Understanding the Signature File

Products

• CA Harvest Software Change Manager - OpenMake Meister

Issue/Introduction

Description: You can use a command called hsigget to view the creation time (crtime) and last modified time (modtime) stored for any file checked out to your local computer. Why are the times returned by hsigget different from the times I see when viewing the same file In Workbench? Solution: The thing to know about the signature file is that it reflects the time the file was created on the local file system (crtime) and the time the file was last modified on the local file system. The times you see in Workbench reflect when the file was first checked in, or when the new version was created (Created On), and the time when the latest update was checked in (Modified On). Consider this example (the highlighted cells show which time values change as a result of the action taken):

		From		Results of "hsigget -a crtime modtime"		From Workbench
System Timestamp	Activity	Results of "dir x.txt /TC"	Results of "dir x.txt /TW"	CrTime	ModTime	Created On	Modified On
1:21 PM	Created a new file named x.txt in Notepad, typed in some data, saved and closed the file.	1:21 PM	1:21 PM
	The signature file does not exist yet, Workbench does not yet know that this file exists.
1:24 PM	Opened the file in Notepad, made some updates, saved and closed the file.	1:21 PM	1:24 PM
	The "Last Written" timestamp is updated on the computer file system. Still no update to the Signature file or Workbench since they do not yet know the file exists.
1:31 PM	Checked the file into SCM as a new file	1:21 PM	1:24 PM	1:21 PM	1:24 PM	v0: 1:31 PM	v0: 1:31 PM
	At this point SCM becomes aware of this file. The Signature file is updated with the creation and "Last Written" timestamps from the computer file system, and from Workbench's perspective, version 0 of the file was just now created.
1:34 PM	Performed Check Out for Browse	1:21 PM	1:34 PM	1:21 PM	1:34 PM	v0: 1:31 PM	v0: 1:31 PM
	Version 0 of the file has not changed, so the "Created On" and "Modified On" times in Workbench stay as they were. Since the file is being copied to the computer file system, the "ModTime" in the Signature file and "Last Written" timestamp on the computer file system are updated.
1:37 PM	Performed Check Out for Update	1:21 PM	1:37 PM	1:21 PM	1:37 PM	v0: 1:31 PM	v0: 1:31 PM
						v1: 1:37 PM	v1: 1:37 PM
	Check Out for Update creates a new version of the file in Workbench. Since the new version of the file is being copied to the computer file system, the "ModTime" in the Signature file and "Last Written" timestamp on the computer file system are updated.
1:40 PM	Opened the file in Notepad, made some updates, saved and closed the file.	1:21 PM	1:40 PM	1:21 PM	1:40 PM	v0: 1:31 PM	v0: 1:31 PM
						v1: 1:37 PM	v1: 1:37 PM
	Updating the file on the computer file system automatically updates the signature file but does not automatically update Workbench. The only values to change are the "Last Written" timestamp on the computer file system, and the "ModTime" in the signature file.
1:43 PM	Performed Check In Release Only	1:21 PM	1:40 PM	1:21 PM	1:40 PM	v0: 1:31 PM	v0: 1:31 PM
	Performing a Check In with Release Only deletes version 1 of the file in Workbench. Nothing has changed in the file on the computer file system so "Last Written" timestamp and "ModTime" in the signature file remain as they were.
1:46 PM	Performed Check Out for Update	1:21 PM	1:46 PM	1:21 PM	1:46 PM	v0: 1:31 PM	v0: 1:31 PM
						v1: 1:46 PM	v1: 1:46 PM
	Check Out for Update creates a new version of the file in Workbench. Since the new version of the file is being copied to the computer file system, the "ModTime" in the Signature file and "Last Written" timestamp on the computer file system are updated.
1:49 PM	Opened the file in Notepad, made some updates, saved and closed the file.	1:21 PM	1:49 PM	1:21 PM	1:49 PM	v0: 1:31 PM	v0: 1:31 PM
						v1: 1:46 PM	v1: 1:46 PM
	Updating the file on the computer file system automatically updates the signature file but does not automatically update Workbench. The only values to change are the "Last Written" timestamp on the computer file system, and the "ModTime" in the signature file.
1:52 PM	Performed Check In and Release	1:21 PM	1:49 PM	1:21 PM	1:49 PM	v0: 1:31 PM	v0: 1:31 PM
						v1: 1:46 PM	v1: 1:52 PM
	Performing Check In and Release will update version 1 of the file in Workbench, so the "Modified On" time in Workbench is changed to reflect the current time (the time the file was updated in the repository). Nothing has changed inside the file on the computer file system so the signature file and "Last Written" timestamp remain as they were.

Environment

Release: SCMNCR99000-12.1-Harvest-Software Change Manager-Named User-Competitive Replacem
Component: