I have recently had to move from using RTC (and Rational Software Architect) on Linux back onto Microsoft Windows.

As a result of this, I've made some suggestions about file naming conventions whilst using RTC. I've backed-up my suggestions with some explanation that might be unnecessary for more technical people. Anyway, I think I should also get some opinions from people who could be more expert in these matters than I am. I'd value your comments, but please forgive any Linux loving bias you might detect in my post! ;)

Problem summary:
Case sensitive file names can cost you lost productivity when using Rational Team Concert.

Suggested solution:
Standardize on case insensitive file/directory naming by convention.

How to do it:
File and directory names must only consist of lower case letters, numerals, and the hyphen character. For example, rather than naming a file/directory RSA-ModelExecution, we should call it rsa-model-execution.

Detailed explanation:

All current versions of the Windows operating system are inconsistent with respect to case sensitivity for file and directory names. Basically, the Windows GUI shell (also known as Windows Explorer) preserves the display of case sensitive names, but the Windows command (line) shell is case insensitive.

By comparison, UNIX/Linux is consistently case sensitive for file and directory names.

So, sticking with Windows, try this example:
1. Open a Windows command shell.
2. Type notepad COLIN.TXT
3. Click Yes in the dialog Cannot find the COLIN.TXT file. Do you want to create a new file?
4. Type the text Hello, Colin! into the Notepad window.
5. Save the file and exit.
6. Open Windows Explorer and look at the file. You will see a file called COLIN.TXT.
7. Type del colin.txt into the command shell that you previously opened.
8. You will see that the file COLIN.TXT has been deleted from the Windows Explorer window, also.

So, you have just seen that case sensitivity is inconsistent between the Windows GUI and the command line (which is true up to and including Windows 7). The Windows command line is the most accurate reflection of file and directory name handling at the most basic operating system level. Therefore, Windows is fundamentally case insensitive for file and directory names, but this is inconsistently applied throughout the views it provides to the Windows user.

RTC is coded in Java. Java started on UNIX (actually, SunOS/Solaris, I think). UNIX is consistently case sensitive for file and directory names. However, Java is supposed to be write-once-cross-platform (although, in practice, it fails in this aim). Therefore, Java provides an underlying file handling API, which is supposed to handle the issue of differing case sensitivity for file/directory names between different operating systems (and especially between Windows and UNIX). Unfortunately, this API appears to be tricky to use, because Rational Team Concert is inconsistent in its handling of case sensitivity! Although my awareness of this problem has been inflicted upon me due to moving a RTC project from Linux to Windows, investigation has illustrated that this problem can bite anyone at any time, even if they only use Windows!

Recommendation?
Therefore, I strongly suggest that we change our file/directory naming conventions according to my above proposal. Failure to do so will result in other people losing productivity at some time in the future.

Backup information (the first error report):

I don't know how to resolve an RTC synchronization error on the "RSA-Model Simulation" component, and its blocking updates.

The error is:
"There were 1 errors. After correcting the problems, it is recommended that components be reloaded. The reload will be incremental, loading only the missing items. You can further reduce the reload time by reloading just the projects out of sync.

There were 1 errors. After correcting the problems, it is recommended that components be reloaded. The reload will be incremental, loading only the missing items. You can further reduce the reload time by reloading just the projects out of sync.

In order to load /Model Simulation with RSA/Source/rsa8-workspace/.metadata/.plugins/org.eclipse.gmf.runtime.diagram.ui/_8OFcKL__Ed6uCe9MkomcDQ an item just loaded must be deleted. The contents being loaded have case-sensitive names while loading on a case insensitive platform.

There were 1 errors. After correcting the problems, it is recommended that components be reloaded. The reload will be incremental, loading only the missing items. You can further reduce the reload time by reloading just the projects out of sync.

In order to load /Model Simulation with RSA/Source/rsa8-workspace/.metadata/.plugins/org.eclipse.gmf.runtime.diagram.ui/_8OFcKL__Ed6uCe9MkomcDQ an item just loaded must be deleted. The contents being loaded have case-sensitive names while loading on a case insensitive platform"

Although I can navigate to Model Simulation with RSA>Source>rsa8-workspace>.metadata>.plugins>org.eclipse.gmf.runtime.diagram.ui>the-list-of-case-sensitive-file-names...
I cannot see any way to delete the-list-of-case-sensitive-file-names from the RTC repository. Do you have any ideas about how to fix it?

Suggestion from a knowledgeable colleague:

> I had that specific error on your Model Simulation project once.
> Never understood why, and never seen it before on any project. I
> have not fixed the problem. As a matter of fact, I have removed your
> project from my environment to avoid it :-).
>
> I will try to reload your project later today to see if I am still
> having the issue. Will keep you posted

So, in the end I had to recreate a new RTC component and reload the files, after converting the file names to be case insensitive.

Can anyone suggest a better way, that I somehow missed?

Hi Colin,

the issue you report is synchronization.

Is this s Clear Case synchroniztion? If not, just forget my answer
below.

If it is the issue you are facing might be that ClearCase is case
sensitive and windows is not, rather than RTC is and Windows is not.
In the past, I think I remeber, there was a way to set ClearCase to
Case Insensitive AND Case Preserving. I think that was a suggested
setting especially with respect to Java and Eclipse. Not sure when
that needed to be specified. I think on install time. Maybe others
can chime in. That should avoid your issue on windows.

wmansurwrote:
I think your idea has some merit and development teams would be wise
to adopt something like it. Of course, teams can adopt all sorts of
"ground rules". However, doing so does not prevent such
issues as you have described, at least not 100%. Read on for an
interesting situation involving 2 files with the same name that
happened to us about a year ago. Maybe this can be of help to you in
your situation.

OK. Unfortunately, some people are saying that Camel Case naming
conventions have worked just fine up until now (even though we know
that's just an accident waiting to happen if you are on Windows).

wmansurwrote:
We found out that it is possible to have 2 files with the same name,
except for the case of the file name, exist in the same folder in RTC
(in Windows)... I believe that this is also known as an "Evil
Twin" situation.

Wow, Evil Twins! Thanks for mentioning this because it lead me to read
the IBM article About Evil Twins...
http://www-01.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=swg21125072

Based on a very small sample size, this comment appears to suggest
that file name handling in the RTC client is fundamentally broken for
teams distributed between Windows and Linux users. Is this really
true, or am I missing something?

I think the statement that "the RTC client is fundamentally broken for
teams distributed between Windows and Linux" is much too strong. I am
quite happy with RTC's cross platform behavior.