file is shared, both the object and its shared instance identification must be used to determine the ultimate deployment. The CM tool must facilitate deployment shared objects by providing the means to naturally indicate where the shared object is to be deployed.
Linked Files
A cousin of a shared file is a linked file. Some operating systems allow you to create a reference link to a file so that when the reference link is accessed, it is the same as accessing the linked file. Unix has very good linking. Windows does a part of the job. How important linked files are to deployment depends on the application. Perhaps it fine to replicate the file on deployment. Again, the CM tool which understands and provides linking capabilities for the underlying deploy architecture has an advantage.
What are Your Requirements
Application Deployment requirements are many and varied. We've looked at a few of these in this article. If you have additional requirements, we want to hear from you! Post a new thread, or reply to this article.
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About the author
Joe Farah is the President and CEO of Neuma Technology and is a regular contributor to the CM Journal. Prior to co-founding Neuma in 1990 and directing the development of CM+, Joe was Director of Software Architecture and Technology at Mitel, and in the 1970s a Development Manager at Nortel (Bell-Northern Research) where he developed the Program Library System (PLS) still heavily in use by Nortel's largest projects. A software developer since the late 1960s, Joe holds a B.A.Sc. degree in Engineering Science from the University of Toronto. You can contact Joe at farah@neuma.com
