Deciding on the feature level

IBM Rational® ClearQuest® Version 7.1.x gives you the choice of creating schema repositories and user databases with feature level 5, 6, or 7. You can also raise existing schema repositories and user databases from feature level 5 to 6, or from 6 to 7.

The feature level and metaschema version define the structure of the data stored in Rational ClearQuest schema repositories and user databases. New feature levels and metaschema versions typically add new columns to tables and new tables to databases to support new features. For information about features available at the different feature levels, see Features in the feature levels

Feature levels are associated with specific metaschema versions. The following table lists the supported feature levels and metaschema versions for every release of Rational ClearQuest.
Table 1. Supported feature levels and metaschema versions
Version Metaschema version Feature level
2003/7.0.0.0 22 5
7.0.1.0 22 5 and 6
7.1.x 22 5, 6 and 7

Only clients upgraded to Version 7.1.x can access user databases that are at feature level 7 and below. Clients at 7.0.1 can access only user databases at feature level 6 and below, and clients at 7.0.0 and below 2003.06.xx can access only user databases at feature level 5. These product versions and feature level compatibility requirements also apply to the other Rational ClearQuest components such as the Designer and Maintenance Tool. These factors must be considered when determining whether to upgrade in phases, or all at once.

If you upgrade your user databases to a particular feature level, all clients accessing that user database must upgrade to the corresponding product version of the schema repository. For example, if the schema repository is at feature level 7 and the user database is at feature level 6, the client must be at version 7.1.x to access the user database.

One factor that simplifies raising the feature level is that upgrading the user databases can be performed with an in-place upgrade. That means you can use the Maintenance Tool to upgrade a user database to a higher feature level without having to create a new database and copy data to it.

Your Rational ClearQuest databases must be at feature level 5 and metaschema 22 or higher before you install Version 7.1.x. If your databases were created with version 2001A.04.20 or later, then these databases are at level 5.
Note: For IBM Rational ProjectConsole, a client at version 7.1.x can upgrade feature level 3 databases to feature level 5, 6, or 7. But the client cannot access feature level 3 databases.

Also, before you raise the feature level of your databases, make sure that the database connections are all compatible with your version of Rational ClearQuest. For more information, see Setting database properties and connection information.

Upgrading everything at once

For information about when to upgrade your feature levels when upgrading the entire environment at once, see Upgrading the environment at one time.

Upgrading in phases

If you are upgrading your environment in phases, there are considerations to made when upgrading your feature levels. These conditions apply whether you are upgrading to feature level 5, 6, or 7.
  • All clients must be upgraded to the feature level's corresponding product version before upgrading the user database and schema repositories to that feature level. If not, the clients cannot access the user database.
  • All servers and databases must be at a version supported by the feature level's corresponding release before upgrading. For more information, see Vendor database and platform support
  • User databases and schema repositories do not need to be at the same level. You can upgrade an existing schema repository to feature level 6 while leaving the associated user databases on feature level 5, or you can upgrade an existing schema repository to feature level 7 while leaving the associated user databases on feature level 5 or 6. This allows you to upgrade your user databases and your Rational ClearQuest clients to higher feature levels in phases over time. However, all clients must be upgraded to the same product version that corresponds to the feature level of the user database.
  • Upgrading in phases only supports unidirectional replication in your MultiSite environment. If you can accept unidirectional replication (that is, some sites cannot receive updates from other sites), you can upgrade MultiSite synchronization servers and shipping servers in phases. Unidirectional replication means that packets sent from a user database with a lower feature level are accepted by user databases with a higher feature level, but packets from a user database with a higher feature level are not accepted by a user database with a lower feature level. User databases do not need to be at the same feature level as their associated schema repositories. You can raise the feature level of schema repositories first and raise the feature level of their associated user databases later. Schema repositories must be at compatible feature levels to support unidirectional replication. For example, if the feature level 5 user database has a feature level 7 schema repository, the packets sent from it are not accepted by a feature level 6 user database that has a feature level 6 schema repository.
    The following table shows the packet versions that a site can create and can accept. Rational ClearQuest Version 7.1.x supports packet versions 6 to 11.
    Table 2.
    Schema Repository feature level User database feature level Created Packet Version Accepted Packet Version
    7 7 11 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11
    7 6 10 6, 7, 8, 9, 10
    7 5 9 6, 7, 8, 9
    6 6 8 6, 7, 8
    6 5 7 6, 7
    5 5 6 6

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