICABILITY

SYNOPSIS

DESCRIPTION

A magic file contains an ordered set of file-typing rules, which ClearCase and ClearCase LT use to determine a list of file types for an existing file system object or for one that is about to be created. (For information about predefined element types, see the mkeltype reference page.) A rule can use the object's name, its file(1) or stat(2) data, or its contents. File-typing involves searching one or more magic files for the first rule that matches a file system object. Finding a match yields a single file type or an ordered list of file types; failing to find a match produces an error.

On UNIX systems, file-typing is performed in the following situations:

Note: In an MVFS directory (any directory accessed through a VOB tag), file-typing by a browser uses only a file's name and its stat data; for performance reasons, the file's contents are not used.

On Windows, ClearCase and ClearCase LT perform file-typing when you create a new element with mkelem, but do not specify an element type (with –eltype). (If you are converting a view-private file to an element with mkelem –ci or mkelem –nco, the file's contents are also used in the file-typing.) The resulting file type list is compared to the VOB's set of element types (which includes both element types in the VOB and element types in the administrative VOB hierarchy associated with the VOB). The first file type that matches an element type is chosen as the element type; if no file type matches any existing element type, an error occurs:

Following are examples of file-typing rules:

directory : -stat d ;
c_source source text_file : -printable & -name "*.c" ;
sh_script script text_file : -printable & (-name ".profile" | -name "*.sh") ;
archive library file: !-printable & -name "*.a" ;

FILE-TYPING RULES

Each file-typing rule has the following format:

A single text line can contain multiple rules. Conversely, a single rule can span several lines; each intermediate line must end with a backslash (\). A line that begins with a number sign (#) is a comment.

Note: The semicolon (;) that terminates a rule must be separated from the preceding characters by white space.

FILE-TYPE LIST

A file-type list is an ordered list of one or more names, separated by white space. Only letters, digits, and underscores ( _ ) are permitted in these names. Depending on the file-typing situation, each name must match either an element type defined in some VOB or an icon name specified in an icon file. To avoid errors, always make the final name one of the predefined element types (see the mkeltype reference page). These names are also included in the system-default icon file.

Following are some file-type list examples:

text_file
backup_dir directory
manual_page text_file
cplusplus_src src_file text_file

Here is a UNIX system scenario that calls for a lengthy file-type list:

Your host mounts several VOBs, in which different sets of element types are defined. Perhaps one VOB defines element type bshell for Bourne shell scripts, a second VOB defines element type shell_script for all shell scripts, and a third VOB does not define any special element type for scripts. Your file-typing rules must be appropriate for all the VOBs. For example:

bshell shell_script text_file : -name "*.sh" ;
shell_script text_file : -name "*.csh" ;

Following these file-typing rules, xclearcase uses the file type text_file to select the same icon for all shell script files. A user who wants to distinguish Bourne shell scripts from C shell scripts can add a cshell file type and create different bitmaps to correspond to the unique file types bshell and cshell.

Magic file:

bshell shell_script text_file : -name "*.sh" ;
cshell shell_script text_file : -name "*.csh" ;

Icon file:

bshell : -icon bourne_shell_icon ;
cshell : -icon C_shell_icon ;

SELECTION EXPRESSION

A selection expression consists of one or more selection operators and their arguments, connected by logical operators. Examples:

-name "*.c"
-name "*.[ch]"
-name "*.c" | -name "*.h"
-printable
!-printable
-stat d

EXAMPLES

FILES

ccase-home-dir/config/magic/default.magic

SEE ALSO

cc.icon, file(1), mkelem, mkeltype, stat(2), wildcards_ccase