cvs/doc/cvs.info-5

This is cvs.info, produced by makeinfo version 4.0 from ./cvs.texinfo.

START-INFO-DIR-ENTRY
* CVS: (cvs).          Concurrent Versions System
END-INFO-DIR-ENTRY

   Copyright (C) 1992, 1993 Signum Support AB Copyright (C) 1993, 1994
Free Software Foundation, Inc.

   Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of this
manual provided the copyright notice and this permission notice are
preserved on all copies.

   Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified versions of
this manual under the conditions for verbatim copying, provided also
that the entire resulting derived work is distributed under the terms
of a permission notice identical to this one.

   Permission is granted to copy and distribute translations of this
manual into another language, under the above conditions for modified
versions, except that this permission notice may be stated in a
translation approved by the Free Software Foundation.


File: cvs.info,  Node: First import,  Next: Update imports,  Up: Tracking sources

Importing for the first time
============================

   Use the `import' command to check in the sources for the first time.
When you use the `import' command to track third-party sources, the
"vendor tag" and "release tags" are useful.  The "vendor tag" is a
symbolic name for the branch (which is always 1.1.1, unless you use the
`-b BRANCH' flag--*Note Multiple vendor branches::.).  The "release
tags" are symbolic names for a particular release, such as `FSF_0_04'.

   Note that `import' does _not_ change the directory in which you
invoke it.  In particular, it does not set up that directory as a CVS
working directory; if you want to work with the sources import them
first and then check them out into a different directory (*note Getting
the source::).

   Suppose you have the sources to a program called `wdiff' in a
directory `wdiff-0.04', and are going to make private modifications
that you want to be able to use even when new releases are made in the
future.  You start by importing the source to your repository:

     $ cd wdiff-0.04
     $ cvs import -m "Import of FSF v. 0.04" fsf/wdiff FSF_DIST WDIFF_0_04

   The vendor tag is named `FSF_DIST' in the above example, and the
only release tag assigned is `WDIFF_0_04'.


File: cvs.info,  Node: Update imports,  Next: Reverting local changes,  Prev: First import,  Up: Tracking sources

Updating with the import command
================================

   When a new release of the source arrives, you import it into the
repository with the same `import' command that you used to set up the
repository in the first place.  The only difference is that you specify
a different release tag this time.

     $ tar xfz wdiff-0.05.tar.gz
     $ cd wdiff-0.05
     $ cvs import -m "Import of FSF v. 0.05" fsf/wdiff FSF_DIST WDIFF_0_05

   For files that have not been modified locally, the newly created
revision becomes the head revision.  If you have made local changes,
`import' will warn you that you must merge the changes into the main
trunk, and tell you to use `checkout -j' to do so.

     $ cvs checkout -jFSF_DIST:yesterday -jFSF_DIST wdiff

The above command will check out the latest revision of `wdiff',
merging the changes made on the vendor branch `FSF_DIST' since
yesterday into the working copy.  If any conflicts arise during the
merge they should be resolved in the normal way (*note Conflicts
example::).  Then, the modified files may be committed.

   Using a date, as suggested above, assumes that you do not import
more than one release of a product per day. If you do, you can always
use something like this instead:

     $ cvs checkout -jWDIFF_0_04 -jWDIFF_0_05 wdiff

In this case, the two above commands are equivalent.


File: cvs.info,  Node: Reverting local changes,  Next: Binary files in imports,  Prev: Update imports,  Up: Tracking sources

Reverting to the latest vendor release
======================================

   You can also revert local changes completely and return to the
latest vendor release by changing the `head' revision back to the
vendor branch on all files.  For example, if you have a checked-out
copy of the sources in `~/work.d/wdiff', and you want to revert to the
vendor's version for all the files in that directory, you would type:

     $ cd ~/work.d/wdiff
     $ cvs admin -bWDIFF .

You must specify the `-bWDIFF' without any space after the `-b'.  *Note
admin options::.


File: cvs.info,  Node: Binary files in imports,  Next: Keywords in imports,  Prev: Reverting local changes,  Up: Tracking sources

How to handle binary files with cvs import
==========================================

   Use the `-k' wrapper option to tell import which files are binary.
*Note Wrappers::.


File: cvs.info,  Node: Keywords in imports,  Next: Multiple vendor branches,  Prev: Binary files in imports,  Up: Tracking sources

How to handle keyword substitution with cvs import
==================================================

   The sources which you are importing may contain keywords (*note
Keyword substitution::).  For example, the vendor may use CVS or some
other system which uses similar keyword expansion syntax.  If you just
import the files in the default fashion, then the keyword expansions
supplied by the vendor will be replaced by keyword expansions supplied
by your own copy of CVS.  It may be more convenient to maintain the
expansions supplied by the vendor, so that this information can supply
information about the sources that you imported from the vendor.

   To maintain the keyword expansions supplied by the vendor, supply
the `-ko' option to `cvs import' the first time you import the file.
This will turn off keyword expansion for that file entirely, so if you
want to be more selective you'll have to think about what you want and
use the `-k' option to `cvs update' or `cvs admin' as appropriate.


File: cvs.info,  Node: Multiple vendor branches,  Prev: Keywords in imports,  Up: Tracking sources

Multiple vendor branches
========================

   All the examples so far assume that there is only one vendor from
which you are getting sources.  In some situations you might get
sources from a variety of places.  For example, suppose that you are
dealing with a project where many different people and teams are
modifying the software.  There are a variety of ways to handle this,
but in some cases you have a bunch of source trees lying around and
what you want to do more than anything else is just to all put them in
CVS so that you at least have them in one place.

   For handling situations in which there may be more than one vendor,
you may specify the `-b' option to `cvs import'.  It takes as an
argument the vendor branch to import to.  The default is `-b 1.1.1'.

   For example, suppose that there are two teams, the red team and the
blue team, that are sending you sources.  You want to import the red
team's efforts to branch 1.1.1 and use the vendor tag RED.  You want to
import the blue team's efforts to branch 1.1.3 and use the vendor tag
BLUE.  So the commands you might use are:

     $ cvs import dir RED RED_1-0
     $ cvs import -b 1.1.3 dir BLUE BLUE_1-5

   Note that if your vendor tag does not match your `-b' option, CVS
will not detect this case!  For example,

     $ cvs import -b 1.1.3 dir RED RED_1-0

Be careful; this kind of mismatch is sure to sow confusion or worse.  I
can't think of a useful purpose for the ability to specify a mismatch
here, but if you discover such a use, don't.  CVS is likely to make this
an error in some future release.


File: cvs.info,  Node: Builds,  Next: Special Files,  Prev: Tracking sources,  Up: Top

How your build system interacts with CVS
****************************************

   As mentioned in the introduction, CVS does not contain software for
building your software from source code.  This section describes how
various aspects of your build system might interact with CVS.

   One common question, especially from people who are accustomed to
RCS, is how to make their build get an up to date copy of the sources.
The answer to this with CVS is two-fold.  First of all, since CVS
itself can recurse through directories, there is no need to modify your
`Makefile' (or whatever configuration file your build tool uses) to
make sure each file is up to date.  Instead, just use two commands,
first `cvs -q update' and then `make' or whatever the command is to
invoke your build tool.  Secondly, you do not necessarily _want_ to get
a copy of a change someone else made until you have finished your own
work.  One suggested approach is to first update your sources, then
implement, build and test the change you were thinking of, and then
commit your sources (updating first if necessary).  By periodically (in
between changes, using the approach just described) updating your
entire tree, you ensure that your sources are sufficiently up to date.

   One common need is to record which versions of which source files
went into a particular build.  This kind of functionality is sometimes
called "bill of materials" or something similar.  The best way to do
this with CVS is to use the `tag' command to record which versions went
into a given build (*note Tags::).

   Using CVS in the most straightforward manner possible, each
developer will have a copy of the entire source tree which is used in a
particular build.  If the source tree is small, or if developers are
geographically dispersed, this is the preferred solution.  In fact one
approach for larger projects is to break a project down into smaller
separately-compiled subsystems, and arrange a way of releasing them
internally so that each developer need check out only those subsystems
which are they are actively working on.

   Another approach is to set up a structure which allows developers to
have their own copies of some files, and for other files to access
source files from a central location.  Many people have come up with
some such a system using features such as the symbolic link feature
found in many operating systems, or the `VPATH' feature found in many
versions of `make'.  One build tool which is designed to help with this
kind of thing is Odin (see
`ftp://ftp.cs.colorado.edu/pub/distribs/odin').


File: cvs.info,  Node: Special Files,  Next: CVS commands,  Prev: Builds,  Up: Top

Special Files
*************

   In normal circumstances, CVS works only with regular files.  Every
file in a project is assumed to be persistent; it must be possible to
open, read and close them; and so on.  CVS also ignores file
permissions and ownerships, leaving such issues to be resolved by the
developer at installation time.  In other words, it is not possible to
"check in" a device into a repository; if the device file cannot be
opened, CVS will refuse to handle it.  Files also lose their ownerships
and permissions during repository transactions.


File: cvs.info,  Node: CVS commands,  Next: Invoking CVS,  Prev: Special Files,  Up: Top

Guide to CVS commands
*********************

   This appendix describes the overall structure of CVS commands, and
describes some commands in detail (others are described elsewhere; for
a quick reference to CVS commands, *note Invoking CVS::).

* Menu:

* Structure::                   Overall structure of CVS commands
* Exit status::                 Indicating CVS's success or failure
* ~/.cvsrc::                    Default options with the ~/.csvrc file
* Global options::              Options you give to the left of cvs_command
* Common options::              Options you give to the right of cvs_command
* admin::                       Administration
* checkout::                    Checkout sources for editing
* commit::                      Check files into the repository
* diff::                        Show differences between revisions
* export::                      Export sources from CVS, similar to checkout
* history::                     Show status of files and users
* import::                      Import sources into CVS, using vendor branches
* log::                         Show log messages for files
* rdiff::                       'patch' format diffs between releases
* release::                     Indicate that a directory is no longer in use
* update::                      Bring work tree in sync with repository


File: cvs.info,  Node: Structure,  Next: Exit status,  Up: CVS commands

Overall structure of CVS commands
=================================

   The overall format of all CVS commands is:

     cvs [ cvs_options ] cvs_command [ command_options ] [ command_args ]

`cvs'
     The name of the CVS program.

`cvs_options'
     Some options that affect all sub-commands of CVS.  These are
     described below.

`cvs_command'
     One of several different sub-commands.  Some of the commands have
     aliases that can be used instead; those aliases are noted in the
     reference manual for that command.  There are only two situations
     where you may omit `cvs_command': `cvs -H' elicits a list of
     available commands, and `cvs -v' displays version information on
     CVS itself.

`command_options'
     Options that are specific for the command.

`command_args'
     Arguments to the commands.

   There is unfortunately some confusion between `cvs_options' and
`command_options'.  `-l', when given as a `cvs_option', only affects
some of the commands.  When it is given as a `command_option' is has a
different meaning, and is accepted by more commands.  In other words,
do not take the above categorization too seriously.  Look at the
documentation instead.


File: cvs.info,  Node: Exit status,  Next: ~/.cvsrc,  Prev: Structure,  Up: CVS commands

CVS's exit status
=================

   CVS can indicate to the calling environment whether it succeeded or
failed by setting its "exit status".  The exact way of testing the exit
status will vary from one operating system to another.  For example in
a unix shell script the `$?' variable will be 0 if the last command
returned a successful exit status, or greater than 0 if the exit status
indicated failure.

   If CVS is successful, it returns a successful status; if there is an
error, it prints an error message and returns a failure status.  The
one exception to this is the `cvs diff' command.  It will return a
successful status if it found no differences, or a failure status if
there were differences or if there was an error.  Because this behavior
provides no good way to detect errors, in the future it is possible that
`cvs diff' will be changed to behave like the other CVS commands.


File: cvs.info,  Node: ~/.cvsrc,  Next: Global options,  Prev: Exit status,  Up: CVS commands

Default options and the ~/.cvsrc file
=====================================

   There are some `command_options' that are used so often that you
might have set up an alias or some other means to make sure you always
specify that option.  One example (the one that drove the
implementation of the `.cvsrc' support, actually) is that many people
find the default output of the `diff' command to be very hard to read,
and that either context diffs or unidiffs are much easier to understand.

   The `~/.cvsrc' file is a way that you can add default options to
`cvs_commands' within cvs, instead of relying on aliases or other shell
scripts.

   The format of the `~/.cvsrc' file is simple.  The file is searched
for a line that begins with the same name as the `cvs_command' being
executed.  If a match is found, then the remainder of the line is split
up (at whitespace characters) into separate options and added to the
command arguments _before_ any options from the command line.

   If a command has two names (e.g., `checkout' and `co'), the official
name, not necessarily the one used on the command line, will be used to
match against the file.  So if this is the contents of the user's
`~/.cvsrc' file:

     log -N
     diff -u
     update -P
     checkout -P

the command `cvs checkout foo' would have the `-P' option added to the
arguments, as well as `cvs co foo'.

   With the example file above, the output from `cvs diff foobar' will
be in unidiff format.  `cvs diff -c foobar' will provide context diffs,
as usual.  Getting "old" format diffs would be slightly more
complicated, because `diff' doesn't have an option to specify use of
the "old" format, so you would need `cvs -f diff foobar'.

   In place of the command name you can use `cvs' to specify global
options (*note Global options::).  For example the following line in
`.cvsrc'

     cvs -z6

   causes CVS to use compression level 6.


File: cvs.info,  Node: Global options,  Next: Common options,  Prev: ~/.cvsrc,  Up: CVS commands

Global options
==============

   The available `cvs_options' (that are given to the left of
`cvs_command') are:

`--allow-root=ROOTDIR'
     Specify legal CVSROOT directory.  See *Note Password
     authentication server::.

`-a'
     Authenticate all communication between the client and the server.
     Only has an effect on the CVS client.  As of this writing, this is
     only implemented when using a GSSAPI connection (*note GSSAPI
     authenticated::).  Authentication prevents certain sorts of attacks
     involving hijacking the active TCP connection.  Enabling
     authentication does not enable encryption.

`-b BINDIR'
     In CVS 1.9.18 and older, this specified that RCS programs are in
     the BINDIR directory.  Current versions of CVS do not run RCS
     programs; for compatibility this option is accepted, but it does
     nothing.

`-T TEMPDIR'
     Use TEMPDIR as the directory where temporary files are located.
     Overrides the setting of the `$TMPDIR' environment variable and
     any precompiled directory.  This parameter should be specified as
     an absolute pathname.

`-d CVS_ROOT_DIRECTORY'
     Use CVS_ROOT_DIRECTORY as the root directory pathname of the
     repository.  Overrides the setting of the `$CVSROOT' environment
     variable.  *Note Repository::.

`-e EDITOR'
     Use EDITOR to enter revision log information.  Overrides the
     setting of the `$CVSEDITOR' and `$EDITOR' environment variables.
     For more information, see *Note Committing your changes::.

`-f'
     Do not read the `~/.cvsrc' file.  This option is most often used
     because of the non-orthogonality of the CVS option set.  For
     example, the `cvs log' option `-N' (turn off display of tag names)
     does not have a corresponding option to turn the display on.  So
     if you have `-N' in the `~/.cvsrc' entry for `log', you may need
     to use `-f' to show the tag names.

`-H'
`--help'
     Display usage information about the specified `cvs_command' (but
     do not actually execute the command).  If you don't specify a
     command name, `cvs -H' displays overall help for CVS, including a
     list of other help options.

`-l'
     Do not log the `cvs_command' in the command history (but execute it
     anyway).  *Note history::, for information on command history.

`-n'
     Do not change any files.  Attempt to execute the `cvs_command',
     but only to issue reports; do not remove, update, or merge any
     existing files, or create any new files.

     Note that CVS will not necessarily produce exactly the same output
     as without `-n'.  In some cases the output will be the same, but
     in other cases CVS will skip some of the processing that would
     have been required to produce the exact same output.

`-Q'
     Cause the command to be really quiet; the command will only
     generate output for serious problems.

`-q'
     Cause the command to be somewhat quiet; informational messages,
     such as reports of recursion through subdirectories, are
     suppressed.

`-r'
     Make new working files read-only.  Same effect as if the
     `$CVSREAD' environment variable is set (*note Environment
     variables::).  The default is to make working files writable,
     unless watches are on (*note Watches::).

`-s VARIABLE=VALUE'
     Set a user variable (*note Variables::).

`-t'
     Trace program execution; display messages showing the steps of CVS
     activity.  Particularly useful with `-n' to explore the potential
     impact of an unfamiliar command.

`-v'

`--version'
     Display version and copyright information for CVS.

`-w'
     Make new working files read-write.  Overrides the setting of the
     `$CVSREAD' environment variable.  Files are created read-write by
     default, unless `$CVSREAD' is set or `-r' is given.

`-x'
     Encrypt all communication between the client and the server.  Only
     has an effect on the CVS client.  As of this writing, this is only
     implemented when using a GSSAPI connection (*note GSSAPI
     authenticated::) or a Kerberos connection (*note Kerberos
     authenticated::).  Enabling encryption implies that message
     traffic is also authenticated.  Encryption support is not
     available by default; it must be enabled using a special configure
     option, `--enable-encryption', when you build CVS.

`-z GZIP-LEVEL'
     Set the compression level.  Valid levels are 1 (high speed, low
     compression) to 9 (low speed, high compression), or 0 to disable
     compression (the default).  Only has an effect on the CVS client.


File: cvs.info,  Node: Common options,  Next: admin,  Prev: Global options,  Up: CVS commands

Common command options
======================

   This section describes the `command_options' that are available
across several CVS commands.  These options are always given to the
right of `cvs_command'. Not all commands support all of these options;
each option is only supported for commands where it makes sense.
However, when a command has one of these options you can almost always
count on the same behavior of the option as in other commands.  (Other
command options, which are listed with the individual commands, may have
different behavior from one CVS command to the other).

   *Warning:* the `history' command is an exception; it supports many
options that conflict even with these standard options.

`-D DATE_SPEC'
     Use the most recent revision no later than DATE_SPEC.  DATE_SPEC
     is a single argument, a date description specifying a date in the
     past.

     The specification is "sticky" when you use it to make a private
     copy of a source file; that is, when you get a working file using
     `-D', CVS records the date you specified, so that further updates
     in the same directory will use the same date (for more information
     on sticky tags/dates, *note Sticky tags::).

     `-D' is available with the `checkout', `diff', `export', `history',
     `rdiff', `rtag', and `update' commands.  (The `history' command
     uses this option in a slightly different way; *note history
     options::).

     A wide variety of date formats are supported by CVS.  The most
     standard ones are ISO8601 (from the International Standards
     Organization) and the Internet e-mail standard (specified in
     RFC822 as amended by RFC1123).

     ISO8601 dates have many variants but a few examples are:

          1972-09-24
          1972-09-24 20:05

     There are a lot more ISO8601 date formats, and CVS accepts many of
     them, but you probably don't want to hear the _whole_ long story
     :-).

     In addition to the dates allowed in Internet e-mail itself, CVS
     also allows some of the fields to be omitted.  For example:

          24 Sep 1972 20:05
          24 Sep

     The date is interpreted as being in the local timezone, unless a
     specific timezone is specified.

     These two date formats are preferred.  However, CVS currently
     accepts a wide variety of other date formats.  They are
     intentionally not documented here in any detail, and future
     versions of CVS might not accept all of them.

     One such format is `MONTH/DAY/YEAR'.  This may confuse people who
     are accustomed to having the month and day in the other order;
     `1/4/96' is January 4, not April 1.

     Remember to quote the argument to the `-D' flag so that your shell
     doesn't interpret spaces as argument separators.  A command using
     the `-D' flag can look like this:

          $ cvs diff -D "1 hour ago" cvs.texinfo

`-f'
     When you specify a particular date or tag to CVS commands, they
     normally ignore files that do not contain the tag (or did not
     exist prior to the date) that you specified.  Use the `-f' option
     if you want files retrieved even when there is no match for the
     tag or date.  (The most recent revision of the file will be used).

     Note that even with `-f', a tag that you specify must exist (that
     is, in some file, not necessary in every file).  This is so that
     CVS will continue to give an error if you mistype a tag name.

     `-f' is available with these commands: `annotate', `checkout',
     `export', `rdiff', `rtag', and `update'.

     *Warning:*  The `commit' and `remove' commands also have a `-f'
     option, but it has a different behavior for those commands.  See
     *Note commit options::, and *Note Removing files::.

`-k KFLAG'
     Alter the default processing of keywords.  *Note Keyword
     substitution::, for the meaning of KFLAG.  Your KFLAG
     specification is "sticky" when you use it to create a private copy
     of a source file; that is, when you use this option with the
     `checkout' or `update' commands, CVS associates your selected
     KFLAG with the file, and continues to use it with future update
     commands on the same file until you specify otherwise.

     The `-k' option is available with the `add', `checkout', `diff',
     `import' and `update' commands.

`-l'
     Local; run only in current working directory, rather than
     recursing through subdirectories.

     *Warning:* this is not the same as the overall `cvs -l' option,
     which you can specify to the left of a cvs command!

     Available with the following commands: `annotate', `checkout',
     `commit', `diff', `edit', `editors', `export', `log', `rdiff',
     `remove', `rtag', `status', `tag', `unedit', `update', `watch',
     and `watchers'.

`-m MESSAGE'
     Use MESSAGE as log information, instead of invoking an editor.

     Available with the following commands: `add', `commit' and
     `import'.

`-n'
     Do not run any checkout/commit/tag program.  (A program can be
     specified to run on each of these activities, in the modules
     database (*note modules::); this option bypasses it).

     *Warning:* this is not the same as the overall `cvs -n' option,
     which you can specify to the left of a cvs command!

     Available with the `checkout', `commit', `export', and `rtag'
     commands.

`-P'
     Prune empty directories.  See *Note Removing directories::.

`-p'
     Pipe the files retrieved from the repository to standard output,
     rather than writing them in the current directory.  Available with
     the `checkout' and `update' commands.

`-R'
     Process directories recursively.  This is on by default.

     Available with the following commands: `annotate', `checkout',
     `commit', `diff', `edit', `editors', `export', `rdiff', `remove',
     `rtag', `status', `tag', `unedit', `update', `watch', and
     `watchers'.

`-r TAG'
     Use the revision specified by the TAG argument instead of the
     default "head" revision.  As well as arbitrary tags defined with
     the `tag' or `rtag' command, two special tags are always
     available: `HEAD' refers to the most recent version available in
     the repository, and `BASE' refers to the revision you last checked
     out into the current working directory.

     The tag specification is sticky when you use this with `checkout'
     or `update' to make your own copy of a file: CVS remembers the tag
     and continues to use it on future update commands, until you
     specify otherwise (for more information on sticky tags/dates,
     *note Sticky tags::).

     The tag can be either a symbolic or numeric tag, as described in
     *Note Tags::, or the name of a branch, as described in *Note
     Branching and merging::.

     Specifying the `-q' global option along with the `-r' command
     option is often useful, to suppress the warning messages when the
     RCS file does not contain the specified tag.

     *Warning:* this is not the same as the overall `cvs -r' option,
     which you can specify to the left of a CVS command!

     `-r' is available with the `checkout', `commit', `diff',
     `history', `export', `rdiff', `rtag', and `update' commands.

`-W'
     Specify file names that should be filtered.  You can use this
     option repeatedly.  The spec can be a file name pattern of the
     same type that you can specify in the `.cvswrappers' file.
     Available with the following commands: `import', and `update'.


File: cvs.info,  Node: admin,  Next: checkout,  Prev: Common options,  Up: CVS commands

admin--Administration
=====================

   * Requires: repository, working directory.

   * Changes: repository.

   * Synonym: rcs

   This is the CVS interface to assorted administrative facilities.
Some of them have questionable usefulness for CVS but exist for
historical purposes.  Some of the questionable options are likely to
disappear in the future.  This command _does_ work recursively, so
extreme care should be used.

   On unix, if there is a group named `cvsadmin', only members of that
group can run `cvs admin' (except for the `cvs admin -k' command, which
can be run by anybody).  This group should exist on the server, or any
system running the non-client/server CVS.  To disallow `cvs admin' for
all users, create a group with no users in it.  On NT, the `cvsadmin'
feature does not exist and all users can run `cvs admin'.

* Menu:

* admin options::               admin options


File: cvs.info,  Node: admin options,  Up: admin

admin options
-------------

   Some of these options have questionable usefulness for CVS but exist
for historical purposes.  Some even make it impossible to use CVS until
you undo the effect!

`-AOLDFILE'
     Might not work together with CVS.  Append the access list of
     OLDFILE to the access list of the RCS file.

`-aLOGINS'
     Might not work together with CVS.  Append the login names
     appearing in the comma-separated list LOGINS to the access list of
     the RCS file.

`-b[REV]'
     Set the default branch to REV.  In CVS, you normally do not
     manipulate default branches; sticky tags (*note Sticky tags::) are
     a better way to decide which branch you want to work on.  There is
     one reason to run `cvs admin -b': to revert to the vendor's
     version when using vendor branches (*note Reverting local
     changes::).  There can be no space between `-b' and its argument.

`-cSTRING'
     Sets the comment leader to STRING.  The comment leader is not used
     by current versions of CVS or RCS 5.7.  Therefore, you can almost
     surely not worry about it.  *Note Keyword substitution::.

`-e[LOGINS]'
     Might not work together with CVS.  Erase the login names appearing
     in the comma-separated list LOGINS from the access list of the RCS
     file.  If LOGINS is omitted, erase the entire access list.  There
     can be no space between `-e' and its argument.

`-I'
     Run interactively, even if the standard input is not a terminal.
     This option does not work with the client/server CVS and is likely
     to disappear in a future release of CVS.

`-i'
     Useless with CVS.  This creates and initializes a new RCS file,
     without depositing a revision.  With CVS, add files with the `cvs
     add' command (*note Adding files::).

`-kSUBST'
     Set the default keyword substitution to SUBST.  *Note Keyword
     substitution::.  Giving an explicit `-k' option to `cvs update',
     `cvs export', or `cvs checkout' overrides this default.

`-l[REV]'
     Lock the revision with number REV.  If a branch is given, lock the
     latest revision on that branch.  If REV is omitted, lock the
     latest revision on the default branch.  There can be no space
     between `-l' and its argument.

     This can be used in conjunction with the `rcslock.pl' script in
     the `contrib' directory of the CVS source distribution to provide
     reserved checkouts (where only one user can be editing a given
     file at a time).  See the comments in that file for details (and
     see the `README' file in that directory for disclaimers about the
     unsupported nature of contrib).  According to comments in that
     file, locking must set to strict (which is the default).

`-L'
     Set locking to strict.  Strict locking means that the owner of an
     RCS file is not exempt from locking for checkin.  For use with
     CVS, strict locking must be set; see the discussion under the `-l'
     option above.

`-mREV:MSG'
     Replace the log message of revision REV with MSG.

`-NNAME[:[REV]]'
     Act like `-n', except override any previous assignment of NAME.
     For use with magic branches, see *Note Magic branch numbers::.

`-nNAME[:[REV]]'
     Associate the symbolic name NAME with the branch or revision REV.
     It is normally better to use `cvs tag' or `cvs rtag' instead.
     Delete the symbolic name if both `:' and REV are omitted;
     otherwise, print an error message if NAME is already associated
     with another number.  If REV is symbolic, it is expanded before
     association.  A REV consisting of a branch number followed by a
     `.' stands for the current latest revision in the branch.  A `:'
     with an empty REV stands for the current latest revision on the
     default branch, normally the trunk.  For example, `cvs admin
     -nNAME:' associates NAME with the current latest revision of all
     the RCS files; this contrasts with `cvs admin -nNAME:$' which
     associates NAME with the revision numbers extracted from keyword
     strings in the corresponding working files.

`-oRANGE'
     Deletes ("outdates") the revisions given by RANGE.

     Note that this command can be quite dangerous unless you know
     _exactly_ what you are doing (for example see the warnings below
     about how the REV1:REV2 syntax is confusing).

     If you are short on disc this option might help you.  But think
     twice before using it--there is no way short of restoring the
     latest backup to undo this command!  If you delete different
     revisions than you planned, either due to carelessness or (heaven
     forbid) a CVS bug, there is no opportunity to correct the error
     before the revisions are deleted.  It probably would be a good
     idea to experiment on a copy of the repository first.

     Specify RANGE in one of the following ways:

    `REV1::REV2'
          Collapse all revisions between rev1 and rev2, so that CVS
          only stores the differences associated with going from rev1
          to rev2, not intermediate steps.  For example, after `-o
          1.3::1.5' one can retrieve revision 1.3, revision 1.5, or the
          differences to get from 1.3 to 1.5, but not the revision 1.4,
          or the differences between 1.3 and 1.4.  Other examples: `-o
          1.3::1.4' and `-o 1.3::1.3' have no effect, because there are
          no intermediate revisions to remove.

    `::REV'
          Collapse revisions between the beginning of the branch
          containing REV and REV itself.  The branchpoint and REV are
          left intact.  For example, `-o ::1.3.2.6' deletes revision
          1.3.2.1, revision 1.3.2.5, and everything in between, but
          leaves 1.3 and 1.3.2.6 intact.

    `REV::'
          Collapse revisions between REV and the end of the branch
          containing REV.  Revision REV is left intact but the head
          revision is deleted.

    `REV'
          Delete the revision REV.  For example, `-o 1.3' is equivalent
          to `-o 1.2::1.4'.

    `REV1:REV2'
          Delete the revisions from REV1 to REV2, inclusive, on the
          same branch.  One will not be able to retrieve REV1 or REV2
          or any of the revisions in between.  For example, the command
          `cvs admin -oR_1_01:R_1_02 .' is rarely useful.  It means to
          delete revisions up to, and including, the tag R_1_02.  But
          beware!  If there are files that have not changed between
          R_1_02 and R_1_03 the file will have _the same_ numerical
          revision number assigned to the tags R_1_02 and R_1_03.  So
          not only will it be impossible to retrieve R_1_02; R_1_03
          will also have to be restored from the tapes!  In most cases
          you want to specify REV1::REV2 instead.

    `:REV'
          Delete revisions from the beginning of the branch containing
          REV up to and including REV.

    `REV:'
          Delete revisions from revision REV, including REV itself, to
          the end of the branch containing REV.

     None of the revisions to be deleted may have branches or locks.

     If any of the revisions to be deleted have symbolic names, and one
     specifies one of the `::' syntaxes, then CVS will give an error
     and not delete any revisions.  If you really want to delete both
     the symbolic names and the revisions, first delete the symbolic
     names with `cvs tag -d', then run `cvs admin -o'.  If one
     specifies the non-`::' syntaxes, then CVS will delete the
     revisions but leave the symbolic names pointing to nonexistent
     revisions.  This behavior is preserved for compatibility with
     previous versions of CVS, but because it isn't very useful, in the
     future it may change to be like the `::' case.

     Due to the way CVS handles branches REV cannot be specified
     symbolically if it is a branch.  *Note Magic branch numbers::, for
     an explanation.

     Make sure that no-one has checked out a copy of the revision you
     outdate.  Strange things will happen if he starts to edit it and
     tries to check it back in.  For this reason, this option is not a
     good way to take back a bogus commit; commit a new revision
     undoing the bogus change instead (*note Merging two revisions::).

`-q'
     Run quietly; do not print diagnostics.

`-sSTATE[:REV]'
     Useful with CVS.  Set the state attribute of the revision REV to
     STATE.  If REV is a branch number, assume the latest revision on
     that branch.  If REV is omitted, assume the latest revision on the
     default branch.  Any identifier is acceptable for STATE.  A useful
     set of states is `Exp' (for experimental), `Stab' (for stable),
     and `Rel' (for released).  By default, the state of a new revision
     is set to `Exp' when it is created.  The state is visible in the
     output from CVS LOG (*note log::), and in the `$Log: cvs.info-5,v $
     output from CVS LOG (*note log::), and in the `Revision 1.1.1.17  2001/02/10 19:03:17  tholo
     output from CVS LOG (*note log::), and in the `Latest from Cyclic Software
     output from CVS LOG (*note log::), and in the `' and
     `$State: Exp $' keywords (*note Keyword substitution::).  Note that CVS
     uses the `dead' state for its own purposes; to take a file to or
     from the `dead' state use commands like `cvs remove' and `cvs
     add', not `cvs admin -s'.

`-t[FILE]'
     Useful with CVS.  Write descriptive text from the contents of the
     named FILE into the RCS file, deleting the existing text.  The
     FILE pathname may not begin with `-'.  The descriptive text can be
     seen in the output from `cvs log' (*note log::).  There can be no
     space between `-t' and its argument.

     If FILE is omitted, obtain the text from standard input,
     terminated by end-of-file or by a line containing `.' by itself.
     Prompt for the text if interaction is possible; see `-I'.

`-t-STRING'
     Similar to `-tFILE'. Write descriptive text from the STRING into
     the RCS file, deleting the existing text.  There can be no space
     between `-t' and its argument.

`-U'
     Set locking to non-strict.  Non-strict locking means that the
     owner of a file need not lock a revision for checkin.  For use
     with CVS, strict locking must be set; see the discussion under the
     `-l' option above.

`-u[REV]'
     See the option `-l' above, for a discussion of using this option
     with CVS.  Unlock the revision with number REV.  If a branch is
     given, unlock the latest revision on that branch.  If REV is
     omitted, remove the latest lock held by the caller.  Normally,
     only the locker of a revision may unlock it.  Somebody else
     unlocking a revision breaks the lock.  This causes a mail message
     to be sent to the original locker.  The message contains a
     commentary solicited from the breaker.  The commentary is
     terminated by end-of-file or by a line containing `.' by itself.
     There can be no space between `-u' and its argument.

`-VN'
     In previous versions of CVS, this option meant to write an RCS
     file which would be acceptable to RCS version N, but it is now
     obsolete and specifying it will produce an error.

`-xSUFFIXES'
     In previous versions of CVS, this was documented as a way of
     specifying the names of the RCS files.  However, CVS has always
     required that the RCS files used by CVS end in `,v', so this
     option has never done anything useful.


File: cvs.info,  Node: checkout,  Next: commit,  Prev: admin,  Up: CVS commands

checkout--Check out sources for editing
=======================================

   * Synopsis: checkout [options] modules...

   * Requires: repository.

   * Changes: working directory.

   * Synonyms: co, get

   Create or update a working directory containing copies of the source
files specified by MODULES.  You must execute `checkout' before using
most of the other CVS commands, since most of them operate on your
working directory.

   The MODULES are either symbolic names for some collection of source
directories and files, or paths to directories or files in the
repository.  The symbolic names are defined in the `modules' file.
*Note modules::.

   Depending on the modules you specify, `checkout' may recursively
create directories and populate them with the appropriate source files.
You can then edit these source files at any time (regardless of
whether other software developers are editing their own copies of the
sources); update them to include new changes applied by others to the
source repository; or commit your work as a permanent change to the
source repository.

   Note that `checkout' is used to create directories.  The top-level
directory created is always added to the directory where `checkout' is
invoked, and usually has the same name as the specified module.  In the
case of a module alias, the created sub-directory may have a different
name, but you can be sure that it will be a sub-directory, and that
`checkout' will show the relative path leading to each file as it is
extracted into your private work area (unless you specify the `-Q'
global option).

   The files created by `checkout' are created read-write, unless the
`-r' option to CVS (*note Global options::) is specified, the `CVSREAD'
environment variable is specified (*note Environment variables::), or a
watch is in effect for that file (*note Watches::).

   Note that running `checkout' on a directory that was already built
by a prior `checkout' is also permitted.  This is similar to specifying
the `-d' option to the `update' command in the sense that new
directories that have been created in the repository will appear in
your work area.  However, `checkout' takes a module name whereas
`update' takes a directory name.  Also to use `checkout' this way it
must be run from the top level directory (where you originally ran
`checkout' from), so before you run `checkout' to update an existing
directory, don't forget to change your directory to the top level
directory.

   For the output produced by the `checkout' command see *Note update
output::.

* Menu:

* checkout options::            checkout options
* checkout examples::           checkout examples


File: cvs.info,  Node: checkout options,  Next: checkout examples,  Up: checkout

checkout options
----------------

   These standard options are supported by `checkout' (*note Common
options::, for a complete description of them):

`-D DATE'
     Use the most recent revision no later than DATE.  This option is
     sticky, and implies `-P'.  See *Note Sticky tags::, for more
     information on sticky tags/dates.

`-f'
     Only useful with the `-D DATE' or `-r TAG' flags.  If no matching
     revision is found, retrieve the most recent revision (instead of
     ignoring the file).

`-k KFLAG'
     Process keywords according to KFLAG.  See *Note Keyword
     substitution::.  This option is sticky; future updates of this
     file in this working directory will use the same KFLAG.  The
     `status' command can be viewed to see the sticky options.  See
     *Note Invoking CVS::, for more information on the `status' command.

`-l'
     Local; run only in current working directory.

`-n'
     Do not run any checkout program (as specified with the `-o' option
     in the modules file; *note modules::).

`-P'
     Prune empty directories.  See *Note Moving directories::.

`-p'
     Pipe files to the standard output.

`-R'
     Checkout directories recursively.  This option is on by default.

`-r TAG'
     Use revision TAG.  This option is sticky, and implies `-P'.  See
     *Note Sticky tags::, for more information on sticky tags/dates.

   In addition to those, you can use these special command options with
`checkout':

`-A'
     Reset any sticky tags, dates, or `-k' options.  See *Note Sticky
     tags::, for more information on sticky tags/dates.

`-c'
     Copy the module file, sorted, to the standard output, instead of
     creating or modifying any files or directories in your working
     directory.

`-d DIR'
     Create a directory called DIR for the working files, instead of
     using the module name.  In general, using this flag is equivalent
     to using `mkdir DIR; cd DIR' followed by the checkout command
     without the `-d' flag.

     There is an important exception, however.  It is very convenient
     when checking out a single item to have the output appear in a
     directory that doesn't contain empty intermediate directories.  In
     this case _only_, CVS tries to "shorten" pathnames to avoid those
     empty directories.

     For example, given a module `foo' that contains the file `bar.c',
     the command `cvs co -d dir foo' will create directory `dir' and
     place `bar.c' inside.  Similarly, given a module `bar' which has
     subdirectory `baz' wherein there is a file `quux.c', the command
     `cvs -d dir co bar/baz' will create directory `dir' and place
     `quux.c' inside.

     Using the `-N' flag will defeat this behavior.  Given the same
     module definitions above, `cvs co -N -d dir foo' will create
     directories `dir/foo' and place `bar.c' inside, while `cvs co -N -d
     dir bar/baz' will create directories `dir/bar/baz' and place
     `quux.c' inside.

`-j TAG'
     With two `-j' options, merge changes from the revision specified
     with the first `-j' option to the revision specified with the
     second `j' option, into the working directory.

     With one `-j' option, merge changes from the ancestor revision to
     the revision specified with the `-j' option, into the working
     directory.  The ancestor revision is the common ancestor of the
     revision which the working directory is based on, and the revision
     specified in the `-j' option.

     In addition, each -j option can contain an optional date
     specification which, when used with branches, can limit the chosen
     revision to one within a specific date.  An optional date is
     specified by adding a colon (:) to the tag:
     `-jSYMBOLIC_TAG:DATE_SPECIFIER'.

     *Note Branching and merging::.

`-N'
     Only useful together with `-d DIR'.  With this option, CVS will
     not "shorten" module paths in your working directory when you
     check out a single module.  See the `-d' flag for examples and a
     discussion.

`-s'
     Like `-c', but include the status of all modules, and sort it by
     the status string.  *Note modules::, for info about the `-s'
     option that is used inside the modules file to set the module
     status.


File: cvs.info,  Node: checkout examples,  Prev: checkout options,  Up: checkout

checkout examples
-----------------

   Get a copy of the module `tc':

     $ cvs checkout tc

   Get a copy of the module `tc' as it looked one day ago:

     $ cvs checkout -D yesterday tc


File: cvs.info,  Node: commit,  Next: diff,  Prev: checkout,  Up: CVS commands

commit--Check files into the repository
=======================================

   * Synopsis: commit [-lnRf] [-m 'log_message' | -F file] [-r
     revision] [files...]

   * Requires: working directory, repository.

   * Changes: repository.

   * Synonym: ci

   Use `commit' when you want to incorporate changes from your working
source files into the source repository.

   If you don't specify particular files to commit, all of the files in
your working current directory are examined.  `commit' is careful to
change in the repository only those files that you have really changed.
By default (or if you explicitly specify the `-R' option), files in
subdirectories are also examined and committed if they have changed;
you can use the `-l' option to limit `commit' to the current directory
only.

   `commit' verifies that the selected files are up to date with the
current revisions in the source repository; it will notify you, and
exit without committing, if any of the specified files must be made
current first with `update' (*note update::).  `commit' does not call
the `update' command for you, but rather leaves that for you to do when
the time is right.

   When all is well, an editor is invoked to allow you to enter a log
message that will be written to one or more logging programs (*note
modules::, and *note loginfo::) and placed in the RCS file inside the
repository.  This log message can be retrieved with the `log' command;
see *Note log::.  You can specify the log message on the command line
with the `-m MESSAGE' option, and thus avoid the editor invocation, or
use the `-F FILE' option to specify that the argument file contains the
log message.

* Menu:

* commit options::              commit options
* commit examples::             commit examples