Creating streams

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A stream is a repository object that includes one or more components. Streams are typically used to integrate the work that is done in workspaces. Team members deliver their own changes to the stream and accept changes from other team members into their repository workspaces from the stream.

About this task

Whether you are part of a team, you can create a stream to hold the versions of components that represent an important configuration of a system. A milestone release of a software development project is an example of one such configuration. A stable version of an open source software package is another. When team members deliver change sets from their workspaces to a stream and accept change sets that are delivered to the stream by other team members, the stream represents the current state of the development effort for the entire team. When deliveries to a stream are constrained by process controls (requiring code to be free of compilation errors, or reviewed and approved before delivery), the stream becomes a stable source of shared artifacts. All streams are flow targets of workspaces or other streams. Some streams (such as integration streams) have their own flow targets, which are typically established when the stream is created.

A stream can include a number of components. Any component in the repository can be made part of a stream, though typically the components in a stream have dependencies or functional relationships that make it sensible to group them. After you have created a stream, you can use the Stream editor to add components to it, remove them from it, or change the versions of one or more components in the stream.

If you want a backup of a stream, you can create a duplicate stream. The duplicate stream contains the same components and change sets as the original stream.

Procedure

  1. In the Team Artifacts view, navigate to your project area, right-click Source Control, and click New Stream.
  2. In the Stream editor, enter a name and optional description for the new stream, and select the project or team area to own the stream. In the Components area, specify the components that team members can work on in this stream. Click Add to search for existing components to add to the stream. Click New to create a component and add it to the stream.
  3. Create one or more flow targets for the stream.
    For more information, see Adding and changing stream flow targets.
  4. Optional: To create a duplicate stream:
    1. In the Team Artifacts view, right-click a stream and click Duplicate.
    2. In the New Stream editor, in the Repository field, select a repository.
    3. In the Owned by field, select a project or team area to own the stream.
    4. Type a name and a brief description for the duplicate stream.
    5. Click Finish.
    Note: When you duplicate a stream, the new stream has the current versions of the components. To create a new stream from a particular point in time, use a snapshot.