Post on 07-Mar-2018
LICENSING RELATED QUESTIONS
WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN NAMED AND CONCURRENT LICENSES?SilkCentral® Test Manager™ is the leading solution for shops that undertake both Agile and Traditional projects.
SCTM provides a unified framework for managing manual, functional, and automated performance activities,
by providing visibility into the effectiveness of testing activities across distributed projects. SCTM protects
investment by embracing existing unit, functional and performance test suites – with no rip and replace.
We can aggregate exisiting test results, whether they are perl scripts, batch files or from a homegrown testing
tool, and provide consildated project metrics across the SDLC.
WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN NAMED AND CONCURRENT LICENSES?Named licenses are reserved for one individual’s use whereas concurrent licenses are “pooled” licenses that can be
shared across a group of users. Named user licenses are substantially cheaper than concurrent licenses, but the
degree of sharing a customer experiences can make concurrent licenses cheaper in the long run. Most customers
purchase a blend of named and concurrent users based on the mix of their user population.
Named licenses are most often deployed when one user will consume a license for a majority of their working
hours. The most common example of this is a configuration manager whose full-time job is to manage version
control configurations. In these cases, a named license is reserved for that user by the StarTeam administrator
and no other user ID can consume that license. When the user population changes, however, the StarTeam
administrator can reassign that license at will using the StarTeam administrative interface.
When a user logs into the StarTeam server using a named license, the StarTeam server records the IP address of
the client machine. That user can then log into the server at the same time from up to 5 unique IP addresses.
This is to provide for users that might use multiple machines or for users to submit long-running processes on
multiple machines. Once 5 unique IP addresses have been recorded for that user, however, no more sessions can
be established with that user ID.
Concurrent licenses, on the other hand, are most often deployed when an organization has a group of users that
will only consume a license for a minority of their working hours. This might include anyone other than the full-
time configuration managers, including casual users and reviewers. In these cases, the StarTeam administrator
assigns users to the concurrent license pool through the StarTeam administrative interface.
When a user logs into the StarTeam server using a concurrent license, the StarTeam takes one concurrent license
from the pool and that license is consumed until the user explicitly logs off or the client and server timeouts dic-
tate that the session should be terminated. The StarTeam server also records the IP address of the client machine
and each unique combination of user ID and IP address consumes one license. So, if a concurrent user logs into
the StarTeam server from two different machines, two concurrent licenses will be consumed.
WHAT’S THE RIGHT MIX OF NAMED AND CONCURRENT LICENSES FOR MY CUSTOMER?The answer for any customer will depend on their mix of user types. Most often this can be determined by
examining the user “roles” in the environment. Roles that require nearly full-time access to StarTeam should be
allocated named licenses while roles that require only occasional access to StarTeam should be allocated concur-
rent licenses. As a rule of thumb, if a user is going to use StarTeam more than one third of their working time
then they should be allocated a named license.
Borland® StarTeam® 2009Frequently Asked Questions
FAQ
frequently asked questions
Borland® StarTeam®2009
IS THERE A “LICENSE HOLD PERIOD” FOR CONCURRENT LICENSES?No, concurrent licenses are released back into the license pool as soon as a user logs off the server. Other users
can then immediately reuse that license.
Please note, however, that just closing the StarTeam user interface does not immediately log off the user. Instead,
the user must choose the “Exit and Logoff ” menu option to explicitly log off. Otherwise, the user session remains
cached in the StarTeam toolbar and the client and server timeout parameters will then dictate when the license is
released.
DOES STARTEAM SUPPORT THE BORLAND LICENSE SERVER (BLS)?Yes, since the StarTeam 2005 R2 release, StarTeam now supports three types of license management. These
include 1) “native” StarTeam licensing, 2) BLS licensing, and/or 3) FLEXlm® licensing. All of these licensing types
can be used interchangeably and in any combination at the same time. StarTeam administrators simply identify
which license type is to be used for each user ID enabled in the server.
Please note there is no additional charge for StarTeam BLS-enabled licenses. The BLS software is available at no
charge and an email with download information is sent with the license key. Should you wish to convert existing
licenses from one type to another (e.g., from native to BLS), please contact your Borland Account Executive to
make this request.
DOES STARTEAM SUPPORT THE FLEXLM LICENSE MANAGER?Yes, since the StarTeam 2005 R2 release, StarTeam now supports three types of license management. These
include 1) “native” StarTeam licensing, 2) BLS licensing, and/or 3) FLEXlm licensing. All of these licensing types
can be used interchangeably and in any combination at the same time. StarTeam administrators simply identify
which license type is to be used for each user ID enabled in the server.
Please note there is no additional charge for StarTeam FLEXlm-enabled licenses. The FLEXlm software is
available at no charge and an email with download information is sent with the license key. Should you wish to
convert existing licenses from one type to another (e.g., from native to FLEXlm), please contact your Borland
Account Executive to make this request.
CAN STARTEAM CUSTOMERS INSTALL THE SAME NATIVE LICENSE KEY ON MULTIPLE MACHINES?Effective with StarTeam 2005 R2, the general answer is “No”. Now that StarTeam supports the use of centralized
license servers (e.g., BLS, FLEXlm) there is no need for StarTeam customers to reuse the same license key on
multiple machines. Instead, customers should install and configure a BLS/FLEXlm server that hosts licenses for
all StarTeam servers. In prior releases we used to allow customers to install the same license key multiple times in
order to support distributed servers, however this was normally only for named licenses, not concurrent licenses.
Please note there is no additional charge for StarTeam BLS/FLEXlm-enabled licenses. Also, both BLS and
FLEXlm installation software is available at no charge and download information for electronic fulfilment is sent
with the license key.
The only exception to this rule is to support Disaster Recovery (DR) sites for “warm backup” purposes. Our
license terms do allow customers to install a backup site using the same key as the primary site as long as no
production users log into the backup site when the primary site is active. This backup site can also be used for
validation purposes in order to test server-level changes (e.g., custom fields, security profiles) before they are
implemented on the production server.
CAN STARTEAM CUSTOMERS MIX DIFFERENT STARTEAM “EDITIONS” ON THE SAME SERVER?No, the current StarTeam license agreement only allows for a single StarTeam server to support one StarTeam
edition (i.e., “Enterprise Advantage Edition” or “Enterprise Edition”) at a time. For example, once customers
install a StarTeam Enterprise Advantage license key on a server, only additional Enterprise Advantage license keys
can be installed on that same server. Similarly, StarTeam Enterprise licenses cannot be mixed with any other
edition type either.
Updated July, 2009
frequently asked questions
Borland® StarTeam®2009Updated July, 2009
If a customer needs to support mixed sets of users with different editions, a separate StarTeam server must be
setup for each edition type. Then, the license keys that the customer receives from Borland should be installed
by edition on the appropriate server. Users would then need to be granted access on each server based on the
licenses that are available.
Finally, please note that in a mixed environment like this where there are multiple StarTeam servers of different
editions, there is no license “sharing” between these servers. So, if a user needs to access information from both
an Enterprise Advantage and an Enterprise edition server, they will consume a second license when they access
the second server.
CAN I RUN DIFFERENT VERSIONS OF STARTEAM ON DIFFERENT SERVERS?Yes, customers sometimes have groups that are on different development cycles that are unable to upgrade
versions of StarTeam at the same time. StarTeam licenses, like most Borland licenses, are based on the usage of
StarTeam and are not tied to the version used. It is fine for a single user to work with StarTeam repositories that
are running different StarTeam versions. The use of multiple StarTeam versions is considered a temporary
situation that Borland accommodates, although we encourage customers to work with their Account Executives
to consolidate and simplify their deployment environment.
WHAT MICROSOFT® AND ORACLE® LICENSES DO CUSTOMERS NEED TO SUPPORT THEIRSTARTEAM ENVIRONMENT?
The number and type of Microsoft SQL Server® or Oracle database licenses that a customer needs is based upon
the license policies of the database vendor. It is up to the customer to adhere to the license policies that they have
agreed to with the database vendor. Borland does not enforce the license policies of database vendors.
Microsoft SQL Server
Microsoft SQL Server comes in two editions, Standard Edition and Enterprise Edition, and uses two license
types that apply to using StarTeam; Server with CAL licenses and Processor licenses. Microsoft requires that the
customer either have a combination of a Server license and a client access license (CAL) for each application user
(StarTeam registered user) or have a Processor license for each processor in the server that SQL Server is running
on. It is up to our customers to determine which MS SQL Server licenses to use, based in part upon their
individual volume discounts that they have with Microsoft. Please note that Microsoft provides some guidance in
the form of a “How to Buy” document which may be downloaded from their SQL Server website resources.
Oracle
Oracle comes in many different editions, all of which use the same types of licenses. When using StarTeam with
Oracle the customer must have a Named User Plus license for every application user (StarTeam registered user).
The pricing is something that the customer must work with Oracle on.
HOW DO I GET A TEMPORARY STARTEAM LICENSES FOR EVALUATION OF THE PRODUCT?The trial download of StarTeam comes with an Enterprise Advantage license key as standard and is valid for 30
days from installation. It is possible to have this period extended where it can be justified to do so (most
frequently to extend a proof of concept (trial) or for use when migrating data during an upgrade that spans
multiple StarTeam versions.) Please contact your Borland Account Executive to discuss your needs should you
feel a need to extend the standard trial period.
PLATFORM RELATED QUESTIONS
WHAT LINUX® SUPPORT DOES STARTEAM PROVIDE?On the server side, StarTeam 2008 introduced support for Red Hat® Enterprise Linux 5 since Q2 2008.
This includes any updates to the RH Linux version 5 (i.e. version 5.1). This support for Red Hat® Enterprise
Linux 5 Server (32-bit) is continued with StarTeam 2009.
frequently asked questions
Borland® StarTeam®2009
On the client side, StarTeam 2009 provides support for Red Hat® Linux Workstation versions 4.0 and 5.0, through
the cross-platform client.
DOES STARTEAM SUPPORT VIRTUALIZED ENVIRONMENTS(E.G., VMWARE®, CITRIX®, TERMINAL SERVICES)?To answer this question you must first distinguish between virtualized client and virtualized server environments.
On the virtualized server question, this typically includes virtual hardware environment products like VMware
ESX® and Xen where the server operating system is a virtual instance on a physical machine. The primary benefit
of these types of environments is that the operating system can be moved between physical machines at will and is
completely isolated from the hardware-specific device drivers.
Borland supports all StarTeam products running on any virtualized hardware environment (virtualized server).
Production issues experienced when using supported versions of StarTeam with a virtualized hardware environ-
ment can be reported to Technical Support and Borland assumes responsibility to reproduce and/or correct them
per our normal Customer Support policy. We currently have many customers using VMware without difficulty,
including our own field organization. See the full statement of support on support.borland.com for more details.
It’s important to note that StarTeam development does not qualify StarTeam on any virtual hardware environments.
We treat virtualized hardware the same way that we treat native hardware and only perform qualification
on a reference platform.We trust that the vendors of other hardware, both native and virtual, are meeting the
specifications of the reference platform. Most importantly, this means that if customers report a problem to
Technical Support from one of these virtual environments, we will try to help them as best we can but if we are
unable to reproduce the problem they may have to reproduce the problem on non-virtualized installations before
we can escalate the issue.
On the virtualized client question, this typically involves products like Terminal Services and Citrix where a user is
remotely logging into a “shared client” environment and using the StarTeam software installed on the remote
machine. The StarTeam server would then be installed on yet a third machine that the shared client has network
connectivity to. The primary benefit of these types of environments is to avoid installing client software on every
user desktop and/or to allow non-supported client platforms to be able to use the StarTeam client application.
Currently, StarTeam DOES support Terminal Services for client virtualization but DOES NOT support any other
3rd party applications (e.g., Citrix). Please note that for other 3rd party applications all of the statements about
unsupported environments listed above apply.
At this time, there are no known problems with StarTeam and any client virtualization software. Things to keep
in mind, of course, are how user-specific settings are handled (e.g., registry entries, server lists) and how working
folders are specified. The general recommendation is to use individually authenticated user ID’s on the virtualized
client so that all user-specific settings are maintained separately. Also, StarTeam working folders should be direct-
ed to relative file paths (e.g.,“My Documents” or mapped drives) so that multiple user operations don’t conflict.
Of course, for virtualized client environments the existing StarTeamWeb Edition or new StarTeamWeb Client is
always a possible solution as well. This is a supported means for allowing users to login to StarTeam without the
need to install any software on the client desktop. However, there are a few functional differences with the
StarTeamWeb Edition client as well as the new StarTeamWeb Client that may prohibit customers from using
this option.
DOES STARTEAM SUPPORT CLUSTERED OR LOAD BALANCED ENVIRONMENTS?Yes and no. Although, StarTeam is not natively “cluster aware”, it can be used in clustered environments (Microsoft
Cluster Server, etc.). The StarTeam server can be registered as a clustered service and the clustering functionality
for fail-over detection and restart can be applied to the StarTeam services. For more information, please request
the Failover FAQ from your Borland Services representative.
Updated July, 2009
frequently asked questions
Borland® StarTeam®2009
However, StarTeam does not support load-balancing activities. A StarTeam repository can only be accessed by one
StarTeam server process at a time, so it is not possible to start two StarTeam servers that share a single repository.
Also, is it important to note that StarTeam does not support database load-balancing either. That is, you cannot
use StarTeam with database servers that are load-balanced across multiple machines. StarTeam maintains quite
a bit of session state and actively caches database information, so a load-balanced server environment could
introduce inconsistencies in the StarTeam database connection.
DOES STARTEAM SUPPORT AUTOMATED FAIL-OVER?Yes, StarTeam can be configured to support an automated fail-over process. Automated command scripts can be
created to start/stop the StarTeam services, as necessary, to fail-over between StarTeam servers when a failure is
detected. While the fail-over is not “instantaneous” or transactional, the fail-over can happen within minutes and
can happen completely unattended.
Please note that an “active-passive” fail-over method is required, though, rather than an “active-active” method.
This is necessary since StarTeam doesn’t support more than one StarTeam server accessing a single repository at
the same time. Simply put, only one of the redundant StarTeam servers can be active at any one time. The same
is true for the database server which houses the StarTeam repository (see the Clustering support FAQ for more
detail – contact your Borland Services representative for this document).
To create an architecture that supports automated fail-over, the following procedure should be used:
1. Install the StarTeam server on the primary machine
2. Create the StarTeam configuration from the primary StarTeam server
3. Shut down the primary StarTeam server
4. Install the StarTeam server on the secondary machine
5. Define a new configuration on the secondary StarTeam server that points to the same repository created
by the primary StarTeam server
6. Shut down the secondary StarTeam server
7. Restart the primary StarTeam server
Thereafter, the secondary StarTeam server should only be started when the primary StarTeam server is
not running.
Clustering software (described above) can be used to automate this process when a failure of the primary
StarTeam server is detected.
This same mechanism can also be used for routine maintenance activities as well. That is, if similar hardware is
used for both machines, “primary” responsibility can be switched between the two machines at will so that
maintenance activities can be performed without shutting down both servers. Even StarTeam upgrades could be
performed in this manner, though while the servers are out of sync there is some risk in that there is no fail-over
machine available.
DOES STARTEAM SUPPORT 64-BIT ENVIRONMENTS?StarTeam 2009 introduces 64-bit support for the StarTeam server on a 64bit OS platform (64bit Windows Server®
2008). This move dramatically improves the scalability of StarTeam by increasing the access to available memory.
StarTeam 2009 is not supported on 64-bit platforms for any client components, but it is worth noting that the
web server component for the new StarTeamWeb client requires Windows Server 2008 64-bit to run.
As for 64-bit Database support, Borland’s position is that the onus for support is on the database vendor and as
long as they support the use of the 32-bit database drivers that the version of StarTeam specifies with their 64-bit
databases, Borland does not have any concerns supporting such a configuration.
Updated July, 2009
frequently asked questions
Borland® StarTeam®2009
DOES STARTEAM SUPPORT ERP APPLICATIONS LIKE SAP® AND PEOPLESOFT®?To some extent yes. StarTeam can be used in conjunction with ERP application projects (e.g., SAP, PeopleSoft,
Oracle Financials), but it’s not necessarily a perfect fit. Most of the ERP applications are designed such that the
majority of the “application” itself is stored in a relational database as database objects. Accordingly, StarTeam
has no direct visibility to these components since they don’t exist as native file objects.
However, it is possible to design a StarTeam check-in/out process that includes exporting/importing the database
objects as file-system files. This requires an extra step in the process, but it’s not difficult and can be automated
with SQL commands/scripts. Since there are few products that can version control database assets, this is a
reasonable alternative for many customers.
More importantly, any custom development performed for the ERP implementation itself can be versioned and
managed with StarTeam. This would work like any other custom development, and can take advantage of all
StarTeam capability, including version management, change management, requirements integration, task
integration, and online discussion. The “level” of compatibility or integration, then, would depend more on the
development tools used than on the ERP application itself. It’s worth noting that our other ALM tools
(CaliberRM™, Together®, Silk™, etc.) are also applicable for use with these customization activities.
Finally, any customization needs to be tested, and to this end StarTeam can be used to store and version the test
assets as well. If used with testing tools like Borland Silk Central® Test Manager™ or Mercury®/HP® Quality Center,
StarTeam includes native integrations that provide object-level versioning and defect synchronization. With
other testing tools it should be possible to at least version control the file-based testing assets.
DOES STARTEAM SUPPORT IBM® AIX® UNIX®?The answer to this question first depends on whether the question is related to the StarTeam client or server. If
the question is related to the StarTeam client, then currently the StarTeam Cross-Platform Client (CPC) is tested
on Microsoft Windows®, Sun® Solaris®, and Linux. Accordingly, these are the only platforms that we officially
recommend and support for the use of the StarTeam CPC.
However, the CPC is a standard Java® application and compliant with the Sun Java runtime model, so it is
reasonable to expect that it will work on any platform that supports the Sun JRE™ on which we certify the CPC.
For StarTeam 2009, the CPC is certified on the Sun JVM™ 1.6.0_13.We do have anecdotal customer reports that
the StarTeam CPC has been successfully run on an IBM AIX platform on previous StarTeam releases, though we
don’t have any customer references to that effect. In order to install the CPC on a platform other than Windows,
Solaris, or Linux the Universal Client is provided.
For the StarTeam Server, on the other hand, the answer is that IBM AIX is definitely not supported. Not only do
we not test the StarTeam Server in that environment, but the StarTeam Server uses file system access methods
that are specific to the platform on which it is developed and tested. Accordingly, the StarTeam Server will only
run on the officially supported platforms (currently Microsoft Windows and Sun Solaris).
DOES STARTEAM SUPPORT HP HPUX UNIX?The answer to this question first depends on whether the question is related to the StarTeam client or server.
If the question is related to the StarTeam client, then currently the StarTeam Cross-Platform Client (CPC) is
tested on Microsoft Windows, Sun Solaris, and Linux. Accordingly, these are the only platforms that we officially
recommend and support for the use of the StarTeam CPC.
However, the CPC is a standard java application and compliant with the Sun Java runtime model, so it is
reasonable to expect that it will work on any platform that supports the Sun JRE on which we certify the CPC.
For StarTeam 2006, the CPC is certified on the Sun JRE 1.5.0_09.We do have anecdotal customer reports that
the StarTeam CPC has been successfully run on an HP HPUX platform, though we don’t have any customer
references to that effect.
Updated July, 2009
frequently asked questions
Borland® StarTeam®2009
In order to install the CPC on a platform other than Windows, Solaris, or Linux the Universal Client is provided.
For the StarTeam Server, on the other hand, the answer is that HP HPUX is definitely not supported. Not only
do we not test the StarTeam Server in that environment, but the StarTeam Server uses file system access methods
that are specific to the platform on which it is developed and tested. Accordingly, the StarTeam Server will only
run on the officially supported platforms...currently Microsoft Windows and Sun Solaris.
DOES STARTEAM SUPPORT MICROSOFT WINDOWS VISTA®?Microsoft Vista is supported as a deployment platform for the StarTeam clients (CPC, SDK, stcmd, bco, VCM)
since the StarTeam 2008 release onward , which was delivered in Q1 2008. The StarTeam 2009 clients are quali-
fied on Windows Vista Enterprise Edition SP1. StarTeam server will not be supported on Windows Vista.
DOES STARTEAM SUPPORT MICROSOFT WINDOWS SERVER 2008 (“LONGHORN”)?Yes, the StarTeam 2009 server supports MS Windows Server 2008, 64-bit (only). The web server component for
the new StarTeam 2009 Web Client requires MS Windows Server 2008, 64-bit edition.
DOES STARTEAM SUPPORT MICROSOFT SCC?Yes, StarTeam includes a native integration for Microsoft SCC.While the SCC interface is a de facto standard, not
all development tools support the SCC interface in exactly the same way. So, Borland tests our SCC integration
for completeness with a small set of tools. The testing for the most recent releases of the StarTeam SCC
Integration included testing against PowerBuilder versions 10 and 10.5. Should a customer use this StarTeam
integration with one of the supported tools listed, we will support that effort and will work to correct the
StarTeam integration, when necessary. For other tools, the customer should contact the tool vendor directly if
problems are encountered.
DOES STARTEAM SUPPORT SYBASE® POWERBUILDER®?Yes, StarTeam supports integration with Sybase PowerBuilder through our standard Microsoft SCC integration.
Borland tests the integration for completeness with a small set of tools, one of which is PowerBuilder. Normally,
at the time that the StarTeam SCC integration is released it is tested using the most recent version of
PowerBuilder.
For more details, please see the StarTeam Technical Publications page.
WORKFLOW AND CUSTOMIZATION RELATED QUESTIONS
WHAT PROGRAMMING LANGUAGES DOES THE STARTEAM SDK SUPPORT?The StarTeam SDK is provided in three different versions to support a wide variety of programming languages.
The three versions include a Java API, a .NET API, and a COM API. The Java API supports any Java programming
construct that can consume a standard Java “jar” file. The .NET API supports any native .NET programming
language (Visual Basic® .NET, C#, etc.). The COM API supports any programming language that can consume
standard COM-based DLL libraries (VB, C, C++, etc.).
The Java SDK is the “primary” API development platform for the Borland R&D team. Accordingly, every exposed
function is available in the Java SDK. The .NET harness is also a native SDK, but at this point there is still some
functionality which has not been added to the .NET SDK. The COM SDK is actually built with an automated
generator (based on the Java SDK) so there are a few things that aren’t available because the generator doesn’t
support them.
In general, though, the actual choice of which platform and/or programming language to use is completely at the
customer’s discretion. Borland supports all three platforms equally, within the constraints listed above, and does
not “recommend” a specific approach.
Updated July, 2009
frequently asked questions
Borland® StarTeam®2009
Please keep in mind, though, that Borland support for any SDK-based application extends only to the installation
and manufacture of the SDK itself. That is, we can help customers install the SDK and ensure it is working
properly and we will correct any defects identified in the included classes and methods. However, we can’t provide
support for customer SDK applications and Borland Support can’t help a customer develop an SDK application or
provide programming expertise related to the SDK methods. Should you require this kind of help, please contact
your Borland Services Representative for consulting support.
HOW CAN I EMBED A STARTEAM URL IN AN EMAIL NOTIFICATION MESSAGE?Customers often ask to be able to embed a URL to the object specified in a workflow notification message. This
is possible using the extended mark up capabilities of the Workflow Designer. Here is an example of message text
that includes a URL:
To use this technique, paste the text listed above into the “Body” field of the “Step Notification” tab in the
Workflow Designer. Of course, you would need to substitute the proper DNS server name and port for
“localhost:49201” as well as to supply the proper project and view names.
Please note this capability is available in the current product and can be demonstrated successfully.
STARTEAM WEB BROWSER BASED CLIENT QUESTIONS
WHAT IS THE NEW STARTEAM WEB CLIENT?With the release of StarTeam 2009, Borland is making available a brand new browser based client for StarTeam,
known as the “StarTeamWeb Client”. This new client was built from the ground up for this release and is not to
be confused with the existing StarTeamWeb Edition client (which we continue to include and support with this
release). The new StarTeamWeb Client is an intuitive web-based interface intended for use by hundreds of
simultaneous non-developer users who may connect to one or more StarTeam Servers to access projects and
manage items. This release of the Web Client delivers a core feature set designed to meet the needs of users
responsible for viewing, creating, and editing StarTeam change requests, requirements, tasks, and topics.
Browsing and downloading of files are also possible. This new addition to StarTeam client options facilitates
rapid tool adoption across the enterprise as a result of the inherent ease of deployment and focus on ease of use.
The new web client is capable of working with all StarTeam component item types, namely: Files, Change
Requests, Tasks, Requirements and Topics. The actual available item types in the Web Client are subject to the
edition of StarTeam you use. (ie.Requirements are only exposed with the Enterprise Advantage Edition of the
product for example.) Note that for files the Web Client allows you to work with an existing file in the following
ways:
� View and edit file properties
� Save a file to your local disc
� View historical information about file revisions
Updated July, 2009
<html>
<body>
<a href=”starteam://localhost:49201/{{project-name}}/{{view-name}}/{{property name=”@primary-descriptor”}}
;scheme=name;ns={{type-name}};scope=full”>{{type-name}}
{{property name=”@primary-descriptor”}}</a>
</body>
</html>
frequently asked questions
Borland® StarTeam®2009
The new StarTeamWeb Client supports the following activities:
� Browsing and filtering Items
� Downloading or renaming a File
� Creating and editing an Item
� Locking and unlocking an Item
� Deleting an Item
� Displaying Item details
� Viewing or modifying Item properties
� Viewing or modifying Item properties
� Copying an Item or Folder URL to the clipboard (Web Client and Cross-Platform Client URLs area
not compatible.)
� Navigate the Web Client to a StarTeam URL
� Viewing an Item revision's properties
� Editing an Item revision's comment
� Viewing an Item's historical revisions
HOW IS THE NEW STARTEAM 2009 WEB CLIENT LICENSED?The StarTeam 2009 Web Client is simply an additional user interface option and does not require a separate pur-
chase or license. Every licensed StarTeam Enterprise or StarTeam Enterprise Advantage user has the right to use
the StarTeam 2009 Web Client. When a user invokes the StarTeamWeb Client interface they are prompted to
login with a user ID and password, and that login consumes a StarTeam named or concurrent license just as any
other StarTeam client.
Updated July, 2009
Figure 1 - The new StarTeam 2009 Web Client
frequently asked questions
Borland® StarTeam®2009
HOW DOES THE FUNCTIONALITY IN THE NEW STARTEAM 2009 WEB CLIENT DIFFER FROM THE OTHERSTARTEAM CLIENTS?The StarTeam 2009 Web Client offers nearly all of the same “end user” functionality offered by the “thick”
StarTeam client interfaces (e.g., Cross-Platform Client aka the “CPC”) but there are differences and even some
capabilities not found in the CPC. It does not provide for example the same level of administrative functionality
included in the CPC. On the other hand, it does provide some exciting on the fly filtering capabilities of the on
screen data, improving the focus of the user by reducing UI clutter and noise. It’s important to note that while
files may be downloaded (one at a time), there is currently no support for the “check-in” or uploading of files to
the repository. The new web client is targeted at a non-developer, less technical audience, where the ability to
browse and then download a file is deemed more important alongside the ability to fully participate in change
management and review activities by updating the status of work items and moving items along their designated
workflows.
WHAT IS STARTEAM WEB EDITION?StarTeamWeb Edition is an ASP-based, thin-client user interface to the StarTeam server. It provides nearly all of
the same “end user” functionality offered by the “thick” StarTeam client interfaces (e.g.,Win32® client, Java client).
It does not provide, however, most of the administrative functionality included in the other clients.
Since StarTeamWeb Edition uses a web server security model, it can be deployed in a DMZ-style environment
where the only port necessary to be opened on a firewall is the port for the web server itself. The StarTeam
Web Edition is also a dynamic interface and no software needs to be installed on the client machine besides a
Java runtime.
The StarTeamWeb Edition is only supported and tested for the Microsoft Internet Explorer® browser. However,
it should work with any client-side web browser that supports ASP extensions. StarTeamWeb Edition is an ASP
application so it requires the Microsoft Internet Information Services (IIS) web server and will not work with
any other web server software.
HOW IS THE STARTEAM WEB EDITION LICENSED?StarTeamWeb Edition is simply an additional user interface option and does not require a separate purchase.
Every licensed StarTeam Enterprise or StarTeam Enterprise Advantage user has the right to use the StarTeamWeb
Edition. When a user invokes the StarTeamWeb Edition interface they are prompted to login with a user ID and
password, and that login consumes a StarTeam named or concurrent license just as any other StarTeam client.
HOW DOES THE FUNCTIONALITY IN WEB EDITION DIFFER FROM THE OTHER STARTEAM CLIENTS?The StarTeamWeb Edition has nearly all of the same “end user” functionality offered by the “thick” StarTeam
client interfaces (e.g. Java Cross-Platform Client). It does not provide, however, most of the administrative
functionality included in the other clients.
IS THERE A SCALABILITY LIMIT FOR STARTEAM WEB EDITION?Yes, due to some SDK issues, the current StarTeamWeb Edition (2006 and earlier) has a scalability threshold
beyond which the STWE server appears to “lock up” and stop responding to end-user requests. The actual
threshold will vary by customer installation, but it generally is in the vicinity of 20-30 concurrent users.
However, please note that this is limit per IIS server. So, it is theoretically possible to add additional IIS servers
into a cluster as needed to support the actual customer load. If the customer expects 100 concurrent users, for
example, you could put 4 IIS servers in a load-balanced cluster and probably satisfy the demand. However, this is
impractical if the number of concurrent users gets into the multiple hundreds since the cost of the IIS servers
necessary would become a blocking issue.
Also keep in mind that the StarTeamWeb Edition is not required to access a StarTeam server. Consider to simply
use the StarTeam Cross-Platform Client with a VPN or routers configured to allow direct TCP/IP access to the
StarTeam server.
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frequently asked questions
Borland® StarTeam®2009
STARTEAM DATAMART RELATED QUESTIONS
WHAT IS THE STARTEAM DATAMART?The StarTeam DataMart is a standardized extract, transfer, and load (ETL) utility that extracts data from the
StarTeam operational database and loads it into a relational database. The DataMart is run on request, usually
once or twice a day, and can be run from a command line so that it can be automated through normal
scheduling software.
The relational database itself is fully normalized to support customized reporting and includes easily understood
table and column names (unlike the StarTeam operational database where all table and column names are
obfuscated). The StarTeam DataMart currently supports Microsoft SQL Server and Oracle as target platforms
for the extraction, and others could be added as customers demand. For complete details about the DataMart
schema, please see the user guide.
Any client-side reporting tool that can access a SQL Server or Oracle database can be used with the StarTeam
DataMart, and access to the DataMart database can be achieved with native database drivers or through ODBC.
Any SQL-based query tool can be used, and customers have successfully used everything from Business Objects
to Cognos to Microsoft Access.
Please note that the DataMart only includes the extraction technology and does NOT include any client-side
reporting tools. At this time, Borland does NOT recommend any specific client reporting tools for creating the
final output. While we do provide samples for both Business Objects and Crystal Reports, that should not be
considered an endorsement of the Business Objects reporting tools.
IS A LICENSE NECESSARY FOR THE STARTEAM DATAMART?StarTeam Enterprise Advantage includes the StarTeam DataMart at no additional charge. That means that
customers who’ve purchased StarTeam EA do not need to purchase anything additional to use the DataMart
functionality.
However, for StarTeam Enterprise customers the StarTeam DataMart is an available option which can be
purchased in addition to their normal StarTeam licenses. Please contact your Borland Account Executive for
pricing information.
In both cases above, the StarTeam DataMart runs as an authenticated client. That means that a license must be
allocated to the user ID used to execute the DataMart extraction process. In most cases, customers will create a
“service account” for the DataMart that has a dedicated named license associated to it. When the DataMart is
running the extraction process, it does consume the license assigned to that user ID.
WHERE DOES A CUSTOMER GET THE SOFTWARE FOR STARTEAM DATAMART?When a customer purchases StarTeam Enterprise Advantage, they will also receive an email with electronic
download instructions for StarTeam DataMart. Customers can use this URL to download the DataMart installa-
tion software at no additional charge.
I’D LIKE TO GENERATE REPORTS DIRECTLY FROM THE STARTEAM DATABASE. WHERE DO I GETINFORMATION ABOUT THE STARTEAM SCHEMA?This is something that we strongly discourage for a number of reasons. First and foremost, any reporting activity
against the production database will impact the StarTeam server performance and scalability. All of the numbers
we publish and recommendations we make assume that the StarTeam server process has sole ownership and
access to the designated SQL database. If the server process has to contend with other user-managed threads it
could cause contention in the database layer. In addition, most report-based queries use a “table scan” method
to develop the necessary record complex and that adds a significant amount of overhead on the database
server itself.
Updated July, 2009
frequently asked questions
Borland® StarTeam®2009
Secondly, the StarTeam SQL schema is a proprietary format. It is not publicly documented and it is subject to
change at any time. There is no guarantee that any piece of data being used to manage a query won’t be altered in
the next version. In fact, there is no guarantee that even the table structures will remain consistent between
releases.
For these reasons, the StarTeam DataMart was developed to provide a documented, report-friendly database
schema for ad-hoc reporting. Of course, it works via a “batch” extractor so the information is a timed extract and
could be slightly out of date. However, the DataMart does include an incremental extraction capability to allow
frequent extractions, thereby reducing the latency of the information.
To view detailed information about the StarTeam DataMart schema, please see the StarTeam DataMart User
Guide, which can be found on our public web site, www.Borland.com.
BORLAND SEARCH RELATED QUESTIONS
WHAT IS BORLAND SEARCH?Designed for ad-hoc information retrieval, Borland Search is an innovative real-time search and retrieval
architecture that derives tangible information out of hard data to enable software teams to make better
business decisions.
It uses industry-standard Lucene search technology to index StarTeam and CaliberRM repositories so keyword
search can be performed on both repository object definitions and contents.
For more information about Borland Search, please see the Borland Search User Guide, which can be found on
our public web site, www.borland.com
IS A LICENSE NECESSARY FOR BORLAND SEARCH?StarTeam Enterprise Advantage includes Borland Search at no additional charge. That means that customers
who’ve purchased StarTeam EA do not need to purchase anything additional to use the Search functionality.
However, Borland Search is NOT available for StarTeam Enterprise customers.
As for licensing, Borland Search runs as an authenticated client. That means that a license must be allocated to
the user ID used to execute the Search indexing process. In most cases, customers will create a “service account”
for Borland Search that has a dedicated named license associated to it. When Borland Search is running the
indexing process, it does consume the license assigned to that user ID.
WHERE DOES A CUSTOMER GET THE SOFTWARE FOR BORLAND SEARCH?When a customer purchases StarTeam Enterprise Advantage, they should receive an email with electronic down-
load instructions for Borland Search. Customers can use this URL to download the Borland Search installation
software at no additional charge.
GENERAL USE AND LIMITATIONS QUESTIONS
DOES STARTEAM SUPPORT OFF-LINE (DISCONNECTED) USE?The answer to this question depends on what type of access is required. StarTeam version control functionality
uses a “check-out” and “check-in” metaphor. So, once files are checked out to the local client machine, they are
available to be edited in an “offline” fashion. That is, no connection to the StarTeam server is required until the
next check-out or check-in operation is performed.
However, all StarTeam commands require an active connection to the StarTeam server. For example, in order to
create labels, update change requests, or generate reports, the user must be logged in and connected to the server.
So, for these types of operations, there is no “offline” capability.
Updated July, 2009
frequently asked questions
Borland® StarTeam®2009
DOES STARTEAM SUPPORT ON-LINE BACKUPS?Since StarTeam 2005, the StarTeam repository is built around a storage technology called the “Native-II Vault”
structure. This structure is designed, among other things, to allow online backups that DO NOT require the
StarTeam server to be locked or stopped. That is, backups can occur while users are actively working with
the server.
Please note that a StarTeam configuration actually consists of two storage areas. The first is a relational database
used to house the metadata, and the second is a structured file system area (commonly referred to as the “Vault”)
used to store the actual file contents. Both components must be backed up and traditional database and file
backup tools can be used. The only caveat is that the database must be completely backed up before the file
system assets are backed up.
Customers can use any database backup tool of their choice, and there are several for each relational platform that
support transactionally-consistent backup snapshots. Also, since the vault is a “write once” technology, standard
file backup utilities can be used and there is no fear of files being locked or busy during the backup operation.
To restore your backup, you would need to restore both the vault files and the database content. The restore
order doesn’t matter as long as both restores are complete before the server is restarted. If there are “extra” files in
the vault (e.g., files added AFTER the database snapshot was taken), the StarTeam server will just ignore them
and no harm is done. There is even a StarTeam utility to identify extra vault files and delete them in order to
save the disk space.
It is worth noting that prior to StarTeam 2005, StarTeam used the “Native-I Vault” structure which DOES
NOT support on-line backups. Customers still using the Native-I vault format are encouraged to upgrade their
repositories to the newer format as soon as possible.
WHAT IS THE MAXIMUM SIZE FOR A STARTEAM IDENTIFIER?Most StarTeam internal identifiers (e.g., Change Request ID, Task ID) are stored using an integer data type.
Accordingly, the maximum value is 2^31, or 2,147,483,647.
DOES STARTEAM HAVE ANY PROBLEMS WITH LEAP YEAR DATES?StarTeam has no known issues with the leap day of this or any other leap year. Operating systems and JREs
(from which StarTeam takes the current date and time for item revisions and file time stamps) are accustomed
to dealing with leap years. The excitement caused in 2007 with the changes to daylight savings time (DST)
schedules were due to the use of new dates for those time changes and unrelated to the well known and defined
leap year changes.
STARTEAM MARKET POSITIONING QUESTIONS
HOW MUCH DOES BORLAND SPEND ON RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT FOR STARTEAM?It is Borland company policy not to discuss the percentage of investment in any specific product, either as a
dollar figure or a percentage of overall expenditures. Instead, we only publish our financial statistics as company
totals and those numbers are available in our SEC filings. This policy is consistent with our corporate stance on
revenue reporting as well, where we don’t discuss the breakdown of revenue between the ALM products. We do
not publish this information, nor do we release it in any way, even under NDA.
However, we do have a generic market positioning statement as evidence of our growth in ALM revenue and the
importance of StarTeam in that arena. As the positioning statement points out, SCM is one of the cornerstones
of any ALM business and StarTeam is Borland’s strategic product for SCM. It is vital to our business that we not
only continue to invest in SCM, but to increase those investments over time to meet the expanding needs of our
ALM customers.
For a copy of this market positioning statement, please contact your account representative.
Updated July, 2009
frequently asked questions
Borland® StarTeam®2009
WHAT IS BORLAND’S ANNUAL REVENUE FOR STARTEAM?It is Borland company policy not to disclose the sales revenue for any specific product, either as a dollar figure
or a percentage of overall sales. Instead, we only publish our financial statistics as company totals and those
numbers are available in our SEC filings. This policy is consistent with our corporate stance on R&D investment
as well, where we don’t discuss the breakdown of R&D investment between the ALM products.We do not publish
this information, nor do we release it in any way, even under NDA.
However, we do have a generic market positioning statement as evidence of our growth in ALM revenue and the
importance of StarTeam in that arena. As the positioning statement points out, SCM is one of the cornerstones
of any ALM business and StarTeam is Borland’s strategic product for SCM. It is vital to our business that we not
only continue to invest in SCM, but to increase those investments over time to meet the expanding needs of our
ALM customers.
Copyright © 2009 Borland Software Corporation. All Borland brand and product names are service marks, trademarks or registeredtrademarks of Borland Software Corporation or its subsidiaries in the United States and other countries. All other marksare the property of their respective owners. 26684
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Borland is the leading vendor of Open Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) solutions - open to customers' processes, tools and platforms - providing the flexibilityto manage, measure and improve the software delivery process.
Updated July, 2009