1This is cvs.info, produced by makeinfo version 4.13 from cvs.texi. 2 3INFO-DIR-SECTION GNU Packages 4START-INFO-DIR-ENTRY 5* CVS: (cvs). Concurrent Versions System 6END-INFO-DIR-ENTRY 7INFO-DIR-SECTION Individual utilities 8START-INFO-DIR-ENTRY 9* cvs: (cvs)CVS commands. Concurrent Versions System 10END-INFO-DIR-ENTRY 11 12 13File: cvs.info, Node: Top, Next: Overview, Up: (dir) 14 15CVS--Concurrent Versions System v4.2 16************************************ 17 18This info manual describes how to use and administer CVS version 4.2. 19 20Copyright (C) 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 212001, 2002, 2003 Free Software Foundation, Inc. 22 23Portions 24 Copyright (C) 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003 Derek R. Price, 25 Copyright (C) 2002, 2003 Ximbiot <http://ximbiot.com>, 26 Copyright (C) 1992, 1993, 1999 Signum Support AB, 27 and Copyright (C) others. 28 29 Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of this 30manual provided the copyright notice and this permission notice are 31preserved on all copies. 32 33 Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified versions of 34this manual under the conditions for verbatim copying, provided also 35that the entire resulting derived work is distributed under the terms of 36a permission notice identical to this one. 37 38 Permission is granted to copy and distribute translations of this 39manual into another language, under the above conditions for modified 40versions, except that this permission notice may be stated in a 41translation approved by the Free Software Foundation. 42 43* Menu: 44 45* Overview:: An introduction to CVS 46* Repository:: Where all your sources are stored 47* Starting a new project:: Starting a project with CVS 48* Revisions:: Numeric and symbolic names for revisions 49* Branching and merging:: Diverging/rejoining branches of development 50* Recursive behavior:: CVS descends directories 51* Adding and removing:: Adding/removing/renaming files/directories 52* History browsing:: Viewing the history of files in various ways 53 54CVS and the Real World. 55----------------------- 56* Binary files:: CVS can handle binary files 57* Multiple developers:: How CVS helps a group of developers 58* Revision management:: Policy questions for revision management 59* Keyword substitution:: CVS can include the revision inside the file 60* Tracking sources:: Tracking third-party sources 61* Builds:: Issues related to CVS and builds 62* Special Files:: Devices, links and other non-regular files 63 64References. 65----------- 66* CVS commands:: CVS commands share some things 67* Invoking CVS:: Quick reference to CVS commands 68* Administrative files:: Reference manual for the Administrative files 69* Environment variables:: All environment variables which affect CVS 70* Compatibility:: Upgrading CVS versions 71* Troubleshooting:: Some tips when nothing works 72* Credits:: Some of the contributors to this manual 73* BUGS:: Dealing with bugs in CVS or this manual 74* Index:: Index 75 76 77File: cvs.info, Node: Overview, Next: Repository, Prev: Top, Up: Top 78 791 Overview 80********** 81 82This chapter is for people who have never used CVS, and perhaps have 83never used version control software before. 84 85 If you are already familiar with CVS and are just trying to learn a 86particular feature or remember a certain command, you can probably skip 87everything here. 88 89* Menu: 90 91* What is CVS?:: What you can do with CVS 92* What is CVS not?:: Problems CVS doesn't try to solve 93* A sample session:: A tour of basic CVS usage 94 95 96File: cvs.info, Node: What is CVS?, Next: What is CVS not?, Up: Overview 97 981.1 What is CVS? 99================ 100 101CVS is a version control system. Using it, you can record the history 102of your source files. 103 104 For example, bugs sometimes creep in when software is modified, and 105you might not detect the bug until a long time after you make the 106modification. With CVS, you can easily retrieve old versions to see 107exactly which change caused the bug. This can sometimes be a big help. 108 109 You could of course save every version of every file you have ever 110created. This would however waste an enormous amount of disk space. 111CVS stores all the versions of a file in a single file in a clever way 112that only stores the differences between versions. 113 114 CVS also helps you if you are part of a group of people working on 115the same project. It is all too easy to overwrite each others' changes 116unless you are extremely careful. Some editors, like GNU Emacs, try to 117make sure that the same file is never modified by two people at the same 118time. Unfortunately, if someone is using another editor, that safeguard 119will not work. CVS solves this problem by insulating the different 120developers from each other. Every developer works in his own directory, 121and CVS merges the work when each developer is done. 122 123 CVS started out as a bunch of shell scripts written by Dick Grune, 124posted to the newsgroup `comp.sources.unix' in the volume 6 release of 125July, 1986. While no actual code from these shell scripts is present in 126the current version of CVS much of the CVS conflict resolution 127algorithms come from them. 128 129 In April, 1989, Brian Berliner designed and coded CVS. Jeff Polk 130later helped Brian with the design of the CVS module and vendor branch 131support. 132 133 You can get CVS in a variety of ways, including free download from 134the internet. For more information on downloading CVS and other CVS 135topics, see: 136 137 http://www.cvshome.org/ 138 http://www.loria.fr/~molli/cvs-index.html 139 140 There is a mailing list, known as `info-cvs', devoted to CVS. To 141subscribe or unsubscribe write to `info-cvs-request@gnu.org'. If you 142prefer a usenet group, the right group is `comp.software.config-mgmt' 143which is for CVS discussions (along with other configuration management 144systems). In the future, it might be possible to create a 145`comp.software.config-mgmt.cvs', but probably only if there is 146sufficient CVS traffic on `comp.software.config-mgmt'. 147 148 You can also subscribe to the `bug-cvs' mailing list, described in 149more detail in *note BUGS::. To subscribe send mail to 150`bug-cvs-request@gnu.org'. 151 152 153File: cvs.info, Node: What is CVS not?, Next: A sample session, Prev: What is CVS?, Up: Overview 154 1551.2 What is CVS not? 156==================== 157 158CVS can do a lot of things for you, but it does not try to be everything 159for everyone. 160 161CVS is not a build system. 162 Though the structure of your repository and modules file interact 163 with your build system (e.g. `Makefile's), they are essentially 164 independent. 165 166 CVS does not dictate how you build anything. It merely stores 167 files for retrieval in a tree structure you devise. 168 169 CVS does not dictate how to use disk space in the checked out 170 working directories. If you write your `Makefile's or scripts in 171 every directory so they have to know the relative positions of 172 everything else, you wind up requiring the entire repository to be 173 checked out. 174 175 If you modularize your work, and construct a build system that will 176 share files (via links, mounts, `VPATH' in `Makefile's, etc.), you 177 can arrange your disk usage however you like. 178 179 But you have to remember that _any_ such system is a lot of work to 180 construct and maintain. CVS does not address the issues involved. 181 182 Of course, you should place the tools created to support such a 183 build system (scripts, `Makefile's, etc) under CVS. 184 185 Figuring out what files need to be rebuilt when something changes 186 is, again, something to be handled outside the scope of CVS. One 187 traditional approach is to use `make' for building, and use some 188 automated tool for generating the dependencies which `make' uses. 189 190 See *note Builds::, for more information on doing builds in 191 conjunction with CVS. 192 193CVS is not a substitute for management. 194 Your managers and project leaders are expected to talk to you 195 frequently enough to make certain you are aware of schedules, merge 196 points, branch names and release dates. If they don't, CVS can't 197 help. 198 199 CVS is an instrument for making sources dance to your tune. But 200 you are the piper and the composer. No instrument plays itself or 201 writes its own music. 202 203CVS is not a substitute for developer communication. 204 When faced with conflicts within a single file, most developers 205 manage to resolve them without too much effort. But a more general 206 definition of "conflict" includes problems too difficult to solve 207 without communication between developers. 208 209 CVS cannot determine when simultaneous changes within a single 210 file, or across a whole collection of files, will logically 211 conflict with one another. Its concept of a "conflict" is purely 212 textual, arising when two changes to the same base file are near 213 enough to spook the merge (i.e. `diff3') command. 214 215 CVS does not claim to help at all in figuring out non-textual or 216 distributed conflicts in program logic. 217 218 For example: Say you change the arguments to function `X' defined 219 in file `A'. At the same time, someone edits file `B', adding new 220 calls to function `X' using the old arguments. You are outside the 221 realm of CVS's competence. 222 223 Acquire the habit of reading specs and talking to your peers. 224 225CVS does not have change control 226 Change control refers to a number of things. First of all it can 227 mean "bug-tracking", that is being able to keep a database of 228 reported bugs and the status of each one (is it fixed? in what 229 release? has the bug submitter agreed that it is fixed?). For 230 interfacing CVS to an external bug-tracking system, see the 231 `rcsinfo' and `verifymsg' files (*note Administrative files::). 232 233 Another aspect of change control is keeping track of the fact that 234 changes to several files were in fact changed together as one 235 logical change. If you check in several files in a single `cvs 236 commit' operation, CVS then forgets that those files were checked 237 in together, and the fact that they have the same log message is 238 the only thing tying them together. Keeping a GNU style 239 `ChangeLog' can help somewhat. 240 241 Another aspect of change control, in some systems, is the ability 242 to keep track of the status of each change. Some changes have been 243 written by a developer, others have been reviewed by a second 244 developer, and so on. Generally, the way to do this with CVS is to 245 generate a diff (using `cvs diff' or `diff') and email it to 246 someone who can then apply it using the `patch' utility. This is 247 very flexible, but depends on mechanisms outside CVS to make sure 248 nothing falls through the cracks. 249 250CVS is not an automated testing program 251 It should be possible to enforce mandatory use of a testsuite using 252 the `commitinfo' file. I haven't heard a lot about projects trying 253 to do that or whether there are subtle gotchas, however. 254 255CVS does not have a builtin process model 256 Some systems provide ways to ensure that changes or releases go 257 through various steps, with various approvals as needed. 258 Generally, one can accomplish this with CVS but it might be a 259 little more work. In some cases you'll want to use the 260 `commitinfo', `loginfo', `rcsinfo', or `verifymsg' files, to 261 require that certain steps be performed before cvs will allow a 262 checkin. Also consider whether features such as branches and tags 263 can be used to perform tasks such as doing work in a development 264 tree and then merging certain changes over to a stable tree only 265 once they have been proven. 266 267 268File: cvs.info, Node: A sample session, Prev: What is CVS not?, Up: Overview 269 2701.3 A sample session 271==================== 272 273As a way of introducing CVS, we'll go through a typical work-session 274using CVS. The first thing to understand is that CVS stores all files 275in a centralized "repository" (*note Repository::); this section assumes 276that a repository is set up. 277 278 Suppose you are working on a simple compiler. The source consists of 279a handful of C files and a `Makefile'. The compiler is called `tc' 280(Trivial Compiler), and the repository is set up so that there is a 281module called `tc'. 282 283* Menu: 284 285* Getting the source:: Creating a workspace 286* Committing your changes:: Making your work available to others 287* Cleaning up:: Cleaning up 288* Viewing differences:: Viewing differences 289 290 291File: cvs.info, Node: Getting the source, Next: Committing your changes, Up: A sample session 292 2931.3.1 Getting the source 294------------------------ 295 296The first thing you must do is to get your own working copy of the 297source for `tc'. For this, you use the `checkout' command: 298 299 $ cvs checkout tc 300 301This will create a new directory called `tc' and populate it with the 302source files. 303 304 $ cd tc 305 $ ls 306 CVS Makefile backend.c driver.c frontend.c parser.c 307 308 The `CVS' directory is used internally by CVS. Normally, you should 309not modify or remove any of the files in it. 310 311 You start your favorite editor, hack away at `backend.c', and a 312couple of hours later you have added an optimization pass to the 313compiler. A note to RCS and SCCS users: There is no need to lock the 314files that you want to edit. *Note Multiple developers::, for an 315explanation. 316 317 318File: cvs.info, Node: Committing your changes, Next: Cleaning up, Prev: Getting the source, Up: A sample session 319 3201.3.2 Committing your changes 321----------------------------- 322 323When you have checked that the compiler is still compilable you decide 324to make a new version of `backend.c'. This will store your new 325`backend.c' in the repository and make it available to anyone else who 326is using that same repository. 327 328 $ cvs commit backend.c 329 330CVS starts an editor, to allow you to enter a log message. You type in 331"Added an optimization pass.", save the temporary file, and exit the 332editor. 333 334 The environment variable `$CVSEDITOR' determines which editor is 335started. If `$CVSEDITOR' is not set, then if the environment variable 336`$EDITOR' is set, it will be used. If both `$CVSEDITOR' and `$EDITOR' 337are not set then there is a default which will vary with your operating 338system, for example `vi' for unix or `notepad' for Windows NT/95. 339 340 In addition, CVS checks the `$VISUAL' environment variable. Opinions 341vary on whether this behavior is desirable and whether future releases 342of CVS should check `$VISUAL' or ignore it. You will be OK either way 343if you make sure that `$VISUAL' is either unset or set to the same thing 344as `$EDITOR'. 345 346 When CVS starts the editor, it includes a list of files which are 347modified. For the CVS client, this list is based on comparing the 348modification time of the file against the modification time that the 349file had when it was last gotten or updated. Therefore, if a file's 350modification time has changed but its contents have not, it will show up 351as modified. The simplest way to handle this is simply not to worry 352about it--if you proceed with the commit CVS will detect that the 353contents are not modified and treat it as an unmodified file. The next 354`update' will clue CVS in to the fact that the file is unmodified, and 355it will reset its stored timestamp so that the file will not show up in 356future editor sessions. 357 358 If you want to avoid starting an editor you can specify the log 359message on the command line using the `-m' flag instead, like this: 360 361 $ cvs commit -m "Added an optimization pass" backend.c 362 363 364File: cvs.info, Node: Cleaning up, Next: Viewing differences, Prev: Committing your changes, Up: A sample session 365 3661.3.3 Cleaning up 367----------------- 368 369Before you turn to other tasks you decide to remove your working copy of 370tc. One acceptable way to do that is of course 371 372 $ cd .. 373 $ rm -r tc 374 375but a better way is to use the `release' command (*note release::): 376 377 $ cd .. 378 $ cvs release -d tc 379 M driver.c 380 ? tc 381 You have [1] altered files in this repository. 382 Are you sure you want to release (and delete) directory `tc': n 383 ** `release' aborted by user choice. 384 385 The `release' command checks that all your modifications have been 386committed. If history logging is enabled it also makes a note in the 387history file. *Note history file::. 388 389 When you use the `-d' flag with `release', it also removes your 390working copy. 391 392 In the example above, the `release' command wrote a couple of lines 393of output. `? tc' means that the file `tc' is unknown to CVS. That is 394nothing to worry about: `tc' is the executable compiler, and it should 395not be stored in the repository. *Note cvsignore::, for information 396about how to make that warning go away. *Note release output::, for a 397complete explanation of all possible output from `release'. 398 399 `M driver.c' is more serious. It means that the file `driver.c' has 400been modified since it was checked out. 401 402 The `release' command always finishes by telling you how many 403modified files you have in your working copy of the sources, and then 404asks you for confirmation before deleting any files or making any note 405in the history file. 406 407 You decide to play it safe and answer `n <RET>' when `release' asks 408for confirmation. 409 410 411File: cvs.info, Node: Viewing differences, Prev: Cleaning up, Up: A sample session 412 4131.3.4 Viewing differences 414------------------------- 415 416You do not remember modifying `driver.c', so you want to see what has 417happened to that file. 418 419 $ cd tc 420 $ cvs diff driver.c 421 422 This command runs `diff' to compare the version of `driver.c' that 423you checked out with your working copy. When you see the output you 424remember that you added a command line option that enabled the 425optimization pass. You check it in, and release the module. 426 427 $ cvs commit -m "Added an optimization pass" driver.c 428 Checking in driver.c; 429 /usr/local/cvsroot/tc/driver.c,v <-- driver.c 430 new revision: 1.2; previous revision: 1.1 431 done 432 $ cd .. 433 $ cvs release -d tc 434 ? tc 435 You have [0] altered files in this repository. 436 Are you sure you want to release (and delete) directory `tc': y 437 438 439File: cvs.info, Node: Repository, Next: Starting a new project, Prev: Overview, Up: Top 440 4412 The Repository 442**************** 443 444The CVS "repository" stores a complete copy of all the files and 445directories which are under version control. 446 447 Normally, you never access any of the files in the repository 448directly. Instead, you use CVS commands to get your own copy of the 449files into a "working directory", and then work on that copy. When 450you've finished a set of changes, you check (or "commit") them back into 451the repository. The repository then contains the changes which you have 452made, as well as recording exactly what you changed, when you changed 453it, and other such information. Note that the repository is not a 454subdirectory of the working directory, or vice versa; they should be in 455separate locations. 456 457 CVS can access a repository by a variety of means. It might be on 458the local computer, or it might be on a computer across the room or 459across the world. To distinguish various ways to access a repository, 460the repository name can start with an "access method". For example, the 461access method `:local:' means to access a repository directory, so the 462repository `:local:/usr/local/cvsroot' means that the repository is in 463`/usr/local/cvsroot' on the computer running CVS. For information on 464other access methods, see *note Remote repositories::. 465 466 If the access method is omitted, then if the repository starts with 467`/', then `:local:' is assumed. If it does not start with `/' then 468either `:ext:' or `:server:' is assumed. For example, if you have a 469local repository in `/usr/local/cvsroot', you can use 470`/usr/local/cvsroot' instead of `:local:/usr/local/cvsroot'. But if 471(under Windows NT, for example) your local repository is 472`c:\src\cvsroot', then you must specify the access method, as in 473`:local:c:/src/cvsroot'. 474 475 The repository is split in two parts. `$CVSROOT/CVSROOT' contains 476administrative files for CVS. The other directories contain the actual 477user-defined modules. 478 479* Menu: 480 481* Specifying a repository:: Telling CVS where your repository is 482* Repository storage:: The structure of the repository 483* Working directory storage:: The structure of working directories 484* Intro administrative files:: Defining modules 485* Multiple repositories:: Multiple repositories 486* Creating a repository:: Creating a repository 487* Backing up:: Backing up a repository 488* Moving a repository:: Moving a repository 489* Remote repositories:: Accessing repositories on remote machines 490* Read-only access:: Granting read-only access to the repository 491* Server temporary directory:: The server creates temporary directories 492 493 494File: cvs.info, Node: Specifying a repository, Next: Repository storage, Up: Repository 495 4962.1 Telling CVS where your repository is 497======================================== 498 499There are several ways to tell CVS where to find the repository. You 500can name the repository on the command line explicitly, with the `-d' 501(for "directory") option: 502 503 cvs -d /usr/local/cvsroot checkout yoyodyne/tc 504 505 Or you can set the `$CVSROOT' environment variable to an absolute 506path to the root of the repository, `/usr/local/cvsroot' in this 507example. To set `$CVSROOT', `csh' and `tcsh' users should have this 508line in their `.cshrc' or `.tcshrc' files: 509 510 setenv CVSROOT /usr/local/cvsroot 511 512`sh' and `bash' users should instead have these lines in their 513`.profile' or `.bashrc': 514 515 CVSROOT=/usr/local/cvsroot 516 export CVSROOT 517 518 A repository specified with `-d' will override the `$CVSROOT' 519environment variable. Once you've checked a working copy out from the 520repository, it will remember where its repository is (the information is 521recorded in the `CVS/Root' file in the working copy). 522 523 The `-d' option and the `CVS/Root' file both override the `$CVSROOT' 524environment variable. If `-d' option differs from `CVS/Root', the 525former is used. Of course, for proper operation they should be two ways 526of referring to the same repository. 527 528 529File: cvs.info, Node: Repository storage, Next: Working directory storage, Prev: Specifying a repository, Up: Repository 530 5312.2 How data is stored in the repository 532======================================== 533 534For most purposes it isn't important _how_ CVS stores information in the 535repository. In fact, the format has changed in the past, and is likely 536to change in the future. Since in almost all cases one accesses the 537repository via CVS commands, such changes need not be disruptive. 538 539 However, in some cases it may be necessary to understand how CVS 540stores data in the repository, for example you might need to track down 541CVS locks (*note Concurrency::) or you might need to deal with the file 542permissions appropriate for the repository. 543 544* Menu: 545 546* Repository files:: What files are stored in the repository 547* File permissions:: File permissions 548* Windows permissions:: Issues specific to Windows 549* Attic:: Some files are stored in the Attic 550* CVS in repository:: Additional information in CVS directory 551* Locks:: CVS locks control concurrent accesses 552* CVSROOT storage:: A few things about CVSROOT are different 553 554 555File: cvs.info, Node: Repository files, Next: File permissions, Up: Repository storage 556 5572.2.1 Where files are stored within the repository 558-------------------------------------------------- 559 560The overall structure of the repository is a directory tree 561corresponding to the directories in the working directory. For example, 562supposing the repository is in 563 564 /usr/local/cvsroot 565 566here is a possible directory tree (showing only the directories): 567 568 /usr 569 | 570 +--local 571 | | 572 | +--cvsroot 573 | | | 574 | | +--CVSROOT 575 | (administrative files) 576 | 577 +--gnu 578 | | 579 | +--diff 580 | | (source code to GNU diff) 581 | | 582 | +--rcs 583 | | (source code to RCS) 584 | | 585 | +--cvs 586 | (source code to CVS) 587 | 588 +--yoyodyne 589 | 590 +--tc 591 | | 592 | +--man 593 | | 594 | +--testing 595 | 596 +--(other Yoyodyne software) 597 598 With the directories are "history files" for each file under version 599control. The name of the history file is the name of the corresponding 600file with `,v' appended to the end. Here is what the repository for the 601`yoyodyne/tc' directory might look like: 602 `$CVSROOT' 603 | 604 +--yoyodyne 605 | | 606 | +--tc 607 | | | 608 +--Makefile,v 609 +--backend.c,v 610 +--driver.c,v 611 +--frontend.c,v 612 +--parser.c,v 613 +--man 614 | | 615 | +--tc.1,v 616 | 617 +--testing 618 | 619 +--testpgm.t,v 620 +--test2.t,v 621 622 The history files contain, among other things, enough information to 623recreate any revision of the file, a log of all commit messages and the 624user-name of the person who committed the revision. The history files 625are known as "RCS files", because the first program to store files in 626that format was a version control system known as RCS. For a full 627description of the file format, see the `man' page `rcsfile(5)', 628distributed with RCS, or the file `doc/RCSFILES' in the CVS source 629distribution. This file format has become very common--many systems 630other than CVS or RCS can at least import history files in this format. 631 632 The RCS files used in CVS differ in a few ways from the standard 633format. The biggest difference is magic branches; for more information 634see *note Magic branch numbers::. Also in CVS the valid tag names are a 635subset of what RCS accepts; for CVS's rules see *note Tags::. 636 637 638File: cvs.info, Node: File permissions, Next: Windows permissions, Prev: Repository files, Up: Repository storage 639 6402.2.2 File permissions 641---------------------- 642 643All `,v' files are created read-only, and you should not change the 644permission of those files. The directories inside the repository should 645be writable by the persons that have permission to modify the files in 646each directory. This normally means that you must create a UNIX group 647(see group(5)) consisting of the persons that are to edit the files in a 648project, and set up the repository so that it is that group that owns 649the directory. (On some systems, you also need to set the 650set-group-ID-on-execution bit on the repository directories (see 651chmod(1)) so that newly-created files and directories get the group-ID 652of the parent directory rather than that of the current process.) 653 654 This means that you can only control access to files on a 655per-directory basis. 656 657 Note that users must also have write access to check out files, 658because CVS needs to create lock files (*note Concurrency::). You can 659use LockDir in CVSROOT/config to put the lock files somewhere other than 660in the repository if you want to allow read-only access to some 661directories (*note config::). 662 663 Also note that users must have write access to the `CVSROOT/val-tags' 664file. CVS uses it to keep track of what tags are valid tag names (it is 665sometimes updated when tags are used, as well as when they are created). 666 667 Each RCS file will be owned by the user who last checked it in. This 668has little significance; what really matters is who owns the 669directories. 670 671 CVS tries to set up reasonable file permissions for new directories 672that are added inside the tree, but you must fix the permissions 673manually when a new directory should have different permissions than its 674parent directory. If you set the `CVSUMASK' environment variable that 675will control the file permissions which CVS uses in creating directories 676and/or files in the repository. `CVSUMASK' does not affect the file 677permissions in the working directory; such files have the permissions 678which are typical for newly created files, except that sometimes CVS 679creates them read-only (see the sections on watches, *note Setting a 680watch::; -r, *note Global options::; or `CVSREAD', *note Environment 681variables::). 682 683 Note that using the client/server CVS (*note Remote repositories::), 684there is no good way to set `CVSUMASK'; the setting on the client 685machine has no effect. If you are connecting with `rsh', you can set 686`CVSUMASK' in `.bashrc' or `.cshrc', as described in the documentation 687for your operating system. This behavior might change in future 688versions of CVS; do not rely on the setting of `CVSUMASK' on the client 689having no effect. 690 691 Using pserver, you will generally need stricter permissions on the 692CVSROOT directory and directories above it in the tree; see *note 693Password authentication security::. 694 695 Some operating systems have features which allow a particular program 696to run with the ability to perform operations which the caller of the 697program could not. For example, the set user ID (setuid) or set group 698ID (setgid) features of unix or the installed image feature of VMS. CVS 699was not written to use such features and therefore attempting to install 700CVS in this fashion will provide protection against only accidental 701lapses; anyone who is trying to circumvent the measure will be able to 702do so, and depending on how you have set it up may gain access to more 703than just CVS. You may wish to instead consider pserver. It shares 704some of the same attributes, in terms of possibly providing a false 705sense of security or opening security holes wider than the ones you are 706trying to fix, so read the documentation on pserver security carefully 707if you are considering this option (*note Password authentication 708security::). 709 710 711File: cvs.info, Node: Windows permissions, Next: Attic, Prev: File permissions, Up: Repository storage 712 7132.2.3 File Permission issues specific to Windows 714------------------------------------------------ 715 716Some file permission issues are specific to Windows operating systems 717(Windows 95, Windows NT, and presumably future operating systems in this 718family. Some of the following might apply to OS/2 but I'm not sure). 719 720 If you are using local CVS and the repository is on a networked file 721system which is served by the Samba SMB server, some people have 722reported problems with permissions. Enabling WRITE=YES in the samba 723configuration is said to fix/workaround it. Disclaimer: I haven't 724investigated enough to know the implications of enabling that option, 725nor do I know whether there is something which CVS could be doing 726differently in order to avoid the problem. If you find something out, 727please let us know as described in *note BUGS::. 728 729 730File: cvs.info, Node: Attic, Next: CVS in repository, Prev: Windows permissions, Up: Repository storage 731 7322.2.4 The attic 733--------------- 734 735You will notice that sometimes CVS stores an RCS file in the `Attic'. 736For example, if the CVSROOT is `/usr/local/cvsroot' and we are talking 737about the file `backend.c' in the directory `yoyodyne/tc', then the file 738normally would be in 739 740 /usr/local/cvsroot/yoyodyne/tc/backend.c,v 741 742but if it goes in the attic, it would be in 743 744 /usr/local/cvsroot/yoyodyne/tc/Attic/backend.c,v 745 746instead. It should not matter from a user point of view whether a file 747is in the attic; CVS keeps track of this and looks in the attic when it 748needs to. But in case you want to know, the rule is that the RCS file 749is stored in the attic if and only if the head revision on the trunk has 750state `dead'. A `dead' state means that file has been removed, or never 751added, for that revision. For example, if you add a file on a branch, 752it will have a trunk revision in `dead' state, and a branch revision in 753a non-`dead' state. 754 755 756File: cvs.info, Node: CVS in repository, Next: Locks, Prev: Attic, Up: Repository storage 757 7582.2.5 The CVS directory in the repository 759----------------------------------------- 760 761The `CVS' directory in each repository directory contains information 762such as file attributes (in a file called `CVS/fileattr'. In the future 763additional files may be added to this directory, so implementations 764should silently ignore additional files. 765 766 This behavior is implemented only by CVS 1.7 and later; for details 767see *note Watches Compatibility::. 768 769 The format of the fileattr file is a series of entries of the 770following form (where `{' and `}' means the text between the braces can 771be repeated zero or more times): 772 773 ENT-TYPE FILENAME <tab> ATTRNAME = ATTRVAL {; ATTRNAME = ATTRVAL} 774<linefeed> 775 776 ENT-TYPE is `F' for a file, in which case the entry specifies the 777attributes for that file. 778 779 ENT-TYPE is `D', and FILENAME empty, to specify default attributes to 780be used for newly added files. 781 782 Other ENT-TYPE are reserved for future expansion. CVS 1.9 and older 783will delete them any time it writes file attributes. CVS 1.10 and later 784will preserve them. 785 786 Note that the order of the lines is not significant; a program 787writing the fileattr file may rearrange them at its convenience. 788 789 There is currently no way of quoting tabs or linefeeds in the 790filename, `=' in ATTRNAME, `;' in ATTRVAL, etc. Note: some 791implementations also don't handle a NUL character in any of the fields, 792but implementations are encouraged to allow it. 793 794 By convention, ATTRNAME starting with `_' is for an attribute given 795special meaning by CVS; other ATTRNAMEs are for user-defined attributes 796(or will be, once implementations start supporting user-defined 797attributes). 798 799 Builtin attributes: 800 801`_watched' 802 Present means the file is watched and should be checked out 803 read-only. 804 805`_watchers' 806 Users with watches for this file. Value is WATCHER > TYPE { , 807 WATCHER > TYPE } where WATCHER is a username, and TYPE is zero or 808 more of edit,unedit,commit separated by `+' (that is, nothing if 809 none; there is no "none" or "all" keyword). 810 811`_editors' 812 Users editing this file. Value is EDITOR > VAL { , EDITOR > VAL } 813 where EDITOR is a username, and VAL is TIME+HOSTNAME+PATHNAME, 814 where TIME is when the `cvs edit' command (or equivalent) happened, 815 and HOSTNAME and PATHNAME are for the working directory. 816 817 Example: 818 819 Ffile1 _watched=;_watchers=joe>edit,mary>commit 820 Ffile2 _watched=;_editors=sue>8 Jan 1975+workstn1+/home/sue/cvs 821 D _watched= 822 823means that the file `file1' should be checked out read-only. 824Furthermore, joe is watching for edits and mary is watching for commits. 825The file `file2' should be checked out read-only; sue started editing it 826on 8 Jan 1975 in the directory `/home/sue/cvs' on the machine 827`workstn1'. Future files which are added should be checked out 828read-only. To represent this example here, we have shown a space after 829`D', `Ffile1', and `Ffile2', but in fact there must be a single tab 830character there and no spaces. 831 832 833File: cvs.info, Node: Locks, Next: CVSROOT storage, Prev: CVS in repository, Up: Repository storage 834 8352.2.6 CVS locks in the repository 836--------------------------------- 837 838For an introduction to CVS locks focusing on user-visible behavior, see 839*note Concurrency::. The following section is aimed at people who are 840writing tools which want to access a CVS repository without interfering 841with other tools accessing the same repository. If you find yourself 842confused by concepts described here, like "read lock", "write lock", and 843"deadlock", you might consult the literature on operating systems or 844databases. 845 846 Any file in the repository with a name starting with `#cvs.rfl.' is a 847read lock. Any file in the repository with a name starting with 848`#cvs.wfl' is a write lock. Old versions of CVS (before CVS 1.5) also 849created files with names starting with `#cvs.tfl', but they are not 850discussed here. The directory `#cvs.lock' serves as a master lock. 851That is, one must obtain this lock first before creating any of the 852other locks. 853 854 To obtain a readlock, first create the `#cvs.lock' directory. This 855operation must be atomic (which should be true for creating a directory 856under most operating systems). If it fails because the directory 857already existed, wait for a while and try again. After obtaining the 858`#cvs.lock' lock, create a file whose name is `#cvs.rfl.' followed by 859information of your choice (for example, hostname and process 860identification number). Then remove the `#cvs.lock' directory to 861release the master lock. Then proceed with reading the repository. 862When you are done, remove the `#cvs.rfl' file to release the read lock. 863 864 To obtain a writelock, first create the `#cvs.lock' directory, as 865with a readlock. Then check that there are no files whose names start 866with `#cvs.rfl.'. If there are, remove `#cvs.lock', wait for a while, 867and try again. If there are no readers, then create a file whose name 868is `#cvs.wfl' followed by information of your choice (for example, 869hostname and process identification number). Hang on to the `#cvs.lock' 870lock. Proceed with writing the repository. When you are done, first 871remove the `#cvs.wfl' file and then the `#cvs.lock' directory. Note that 872unlike the `#cvs.rfl' file, the `#cvs.wfl' file is just informational; 873it has no effect on the locking operation beyond what is provided by 874holding on to the `#cvs.lock' lock itself. 875 876 Note that each lock (writelock or readlock) only locks a single 877directory in the repository, including `Attic' and `CVS' but not 878including subdirectories which represent other directories under version 879control. To lock an entire tree, you need to lock each directory (note 880that if you fail to obtain any lock you need, you must release the whole 881tree before waiting and trying again, to avoid deadlocks). 882 883 Note also that CVS expects writelocks to control access to individual 884`foo,v' files. RCS has a scheme where the `,foo,' file serves as a 885lock, but CVS does not implement it and so taking out a CVS writelock is 886recommended. See the comments at rcs_internal_lockfile in the CVS 887source code for further discussion/rationale. 888 889 890File: cvs.info, Node: CVSROOT storage, Prev: Locks, Up: Repository storage 891 8922.2.7 How files are stored in the CVSROOT directory 893--------------------------------------------------- 894 895The `$CVSROOT/CVSROOT' directory contains the various administrative 896files. In some ways this directory is just like any other directory in 897the repository; it contains RCS files whose names end in `,v', and many 898of the CVS commands operate on it the same way. However, there are a 899few differences. 900 901 For each administrative file, in addition to the RCS file, there is 902also a checked out copy of the file. For example, there is an RCS file 903`loginfo,v' and a file `loginfo' which contains the latest revision 904contained in `loginfo,v'. When you check in an administrative file, CVS 905should print 906 907 cvs commit: Rebuilding administrative file database 908 909and update the checked out copy in `$CVSROOT/CVSROOT'. If it does not, 910there is something wrong (*note BUGS::). To add your own files to the 911files to be updated in this fashion, you can add them to the 912`checkoutlist' administrative file (*note checkoutlist::). 913 914 By default, the `modules' file behaves as described above. If the 915modules file is very large, storing it as a flat text file may make 916looking up modules slow (I'm not sure whether this is as much of a 917concern now as when CVS first evolved this feature; I haven't seen 918benchmarks). Therefore, by making appropriate edits to the CVS source 919code one can store the modules file in a database which implements the 920`ndbm' interface, such as Berkeley db or GDBM. If this option is in 921use, then the modules database will be stored in the files `modules.db', 922`modules.pag', and/or `modules.dir'. 923 924 For information on the meaning of the various administrative files, 925see *note Administrative files::. 926 927 928File: cvs.info, Node: Working directory storage, Next: Intro administrative files, Prev: Repository storage, Up: Repository 929 9302.3 How data is stored in the working directory 931=============================================== 932 933While we are discussing CVS internals which may become visible from time 934to time, we might as well talk about what CVS puts in the `CVS' 935directories in the working directories. As with the repository, CVS 936handles this information and one can usually access it via CVS commands. 937But in some cases it may be useful to look at it, and other programs, 938such as the `jCVS' graphical user interface or the `VC' package for 939emacs, may need to look at it. Such programs should follow the 940recommendations in this section if they hope to be able to work with 941other programs which use those files, including future versions of the 942programs just mentioned and the command-line CVS client. 943 944 The `CVS' directory contains several files. Programs which are 945reading this directory should silently ignore files which are in the 946directory but which are not documented here, to allow for future 947expansion. 948 949 The files are stored according to the text file convention for the 950system in question. This means that working directories are not 951portable between systems with differing conventions for storing text 952files. This is intentional, on the theory that the files being managed 953by CVS probably will not be portable between such systems either. 954 955`Root' 956 This file contains the current CVS root, as described in *note 957 Specifying a repository::. 958 959`Repository' 960 This file contains the directory within the repository which the 961 current directory corresponds with. It can be either an absolute 962 pathname or a relative pathname; CVS has had the ability to read 963 either format since at least version 1.3 or so. The relative 964 pathname is relative to the root, and is the more sensible 965 approach, but the absolute pathname is quite common and 966 implementations should accept either. For example, after the 967 command 968 969 cvs -d :local:/usr/local/cvsroot checkout yoyodyne/tc 970 971 `Root' will contain 972 973 :local:/usr/local/cvsroot 974 975 and `Repository' will contain either 976 977 /usr/local/cvsroot/yoyodyne/tc 978 979 or 980 981 yoyodyne/tc 982 983 If the particular working directory does not correspond to a 984 directory in the repository, then `Repository' should contain 985 `CVSROOT/Emptydir'. 986 987`Entries' 988 This file lists the files and directories in the working directory. 989 The first character of each line indicates what sort of line it is. 990 If the character is unrecognized, programs reading the file should 991 silently skip that line, to allow for future expansion. 992 993 If the first character is `/', then the format is: 994 995 /NAME/REVISION/TIMESTAMP[+CONFLICT]/OPTIONS/TAGDATE 996 997 where `[' and `]' are not part of the entry, but instead indicate 998 that the `+' and conflict marker are optional. NAME is the name of 999 the file within the directory. REVISION is the revision that the 1000 file in the working derives from, or `0' for an added file, or `-' 1001 followed by a revision for a removed file. TIMESTAMP is the 1002 timestamp of the file at the time that CVS created it; if the 1003 timestamp differs with the actual modification time of the file it 1004 means the file has been modified. It is stored in the format used 1005 by the ISO C asctime() function (for example, `Sun Apr 7 01:29:26 1006 1996'). One may write a string which is not in that format, for 1007 example, `Result of merge', to indicate that the file should always 1008 be considered to be modified. This is not a special case; to see 1009 whether a file is modified a program should take the timestamp of 1010 the file and simply do a string compare with TIMESTAMP. If there 1011 was a conflict, CONFLICT can be set to the modification time of the 1012 file after the file has been written with conflict markers (*note 1013 Conflicts example::). Thus if CONFLICT is subsequently the same as 1014 the actual modification time of the file it means that the user has 1015 obviously not resolved the conflict. OPTIONS contains sticky 1016 options (for example `-kb' for a binary file). TAGDATE contains 1017 `T' followed by a tag name, or `D' for a date, followed by a sticky 1018 tag or date. Note that if TIMESTAMP contains a pair of timestamps 1019 separated by a space, rather than a single timestamp, you are 1020 dealing with a version of CVS earlier than CVS 1.5 (not documented 1021 here). 1022 1023 The timezone on the timestamp in CVS/Entries (local or universal) 1024 should be the same as the operating system stores for the timestamp 1025 of the file itself. For example, on Unix the file's timestamp is 1026 in universal time (UT), so the timestamp in CVS/Entries should be 1027 too. On VMS, the file's timestamp is in local time, so CVS on VMS 1028 should use local time. This rule is so that files do not appear to 1029 be modified merely because the timezone changed (for example, to or 1030 from summer time). 1031 1032 If the first character of a line in `Entries' is `D', then it 1033 indicates a subdirectory. `D' on a line all by itself indicates 1034 that the program which wrote the `Entries' file does record 1035 subdirectories (therefore, if there is such a line and no other 1036 lines beginning with `D', one knows there are no subdirectories). 1037 Otherwise, the line looks like: 1038 1039 D/NAME/FILLER1/FILLER2/FILLER3/FILLER4 1040 1041 where NAME is the name of the subdirectory, and all the FILLER 1042 fields should be silently ignored, for future expansion. Programs 1043 which modify `Entries' files should preserve these fields. 1044 1045 The lines in the `Entries' file can be in any order. 1046 1047`Entries.Log' 1048 This file does not record any information beyond that in `Entries', 1049 but it does provide a way to update the information without having 1050 to rewrite the entire `Entries' file, including the ability to 1051 preserve the information even if the program writing `Entries' and 1052 `Entries.Log' abruptly aborts. Programs which are reading the 1053 `Entries' file should also check for `Entries.Log'. If the latter 1054 exists, they should read `Entries' and then apply the changes 1055 mentioned in `Entries.Log'. After applying the changes, the 1056 recommended practice is to rewrite `Entries' and then delete 1057 `Entries.Log'. The format of a line in `Entries.Log' is a single 1058 character command followed by a space followed by a line in the 1059 format specified for a line in `Entries'. The single character 1060 command is `A' to indicate that the entry is being added, `R' to 1061 indicate that the entry is being removed, or any other character to 1062 indicate that the entire line in `Entries.Log' should be silently 1063 ignored (for future expansion). If the second character of the 1064 line in `Entries.Log' is not a space, then it was written by an 1065 older version of CVS (not documented here). 1066 1067 Programs which are writing rather than reading can safely ignore 1068 `Entries.Log' if they so choose. 1069 1070`Entries.Backup' 1071 This is a temporary file. Recommended usage is to write a new 1072 entries file to `Entries.Backup', and then to rename it 1073 (atomically, where possible) to `Entries'. 1074 1075`Entries.Static' 1076 The only relevant thing about this file is whether it exists or 1077 not. If it exists, then it means that only part of a directory was 1078 gotten and CVS will not create additional files in that directory. 1079 To clear it, use the `update' command with the `-d' option, which 1080 will get the additional files and remove `Entries.Static'. 1081 1082`Tag' 1083 This file contains per-directory sticky tags or dates. The first 1084 character is `T' for a branch tag, `N' for a non-branch tag, or `D' 1085 for a date, or another character to mean the file should be 1086 silently ignored, for future expansion. This character is followed 1087 by the tag or date. Note that per-directory sticky tags or dates 1088 are used for things like applying to files which are newly added; 1089 they might not be the same as the sticky tags or dates on 1090 individual files. For general information on sticky tags and 1091 dates, see *note Sticky tags::. 1092 1093`Notify' 1094 This file stores notifications (for example, for `edit' or 1095 `unedit') which have not yet been sent to the server. Its format 1096 is not yet documented here. 1097 1098`Notify.tmp' 1099 This file is to `Notify' as `Entries.Backup' is to `Entries'. That 1100 is, to write `Notify', first write the new contents to `Notify.tmp' 1101 and then (atomically where possible), rename it to `Notify'. 1102 1103`Base' 1104 If watches are in use, then an `edit' command stores the original 1105 copy of the file in the `Base' directory. This allows the `unedit' 1106 command to operate even if it is unable to communicate with the 1107 server. 1108 1109`Baserev' 1110 The file lists the revision for each of the files in the `Base' 1111 directory. The format is: 1112 1113 BNAME/REV/EXPANSION 1114 1115 where EXPANSION should be ignored, to allow for future expansion. 1116 1117`Baserev.tmp' 1118 This file is to `Baserev' as `Entries.Backup' is to `Entries'. 1119 That is, to write `Baserev', first write the new contents to 1120 `Baserev.tmp' and then (atomically where possible), rename it to 1121 `Baserev'. 1122 1123`Template' 1124 This file contains the template specified by the `rcsinfo' file 1125 (*note rcsinfo::). It is only used by the client; the 1126 non-client/server CVS consults `rcsinfo' directly. 1127 1128 1129File: cvs.info, Node: Intro administrative files, Next: Multiple repositories, Prev: Working directory storage, Up: Repository 1130 11312.4 The administrative files 1132============================ 1133 1134The directory `$CVSROOT/CVSROOT' contains some "administrative files". 1135*Note Administrative files::, for a complete description. You can use 1136CVS without any of these files, but some commands work better when at 1137least the `modules' file is properly set up. 1138 1139 The most important of these files is the `modules' file. It defines 1140all modules in the repository. This is a sample `modules' file. 1141 1142 CVSROOT CVSROOT 1143 modules CVSROOT modules 1144 cvs gnu/cvs 1145 rcs gnu/rcs 1146 diff gnu/diff 1147 tc yoyodyne/tc 1148 1149 The `modules' file is line oriented. In its simplest form each line 1150contains the name of the module, whitespace, and the directory where the 1151module resides. The directory is a path relative to `$CVSROOT'. The 1152last four lines in the example above are examples of such lines. 1153 1154 The line that defines the module called `modules' uses features that 1155are not explained here. *Note modules::, for a full explanation of all 1156the available features. 1157 11582.4.1 Editing administrative files 1159---------------------------------- 1160 1161You edit the administrative files in the same way that you would edit 1162any other module. Use `cvs checkout CVSROOT' to get a working copy, 1163edit it, and commit your changes in the normal way. 1164 1165 It is possible to commit an erroneous administrative file. You can 1166often fix the error and check in a new revision, but sometimes a 1167particularly bad error in the administrative file makes it impossible to 1168commit new revisions. 1169 1170 1171File: cvs.info, Node: Multiple repositories, Next: Creating a repository, Prev: Intro administrative files, Up: Repository 1172 11732.5 Multiple repositories 1174========================= 1175 1176In some situations it is a good idea to have more than one repository, 1177for instance if you have two development groups that work on separate 1178projects without sharing any code. All you have to do to have several 1179repositories is to specify the appropriate repository, using the 1180`CVSROOT' environment variable, the `-d' option to CVS, or (once you 1181have checked out a working directory) by simply allowing CVS to use the 1182repository that was used to check out the working directory (*note 1183Specifying a repository::). 1184 1185 The big advantage of having multiple repositories is that they can 1186reside on different servers. With CVS version 1.10, a single command 1187cannot recurse into directories from different repositories. With 1188development versions of CVS, you can check out code from multiple 1189servers into your working directory. CVS will recurse and handle all 1190the details of making connections to as many server machines as 1191necessary to perform the requested command. Here is an example of how 1192to set up a working directory: 1193 1194 cvs -d server1:/cvs co dir1 1195 cd dir1 1196 cvs -d server2:/root co sdir 1197 cvs update 1198 1199 The `cvs co' commands set up the working directory, and then the `cvs 1200update' command will contact server2, to update the dir1/sdir 1201subdirectory, and server1, to update everything else. 1202 1203 1204File: cvs.info, Node: Creating a repository, Next: Backing up, Prev: Multiple repositories, Up: Repository 1205 12062.6 Creating a repository 1207========================= 1208 1209To set up a CVS repository, first choose the machine and disk on which 1210you want to store the revision history of the source files. CPU and 1211memory requirements are modest, so most machines should be adequate. 1212For details see *note Server requirements::. 1213 1214 To estimate disk space requirements, if you are importing RCS files 1215from another system, the size of those files is the approximate initial 1216size of your repository, or if you are starting without any version 1217history, a rule of thumb is to allow for the server approximately three 1218times the size of the code to be under CVS for the repository (you will 1219eventually outgrow this, but not for a while). On the machines on which 1220the developers will be working, you'll want disk space for approximately 1221one working directory for each developer (either the entire tree or a 1222portion of it, depending on what each developer uses). 1223 1224 The repository should be accessible (directly or via a networked file 1225system) from all machines which want to use CVS in server or local mode; 1226the client machines need not have any access to it other than via the 1227CVS protocol. It is not possible to use CVS to read from a repository 1228which one only has read access to; CVS needs to be able to create lock 1229files (*note Concurrency::). 1230 1231 To create a repository, run the `cvs init' command. It will set up 1232an empty repository in the CVS root specified in the usual way (*note 1233Repository::). For example, 1234 1235 cvs -d /usr/local/cvsroot init 1236 1237 `cvs init' is careful to never overwrite any existing files in the 1238repository, so no harm is done if you run `cvs init' on an already 1239set-up repository. 1240 1241 `cvs init' will enable history logging; if you don't want that, 1242remove the history file after running `cvs init'. *Note history file::. 1243 1244 1245File: cvs.info, Node: Backing up, Next: Moving a repository, Prev: Creating a repository, Up: Repository 1246 12472.7 Backing up a repository 1248=========================== 1249 1250There is nothing particularly magical about the files in the repository; 1251for the most part it is possible to back them up just like any other 1252files. However, there are a few issues to consider. 1253 1254 The first is that to be paranoid, one should either not use CVS 1255during the backup, or have the backup program lock CVS while doing the 1256backup. To not use CVS, you might forbid logins to machines which can 1257access the repository, turn off your CVS server, or similar mechanisms. 1258The details would depend on your operating system and how you have CVS 1259set up. To lock CVS, you would create `#cvs.rfl' locks in each 1260repository directory. See *note Concurrency::, for more on CVS locks. 1261Having said all this, if you just back up without any of these 1262precautions, the results are unlikely to be particularly dire. 1263Restoring from backup, the repository might be in an inconsistent state, 1264but this would not be particularly hard to fix manually. 1265 1266 When you restore a repository from backup, assuming that changes in 1267the repository were made after the time of the backup, working 1268directories which were not affected by the failure may refer to 1269revisions which no longer exist in the repository. Trying to run CVS in 1270such directories will typically produce an error message. One way to 1271get those changes back into the repository is as follows: 1272 1273 * Get a new working directory. 1274 1275 * Copy the files from the working directory from before the failure 1276 over to the new working directory (do not copy the contents of the 1277 `CVS' directories, of course). 1278 1279 * Working in the new working directory, use commands such as `cvs 1280 update' and `cvs diff' to figure out what has changed, and then 1281 when you are ready, commit the changes into the repository. 1282 1283 1284File: cvs.info, Node: Moving a repository, Next: Remote repositories, Prev: Backing up, Up: Repository 1285 12862.8 Moving a repository 1287======================= 1288 1289Just as backing up the files in the repository is pretty much like 1290backing up any other files, if you need to move a repository from one 1291place to another it is also pretty much like just moving any other 1292collection of files. 1293 1294 The main thing to consider is that working directories point to the 1295repository. The simplest way to deal with a moved repository is to just 1296get a fresh working directory after the move. Of course, you'll want to 1297make sure that the old working directory had been checked in before the 1298move, or you figured out some other way to make sure that you don't lose 1299any changes. If you really do want to reuse the existing working 1300directory, it should be possible with manual surgery on the 1301`CVS/Repository' files. You can see *note Working directory storage::, 1302for information on the `CVS/Repository' and `CVS/Root' files, but unless 1303you are sure you want to bother, it probably isn't worth it. 1304 1305 1306File: cvs.info, Node: Remote repositories, Next: Read-only access, Prev: Moving a repository, Up: Repository 1307 13082.9 Remote repositories 1309======================= 1310 1311Your working copy of the sources can be on a different machine than the 1312repository. Using CVS in this manner is known as "client/server" 1313operation. You run CVS on a machine which can mount your working 1314directory, known as the "client", and tell it to communicate to a 1315machine which can mount the repository, known as the "server". 1316Generally, using a remote repository is just like using a local one, 1317except that the format of the repository name is: 1318 1319 [:METHOD:][[USER][:PASSWORD]@]HOSTNAME[:[PORT]]/path/to/repository 1320 1321 Specifying a password in the repository name is not recommended 1322during checkout, since this will cause CVS to store a cleartext copy of 1323the password in each created directory. `cvs login' first instead 1324(*note Password authentication client::). 1325 1326 The details of exactly what needs to be set up depend on how you are 1327connecting to the server. 1328 1329 If METHOD is not specified, and the repository name contains `:', 1330then the default is `ext' or `server', depending on your platform; both 1331are described in *note Connecting via rsh::. 1332 1333* Menu: 1334 1335* Server requirements:: Memory and other resources for servers 1336* Connecting via rsh:: Using the `rsh' program to connect 1337* Password authenticated:: Direct connections using passwords 1338* GSSAPI authenticated:: Direct connections using GSSAPI 1339* Kerberos authenticated:: Direct connections with kerberos 1340* Connecting via fork:: Using a forked `cvs server' to connect 1341 1342 1343File: cvs.info, Node: Server requirements, Next: Connecting via rsh, Up: Remote repositories 1344 13452.9.1 Server requirements 1346------------------------- 1347 1348The quick answer to what sort of machine is suitable as a server is that 1349requirements are modest--a server with 32M of memory or even less can 1350handle a fairly large source tree with a fair amount of activity. 1351 1352 The real answer, of course, is more complicated. Estimating the 1353known areas of large memory consumption should be sufficient to estimate 1354memory requirements. There are two such areas documented here; other 1355memory consumption should be small by comparison (if you find that is 1356not the case, let us know, as described in *note BUGS::, so we can 1357update this documentation). 1358 1359 The first area of big memory consumption is large checkouts, when 1360using the CVS server. The server consists of two processes for each 1361client that it is serving. Memory consumption on the child process 1362should remain fairly small. Memory consumption on the parent process, 1363particularly if the network connection to the client is slow, can be 1364expected to grow to slightly more than the size of the sources in a 1365single directory, or two megabytes, whichever is larger. 1366 1367 Multiplying the size of each CVS server by the number of servers 1368which you expect to have active at one time should give an idea of 1369memory requirements for the server. For the most part, the memory 1370consumed by the parent process probably can be swap space rather than 1371physical memory. 1372 1373 The second area of large memory consumption is `diff', when checking 1374in large files. This is required even for binary files. The rule of 1375thumb is to allow about ten times the size of the largest file you will 1376want to check in, although five times may be adequate. For example, if 1377you want to check in a file which is 10 megabytes, you should have 100 1378megabytes of memory on the machine doing the checkin (the server machine 1379for client/server, or the machine running CVS for non-client/server). 1380This can be swap space rather than physical memory. Because the memory 1381is only required briefly, there is no particular need to allow memory 1382for more than one such checkin at a time. 1383 1384 Resource consumption for the client is even more modest--any machine 1385with enough capacity to run the operating system in question should have 1386little trouble. 1387 1388 For information on disk space requirements, see *note Creating a 1389repository::. 1390 1391 1392File: cvs.info, Node: Connecting via rsh, Next: Password authenticated, Prev: Server requirements, Up: Remote repositories 1393 13942.9.2 Connecting with rsh 1395------------------------- 1396 1397CVS uses the `rsh' protocol to perform these operations, so the remote 1398user host needs to have a `.rhosts' file which grants access to the 1399local user. Note that the program that CVS uses for this purpose may be 1400specified using the `--with-rsh' flag to configure. 1401 1402 For example, suppose you are the user `mozart' on the local machine 1403`toe.example.com', and the server machine is `faun.example.org'. On 1404faun, put the following line into the file `.rhosts' in `bach''s home 1405directory: 1406 1407 toe.example.com mozart 1408 1409Then test that `rsh' is working with 1410 1411 rsh -l bach faun.example.org 'echo $PATH' 1412 1413 Next you have to make sure that `rsh' will be able to find the 1414server. Make sure that the path which `rsh' printed in the above 1415example includes the directory containing a program named `cvs' which is 1416the server. You need to set the path in `.bashrc', `.cshrc', etc., not 1417`.login' or `.profile'. Alternately, you can set the environment 1418variable `CVS_SERVER' on the client machine to the filename of the 1419server you want to use, for example `/usr/local/bin/cvs-1.6'. 1420 1421 There is no need to edit `inetd.conf' or start a CVS server daemon. 1422 1423 There are two access methods that you use in `CVSROOT' for rsh. 1424`:server:' specifies an internal rsh client, which is supported only by 1425some CVS ports. `:ext:' specifies an external rsh program. By default 1426this is `rsh' (unless otherwise specified by the `--with-rsh' flag to 1427configure) but you may set the `CVS_RSH' environment variable to invoke 1428another program which can access the remote server (for example, `remsh' 1429on HP-UX 9 because `rsh' is something different). It must be a program 1430which can transmit data to and from the server without modifying it; for 1431example the Windows NT `rsh' is not suitable since it by default 1432translates between CRLF and LF. The OS/2 CVS port has a hack to pass 1433`-b' to `rsh' to get around this, but since this could potentially cause 1434problems for programs other than the standard `rsh', it may change in 1435the future. If you set `CVS_RSH' to `SSH' or some other rsh 1436replacement, the instructions in the rest of this section concerning 1437`.rhosts' and so on are likely to be inapplicable; consult the 1438documentation for your rsh replacement. 1439 1440 Continuing our example, supposing you want to access the module `foo' 1441in the repository `/usr/local/cvsroot/', on machine `faun.example.org', 1442you are ready to go: 1443 1444 cvs -d :ext:bach@faun.example.org:/usr/local/cvsroot checkout foo 1445 1446(The `bach@' can be omitted if the username is the same on both the 1447local and remote hosts.) 1448 1449 1450File: cvs.info, Node: Password authenticated, Next: GSSAPI authenticated, Prev: Connecting via rsh, Up: Remote repositories 1451 14522.9.3 Direct connection with password authentication 1453---------------------------------------------------- 1454 1455The CVS client can also connect to the server using a password protocol. 1456This is particularly useful if using `rsh' is not feasible (for example, 1457the server is behind a firewall), and Kerberos also is not available. 1458 1459 To use this method, it is necessary to make some adjustments on both 1460the server and client sides. 1461 1462* Menu: 1463 1464* Password authentication server:: Setting up the server 1465* Password authentication client:: Using the client 1466* Password authentication security:: What this method does and does not do 1467 1468 1469File: cvs.info, Node: Password authentication server, Next: Password authentication client, Up: Password authenticated 1470 14712.9.3.1 Setting up the server for password authentication 1472......................................................... 1473 1474First of all, you probably want to tighten the permissions on the 1475`$CVSROOT' and `$CVSROOT/CVSROOT' directories. See *note Password 1476authentication security::, for more details. 1477 1478 On the server side, the file `/etc/inetd.conf' needs to be edited so 1479`inetd' knows to run the command `cvs pserver' when it receives a 1480connection on the right port. By default, the port number is 2401; it 1481would be different if your client were compiled with `CVS_AUTH_PORT' 1482defined to something else, though. This can also be specified in the 1483CVSROOT variable (*note Remote repositories::) or overridden with the 1484CVS_CLIENT_PORT environment variable (*note Environment variables::). 1485 1486 If your `inetd' allows raw port numbers in `/etc/inetd.conf', then 1487the following (all on a single line in `inetd.conf') should be 1488sufficient: 1489 1490 2401 stream tcp nowait root /usr/local/bin/cvs 1491 cvs -f --allow-root=/usr/cvsroot pserver 1492 1493(You could also use the `-T' option to specify a temporary directory.) 1494 1495 The `--allow-root' option specifies the allowable CVSROOT directory. 1496Clients which attempt to use a different CVSROOT directory will not be 1497allowed to connect. If there is more than one CVSROOT directory which 1498you want to allow, repeat the option. (Unfortunately, many versions of 1499`inetd' have very small limits on the number of arguments and/or the 1500total length of the command. The usual solution to this problem is to 1501have `inetd' run a shell script which then invokes CVS with the 1502necessary arguments.) 1503 1504 If your `inetd' wants a symbolic service name instead of a raw port 1505number, then put this in `/etc/services': 1506 1507 cvspserver 2401/tcp 1508 1509and put `cvspserver' instead of `2401' in `inetd.conf'. 1510 1511 If your system uses `xinetd' instead of `inetd', the procedure is 1512slightly different. Create a file called `/etc/xinetd.d/cvspserver' 1513containing the following: 1514 1515 service cvspserver 1516 { 1517 port = 2401 1518 socket_type = stream 1519 protocol = tcp 1520 wait = no 1521 user = root 1522 passenv = PATH 1523 server = /usr/local/bin/cvs 1524 server_args = -f --allow-root=/usr/cvsroot pserver 1525 } 1526 1527(If `cvspserver' is defined in `/etc/services', you can omit the `port' 1528line.) 1529 1530 Once the above is taken care of, restart your `inetd', or do whatever 1531is necessary to force it to reread its initialization files. 1532 1533 If you are having trouble setting this up, see *note Connection::. 1534 1535 Because the client stores and transmits passwords in cleartext 1536(almost--see *note Password authentication security::, for details), a 1537separate CVS password file is generally used, so people don't compromise 1538their regular passwords when they access the repository. This file is 1539`$CVSROOT/CVSROOT/passwd' (*note Intro administrative files::). It uses 1540a colon-separated format, similar to `/etc/passwd' on Unix systems, 1541except that it has fewer fields: CVS username, optional password, and an 1542optional system username for CVS to run as if authentication succeeds. 1543Here is an example `passwd' file with five entries: 1544 1545 anonymous: 1546 bach:ULtgRLXo7NRxs 1547 spwang:1sOp854gDF3DY 1548 melissa:tGX1fS8sun6rY:pubcvs 1549 qproj:XR4EZcEs0szik:pubcvs 1550 1551(The passwords are encrypted according to the standard Unix `crypt()' 1552function, so it is possible to paste in passwords directly from regular 1553Unix `/etc/passwd' files.) 1554 1555 The first line in the example will grant access to any CVS client 1556attempting to authenticate as user `anonymous', no matter what password 1557they use, including an empty password. (This is typical for sites 1558granting anonymous read-only access; for information on how to do the 1559"read-only" part, see *note Read-only access::.) 1560 1561 The second and third lines will grant access to `bach' and `spwang' 1562if they supply their respective plaintext passwords. 1563 1564 The fourth line will grant access to `melissa', if she supplies the 1565correct password, but her CVS operations will actually run on the server 1566side under the system user `pubcvs'. Thus, there need not be any system 1567user named `melissa', but there _must_ be one named `pubcvs'. 1568 1569 The fifth line shows that system user identities can be shared: any 1570client who successfully authenticates as `qproj' will actually run as 1571`pubcvs', just as `melissa' does. That way you could create a single, 1572shared system user for each project in your repository, and give each 1573developer their own line in the `$CVSROOT/CVSROOT/passwd' file. The CVS 1574username on each line would be different, but the system username would 1575be the same. The reason to have different CVS usernames is that CVS 1576will log their actions under those names: when `melissa' commits a 1577change to a project, the checkin is recorded in the project's history 1578under the name `melissa', not `pubcvs'. And the reason to have them 1579share a system username is so that you can arrange permissions in the 1580relevant area of the repository such that only that account has 1581write-permission there. 1582 1583 If the system-user field is present, all password-authenticated CVS 1584commands run as that user; if no system user is specified, CVS simply 1585takes the CVS username as the system username and runs commands as that 1586user. In either case, if there is no such user on the system, then the 1587CVS operation will fail (regardless of whether the client supplied a 1588valid password). 1589 1590 The password and system-user fields can both be omitted (and if the 1591system-user field is omitted, then also omit the colon that would have 1592separated it from the encrypted password). For example, this would be a 1593valid `$CVSROOT/CVSROOT/passwd' file: 1594 1595 anonymous::pubcvs 1596 fish:rKa5jzULzmhOo:kfogel 1597 sussman:1sOp854gDF3DY 1598 1599When the password field is omitted or empty, then the client's 1600authentication attempt will succeed with any password, including the 1601empty string. However, the colon after the CVS username is always 1602necessary, even if the password is empty. 1603 1604 CVS can also fall back to use system authentication. When 1605authenticating a password, the server first checks for the user in the 1606`$CVSROOT/CVSROOT/passwd' file. If it finds the user, it will use that 1607entry for authentication as described above. But if it does not find 1608the user, or if the CVS `passwd' file does not exist, then the server 1609can try to authenticate the username and password using the operating 1610system's user-lookup routines (this "fallback" behavior can be disabled 1611by setting `SystemAuth=no' in the CVS `config' file, *note config::). 1612 1613 The default fallback behaviour is to look in `/etc/passwd' for this 1614system password unless your system has PAM (Pluggable Authentication 1615Modules) and your CVS server executable was configured to use it at 1616compile time (using `./configure --enable-pam' - see the INSTALL file 1617for more). In this case, PAM will be consulted instead. This means 1618that CVS can be configured to use any password authentication source PAM 1619can be configured to use (possibilities include a simple UNIX password, 1620NIS, LDAP, and others) in its global configuration file (usually 1621`/etc/pam.conf' or possibly `/etc/pam.d/cvs'). See your PAM 1622documentation for more details on PAM configuration. 1623 1624 Note that PAM is an experimental feature in CVS and feedback is 1625encouraged. Please send a mail to one of the CVS mailing lists 1626(`info-cvs@gnu.org' or `bug-cvs@gnu.org') if you use the CVS PAM 1627support. 1628 1629 *WARNING: Using PAM gives the system administrator much more 1630flexibility about how CVS users are authenticated but no more security 1631than other methods. See below for more.* 1632 1633 CVS needs an "auth" and "account" module in the PAM configuration 1634file. A typical PAM configuration would therefore have the following 1635lines in `/etc/pam.conf' to emulate the standard CVS system 1636`/etc/passwd' authentication: 1637 1638 cvs auth required pam_unix.so 1639 cvs account required pam_unix.so 1640 1641 The the equivalent `/etc/pam.d/cvs' would contain 1642 1643 auth required pam_unix.so 1644 account required pam_unix.so 1645 1646 Some systems require a full path to the module so that `pam_unix.so' 1647(Linux) would become something like 1648`/usr/lib/security/$ISA/pam_unix.so.1' (Sun Solaris). See the 1649`contrib/pam' subdirectory of the CVS source distribution for further 1650example configurations. 1651 1652 The PAM service name given above as "cvs" is just the service name in 1653the default configuration amd can be set using `./configure 1654--with-hardcoded-pam-service-name=<pam-service-name>' before compiling. 1655CVS can also be configured to use whatever name it is invoked as as its 1656PAM service name using `./configure 1657--without-hardcoded-pam-service-name', but this feature should not be 1658used if you may not have control of the name CVS will be invoked as. 1659 1660 Be aware, also, that falling back to system authentication might be a 1661security risk: CVS operations would then be authenticated with that 1662user's regular login password, and the password flies across the network 1663in plaintext. See *note Password authentication security:: for more on 1664this. This may be more of a problem with PAM authentication because it 1665is likely that the source of the system password is some central 1666authentication service like LDAP which is also used to authenticate 1667other services. 1668 1669 On the other hand, PAM makes it very easy to change your password 1670regularly. If they are given the option of a one-password system for 1671all of their activities, users are often more willing to change their 1672password on a regular basis. 1673 1674 In the non-PAM configuration where the password is stored in the 1675`CVSROOT/passwd' file, it is difficult to change passwords on a regular 1676basis since only administrative users (or in some cases processes that 1677act as an administrative user) are typicaly given access to modify this 1678file. Either there needs to be some hand-crafted web page or set-uid 1679program to update the file, or the update needs to be done by submitting 1680a request to an administrator to perform the duty by hand. In the first 1681case, having to remember to update a separate password on a periodic 1682basis can be difficult. In the second case, the manual nature of the 1683change will typically mean that the password will not be changed unless 1684it is absolutely necessary. 1685 1686 Note that PAM administrators should probably avoid configuring 1687one-time-passwords (OTP) for CVS authentication/authorization. If OTPs 1688are desired, the administrator may wish to encourage the use of one of 1689the other Client/Server access methods. See the section on *note Remote 1690repositories:: for a list of other methods. 1691 1692 Right now, the only way to put a password in the CVS `passwd' file is 1693to paste it there from somewhere else. Someday, there may be a `cvs 1694passwd' command. 1695 1696 Unlike many of the files in `$CVSROOT/CVSROOT', it is normal to edit 1697the `passwd' file in-place, rather than via CVS. This is because of the 1698possible security risks of having the `passwd' file checked out to 1699people's working copies. If you do want to include the `passwd' file in 1700checkouts of `$CVSROOT/CVSROOT', see *note checkoutlist::. 1701 1702 1703File: cvs.info, Node: Password authentication client, Next: Password authentication security, Prev: Password authentication server, Up: Password authenticated 1704 17052.9.3.2 Using the client with password authentication 1706..................................................... 1707 1708To run a CVS command on a remote repository via the 1709password-authenticating server, one specifies the `pserver' protocol, 1710optional username, repository host, an optional port number, and path to 1711the repository. For example: 1712 1713 cvs -d :pserver:faun.example.org:/usr/local/cvsroot checkout someproj 1714 1715or 1716 1717 CVSROOT=:pserver:bach@faun.example.org:2401/usr/local/cvsroot 1718 cvs checkout someproj 1719 1720 However, unless you're connecting to a public-access repository 1721(i.e., one where that username doesn't require a password), you'll need 1722to supply a password or "log in" first. Logging in verifies your 1723password with the repository and stores it in a file. It's done with 1724the `login' command, which will prompt you interactively for the 1725password if you didn't supply one as part of $CVSROOT: 1726 1727 cvs -d :pserver:bach@faun.example.org:/usr/local/cvsroot login 1728 CVS password: 1729 1730or 1731 1732 cvs -d :pserver:bach:p4ss30rd@faun.example.org:/usr/local/cvsroot login 1733 1734 After you enter the password, CVS verifies it with the server. If 1735the verification succeeds, then that combination of username, host, 1736repository, and password is permanently recorded, so future transactions 1737with that repository won't require you to run `cvs login'. (If 1738verification fails, CVS will exit complaining that the password was 1739incorrect, and nothing will be recorded.) 1740 1741 The records are stored, by default, in the file `$HOME/.cvspass'. 1742That file's format is human-readable, and to a degree human-editable, 1743but note that the passwords are not stored in cleartext--they are 1744trivially encoded to protect them from "innocent" compromise (i.e., 1745inadvertent viewing by a system administrator or other non-malicious 1746person). 1747 1748 You can change the default location of this file by setting the 1749`CVS_PASSFILE' environment variable. If you use this variable, make 1750sure you set it _before_ `cvs login' is run. If you were to set it 1751after running `cvs login', then later CVS commands would be unable to 1752look up the password for transmission to the server. 1753 1754 Once you have logged in, all CVS commands using that remote 1755repository and username will authenticate with the stored password. So, 1756for example 1757 1758 cvs -d :pserver:bach@faun.example.org:/usr/local/cvsroot checkout foo 1759 1760should just work (unless the password changes on the server side, in 1761which case you'll have to re-run `cvs login'). 1762 1763 Note that if the `:pserver:' were not present in the repository 1764specification, CVS would assume it should use `rsh' to connect with the 1765server instead (*note Connecting via rsh::). 1766 1767 Of course, once you have a working copy checked out and are running 1768CVS commands from within it, there is no longer any need to specify the 1769repository explicitly, because CVS can deduce the repository from the 1770working copy's `CVS' subdirectory. 1771 1772 The password for a given remote repository can be removed from the 1773`CVS_PASSFILE' by using the `cvs logout' command. 1774 1775 1776File: cvs.info, Node: Password authentication security, Prev: Password authentication client, Up: Password authenticated 1777 17782.9.3.3 Security considerations with password authentication 1779............................................................ 1780 1781The passwords are stored on the client side in a trivial encoding of the 1782cleartext, and transmitted in the same encoding. The encoding is done 1783only to prevent inadvertent password compromises (i.e., a system 1784administrator accidentally looking at the file), and will not prevent 1785even a naive attacker from gaining the password. 1786 1787 The separate CVS password file (*note Password authentication 1788server::) allows people to use a different password for repository 1789access than for login access. On the other hand, once a user has 1790non-read-only access to the repository, she can execute programs on the 1791server system through a variety of means. Thus, repository access 1792implies fairly broad system access as well. It might be possible to 1793modify CVS to prevent that, but no one has done so as of this writing. 1794 1795 Note that because the `$CVSROOT/CVSROOT' directory contains `passwd' 1796and other files which are used to check security, you must control the 1797permissions on this directory as tightly as the permissions on `/etc'. 1798The same applies to the `$CVSROOT' directory itself and any directory 1799above it in the tree. Anyone who has write access to such a directory 1800will have the ability to become any user on the system. Note that these 1801permissions are typically tighter than you would use if you are not 1802using pserver. 1803 1804 In summary, anyone who gets the password gets repository access 1805(which may imply some measure of general system access as well). The 1806password is available to anyone who can sniff network packets or read a 1807protected (i.e., user read-only) file. If you want real security, get 1808Kerberos. 1809 1810 1811File: cvs.info, Node: GSSAPI authenticated, Next: Kerberos authenticated, Prev: Password authenticated, Up: Remote repositories 1812 18132.9.4 Direct connection with GSSAPI 1814----------------------------------- 1815 1816GSSAPI is a generic interface to network security systems such as 1817Kerberos 5. If you have a working GSSAPI library, you can have CVS 1818connect via a direct TCP connection, authenticating with GSSAPI. 1819 1820 To do this, CVS needs to be compiled with GSSAPI support; when 1821configuring CVS it tries to detect whether GSSAPI libraries using 1822kerberos version 5 are present. You can also use the `--with-gssapi' 1823flag to configure. 1824 1825 The connection is authenticated using GSSAPI, but the message stream 1826is _not_ authenticated by default. You must use the `-a' global option 1827to request stream authentication. 1828 1829 The data transmitted is _not_ encrypted by default. Encryption 1830support must be compiled into both the client and the server; use the 1831`--enable-encrypt' configure option to turn it on. You must then use 1832the `-x' global option to request encryption. 1833 1834 GSSAPI connections are handled on the server side by the same server 1835which handles the password authentication server; see *note Password 1836authentication server::. If you are using a GSSAPI mechanism such as 1837Kerberos which provides for strong authentication, you will probably 1838want to disable the ability to authenticate via cleartext passwords. To 1839do so, create an empty `CVSROOT/passwd' password file, and set 1840`SystemAuth=no' in the config file (*note config::). 1841 1842 The GSSAPI server uses a principal name of cvs/HOSTNAME, where 1843HOSTNAME is the canonical name of the server host. You will have to set 1844this up as required by your GSSAPI mechanism. 1845 1846 To connect using GSSAPI, use `:gserver:'. For example, 1847 1848 cvs -d :gserver:faun.example.org:/usr/local/cvsroot checkout foo 1849 1850 1851File: cvs.info, Node: Kerberos authenticated, Next: Connecting via fork, Prev: GSSAPI authenticated, Up: Remote repositories 1852 18532.9.5 Direct connection with kerberos 1854------------------------------------- 1855 1856The easiest way to use kerberos is to use the kerberos `rsh', as 1857described in *note Connecting via rsh::. The main disadvantage of using 1858rsh is that all the data needs to pass through additional programs, so 1859it may be slower. So if you have kerberos installed you can connect via 1860a direct TCP connection, authenticating with kerberos. 1861 1862 This section concerns the kerberos network security system, version 18634. Kerberos version 5 is supported via the GSSAPI generic network 1864security interface, as described in the previous section. 1865 1866 To do this, CVS needs to be compiled with kerberos support; when 1867configuring CVS it tries to detect whether kerberos is present or you 1868can use the `--with-krb4' flag to configure. 1869 1870 The data transmitted is _not_ encrypted by default. Encryption 1871support must be compiled into both the client and server; use the 1872`--enable-encryption' configure option to turn it on. You must then use 1873the `-x' global option to request encryption. 1874 1875 You need to edit `inetd.conf' on the server machine to run `cvs 1876kserver'. The client uses port 1999 by default; if you want to use 1877another port specify it in the `CVSROOT' (*note Remote repositories::) 1878or the `CVS_CLIENT_PORT' environment variable (*note Environment 1879variables::) on the client. 1880 1881 When you want to use CVS, get a ticket in the usual way (generally 1882`kinit'); it must be a ticket which allows you to log into the server 1883machine. Then you are ready to go: 1884 1885 cvs -d :kserver:faun.example.org:/usr/local/cvsroot checkout foo 1886 1887 Previous versions of CVS would fall back to a connection via rsh; 1888this version will not do so. 1889 1890 1891File: cvs.info, Node: Connecting via fork, Prev: Kerberos authenticated, Up: Remote repositories 1892 18932.9.6 Connecting with fork 1894-------------------------- 1895 1896This access method allows you to connect to a repository on your local 1897disk via the remote protocol. In other words it does pretty much the 1898same thing as `:local:', but various quirks, bugs and the like are those 1899of the remote CVS rather than the local CVS. 1900 1901 For day-to-day operations you might prefer either `:local:' or 1902`:fork:', depending on your preferences. Of course `:fork:' comes in 1903particularly handy in testing or debugging `cvs' and the remote 1904protocol. Specifically, we avoid all of the network-related 1905setup/configuration, timeouts, and authentication inherent in the other 1906remote access methods but still create a connection which uses the 1907remote protocol. 1908 1909 To connect using the `fork' method, use `:fork:' and the pathname to 1910your local repository. For example: 1911 1912 cvs -d :fork:/usr/local/cvsroot checkout foo 1913 1914 As with `:ext:', the server is called `cvs' by default, or the value 1915of the `CVS_SERVER' environment variable. 1916 1917 1918File: cvs.info, Node: Read-only access, Next: Server temporary directory, Prev: Remote repositories, Up: Repository 1919 19202.10 Read-only repository access 1921================================ 1922 1923It is possible to grant read-only repository access to people using the 1924password-authenticated server (*note Password authenticated::). (The 1925other access methods do not have explicit support for read-only users 1926because those methods all assume login access to the repository machine 1927anyway, and therefore the user can do whatever local file permissions 1928allow her to do.) 1929 1930 A user who has read-only access can do only those CVS operations 1931which do not modify the repository, except for certain "administrative" 1932files (such as lock files and the history file). It may be desirable to 1933use this feature in conjunction with user-aliasing (*note Password 1934authentication server::). 1935 1936 Unlike with previous versions of CVS, read-only users should be able 1937merely to read the repository, and not to execute programs on the server 1938or otherwise gain unexpected levels of access. Or to be more accurate, 1939the _known_ holes have been plugged. Because this feature is new and 1940has not received a comprehensive security audit, you should use whatever 1941level of caution seems warranted given your attitude concerning 1942security. 1943 1944 There are two ways to specify read-only access for a user: by 1945inclusion, and by exclusion. 1946 1947 "Inclusion" means listing that user specifically in the 1948`$CVSROOT/CVSROOT/readers' file, which is simply a newline-separated 1949list of users. Here is a sample `readers' file: 1950 1951 melissa 1952 splotnik 1953 jrandom 1954 1955(Don't forget the newline after the last user.) 1956 1957 "Exclusion" means explicitly listing everyone who has _write_ 1958access--if the file 1959 1960 $CVSROOT/CVSROOT/writers 1961 1962exists, then only those users listed in it have write access, and 1963everyone else has read-only access (of course, even the read-only users 1964still need to be listed in the CVS `passwd' file). The `writers' file 1965has the same format as the `readers' file. 1966 1967 Note: if your CVS `passwd' file maps cvs users onto system users 1968(*note Password authentication server::), make sure you deny or grant 1969read-only access using the _cvs_ usernames, not the system usernames. 1970That is, the `readers' and `writers' files contain cvs usernames, which 1971may or may not be the same as system usernames. 1972 1973 Here is a complete description of the server's behavior in deciding 1974whether to grant read-only or read-write access: 1975 1976 If `readers' exists, and this user is listed in it, then she gets 1977read-only access. Or if `writers' exists, and this user is NOT listed 1978in it, then she also gets read-only access (this is true even if 1979`readers' exists but she is not listed there). Otherwise, she gets full 1980read-write access. 1981 1982 Of course there is a conflict if the user is listed in both files. 1983This is resolved in the more conservative way, it being better to 1984protect the repository too much than too little: such a user gets 1985read-only access. 1986 1987 1988File: cvs.info, Node: Server temporary directory, Prev: Read-only access, Up: Repository 1989 19902.11 Temporary directories for the server 1991========================================= 1992 1993While running, the CVS server creates temporary directories. They are 1994named 1995 1996 cvs-servPID 1997 1998where PID is the process identification number of the server. They are 1999located in the directory specified by the `-T' global option (*note 2000Global options::), the `TMPDIR' environment variable (*note Environment 2001variables::), or, failing that, `/tmp'. 2002 2003 In most cases the server will remove the temporary directory when it 2004is done, whether it finishes normally or abnormally. However, there are 2005a few cases in which the server does not or cannot remove the temporary 2006directory, for example: 2007 2008 * If the server aborts due to an internal server error, it may 2009 preserve the directory to aid in debugging 2010 2011 * If the server is killed in a way that it has no way of cleaning up 2012 (most notably, `kill -KILL' on unix). 2013 2014 * If the system shuts down without an orderly shutdown, which tells 2015 the server to clean up. 2016 2017 In cases such as this, you will need to manually remove the 2018`cvs-servPID' directories. As long as there is no server running with 2019process identification number PID, it is safe to do so. 2020 2021 2022File: cvs.info, Node: Starting a new project, Next: Revisions, Prev: Repository, Up: Top 2023 20243 Starting a project with CVS 2025***************************** 2026 2027Because renaming files and moving them between directories is somewhat 2028inconvenient, the first thing you do when you start a new project should 2029be to think through your file organization. It is not impossible to 2030rename or move files, but it does increase the potential for confusion 2031and CVS does have some quirks particularly in the area of renaming 2032directories. *Note Moving files::. 2033 2034 What to do next depends on the situation at hand. 2035 2036* Menu: 2037 2038* Setting up the files:: Getting the files into the repository 2039* Defining the module:: How to make a module of the files 2040 2041 2042File: cvs.info, Node: Setting up the files, Next: Defining the module, Up: Starting a new project 2043 20443.1 Setting up the files 2045======================== 2046 2047The first step is to create the files inside the repository. This can 2048be done in a couple of different ways. 2049 2050* Menu: 2051 2052* From files:: This method is useful with old projects 2053 where files already exists. 2054* From other version control systems:: Old projects where you want to 2055 preserve history from another system. 2056* From scratch:: Creating a directory tree from scratch. 2057 2058 2059File: cvs.info, Node: From files, Next: From other version control systems, Up: Setting up the files 2060 20613.1.1 Creating a directory tree from a number of files 2062------------------------------------------------------ 2063 2064When you begin using CVS, you will probably already have several 2065projects that can be put under CVS control. In these cases the easiest 2066way is to use the `import' command. An example is probably the easiest 2067way to explain how to use it. If the files you want to install in CVS 2068reside in `WDIR', and you want them to appear in the repository as 2069`$CVSROOT/yoyodyne/RDIR', you can do this: 2070 2071 $ cd WDIR 2072 $ cvs import -m "Imported sources" yoyodyne/RDIR yoyo start 2073 2074 Unless you supply a log message with the `-m' flag, CVS starts an 2075editor and prompts for a message. The string `yoyo' is a "vendor tag", 2076and `start' is a "release tag". They may fill no purpose in this 2077context, but since CVS requires them they must be present. *Note 2078Tracking sources::, for more information about them. 2079 2080 You can now verify that it worked, and remove your original source 2081directory. 2082 2083 $ cd .. 2084 $ cvs checkout yoyodyne/RDIR # Explanation below 2085 $ diff -r WDIR yoyodyne/RDIR 2086 $ rm -r WDIR 2087 2088Erasing the original sources is a good idea, to make sure that you do 2089not accidentally edit them in WDIR, bypassing CVS. Of course, it would 2090be wise to make sure that you have a backup of the sources before you 2091remove them. 2092 2093 The `checkout' command can either take a module name as argument (as 2094it has done in all previous examples) or a path name relative to 2095`$CVSROOT', as it did in the example above. 2096 2097 It is a good idea to check that the permissions CVS sets on the 2098directories inside `$CVSROOT' are reasonable, and that they belong to 2099the proper groups. *Note File permissions::. 2100 2101 If some of the files you want to import are binary, you may want to 2102use the wrappers features to specify which files are binary and which 2103are not. *Note Wrappers::. 2104 2105 2106File: cvs.info, Node: From other version control systems, Next: From scratch, Prev: From files, Up: Setting up the files 2107 21083.1.2 Creating Files From Other Version Control Systems 2109------------------------------------------------------- 2110 2111If you have a project which you are maintaining with another version 2112control system, such as RCS, you may wish to put the files from that 2113project into CVS, and preserve the revision history of the files. 2114 2115From RCS 2116 If you have been using RCS, find the RCS files--usually a file 2117 named `foo.c' will have its RCS file in `RCS/foo.c,v' (but it could 2118 be other places; consult the RCS documentation for details). Then 2119 create the appropriate directories in CVS if they do not already 2120 exist. Then copy the files into the appropriate directories in the 2121 CVS repository (the name in the repository must be the name of the 2122 source file with `,v' added; the files go directly in the 2123 appropriate directory of the repository, not in an `RCS' 2124 subdirectory). This is one of the few times when it is a good idea 2125 to access the CVS repository directly, rather than using CVS 2126 commands. Then you are ready to check out a new working directory. 2127 2128 The RCS file should not be locked when you move it into CVS; if it 2129 is, CVS will have trouble letting you operate on it. 2130 2131From another version control system 2132 Many version control systems have the ability to export RCS files 2133 in the standard format. If yours does, export the RCS files and 2134 then follow the above instructions. 2135 2136 Failing that, probably your best bet is to write a script that will 2137 check out the files one revision at a time using the command line 2138 interface to the other system, and then check the revisions into 2139 CVS. The `sccs2rcs' script mentioned below may be a useful example 2140 to follow. 2141 2142From SCCS 2143 There is a script in the `contrib' directory of the CVS source 2144 distribution called `sccs2rcs' which converts SCCS files to RCS 2145 files. Note: you must run it on a machine which has both SCCS and 2146 RCS installed, and like everything else in contrib it is 2147 unsupported (your mileage may vary). 2148 2149From PVCS 2150 There is a script in the `contrib' directory of the CVS source 2151 distribution called `pvcs_to_rcs' which converts PVCS archives to 2152 RCS files. You must run it on a machine which has both PVCS and 2153 RCS installed, and like everything else in contrib it is 2154 unsupported (your mileage may vary). See the comments in the 2155 script for details. 2156 2157 2158File: cvs.info, Node: From scratch, Prev: From other version control systems, Up: Setting up the files 2159 21603.1.3 Creating a directory tree from scratch 2161-------------------------------------------- 2162 2163For a new project, the easiest thing to do is probably to create an 2164empty directory structure, like this: 2165 2166 $ mkdir tc 2167 $ mkdir tc/man 2168 $ mkdir tc/testing 2169 2170 After that, you use the `import' command to create the corresponding 2171(empty) directory structure inside the repository: 2172 2173 $ cd tc 2174 $ cvs import -m "Created directory structure" yoyodyne/DIR yoyo start 2175 2176 Then, use `add' to add files (and new directories) as they appear. 2177 2178 Check that the permissions CVS sets on the directories inside 2179`$CVSROOT' are reasonable. 2180 2181 2182File: cvs.info, Node: Defining the module, Prev: Setting up the files, Up: Starting a new project 2183 21843.2 Defining the module 2185======================= 2186 2187The next step is to define the module in the `modules' file. This is 2188not strictly necessary, but modules can be convenient in grouping 2189together related files and directories. 2190 2191 In simple cases these steps are sufficient to define a module. 2192 2193 1. Get a working copy of the modules file. 2194 2195 $ cvs checkout CVSROOT/modules 2196 $ cd CVSROOT 2197 2198 2. Edit the file and insert a line that defines the module. *Note 2199 Intro administrative files::, for an introduction. *Note 2200 modules::, for a full description of the modules file. You can use 2201 the following line to define the module `tc': 2202 2203 tc yoyodyne/tc 2204 2205 3. Commit your changes to the modules file. 2206 2207 $ cvs commit -m "Added the tc module." modules 2208 2209 4. Release the modules module. 2210 2211 $ cd .. 2212 $ cvs release -d CVSROOT 2213 2214 2215File: cvs.info, Node: Revisions, Next: Branching and merging, Prev: Starting a new project, Up: Top 2216 22174 Revisions 2218*********** 2219 2220For many uses of CVS, one doesn't need to worry too much about revision 2221numbers; CVS assigns numbers such as `1.1', `1.2', and so on, and that 2222is all one needs to know. However, some people prefer to have more 2223knowledge and control concerning how CVS assigns revision numbers. 2224 2225 If one wants to keep track of a set of revisions involving more than 2226one file, such as which revisions went into a particular release, one 2227uses a "tag", which is a symbolic revision which can be assigned to a 2228numeric revision in each file. 2229 2230* Menu: 2231 2232* Revision numbers:: The meaning of a revision number 2233* Versions revisions releases:: Terminology used in this manual 2234* Assigning revisions:: Assigning revisions 2235* Tags:: Tags--Symbolic revisions 2236* Tagging the working directory:: The cvs tag command 2237* Tagging by date/tag:: The cvs rtag command 2238* Modifying tags:: Adding, renaming, and deleting tags 2239* Tagging add/remove:: Tags with adding and removing files 2240* Sticky tags:: Certain tags are persistent 2241 2242 2243File: cvs.info, Node: Revision numbers, Next: Versions revisions releases, Up: Revisions 2244 22454.1 Revision numbers 2246==================== 2247 2248Each version of a file has a unique "revision number". Revision numbers 2249look like `1.1', `1.2', `1.3.2.2' or even `1.3.2.2.4.5'. A revision 2250number always has an even number of period-separated decimal integers. 2251By default revision 1.1 is the first revision of a file. Each 2252successive revision is given a new number by increasing the rightmost 2253number by one. The following figure displays a few revisions, with 2254newer revisions to the right. 2255 2256 +-----+ +-----+ +-----+ +-----+ +-----+ 2257 ! 1.1 !----! 1.2 !----! 1.3 !----! 1.4 !----! 1.5 ! 2258 +-----+ +-----+ +-----+ +-----+ +-----+ 2259 2260 It is also possible to end up with numbers containing more than one 2261period, for example `1.3.2.2'. Such revisions represent revisions on 2262branches (*note Branching and merging::); such revision numbers are 2263explained in detail in *note Branches and revisions::. 2264 2265 2266File: cvs.info, Node: Versions revisions releases, Next: Assigning revisions, Prev: Revision numbers, Up: Revisions 2267 22684.2 Versions, revisions and releases 2269==================================== 2270 2271A file can have several versions, as described above. Likewise, a 2272software product can have several versions. A software product is often 2273given a version number such as `4.1.1'. 2274 2275 Versions in the first sense are called "revisions" in this document, 2276and versions in the second sense are called "releases". To avoid 2277confusion, the word "version" is almost never used in this document. 2278 2279 2280File: cvs.info, Node: Assigning revisions, Next: Tags, Prev: Versions revisions releases, Up: Revisions 2281 22824.3 Assigning revisions 2283======================= 2284 2285By default, CVS will assign numeric revisions by leaving the first 2286number the same and incrementing the second number. For example, `1.1', 2287`1.2', `1.3', etc. 2288 2289 When adding a new file, the second number will always be one and the 2290first number will equal the highest first number of any file in that 2291directory. For example, the current directory contains files whose 2292highest numbered revisions are `1.7', `3.1', and `4.12', then an added 2293file will be given the numeric revision `4.1'. 2294 2295 Normally there is no reason to care about the revision numbers--it is 2296easier to treat them as internal numbers that CVS maintains, and tags 2297provide a better way to distinguish between things like release 1 versus 2298release 2 of your product (*note Tags::). However, if you want to set 2299the numeric revisions, the `-r' option to `cvs commit' can do that. The 2300`-r' option implies the `-f' option, in the sense that it causes the 2301files to be committed even if they are not modified. 2302 2303 For example, to bring all your files up to revision 3.0 (including 2304those that haven't changed), you might invoke: 2305 2306 $ cvs commit -r 3.0 2307 2308 Note that the number you specify with `-r' must be larger than any 2309existing revision number. That is, if revision 3.0 exists, you cannot 2310`cvs commit -r 1.3'. If you want to maintain several releases in 2311parallel, you need to use a branch (*note Branching and merging::). 2312 2313 2314File: cvs.info, Node: Tags, Next: Tagging the working directory, Prev: Assigning revisions, Up: Revisions 2315 23164.4 Tags-Symbolic revisions 2317=========================== 2318 2319The revision numbers live a life of their own. They need not have 2320anything at all to do with the release numbers of your software product. 2321Depending on how you use CVS the revision numbers might change several 2322times between two releases. As an example, some of the source files 2323that make up RCS 5.6 have the following revision numbers: 2324 2325 ci.c 5.21 2326 co.c 5.9 2327 ident.c 5.3 2328 rcs.c 5.12 2329 rcsbase.h 5.11 2330 rcsdiff.c 5.10 2331 rcsedit.c 5.11 2332 rcsfcmp.c 5.9 2333 rcsgen.c 5.10 2334 rcslex.c 5.11 2335 rcsmap.c 5.2 2336 rcsutil.c 5.10 2337 2338 You can use the `tag' command to give a symbolic name to a certain 2339revision of a file. You can use the `-v' flag to the `status' command 2340to see all tags that a file has, and which revision numbers they 2341represent. Tag names must start with an uppercase or lowercase letter 2342and can contain uppercase and lowercase letters, digits, `-', and `_'. 2343The two tag names `BASE' and `HEAD' are reserved for use by CVS. It is 2344expected that future names which are special to CVS will be specially 2345named, for example by starting with `.', rather than being named 2346analogously to `BASE' and `HEAD', to avoid conflicts with actual tag 2347names. 2348 2349 You'll want to choose some convention for naming tags, based on 2350information such as the name of the program and the version number of 2351the release. For example, one might take the name of the program, 2352immediately followed by the version number with `.' changed to `-', so 2353that CVS 1.9 would be tagged with the name `cvs1-9'. If you choose a 2354consistent convention, then you won't constantly be guessing whether a 2355tag is `cvs-1-9' or `cvs1_9' or what. You might even want to consider 2356enforcing your convention in the taginfo file (*note user-defined 2357logging::). 2358 2359 The following example shows how you can add a tag to a file. The 2360commands must be issued inside your working directory. That is, you 2361should issue the command in the directory where `backend.c' resides. 2362 2363 $ cvs tag rel-0-4 backend.c 2364 T backend.c 2365 $ cvs status -v backend.c 2366 =================================================================== 2367 File: backend.c Status: Up-to-date 2368 2369 Version: 1.4 Tue Dec 1 14:39:01 1992 2370 RCS Version: 1.4 /u/cvsroot/yoyodyne/tc/backend.c,v 2371 Sticky Tag: (none) 2372 Sticky Date: (none) 2373 Sticky Options: (none) 2374 2375 Existing Tags: 2376 rel-0-4 (revision: 1.4) 2377 2378 For a complete summary of the syntax of `cvs tag', including the 2379various options, see *note Invoking CVS::. 2380 2381 There is seldom reason to tag a file in isolation. A more common use 2382is to tag all the files that constitute a module with the same tag at 2383strategic points in the development life-cycle, such as when a release 2384is made. 2385 2386 $ cvs tag rel-1-0 . 2387 cvs tag: Tagging . 2388 T Makefile 2389 T backend.c 2390 T driver.c 2391 T frontend.c 2392 T parser.c 2393 2394(When you give CVS a directory as argument, it generally applies the 2395operation to all the files in that directory, and (recursively), to any 2396subdirectories that it may contain. *Note Recursive behavior::.) 2397 2398 The `checkout' command has a flag, `-r', that lets you check out a 2399certain revision of a module. This flag makes it easy to retrieve the 2400sources that make up release 1.0 of the module `tc' at any time in the 2401future: 2402 2403 $ cvs checkout -r rel-1-0 tc 2404 2405This is useful, for instance, if someone claims that there is a bug in 2406that release, but you cannot find the bug in the current working copy. 2407 2408 You can also check out a module as it was at any given date. *Note 2409checkout options::. When specifying `-r' to any of these commands, you 2410will need beware of sticky tags; see *note Sticky tags::. 2411 2412 When you tag more than one file with the same tag you can think about 2413the tag as "a curve drawn through a matrix of filename vs. revision 2414number." Say we have 5 files with the following revisions: 2415 2416 file1 file2 file3 file4 file5 2417 2418 1.1 1.1 1.1 1.1 /--1.1* <-*- TAG 2419 1.2*- 1.2 1.2 -1.2*- 2420 1.3 \- 1.3*- 1.3 / 1.3 2421 1.4 \ 1.4 / 1.4 2422 \-1.5*- 1.5 2423 1.6 2424 2425 At some time in the past, the `*' versions were tagged. You can 2426think of the tag as a handle attached to the curve drawn through the 2427tagged revisions. When you pull on the handle, you get all the tagged 2428revisions. Another way to look at it is that you "sight" through a set 2429of revisions that is "flat" along the tagged revisions, like this: 2430 2431 file1 file2 file3 file4 file5 2432 2433 1.1 2434 1.2 2435 1.1 1.3 _ 2436 1.1 1.2 1.4 1.1 / 2437 1.2*----1.3*----1.5*----1.2*----1.1 (--- <--- Look here 2438 1.3 1.6 1.3 \_ 2439 1.4 1.4 2440 1.5 2441 2442 2443File: cvs.info, Node: Tagging the working directory, Next: Tagging by date/tag, Prev: Tags, Up: Revisions 2444 24454.5 Specifying what to tag from the working directory 2446===================================================== 2447 2448The example in the previous section demonstrates one of the most common 2449ways to choose which revisions to tag. Namely, running the `cvs tag' 2450command without arguments causes CVS to select the revisions which are 2451checked out in the current working directory. For example, if the copy 2452of `backend.c' in working directory was checked out from revision 1.4, 2453then CVS will tag revision 1.4. Note that the tag is applied 2454immediately to revision 1.4 in the repository; tagging is not like 2455modifying a file, or other operations in which one first modifies the 2456working directory and then runs `cvs commit' to transfer that 2457modification to the repository. 2458 2459 One potentially surprising aspect of the fact that `cvs tag' operates 2460on the repository is that you are tagging the checked-in revisions, 2461which may differ from locally modified files in your working directory. 2462If you want to avoid doing this by mistake, specify the `-c' option to 2463`cvs tag'. If there are any locally modified files, CVS will abort with 2464an error before it tags any files: 2465 2466 $ cvs tag -c rel-0-4 2467 cvs tag: backend.c is locally modified 2468 cvs [tag aborted]: correct the above errors first! 2469 2470 2471File: cvs.info, Node: Tagging by date/tag, Next: Modifying tags, Prev: Tagging the working directory, Up: Revisions 2472 24734.6 Specifying what to tag by date or revision 2474============================================== 2475 2476The `cvs rtag' command tags the repository as of a certain date or time 2477(or can be used to tag the latest revision). `rtag' works directly on 2478the repository contents (it requires no prior checkout and does not look 2479for a working directory). 2480 2481 The following options specify which date or revision to tag. See 2482*note Common options::, for a complete description of them. 2483 2484`-D DATE' 2485 Tag the most recent revision no later than DATE. 2486 2487`-f' 2488 Only useful with the `-D DATE' or `-r TAG' flags. If no matching 2489 revision is found, use the most recent revision (instead of 2490 ignoring the file). 2491 2492`-r TAG' 2493 Only tag those files that contain existing tag TAG. 2494 2495 The `cvs tag' command also allows one to specify files by revision or 2496date, using the same `-r', `-D', and `-f' options. However, this 2497feature is probably not what you want. The reason is that `cvs tag' 2498chooses which files to tag based on the files that exist in the working 2499directory, rather than the files which existed as of the given tag/date. 2500Therefore, you are generally better off using `cvs rtag'. The 2501exceptions might be cases like: 2502 2503 cvs tag -r 1.4 stable backend.c 2504 2505 2506File: cvs.info, Node: Modifying tags, Next: Tagging add/remove, Prev: Tagging by date/tag, Up: Revisions 2507 25084.7 Deleting, moving, and renaming tags 2509======================================= 2510 2511Normally one does not modify tags. They exist in order to record the 2512history of the repository and so deleting them or changing their meaning 2513would, generally, not be what you want. 2514 2515 However, there might be cases in which one uses a tag temporarily or 2516accidentally puts one in the wrong place. Therefore, one might delete, 2517move, or rename a tag. 2518 2519*WARNING: the commands in this section are dangerous; they permanently 2520discard historical information and it can be difficult or impossible to 2521recover from errors. If you are a CVS administrator, you may consider 2522restricting these commands with taginfo (*note user-defined logging::).* 2523 2524 To delete a tag, specify the `-d' option to either `cvs tag' or `cvs 2525rtag'. For example: 2526 2527 cvs rtag -d rel-0-4 tc 2528 2529deletes the non-branch tag `rel-0-4' from the module `tc'. In the event 2530that branch tags are encountered within the repository with the given 2531name, a warning message will be issued and the branch tag will not be 2532deleted. If you are absolutely certain you know what you are doing, the 2533`-B' option may be specified to allow deletion of branch tags. In that 2534case, any non-branch tags encountered will trigger warnings and will not 2535be deleted. 2536 2537*WARNING: Moving branch tags is very dangerous! If you think you need 2538the `-B' option, think again and ask your CVS administrator about it (if 2539that isn't you). There is almost certainly another way to accomplish 2540what you want to accomplish.* 2541 2542 When we say "move" a tag, we mean to make the same name point to 2543different revisions. For example, the `stable' tag may currently point 2544to revision 1.4 of `backend.c' and perhaps we want to make it point to 2545revision 1.6. To move a non-branch tag, specify the `-F' option to 2546either `cvs tag' or `cvs rtag'. For example, the task just mentioned 2547might be accomplished as: 2548 2549 cvs tag -r 1.6 -F stable backend.c 2550 2551If any branch tags are encountered in the repository with the given 2552name, a warning is issued and the branch tag is not disturbed. If you 2553are absolutely certain you wish to move the branch tag, the `-B' option 2554may be specified. In that case, non-branch tags encountered with the 2555given name are ignored with a warning message. 2556 2557*WARNING: Moving branch tags is very dangerous! If you think you need 2558the `-B' option, think again and ask your CVS administrator about it (if 2559that isn't you). There is almost certainly another way to accomplish 2560what you want to accomplish.* 2561 2562 When we say "rename" a tag, we mean to make a different name point to 2563the same revisions as the old tag. For example, one may have misspelled 2564the tag name and want to correct it (hopefully before others are relying 2565on the old spelling). To rename a tag, first create a new tag using the 2566`-r' option to `cvs rtag', and then delete the old name. (Caution: this 2567method will not work with branch tags.) This leaves the new tag on 2568exactly the same files as the old tag. For example: 2569 2570 cvs rtag -r old-name-0-4 rel-0-4 tc 2571 cvs rtag -d old-name-0-4 tc 2572 2573 2574File: cvs.info, Node: Tagging add/remove, Next: Sticky tags, Prev: Modifying tags, Up: Revisions 2575 25764.8 Tagging and adding and removing files 2577========================================= 2578 2579The subject of exactly how tagging interacts with adding and removing 2580files is somewhat obscure; for the most part CVS will keep track of 2581whether files exist or not without too much fussing. By default, tags 2582are applied to only files which have a revision corresponding to what is 2583being tagged. Files which did not exist yet, or which were already 2584removed, simply omit the tag, and CVS knows to treat the absence of a 2585tag as meaning that the file didn't exist as of that tag. 2586 2587 However, this can lose a small amount of information. For example, 2588suppose a file was added and then removed. Then, if the tag is missing 2589for that file, there is no way to know whether the tag refers to the 2590time before the file was added, or the time after it was removed. If 2591you specify the `-r' option to `cvs rtag', then CVS tags the files which 2592have been removed, and thereby avoids this problem. For example, one 2593might specify `-r HEAD' to tag the head. 2594 2595 On the subject of adding and removing files, the `cvs rtag' command 2596has a `-a' option which means to clear the tag from removed files that 2597would not otherwise be tagged. For example, one might specify this 2598option in conjunction with `-F' when moving a tag. If one moved a tag 2599without `-a', then the tag in the removed files might still refer to the 2600old revision, rather than reflecting the fact that the file had been 2601removed. I don't think this is necessary if `-r' is specified, as noted 2602above. 2603 2604 2605File: cvs.info, Node: Sticky tags, Prev: Tagging add/remove, Up: Revisions 2606 26074.9 Sticky tags 2608=============== 2609 2610Sometimes a working copy's revision has extra data associated with it, 2611for example it might be on a branch (*note Branching and merging::), or 2612restricted to versions prior to a certain date by `checkout -D' or 2613`update -D'. Because this data persists - that is, it applies to 2614subsequent commands in the working copy - we refer to it as "sticky". 2615 2616 Most of the time, stickiness is an obscure aspect of CVS that you 2617don't need to think about. However, even if you don't want to use the 2618feature, you may need to know _something_ about sticky tags (for 2619example, how to avoid them!). 2620 2621 You can use the `status' command to see if any sticky tags or dates 2622are set: 2623 2624 $ cvs status driver.c 2625 =================================================================== 2626 File: driver.c Status: Up-to-date 2627 2628 Version: 1.7.2.1 Sat Dec 5 19:35:03 1992 2629 RCS Version: 1.7.2.1 /u/cvsroot/yoyodyne/tc/driver.c,v 2630 Sticky Tag: rel-1-0-patches (branch: 1.7.2) 2631 Sticky Date: (none) 2632 Sticky Options: (none) 2633 2634 The sticky tags will remain on your working files until you delete 2635them with `cvs update -A'. The `-A' option merges local changes into 2636the version of the file from the head of the trunk, removing any sticky 2637tags, dates, or options. See *note update:: for more on the operation 2638of `cvs update'. 2639 2640 The most common use of sticky tags is to identify which branch one is 2641working on, as described in *note Accessing branches::. However, 2642non-branch sticky tags have uses as well. For example, suppose that you 2643want to avoid updating your working directory, to isolate yourself from 2644possibly destabilizing changes other people are making. You can, of 2645course, just refrain from running `cvs update'. But if you want to 2646avoid updating only a portion of a larger tree, then sticky tags can 2647help. If you check out a certain revision (such as 1.4) it will become 2648sticky. Subsequent `cvs update' commands will not retrieve the latest 2649revision until you reset the tag with `cvs update -A'. Likewise, use of 2650the `-D' option to `update' or `checkout' sets a "sticky date", which, 2651similarly, causes that date to be used for future retrievals. 2652 2653 People often want to retrieve an old version of a file without 2654setting a sticky tag. This can be done with the `-p' option to 2655`checkout' or `update', which sends the contents of the file to standard 2656output. For example: 2657 $ cvs update -p -r 1.1 file1 >file1 2658 =================================================================== 2659 Checking out file1 2660 RCS: /tmp/cvs-sanity/cvsroot/first-dir/Attic/file1,v 2661 VERS: 1.1 2662 *************** 2663 $ 2664 2665 However, this isn't the easiest way, if you are asking how to undo a 2666previous checkin (in this example, put `file1' back to the way it was as 2667of revision 1.1). In that case you are better off using the `-j' option 2668to `update'; for further discussion see *note Merging two revisions::. 2669 2670 2671File: cvs.info, Node: Branching and merging, Next: Recursive behavior, Prev: Revisions, Up: Top 2672 26735 Branching and merging 2674*********************** 2675 2676CVS allows you to isolate changes onto a separate line of development, 2677known as a "branch". When you change files on a branch, those changes 2678do not appear on the main trunk or other branches. 2679 2680 Later you can move changes from one branch to another branch (or the 2681main trunk) by "merging". Merging involves first running `cvs update 2682-j', to merge the changes into the working directory. You can then 2683commit that revision, and thus effectively copy the changes onto another 2684branch. 2685 2686* Menu: 2687 2688* Branches motivation:: What branches are good for 2689* Creating a branch:: Creating a branch 2690* Accessing branches:: Checking out and updating branches 2691* Branches and revisions:: Branches are reflected in revision numbers 2692* Magic branch numbers:: Magic branch numbers 2693* Merging a branch:: Merging an entire branch 2694* Merging more than once:: Merging from a branch several times 2695* Merging two revisions:: Merging differences between two revisions 2696* Merging adds and removals:: What if files are added or removed? 2697* Merging and keywords:: Avoiding conflicts due to keyword substitution 2698 2699 2700File: cvs.info, Node: Branches motivation, Next: Creating a branch, Up: Branching and merging 2701 27025.1 What branches are good for 2703============================== 2704 2705Suppose that release 1.0 of tc has been made. You are continuing to 2706develop tc, planning to create release 1.1 in a couple of months. After 2707a while your customers start to complain about a fatal bug. You check 2708out release 1.0 (*note Tags::) and find the bug (which turns out to have 2709a trivial fix). However, the current revision of the sources are in a 2710state of flux and are not expected to be stable for at least another 2711month. There is no way to make a bugfix release based on the newest 2712sources. 2713 2714 The thing to do in a situation like this is to create a "branch" on 2715the revision trees for all the files that make up release 1.0 of tc. 2716You can then make modifications to the branch without disturbing the 2717main trunk. When the modifications are finished you can elect to either 2718incorporate them on the main trunk, or leave them on the branch. 2719 2720 2721File: cvs.info, Node: Creating a branch, Next: Accessing branches, Prev: Branches motivation, Up: Branching and merging 2722 27235.2 Creating a branch 2724===================== 2725 2726You can create a branch with `tag -b'; for example, assuming you're in a 2727working copy: 2728 2729 $ cvs tag -b rel-1-0-patches 2730 2731 This splits off a branch based on the current revisions in the 2732working copy, assigning that branch the name `rel-1-0-patches'. 2733 2734 It is important to understand that branches get created in the 2735repository, not in the working copy. Creating a branch based on current 2736revisions, as the above example does, will _not_ automatically switch 2737the working copy to be on the new branch. For information on how to do 2738that, see *note Accessing branches::. 2739 2740 You can also create a branch without reference to any working copy, 2741by using `rtag': 2742 2743 $ cvs rtag -b -r rel-1-0 rel-1-0-patches tc 2744 2745 `-r rel-1-0' says that this branch should be rooted at the revision 2746that corresponds to the tag `rel-1-0'. It need not be the most recent 2747revision - it's often useful to split a branch off an old revision (for 2748example, when fixing a bug in a past release otherwise known to be 2749stable). 2750 2751 As with `tag', the `-b' flag tells `rtag' to create a branch (rather 2752than just a symbolic revision name). Note that the numeric revision 2753number that matches `rel-1-0' will probably be different from file to 2754file. 2755 2756 So, the full effect of the command is to create a new branch - named 2757`rel-1-0-patches' - in module `tc', rooted in the revision tree at the 2758point tagged by `rel-1-0'. 2759 2760 2761File: cvs.info, Node: Accessing branches, Next: Branches and revisions, Prev: Creating a branch, Up: Branching and merging 2762 27635.3 Accessing branches 2764====================== 2765 2766You can retrieve a branch in one of two ways: by checking it out fresh 2767from the repository, or by switching an existing working copy over to 2768the branch. 2769 2770 To check out a branch from the repository, invoke `checkout' with the 2771`-r' flag, followed by the tag name of the branch (*note Creating a 2772branch::): 2773 2774 $ cvs checkout -r rel-1-0-patches tc 2775 2776 Or, if you already have a working copy, you can switch it to a given 2777branch with `update -r': 2778 2779 $ cvs update -r rel-1-0-patches tc 2780 2781or equivalently: 2782 2783 $ cd tc 2784 $ cvs update -r rel-1-0-patches 2785 2786 It does not matter if the working copy was originally on the main 2787trunk or on some other branch - the above command will switch it to the 2788named branch. And similarly to a regular `update' command, `update -r' 2789merges any changes you have made, notifying you of conflicts where they 2790occur. 2791 2792 Once you have a working copy tied to a particular branch, it remains 2793there until you tell it otherwise. This means that changes checked in 2794from the working copy will add new revisions on that branch, while 2795leaving the main trunk and other branches unaffected. 2796 2797 To find out what branch a working copy is on, you can use the 2798`status' command. In its output, look for the field named `Sticky tag' 2799(*note Sticky tags::) - that's CVS's way of telling you the branch, if 2800any, of the current working files: 2801 2802 $ cvs status -v driver.c backend.c 2803 =================================================================== 2804 File: driver.c Status: Up-to-date 2805 2806 Version: 1.7 Sat Dec 5 18:25:54 1992 2807 RCS Version: 1.7 /u/cvsroot/yoyodyne/tc/driver.c,v 2808 Sticky Tag: rel-1-0-patches (branch: 1.7.2) 2809 Sticky Date: (none) 2810 Sticky Options: (none) 2811 2812 Existing Tags: 2813 rel-1-0-patches (branch: 1.7.2) 2814 rel-1-0 (revision: 1.7) 2815 2816 =================================================================== 2817 File: backend.c Status: Up-to-date 2818 2819 Version: 1.4 Tue Dec 1 14:39:01 1992 2820 RCS Version: 1.4 /u/cvsroot/yoyodyne/tc/backend.c,v 2821 Sticky Tag: rel-1-0-patches (branch: 1.4.2) 2822 Sticky Date: (none) 2823 Sticky Options: (none) 2824 2825 Existing Tags: 2826 rel-1-0-patches (branch: 1.4.2) 2827 rel-1-0 (revision: 1.4) 2828 rel-0-4 (revision: 1.4) 2829 2830 Don't be confused by the fact that the branch numbers for each file 2831are different (`1.7.2' and `1.4.2' respectively). The branch tag is the 2832same, `rel-1-0-patches', and the files are indeed on the same branch. 2833The numbers simply reflect the point in each file's revision history at 2834which the branch was made. In the above example, one can deduce that 2835`driver.c' had been through more changes than `backend.c' before this 2836branch was created. 2837 2838 See *note Branches and revisions:: for details about how branch 2839numbers are constructed. 2840 2841 2842File: cvs.info, Node: Branches and revisions, Next: Magic branch numbers, Prev: Accessing branches, Up: Branching and merging 2843 28445.4 Branches and revisions 2845========================== 2846 2847Ordinarily, a file's revision history is a linear series of increments 2848(*note Revision numbers::): 2849 2850 +-----+ +-----+ +-----+ +-----+ +-----+ 2851 ! 1.1 !----! 1.2 !----! 1.3 !----! 1.4 !----! 1.5 ! 2852 +-----+ +-----+ +-----+ +-----+ +-----+ 2853 2854 However, CVS is not limited to linear development. The "revision 2855tree" can be split into "branches", where each branch is a 2856self-maintained line of development. Changes made on one branch can 2857easily be moved back to the main trunk. 2858 2859 Each branch has a "branch number", consisting of an odd number of 2860period-separated decimal integers. The branch number is created by 2861appending an integer to the revision number where the corresponding 2862branch forked off. Having branch numbers allows more than one branch to 2863be forked off from a certain revision. 2864 2865 All revisions on a branch have revision numbers formed by appending 2866an ordinal number to the branch number. The following figure 2867illustrates branching with an example. 2868 2869 +-------------+ 2870 Branch 1.2.2.3.2 -> ! 1.2.2.3.2.1 ! 2871 / +-------------+ 2872 / 2873 / 2874 +---------+ +---------+ +---------+ 2875 Branch 1.2.2 -> _! 1.2.2.1 !----! 1.2.2.2 !----! 1.2.2.3 ! 2876 / +---------+ +---------+ +---------+ 2877 / 2878 / 2879 +-----+ +-----+ +-----+ +-----+ +-----+ 2880 ! 1.1 !----! 1.2 !----! 1.3 !----! 1.4 !----! 1.5 ! <- The main trunk 2881 +-----+ +-----+ +-----+ +-----+ +-----+ 2882 ! 2883 ! 2884 ! +---------+ +---------+ +---------+ 2885 Branch 1.2.4 -> +---! 1.2.4.1 !----! 1.2.4.2 !----! 1.2.4.3 ! 2886 +---------+ +---------+ +---------+ 2887 2888 The exact details of how the branch number is constructed is not 2889something you normally need to be concerned about, but here is how it 2890works: When CVS creates a branch number it picks the first unused even 2891integer, starting with 2. So when you want to create a branch from 2892revision 6.4 it will be numbered 6.4.2. All branch numbers ending in a 2893zero (such as 6.4.0) are used internally by CVS (*note Magic branch 2894numbers::). The branch 1.1.1 has a special meaning. *Note Tracking 2895sources::. 2896 2897 2898File: cvs.info, Node: Magic branch numbers, Next: Merging a branch, Prev: Branches and revisions, Up: Branching and merging 2899 29005.5 Magic branch numbers 2901======================== 2902 2903This section describes a CVS feature called "magic branches". For most 2904purposes, you need not worry about magic branches; CVS handles them for 2905you. However, they are visible to you in certain circumstances, so it 2906may be useful to have some idea of how it works. 2907 2908 Externally, branch numbers consist of an odd number of dot-separated 2909decimal integers. *Note Revision numbers::. That is not the whole 2910truth, however. For efficiency reasons CVS sometimes inserts an extra 0 2911in the second rightmost position (1.2.4 becomes 1.2.0.4, 8.9.10.11.12 2912becomes 8.9.10.11.0.12 and so on). 2913 2914 CVS does a pretty good job at hiding these so called magic branches, 2915but in a few places the hiding is incomplete: 2916 2917 * The magic branch number appears in the output from `cvs log'. 2918 2919 * You cannot specify a symbolic branch name to `cvs admin'. 2920 2921 You can use the `admin' command to reassign a symbolic name to a 2922branch the way RCS expects it to be. If `R4patches' is assigned to the 2923branch 1.4.2 (magic branch number 1.4.0.2) in file `numbers.c' you can 2924do this: 2925 2926 $ cvs admin -NR4patches:1.4.2 numbers.c 2927 2928 It only works if at least one revision is already committed on the 2929branch. Be very careful so that you do not assign the tag to the wrong 2930number. (There is no way to see how the tag was assigned yesterday). 2931 2932 2933File: cvs.info, Node: Merging a branch, Next: Merging more than once, Prev: Magic branch numbers, Up: Branching and merging 2934 29355.6 Merging an entire branch 2936============================ 2937 2938You can merge changes made on a branch into your working copy by giving 2939the `-j BRANCHNAME' flag to the `update' subcommand. With one `-j 2940BRANCHNAME' option it merges the changes made between the greatest 2941common ancestor (GCA) of the branch and the destination revision (in the 2942simple case below the GCA is the point where the branch forked) and the 2943newest revision on that branch into your working copy. 2944 2945 The `-j' stands for "join". 2946 2947 Consider this revision tree: 2948 2949 +-----+ +-----+ +-----+ +-----+ 2950 ! 1.1 !----! 1.2 !----! 1.3 !----! 1.4 ! <- The main trunk 2951 +-----+ +-----+ +-----+ +-----+ 2952 ! 2953 ! 2954 ! +---------+ +---------+ 2955 Branch R1fix -> +---! 1.2.2.1 !----! 1.2.2.2 ! 2956 +---------+ +---------+ 2957 2958The branch 1.2.2 has been given the tag (symbolic name) `R1fix'. The 2959following example assumes that the module `mod' contains only one file, 2960`m.c'. 2961 2962 $ cvs checkout mod # Retrieve the latest revision, 1.4 2963 2964 $ cvs update -j R1fix m.c # Merge all changes made on the branch, 2965 # i.e. the changes between revision 1.2 2966 # and 1.2.2.2, into your working copy 2967 # of the file. 2968 2969 $ cvs commit -m "Included R1fix" # Create revision 1.5. 2970 2971 A conflict can result from a merge operation. If that happens, you 2972should resolve it before committing the new revision. *Note Conflicts 2973example::. 2974 2975 If your source files contain keywords (*note Keyword substitution::), 2976you might be getting more conflicts than strictly necessary. See *note 2977Merging and keywords::, for information on how to avoid this. 2978 2979 The `checkout' command also supports the `-j BRANCHNAME' flag. The 2980same effect as above could be achieved with this: 2981 2982 $ cvs checkout -j R1fix mod 2983 $ cvs commit -m "Included R1fix" 2984 2985 It should be noted that `update -j TAGNAME' will also work but may 2986not produce the desired result. *Note Merging adds and removals::, for 2987more. 2988 2989 2990File: cvs.info, Node: Merging more than once, Next: Merging two revisions, Prev: Merging a branch, Up: Branching and merging 2991 29925.7 Merging from a branch several times 2993======================================= 2994 2995Continuing our example, the revision tree now looks like this: 2996 2997 +-----+ +-----+ +-----+ +-----+ +-----+ 2998 ! 1.1 !----! 1.2 !----! 1.3 !----! 1.4 !----! 1.5 ! <- The main trunk 2999 +-----+ +-----+ +-----+ +-----+ +-----+ 3000 ! * 3001 ! * 3002 ! +---------+ +---------+ 3003 Branch R1fix -> +---! 1.2.2.1 !----! 1.2.2.2 ! 3004 +---------+ +---------+ 3005 3006where the starred line represents the merge from the `R1fix' branch to 3007the main trunk, as just discussed. 3008 3009 Now suppose that development continues on the `R1fix' branch: 3010 3011 +-----+ +-----+ +-----+ +-----+ +-----+ 3012 ! 1.1 !----! 1.2 !----! 1.3 !----! 1.4 !----! 1.5 ! <- The main trunk 3013 +-----+ +-----+ +-----+ +-----+ +-----+ 3014 ! * 3015 ! * 3016 ! +---------+ +---------+ +---------+ 3017 Branch R1fix -> +---! 1.2.2.1 !----! 1.2.2.2 !----! 1.2.2.3 ! 3018 +---------+ +---------+ +---------+ 3019 3020and then you want to merge those new changes onto the main trunk. If 3021you just use the `cvs update -j R1fix m.c' command again, CVS will 3022attempt to merge again the changes which you have already merged, which 3023can have undesirable side effects. 3024 3025 So instead you need to specify that you only want to merge the 3026changes on the branch which have not yet been merged into the trunk. To 3027do that you specify two `-j' options, and CVS merges the changes from 3028the first revision to the second revision. For example, in this case 3029the simplest way would be 3030 3031 cvs update -j 1.2.2.2 -j R1fix m.c # Merge changes from 1.2.2.2 to the 3032 # head of the R1fix branch 3033 3034 The problem with this is that you need to specify the 1.2.2.2 3035revision manually. A slightly better approach might be to use the date 3036the last merge was done: 3037 3038 cvs update -j R1fix:yesterday -j R1fix m.c 3039 3040 Better yet, tag the R1fix branch after every merge into the trunk, 3041and then use that tag for subsequent merges: 3042 3043 cvs update -j merged_from_R1fix_to_trunk -j R1fix m.c 3044 3045 3046File: cvs.info, Node: Merging two revisions, Next: Merging adds and removals, Prev: Merging more than once, Up: Branching and merging 3047 30485.8 Merging differences between any two revisions 3049================================================= 3050 3051With two `-j REVISION' flags, the `update' (and `checkout') command can 3052merge the differences between any two revisions into your working file. 3053 3054 $ cvs update -j 1.5 -j 1.3 backend.c 3055 3056will undo all changes made between revision 1.3 and 1.5. Note the order 3057of the revisions! 3058 3059 If you try to use this option when operating on multiple files, 3060remember that the numeric revisions will probably be very different 3061between the various files. You almost always use symbolic tags rather 3062than revision numbers when operating on multiple files. 3063 3064 Specifying two `-j' options can also undo file removals or additions. 3065For example, suppose you have a file named `file1' which existed as 3066revision 1.1, and you then removed it (thus adding a dead revision 1.2). 3067Now suppose you want to add it again, with the same contents it had 3068previously. Here is how to do it: 3069 3070 $ cvs update -j 1.2 -j 1.1 file1 3071 U file1 3072 $ cvs commit -m test 3073 Checking in file1; 3074 /tmp/cvs-sanity/cvsroot/first-dir/file1,v <-- file1 3075 new revision: 1.3; previous revision: 1.2 3076 done 3077 $ 3078 3079 3080File: cvs.info, Node: Merging adds and removals, Next: Merging and keywords, Prev: Merging two revisions, Up: Branching and merging 3081 30825.9 Merging can add or remove files 3083=================================== 3084 3085If the changes which you are merging involve removing or adding some 3086files, `update -j' will reflect such additions or removals. 3087 3088 For example: 3089 cvs update -A 3090 touch a b c 3091 cvs add a b c ; cvs ci -m "added" a b c 3092 cvs tag -b branchtag 3093 cvs update -r branchtag 3094 touch d ; cvs add d 3095 rm a ; cvs rm a 3096 cvs ci -m "added d, removed a" 3097 cvs update -A 3098 cvs update -jbranchtag 3099 3100 After these commands are executed and a `cvs commit' is done, file 3101`a' will be removed and file `d' added in the main branch. 3102 3103 Note that using a single static tag (`-j TAGNAME') rather than a 3104dynamic tag (`-j BRANCHNAME') to merge changes from a branch will 3105usually not remove files which were removed on the branch since CVS does 3106not automatically add static tags to dead revisions. The exception to 3107this rule occurs when a static tag has been attached to a dead revision 3108manually. Use the branch tag to merge all changes from the branch or 3109use two static tags as merge endpoints to be sure that all intended 3110changes are propagated in the merge. 3111 3112 3113File: cvs.info, Node: Merging and keywords, Prev: Merging adds and removals, Up: Branching and merging 3114 31155.10 Merging and keywords 3116========================= 3117 3118If you merge files containing keywords (*note Keyword substitution::), 3119you will normally get numerous conflicts during the merge, because the 3120keywords are expanded differently in the revisions which you are 3121merging. 3122 3123 Therefore, you will often want to specify the `-kk' (*note 3124Substitution modes::) switch to the merge command line. By substituting 3125just the name of the keyword, not the expanded value of that keyword, 3126this option ensures that the revisions which you are merging will be the 3127same as each other, and avoid spurious conflicts. 3128 3129 For example, suppose you have a file like this: 3130 3131 +---------+ 3132 _! 1.1.2.1 ! <- br1 3133 / +---------+ 3134 / 3135 / 3136 +-----+ +-----+ 3137 ! 1.1 !----! 1.2 ! 3138 +-----+ +-----+ 3139 3140and your working directory is currently on the trunk (revision 1.2). 3141Then you might get the following results from a merge: 3142 3143 $ cat file1 3144 key $ Revision: 1.2 $ 3145 . . . 3146 $ cvs update -j br1 3147 U file1 3148 RCS file: /cvsroot/first-dir/file1,v 3149 retrieving revision 1.1 3150 retrieving revision 1.1.2.1 3151 Merging differences between 1.1 and 1.1.2.1 into file1 3152 rcsmerge: warning: conflicts during merge 3153 $ cat file1 3154 <<<<<<< file1 3155 key $ Revision: 1.2 $ 3156 ======= 3157 key $ Revision: 1.1.2.1 $ 3158 >>>>>>> 1.1.2.1 3159 . . . 3160 3161 What happened was that the merge tried to merge the differences 3162between 1.1 and 1.1.2.1 into your working directory. So, since the 3163keyword changed from `Revision: 1.1' to `Revision: 1.1.2.1', CVS tried 3164to merge that change into your working directory, which conflicted with 3165the fact that your working directory had contained `Revision: 1.2'. 3166 3167 Here is what happens if you had used `-kk': 3168 3169 $ cat file1 3170 key $ Revision: 1.2 $ 3171 . . . 3172 $ cvs update -kk -j br1 3173 U file1 3174 RCS file: /cvsroot/first-dir/file1,v 3175 retrieving revision 1.1 3176 retrieving revision 1.1.2.1 3177 Merging differences between 1.1 and 1.1.2.1 into file1 3178 $ cat file1 3179 key $ Revision$ 3180 . . . 3181 3182 What is going on here is that revision 1.1 and 1.1.2.1 both expand as 3183plain `Revision', and therefore merging the changes between them into 3184the working directory need not change anything. Therefore, there is no 3185conflict. 3186 3187 *WARNING: In versions of CVS prior to 1.12.2, there was a major 3188problem with using `-kk' on merges. Namely, `-kk' overrode any default 3189keyword expansion mode set in the archive file in the repository. This 3190could, unfortunately for some users, cause data corruption in binary 3191files (with a default keyword expansion mode set to `-kb'). Therefore, 3192when a repository contained binary files, conflicts had to be dealt with 3193manually rather than using `-kk' in a merge command.* 3194 3195 In CVS version 1.12.2 and later, the keyword expansion mode provided 3196on the command line to any CVS command no longer overrides the `-kb' 3197keyword expansion mode setting for binary files, though it will still 3198override other default keyword expansion modes. You can now safely 3199merge using `-kk' to avoid spurious conflicts on lines containing RCS 3200keywords, even when your repository contains binary files. 3201 3202 3203File: cvs.info, Node: Recursive behavior, Next: Adding and removing, Prev: Branching and merging, Up: Top 3204 32056 Recursive behavior 3206******************** 3207 3208Almost all of the subcommands of CVS work recursively when you specify a 3209directory as an argument. For instance, consider this directory 3210structure: 3211 3212 `$HOME' 3213 | 3214 +--tc 3215 | | 3216 +--CVS 3217 | (internal CVS files) 3218 +--Makefile 3219 +--backend.c 3220 +--driver.c 3221 +--frontend.c 3222 +--parser.c 3223 +--man 3224 | | 3225 | +--CVS 3226 | | (internal CVS files) 3227 | +--tc.1 3228 | 3229 +--testing 3230 | 3231 +--CVS 3232 | (internal CVS files) 3233 +--testpgm.t 3234 +--test2.t 3235 3236If `tc' is the current working directory, the following is true: 3237 3238 * `cvs update testing' is equivalent to 3239 3240 cvs update testing/testpgm.t testing/test2.t 3241 3242 * `cvs update testing man' updates all files in the subdirectories 3243 3244 * `cvs update .' or just `cvs update' updates all files in the `tc' 3245 directory 3246 3247 If no arguments are given to `update' it will update all files in the 3248current working directory and all its subdirectories. In other words, 3249`.' is a default argument to `update'. This is also true for most of 3250the CVS subcommands, not only the `update' command. 3251 3252 The recursive behavior of the CVS subcommands can be turned off with 3253the `-l' option. Conversely, the `-R' option can be used to force 3254recursion if `-l' is specified in `~/.cvsrc' (*note ~/.cvsrc::). 3255 3256 $ cvs update -l # Don't update files in subdirectories 3257 3258 3259File: cvs.info, Node: Adding and removing, Next: History browsing, Prev: Recursive behavior, Up: Top 3260 32617 Adding, removing, and renaming files and directories 3262****************************************************** 3263 3264In the course of a project, one will often add new files. Likewise with 3265removing or renaming, or with directories. The general concept to keep 3266in mind in all these cases is that instead of making an irreversible 3267change you want CVS to record the fact that a change has taken place, 3268just as with modifying an existing file. The exact mechanisms to do 3269this in CVS vary depending on the situation. 3270 3271* Menu: 3272 3273* Adding files:: Adding files 3274* Removing files:: Removing files 3275* Removing directories:: Removing directories 3276* Moving files:: Moving and renaming files 3277* Moving directories:: Moving and renaming directories 3278 3279 3280File: cvs.info, Node: Adding files, Next: Removing files, Up: Adding and removing 3281 32827.1 Adding files to a directory 3283=============================== 3284 3285To add a new file to a directory, follow these steps. 3286 3287 * You must have a working copy of the directory. *Note Getting the 3288 source::. 3289 3290 * Create the new file inside your working copy of the directory. 3291 3292 * Use `cvs add FILENAME' to tell CVS that you want to version control 3293 the file. If the file contains binary data, specify `-kb' (*note 3294 Binary files::). 3295 3296 * Use `cvs commit FILENAME' to actually check in the file into the 3297 repository. Other developers cannot see the file until you perform 3298 this step. 3299 3300 You can also use the `add' command to add a new directory. 3301 3302 Unlike most other commands, the `add' command is not recursive. You 3303cannot even type `cvs add foo/bar'! Instead, you have to 3304 3305 $ cd foo 3306 $ cvs add bar 3307 3308 -- Command: cvs add [`-k' kflag] [`-m' message] files ... 3309 Schedule FILES to be added to the repository. The files or 3310 directories specified with `add' must already exist in the current 3311 directory. To add a whole new directory hierarchy to the source 3312 repository (for example, files received from a third-party vendor), 3313 use the `import' command instead. *Note import::. 3314 3315 The added files are not placed in the source repository until you 3316 use `commit' to make the change permanent. Doing an `add' on a 3317 file that was removed with the `remove' command will undo the 3318 effect of the `remove', unless a `commit' command intervened. 3319 *Note Removing files::, for an example. 3320 3321 The `-k' option specifies the default way that this file will be 3322 checked out; for more information see *note Substitution modes::. 3323 3324 The `-m' option specifies a description for the file. This 3325 description appears in the history log (if it is enabled, *note 3326 history file::). It will also be saved in the version history 3327 inside the repository when the file is committed. The `log' 3328 command displays this description. The description can be changed 3329 using `admin -t'. *Note admin::. If you omit the `-m DESCRIPTION' 3330 flag, an empty string will be used. You will not be prompted for a 3331 description. 3332 3333 For example, the following commands add the file `backend.c' to the 3334repository: 3335 3336 $ cvs add backend.c 3337 $ cvs commit -m "Early version. Not yet compilable." backend.c 3338 3339 When you add a file it is added only on the branch which you are 3340working on (*note Branching and merging::). You can later merge the 3341additions to another branch if you want (*note Merging adds and 3342removals::). 3343 3344 3345File: cvs.info, Node: Removing files, Next: Removing directories, Prev: Adding files, Up: Adding and removing 3346 33477.2 Removing files 3348================== 3349 3350Directories change. New files are added, and old files disappear. 3351Still, you want to be able to retrieve an exact copy of old releases. 3352 3353 Here is what you can do to remove a file, but remain able to retrieve 3354old revisions: 3355 3356 * Make sure that you have not made any uncommitted modifications to 3357 the file. *Note Viewing differences::, for one way to do that. 3358 You can also use the `status' or `update' command. If you remove 3359 the file without committing your changes, you will of course not be 3360 able to retrieve the file as it was immediately before you deleted 3361 it. 3362 3363 * Remove the file from your working copy of the directory. You can 3364 for instance use `rm'. 3365 3366 * Use `cvs remove FILENAME' to tell CVS that you really want to 3367 delete the file. 3368 3369 * Use `cvs commit FILENAME' to actually perform the removal of the 3370 file from the repository. 3371 3372 When you commit the removal of the file, CVS records the fact that 3373the file no longer exists. It is possible for a file to exist on only 3374some branches and not on others, or to re-add another file with the same 3375name later. CVS will correctly create or not create the file, based on 3376the `-r' and `-D' options specified to `checkout' or `update'. 3377 3378 -- Command: cvs remove [options] files ... 3379 Schedule file(s) to be removed from the repository (files which 3380 have not already been removed from the working directory are not 3381 processed). This command does not actually remove the file from 3382 the repository until you commit the removal. For a full list of 3383 options, see *note Invoking CVS::. 3384 3385 Here is an example of removing several files: 3386 3387 $ cd test 3388 $ rm *.c 3389 $ cvs remove 3390 cvs remove: Removing . 3391 cvs remove: scheduling a.c for removal 3392 cvs remove: scheduling b.c for removal 3393 cvs remove: use 'cvs commit' to remove these files permanently 3394 $ cvs ci -m "Removed unneeded files" 3395 cvs commit: Examining . 3396 cvs commit: Committing . 3397 3398 As a convenience you can remove the file and `cvs remove' it in one 3399step, by specifying the `-f' option. For example, the above example 3400could also be done like this: 3401 3402 $ cd test 3403 $ cvs remove -f *.c 3404 cvs remove: scheduling a.c for removal 3405 cvs remove: scheduling b.c for removal 3406 cvs remove: use 'cvs commit' to remove these files permanently 3407 $ cvs ci -m "Removed unneeded files" 3408 cvs commit: Examining . 3409 cvs commit: Committing . 3410 3411 If you execute `remove' for a file, and then change your mind before 3412you commit, you can undo the `remove' with an `add' command. 3413 3414 $ ls 3415 CVS ja.h oj.c 3416 $ rm oj.c 3417 $ cvs remove oj.c 3418 cvs remove: scheduling oj.c for removal 3419 cvs remove: use 'cvs commit' to remove this file permanently 3420 $ cvs add oj.c 3421 U oj.c 3422 cvs add: oj.c, version 1.1.1.1, resurrected 3423 3424 If you realize your mistake before you run the `remove' command you 3425can use `update' to resurrect the file: 3426 3427 $ rm oj.c 3428 $ cvs update oj.c 3429 cvs update: warning: oj.c was lost 3430 U oj.c 3431 3432 When you remove a file it is removed only on the branch which you are 3433working on (*note Branching and merging::). You can later merge the 3434removals to another branch if you want (*note Merging adds and 3435removals::). 3436 3437 3438File: cvs.info, Node: Removing directories, Next: Moving files, Prev: Removing files, Up: Adding and removing 3439 34407.3 Removing directories 3441======================== 3442 3443In concept removing directories is somewhat similar to removing 3444files--you want the directory to not exist in your current working 3445directories, but you also want to be able to retrieve old releases in 3446which the directory existed. 3447 3448 The way that you remove a directory is to remove all the files in it. 3449You don't remove the directory itself; there is no way to do that. 3450Instead you specify the `-P' option to `cvs update' or `cvs checkout', 3451which will cause CVS to remove empty directories from working 3452directories. (Note that `cvs export' always removes empty directories.) 3453Probably the best way to do this is to always specify `-P'; if you want 3454an empty directory then put a dummy file (for example `.keepme') in it 3455to prevent `-P' from removing it. 3456 3457 Note that `-P' is implied by the `-r' or `-D' options of `checkout'. 3458This way CVS will be able to correctly create the directory or not 3459depending on whether the particular version you are checking out 3460contains any files in that directory. 3461 3462 3463File: cvs.info, Node: Moving files, Next: Moving directories, Prev: Removing directories, Up: Adding and removing 3464 34657.4 Moving and renaming files 3466============================= 3467 3468Moving files to a different directory or renaming them is not difficult, 3469but some of the ways in which this works may be non-obvious. (Moving or 3470renaming a directory is even harder. *Note Moving directories::.). 3471 3472 The examples below assume that the file OLD is renamed to NEW. 3473 3474* Menu: 3475 3476* Outside:: The normal way to Rename 3477* Inside:: A tricky, alternative way 3478* Rename by copying:: Another tricky, alternative way 3479 3480 3481File: cvs.info, Node: Outside, Next: Inside, Up: Moving files 3482 34837.4.1 The Normal way to Rename 3484------------------------------ 3485 3486The normal way to move a file is to copy OLD to NEW, and then issue the 3487normal CVS commands to remove OLD from the repository, and add NEW to 3488it. 3489 3490 $ mv OLD NEW 3491 $ cvs remove OLD 3492 $ cvs add NEW 3493 $ cvs commit -m "Renamed OLD to NEW" OLD NEW 3494 3495 This is the simplest way to move a file, it is not error-prone, and 3496it preserves the history of what was done. Note that to access the 3497history of the file you must specify the old or the new name, depending 3498on what portion of the history you are accessing. For example, `cvs log 3499OLD' will give the log up until the time of the rename. 3500 3501 When NEW is committed its revision numbers will start again, usually 3502at 1.1, so if that bothers you, use the `-r rev' option to commit. For 3503more information see *note Assigning revisions::. 3504 3505 3506File: cvs.info, Node: Inside, Next: Rename by copying, Prev: Outside, Up: Moving files 3507 35087.4.2 Moving the history file 3509----------------------------- 3510 3511This method is more dangerous, since it involves moving files inside the 3512repository. Read this entire section before trying it out! 3513 3514 $ cd $CVSROOT/DIR 3515 $ mv OLD,v NEW,v 3516 3517Advantages: 3518 3519 * The log of changes is maintained intact. 3520 3521 * The revision numbers are not affected. 3522 3523Disadvantages: 3524 3525 * Old releases cannot easily be fetched from the repository. (The 3526 file will show up as NEW even in revisions from the time before it 3527 was renamed). 3528 3529 * There is no log information of when the file was renamed. 3530 3531 * Nasty things might happen if someone accesses the history file 3532 while you are moving it. Make sure no one else runs any of the CVS 3533 commands while you move it. 3534 3535 3536File: cvs.info, Node: Rename by copying, Prev: Inside, Up: Moving files 3537 35387.4.3 Copying the history file 3539------------------------------ 3540 3541This way also involves direct modifications to the repository. It is 3542safe, but not without drawbacks. 3543 3544 # Copy the RCS file inside the repository 3545 $ cd $CVSROOT/DIR 3546 $ cp OLD,v NEW,v 3547 # Remove the old file 3548 $ cd ~/DIR 3549 $ rm OLD 3550 $ cvs remove OLD 3551 $ cvs commit OLD 3552 # Remove all tags from NEW 3553 $ cvs update NEW 3554 $ cvs log NEW # Remember the non-branch tag names 3555 $ cvs tag -d TAG1 NEW 3556 $ cvs tag -d TAG2 NEW 3557 ... 3558 3559 By removing the tags you will be able to check out old revisions. 3560 3561Advantages: 3562 3563 * Checking out old revisions works correctly, as long as you use 3564 `-rTAG' and not `-DDATE' to retrieve the revisions. 3565 3566 * The log of changes is maintained intact. 3567 3568 * The revision numbers are not affected. 3569 3570Disadvantages: 3571 3572 * You cannot easily see the history of the file across the rename. 3573 3574 3575File: cvs.info, Node: Moving directories, Prev: Moving files, Up: Adding and removing 3576 35777.5 Moving and renaming directories 3578=================================== 3579 3580The normal way to rename or move a directory is to rename or move each 3581file within it as described in *note Outside::. Then check out with the 3582`-P' option, as described in *note Removing directories::. 3583 3584 If you really want to hack the repository to rename or delete a 3585directory in the repository, you can do it like this: 3586 3587 1. Inform everyone who has a checked out copy of the directory that 3588 the directory will be renamed. They should commit all their 3589 changes, and remove their working copies, before you take the steps 3590 below. 3591 3592 2. Rename the directory inside the repository. 3593 3594 $ cd $CVSROOT/PARENT-DIR 3595 $ mv OLD-DIR NEW-DIR 3596 3597 3. Fix the CVS administrative files, if necessary (for instance if you 3598 renamed an entire module). 3599 3600 4. Tell everyone that they can check out again and continue working. 3601 3602 If someone had a working copy the CVS commands will cease to work for 3603him, until he removes the directory that disappeared inside the 3604repository. 3605 3606 It is almost always better to move the files in the directory instead 3607of moving the directory. If you move the directory you are unlikely to 3608be able to retrieve old releases correctly, since they probably depend 3609on the name of the directories. 3610 3611 3612File: cvs.info, Node: History browsing, Next: Binary files, Prev: Adding and removing, Up: Top 3613 36148 History browsing 3615****************** 3616 3617Once you have used CVS to store a version control history--what files 3618have changed when, how, and by whom, there are a variety of mechanisms 3619for looking through the history. 3620 3621* Menu: 3622 3623* log messages:: Log messages 3624* history database:: The history database 3625* user-defined logging:: User-defined logging 3626* annotate:: What revision modified each line of a file? 3627 3628 3629File: cvs.info, Node: log messages, Next: history database, Up: History browsing 3630 36318.1 Log messages 3632================ 3633 3634Whenever you commit a file you specify a log message. 3635 3636 To look through the log messages which have been specified for every 3637revision which has been committed, use the `cvs log' command (*note 3638log::). 3639 3640 3641File: cvs.info, Node: history database, Next: user-defined logging, Prev: log messages, Up: History browsing 3642 36438.2 The history database 3644======================== 3645 3646You can use the history file (*note history file::) to log various CVS 3647actions. To retrieve the information from the history file, use the 3648`cvs history' command (*note history::). 3649 3650 Note: you can control what is logged to this file by using the 3651`LogHistory' keyword in the `CVSROOT/config' file (*note config::). 3652 3653 3654File: cvs.info, Node: user-defined logging, Next: annotate, Prev: history database, Up: History browsing 3655 36568.3 User-defined logging 3657======================== 3658 3659You can customize CVS to log various kinds of actions, in whatever 3660manner you choose. These mechanisms operate by executing a script at 3661various times. The script might append a message to a file listing the 3662information and the programmer who created it, or send mail to a group 3663of developers, or, perhaps, post a message to a particular newsgroup. 3664To log commits, use the `loginfo' file (*note loginfo::). To log 3665commits, checkouts, exports, and tags, respectively, you can also use 3666the `-i', `-o', `-e', and `-t' options in the modules file. For a more 3667flexible way of giving notifications to various users, which requires 3668less in the way of keeping centralized scripts up to date, use the `cvs 3669watch add' command (*note Getting Notified::); this command is useful 3670even if you are not using `cvs watch on'. 3671 3672 The `taginfo' file defines programs to execute when someone executes 3673a `tag' or `rtag' command. The `taginfo' file has the standard form for 3674administrative files (*note Administrative files::), where each line is 3675a regular expression followed by a command to execute. The arguments 3676passed to the command are, in order, the TAGNAME, OPERATION (`add' for 3677`tag', `mov' for `tag -F', and `del' for `tag -d'), REPOSITORY, and any 3678remaining are pairs of FILENAME REVISION. A non-zero exit of the filter 3679program will cause the tag to be aborted. 3680 3681 Here is an example of using taginfo to log tag and rtag commands. In 3682the taginfo file put: 3683 3684 ALL /usr/local/cvsroot/CVSROOT/loggit 3685 3686Where `/usr/local/cvsroot/CVSROOT/loggit' contains the following script: 3687 3688 #!/bin/sh 3689 echo "$@" >>/home/kingdon/cvsroot/CVSROOT/taglog 3690 3691 3692File: cvs.info, Node: annotate, Prev: user-defined logging, Up: History browsing 3693 36948.4 Annotate command 3695==================== 3696 3697 -- Command: cvs annotate [`-FflR'] [`-r rev'|`-D date'] files ... 3698 For each file in FILES, print the head revision of the trunk, 3699 together with information on the last modification for each line. 3700 For example: 3701 3702 $ cvs annotate ssfile 3703 Annotations for ssfile 3704 *************** 3705 1.1 (mary 27-Mar-96): ssfile line 1 3706 1.2 (joe 28-Mar-96): ssfile line 2 3707 3708 The file `ssfile' currently contains two lines. The `ssfile line 3709 1' line was checked in by `mary' on March 27. Then, on March 28, 3710 `joe' added a line `ssfile line 2', without modifying the `ssfile 3711 line 1' line. This report doesn't tell you anything about lines 3712 which have been deleted or replaced; you need to use `cvs diff' for 3713 that (*note diff::). 3714 3715 The options to `cvs annotate' are listed in *note Invoking CVS::, and 3716can be used to select the files and revisions to annotate. The options 3717are described in more detail there and in *note Common options::. 3718 3719 3720File: cvs.info, Node: Binary files, Next: Multiple developers, Prev: History browsing, Up: Top 3721 37229 Handling binary files 3723*********************** 3724 3725The most common use for CVS is to store text files. With text files, 3726CVS can merge revisions, display the differences between revisions in a 3727human-visible fashion, and other such operations. However, if you are 3728willing to give up a few of these abilities, CVS can store binary files. 3729For example, one might store a web site in CVS including both text files 3730and binary images. 3731 3732* Menu: 3733 3734* Binary why:: More details on issues with binary files 3735* Binary howto:: How to store them 3736 3737 3738File: cvs.info, Node: Binary why, Next: Binary howto, Up: Binary files 3739 37409.1 The issues with binary files 3741================================ 3742 3743While the need to manage binary files may seem obvious if the files that 3744you customarily work with are binary, putting them into version control 3745does present some additional issues. 3746 3747 One basic function of version control is to show the differences 3748between two revisions. For example, if someone else checked in a new 3749version of a file, you may wish to look at what they changed and 3750determine whether their changes are good. For text files, CVS provides 3751this functionality via the `cvs diff' command. For binary files, it may 3752be possible to extract the two revisions and then compare them with a 3753tool external to CVS (for example, word processing software often has 3754such a feature). If there is no such tool, one must track changes via 3755other mechanisms, such as urging people to write good log messages, and 3756hoping that the changes they actually made were the changes that they 3757intended to make. 3758 3759 Another ability of a version control system is the ability to merge 3760two revisions. For CVS this happens in two contexts. The first is when 3761users make changes in separate working directories (*note Multiple 3762developers::). The second is when one merges explicitly with the 3763`update -j' command (*note Branching and merging::). 3764 3765 In the case of text files, CVS can merge changes made independently, 3766and signal a conflict if the changes conflict. With binary files, the 3767best that CVS can do is present the two different copies of the file, 3768and leave it to the user to resolve the conflict. The user may choose 3769one copy or the other, or may run an external merge tool which knows 3770about that particular file format, if one exists. Note that having the 3771user merge relies primarily on the user to not accidentally omit some 3772changes, and thus is potentially error prone. 3773 3774 If this process is thought to be undesirable, the best choice may be 3775to avoid merging. To avoid the merges that result from separate working 3776directories, see the discussion of reserved checkouts (file locking) in 3777*note Multiple developers::. To avoid the merges resulting from 3778branches, restrict use of branches. 3779 3780 3781File: cvs.info, Node: Binary howto, Prev: Binary why, Up: Binary files 3782 37839.2 How to store binary files 3784============================= 3785 3786There are two issues with using CVS to store binary files. The first is 3787that CVS by default converts line endings between the canonical form in 3788which they are stored in the repository (linefeed only), and the form 3789appropriate to the operating system in use on the client (for example, 3790carriage return followed by line feed for Windows NT). 3791 3792 The second is that a binary file might happen to contain data which 3793looks like a keyword (*note Keyword substitution::), so keyword 3794expansion must be turned off. 3795 3796 The `-kb' option available with some CVS commands insures that 3797neither line ending conversion nor keyword expansion will be done. 3798 3799 Here is an example of how you can create a new file using the `-kb' 3800flag: 3801 3802 $ echo '$ Id$' > kotest 3803 $ cvs add -kb -m"A test file" kotest 3804 $ cvs ci -m"First checkin; contains a keyword" kotest 3805 3806 If a file accidentally gets added without `-kb', one can use the `cvs 3807admin' command to recover. For example: 3808 3809 $ echo '$ Id$' > kotest 3810 $ cvs add -m"A test file" kotest 3811 $ cvs ci -m"First checkin; contains a keyword" kotest 3812 $ cvs admin -kb kotest 3813 $ cvs update -A kotest 3814 # For non-unix systems: 3815 # Copy in a good copy of the file from outside CVS 3816 $ cvs commit -m "make it binary" kotest 3817 3818 When you check in the file `kotest' the file is not preserved as a 3819binary file, because you did not check it in as a binary file. The `cvs 3820admin -kb' command sets the default keyword substitution method for this 3821file, but it does not alter the working copy of the file that you have. 3822If you need to cope with line endings (that is, you are using CVS on a 3823non-unix system), then you need to check in a new copy of the file, as 3824shown by the `cvs commit' command above. On unix, the `cvs update -A' 3825command suffices. (Note that you can use `cvs log' to determine the 3826default keyword substitution method for a file and `cvs status' to 3827determine the keyword substitution method for a working copy.) 3828 3829 However, in using `cvs admin -k' to change the keyword expansion, be 3830aware that the keyword expansion mode is not version controlled. This 3831means that, for example, that if you have a text file in old releases, 3832and a binary file with the same name in new releases, CVS provides no 3833way to check out the file in text or binary mode depending on what 3834version you are checking out. There is no good workaround for this 3835problem. 3836 3837 You can also set a default for whether `cvs add' and `cvs import' 3838treat a file as binary based on its name; for example you could say that 3839files who names end in `.exe' are binary. *Note Wrappers::. There is 3840currently no way to have CVS detect whether a file is binary based on 3841its contents. The main difficulty with designing such a feature is that 3842it is not clear how to distinguish between binary and non-binary files, 3843and the rules to apply would vary considerably with the operating 3844system. 3845 3846 3847File: cvs.info, Node: Multiple developers, Next: Revision management, Prev: Binary files, Up: Top 3848 384910 Multiple developers 3850********************** 3851 3852When more than one person works on a software project things often get 3853complicated. Often, two people try to edit the same file 3854simultaneously. One solution, known as "file locking" or "reserved 3855checkouts", is to allow only one person to edit each file at a time. 3856This is the only solution with some version control systems, including 3857RCS and SCCS. Currently the usual way to get reserved checkouts with 3858CVS is the `cvs admin -l' command (*note admin options::). This is not 3859as nicely integrated into CVS as the watch features, described below, 3860but it seems that most people with a need for reserved checkouts find it 3861adequate. It also may be possible to use the watches features described 3862below, together with suitable procedures (not enforced by software), to 3863avoid having two people edit at the same time. 3864 3865 The default model with CVS is known as "unreserved checkouts". In 3866this model, developers can edit their own "working copy" of a file 3867simultaneously. The first person that commits his changes has no 3868automatic way of knowing that another has started to edit it. Others 3869will get an error message when they try to commit the file. They must 3870then use CVS commands to bring their working copy up to date with the 3871repository revision. This process is almost automatic. 3872 3873 CVS also supports mechanisms which facilitate various kinds of 3874communication, without actually enforcing rules like reserved checkouts 3875do. 3876 3877 The rest of this chapter describes how these various models work, and 3878some of the issues involved in choosing between them. 3879 3880* Menu: 3881 3882* File status:: A file can be in several states 3883* Updating a file:: Bringing a file up-to-date 3884* Conflicts example:: An informative example 3885* Informing others:: To cooperate you must inform 3886* Concurrency:: Simultaneous repository access 3887* Watches:: Mechanisms to track who is editing files 3888* Choosing a model:: Reserved or unreserved checkouts? 3889 3890 3891File: cvs.info, Node: File status, Next: Updating a file, Up: Multiple developers 3892 389310.1 File status 3894================ 3895 3896Based on what operations you have performed on a checked out file, and 3897what operations others have performed to that file in the repository, 3898one can classify a file in a number of states. The states, as reported 3899by the `status' command, are: 3900 3901Up-to-date 3902 The file is identical with the latest revision in the repository 3903 for the branch in use. 3904 3905Locally Modified 3906 You have edited the file, and not yet committed your changes. 3907 3908Locally Added 3909 You have added the file with `add', and not yet committed your 3910 changes. 3911 3912Locally Removed 3913 You have removed the file with `remove', and not yet committed your 3914 changes. 3915 3916Needs Checkout 3917 Someone else has committed a newer revision to the repository. The 3918 name is slightly misleading; you will ordinarily use `update' 3919 rather than `checkout' to get that newer revision. 3920 3921Needs Patch 3922 Like Needs Checkout, but the CVS server will send a patch rather 3923 than the entire file. Sending a patch or sending an entire file 3924 accomplishes the same thing. 3925 3926Needs Merge 3927 Someone else has committed a newer revision to the repository, and 3928 you have also made modifications to the file. 3929 3930Unresolved Conflict 3931 A file with the same name as this new file has been added to the 3932 repository from a second workspace. This file will need to be 3933 moved out of the way to allow an `update' to complete. 3934 3935File had conflicts on merge 3936 This is like Locally Modified, except that a previous `update' 3937 command gave a conflict. If you have not already done so, you need 3938 to resolve the conflict as described in *note Conflicts example::. 3939 3940Unknown 3941 CVS doesn't know anything about this file. For example, you have 3942 created a new file and have not run `add'. 3943 3944 To help clarify the file status, `status' also reports the `Working 3945revision' which is the revision that the file in the working directory 3946derives from, and the `Repository revision' which is the latest revision 3947in the repository for the branch in use. 3948 3949 The options to `status' are listed in *note Invoking CVS::. For 3950information on its `Sticky tag' and `Sticky date' output, see *note 3951Sticky tags::. For information on its `Sticky options' output, see the 3952`-k' option in *note update options::. 3953 3954 You can think of the `status' and `update' commands as somewhat 3955complementary. You use `update' to bring your files up to date, and you 3956can use `status' to give you some idea of what an `update' would do (of 3957course, the state of the repository might change before you actually run 3958`update'). In fact, if you want a command to display file status in a 3959more brief format than is displayed by the `status' command, you can 3960invoke 3961 3962 $ cvs -n -q update 3963 3964 The `-n' option means to not actually do the update, but merely to 3965display statuses; the `-q' option avoids printing the name of each 3966directory. For more information on the `update' command, and these 3967options, see *note Invoking CVS::. 3968 3969 3970File: cvs.info, Node: Updating a file, Next: Conflicts example, Prev: File status, Up: Multiple developers 3971 397210.2 Bringing a file up to date 3973=============================== 3974 3975When you want to update or merge a file, use the `update' command. For 3976files that are not up to date this is roughly equivalent to a `checkout' 3977command: the newest revision of the file is extracted from the 3978repository and put in your working directory. 3979 3980 Your modifications to a file are never lost when you use `update'. 3981If no newer revision exists, running `update' has no effect. If you 3982have edited the file, and a newer revision is available, CVS will merge 3983all changes into your working copy. 3984 3985 For instance, imagine that you checked out revision 1.4 and started 3986editing it. In the meantime someone else committed revision 1.5, and 3987shortly after that revision 1.6. If you run `update' on the file now, 3988CVS will incorporate all changes between revision 1.4 and 1.6 into your 3989file. 3990 3991 If any of the changes between 1.4 and 1.6 were made too close to any 3992of the changes you have made, an "overlap" occurs. In such cases a 3993warning is printed, and the resulting file includes both versions of the 3994lines that overlap, delimited by special markers. *Note update::, for a 3995complete description of the `update' command. 3996 3997 3998File: cvs.info, Node: Conflicts example, Next: Informing others, Prev: Updating a file, Up: Multiple developers 3999 400010.3 Conflicts example 4001====================== 4002 4003Suppose revision 1.4 of `driver.c' contains this: 4004 4005 #include <stdio.h> 4006 4007 void main() 4008 { 4009 parse(); 4010 if (nerr == 0) 4011 gencode(); 4012 else 4013 fprintf(stderr, "No code generated.\n"); 4014 exit(nerr == 0 ? 0 : 1); 4015 } 4016 4017Revision 1.6 of `driver.c' contains this: 4018 4019 #include <stdio.h> 4020 4021 int main(int argc, 4022 char **argv) 4023 { 4024 parse(); 4025 if (argc != 1) 4026 { 4027 fprintf(stderr, "tc: No args expected.\n"); 4028 exit(1); 4029 } 4030 if (nerr == 0) 4031 gencode(); 4032 else 4033 fprintf(stderr, "No code generated.\n"); 4034 exit(!!nerr); 4035 } 4036 4037Your working copy of `driver.c', based on revision 1.4, contains this 4038before you run `cvs update': 4039 4040 #include <stdlib.h> 4041 #include <stdio.h> 4042 4043 void main() 4044 { 4045 init_scanner(); 4046 parse(); 4047 if (nerr == 0) 4048 gencode(); 4049 else 4050 fprintf(stderr, "No code generated.\n"); 4051 exit(nerr == 0 ? EXIT_SUCCESS : EXIT_FAILURE); 4052 } 4053 4054You run `cvs update': 4055 4056 $ cvs update driver.c 4057 RCS file: /usr/local/cvsroot/yoyodyne/tc/driver.c,v 4058 retrieving revision 1.4 4059 retrieving revision 1.6 4060 Merging differences between 1.4 and 1.6 into driver.c 4061 rcsmerge warning: overlaps during merge 4062 cvs update: conflicts found in driver.c 4063 C driver.c 4064 4065CVS tells you that there were some conflicts. Your original working 4066file is saved unmodified in `.#driver.c.1.4'. The new version of 4067`driver.c' contains this: 4068 4069 #include <stdlib.h> 4070 #include <stdio.h> 4071 4072 int main(int argc, 4073 char **argv) 4074 { 4075 init_scanner(); 4076 parse(); 4077 if (argc != 1) 4078 { 4079 fprintf(stderr, "tc: No args expected.\n"); 4080 exit(1); 4081 } 4082 if (nerr == 0) 4083 gencode(); 4084 else 4085 fprintf(stderr, "No code generated.\n"); 4086 <<<<<<< driver.c 4087 exit(nerr == 0 ? EXIT_SUCCESS : EXIT_FAILURE); 4088 ======= 4089 exit(!!nerr); 4090 >>>>>>> 1.6 4091 } 4092 4093Note how all non-overlapping modifications are incorporated in your 4094working copy, and that the overlapping section is clearly marked with 4095`<<<<<<<', `=======' and `>>>>>>>'. 4096 4097 You resolve the conflict by editing the file, removing the markers 4098and the erroneous line. Suppose you end up with this file: 4099 #include <stdlib.h> 4100 #include <stdio.h> 4101 4102 int main(int argc, 4103 char **argv) 4104 { 4105 init_scanner(); 4106 parse(); 4107 if (argc != 1) 4108 { 4109 fprintf(stderr, "tc: No args expected.\n"); 4110 exit(1); 4111 } 4112 if (nerr == 0) 4113 gencode(); 4114 else 4115 fprintf(stderr, "No code generated.\n"); 4116 exit(nerr == 0 ? EXIT_SUCCESS : EXIT_FAILURE); 4117 } 4118 4119You can now go ahead and commit this as revision 1.7. 4120 4121 $ cvs commit -m "Initialize scanner. Use symbolic exit values." driver.c 4122 Checking in driver.c; 4123 /usr/local/cvsroot/yoyodyne/tc/driver.c,v <-- driver.c 4124 new revision: 1.7; previous revision: 1.6 4125 done 4126 4127 For your protection, CVS will refuse to check in a file if a conflict 4128occurred and you have not resolved the conflict. Currently to resolve a 4129conflict, you must change the timestamp on the file. In previous 4130versions of CVS, you also needed to insure that the file contains no 4131conflict markers. Because your file may legitimately contain conflict 4132markers (that is, occurrences of `>>>>>>> ' at the start of a line that 4133don't mark a conflict), the current version of CVS will print a warning 4134and proceed to check in the file. 4135 4136 If you use release 1.04 or later of pcl-cvs (a GNU Emacs front-end 4137for CVS) you can use an Emacs package called emerge to help you resolve 4138conflicts. See the documentation for pcl-cvs. 4139 4140 4141File: cvs.info, Node: Informing others, Next: Concurrency, Prev: Conflicts example, Up: Multiple developers 4142 414310.4 Informing others about commits 4144=================================== 4145 4146It is often useful to inform others when you commit a new revision of a 4147file. The `-i' option of the `modules' file, or the `loginfo' file, can 4148be used to automate this process. *Note modules::. *Note loginfo::. 4149You can use these features of CVS to, for instance, instruct CVS to mail 4150a message to all developers, or post a message to a local newsgroup. 4151 4152 4153File: cvs.info, Node: Concurrency, Next: Watches, Prev: Informing others, Up: Multiple developers 4154 415510.5 Several developers simultaneously attempting to run CVS 4156============================================================ 4157 4158If several developers try to run CVS at the same time, one may get the 4159following message: 4160 4161 [11:43:23] waiting for bach's lock in /usr/local/cvsroot/foo 4162 4163 CVS will try again every 30 seconds, and either continue with the 4164operation or print the message again, if it still needs to wait. If a 4165lock seems to stick around for an undue amount of time, find the person 4166holding the lock and ask them about the cvs command they are running. 4167If they aren't running a cvs command, look in the repository directory 4168mentioned in the message and remove files which they own whose names 4169start with `#cvs.rfl', `#cvs.wfl', or `#cvs.lock'. 4170 4171 Note that these locks are to protect CVS's internal data structures 4172and have no relationship to the word "lock" in the sense used by 4173RCS--which refers to reserved checkouts (*note Multiple developers::). 4174 4175 Any number of people can be reading from a given repository at a 4176time; only when someone is writing do the locks prevent other people 4177from reading or writing. 4178 4179 One might hope for the following property: 4180 4181 If someone commits some changes in one cvs command, then an update 4182 by someone else will either get all the changes, or none of them. 4183 4184but CVS does _not_ have this property. For example, given the files 4185 4186 a/one.c 4187 a/two.c 4188 b/three.c 4189 b/four.c 4190 4191if someone runs 4192 4193 cvs ci a/two.c b/three.c 4194 4195and someone else runs `cvs update' at the same time, the person running 4196`update' might get only the change to `b/three.c' and not the change to 4197`a/two.c'. 4198 4199 4200File: cvs.info, Node: Watches, Next: Choosing a model, Prev: Concurrency, Up: Multiple developers 4201 420210.6 Mechanisms to track who is editing files 4203============================================= 4204 4205For many groups, use of CVS in its default mode is perfectly 4206satisfactory. Users may sometimes go to check in a modification only to 4207find that another modification has intervened, but they deal with it and 4208proceed with their check in. Other groups prefer to be able to know who 4209is editing what files, so that if two people try to edit the same file 4210they can choose to talk about who is doing what when rather than be 4211surprised at check in time. The features in this section allow such 4212coordination, while retaining the ability of two developers to edit the 4213same file at the same time. 4214 4215 For maximum benefit developers should use `cvs edit' (not `chmod') to 4216make files read-write to edit them, and `cvs release' (not `rm') to 4217discard a working directory which is no longer in use, but CVS is not 4218able to enforce this behavior. 4219 4220* Menu: 4221 4222* Setting a watch:: Telling CVS to watch certain files 4223* Getting Notified:: Telling CVS to notify you 4224* Editing files:: How to edit a file which is being watched 4225* Watch information:: Information about who is watching and editing 4226* Watches Compatibility:: Watches interact poorly with CVS 1.6 or earlier 4227 4228 4229File: cvs.info, Node: Setting a watch, Next: Getting Notified, Up: Watches 4230 423110.6.1 Telling CVS to watch certain files 4232----------------------------------------- 4233 4234To enable the watch features, you first specify that certain files are 4235to be watched. 4236 4237 -- Command: cvs watch on [`-lR'] [FILES]... 4238 Specify that developers should run `cvs edit' before editing FILES. 4239 CVS will create working copies of FILES read-only, to remind 4240 developers to run the `cvs edit' command before working on them. 4241 4242 If FILES includes the name of a directory, CVS arranges to watch 4243 all files added to the corresponding repository directory, and sets 4244 a default for files added in the future; this allows the user to 4245 set notification policies on a per-directory basis. The contents 4246 of the directory are processed recursively, unless the `-l' option 4247 is given. The `-R' option can be used to force recursion if the 4248 `-l' option is set in `~/.cvsrc' (*note ~/.cvsrc::). 4249 4250 If FILES is omitted, it defaults to the current directory. 4251 4252 -- Command: cvs watch off [`-lR'] [FILES]... 4253 Do not create FILES read-only on checkout; thus, developers will 4254 not be reminded to use `cvs edit' and `cvs unedit'. 4255 4256 The FILES and options are processed as for `cvs watch on'. 4257 4258 4259File: cvs.info, Node: Getting Notified, Next: Editing files, Prev: Setting a watch, Up: Watches 4260 426110.6.2 Telling CVS to notify you 4262-------------------------------- 4263 4264You can tell CVS that you want to receive notifications about various 4265actions taken on a file. You can do this without using `cvs watch on' 4266for the file, but generally you will want to use `cvs watch on', to 4267remind developers to use the `cvs edit' command. 4268 4269 -- Command: cvs watch add [`-lR'] [`-a' ACTION]... [FILES]... 4270 Add the current user to the list of people to receive notification 4271 of work done on FILES. 4272 4273 The `-a' option specifies what kinds of events CVS should notify 4274 the user about. ACTION is one of the following: 4275 4276 `edit' 4277 Another user has applied the `cvs edit' command (described 4278 below) to a watched file. 4279 4280 `commit' 4281 Another user has committed changes to one of the named FILES. 4282 4283 `unedit' 4284 Another user has abandoned editing a file (other than by 4285 committing changes). They can do this in several ways, by: 4286 4287 * applying the `cvs unedit' command (described below) to 4288 the file 4289 4290 * applying the `cvs release' command (*note release::) to 4291 the file's parent directory (or recursively to a 4292 directory more than one level up) 4293 4294 * deleting the file and allowing `cvs update' to recreate 4295 it 4296 4297 `all' 4298 All of the above. 4299 4300 `none' 4301 None of the above. (This is useful with `cvs edit', described 4302 below.) 4303 4304 The `-a' option may appear more than once, or not at all. If 4305 omitted, the action defaults to `all'. 4306 4307 The FILES and options are processed as for `cvs watch on'. 4308 4309 -- Command: cvs watch remove [`-lR'] [`-a' ACTION]... [FILES]... 4310 Remove a notification request established using `cvs watch add'; 4311 the arguments are the same. If the `-a' option is present, only 4312 watches for the specified actions are removed. 4313 4314 When the conditions exist for notification, CVS calls the `notify' 4315administrative file. Edit `notify' as one edits the other 4316administrative files (*note Intro administrative files::). This file 4317follows the usual conventions for administrative files (*note syntax::), 4318where each line is a regular expression followed by a command to 4319execute. The command should contain a single occurrence of `%s' which 4320will be replaced by the user to notify; the rest of the information 4321regarding the notification will be supplied to the command on standard 4322input. The standard thing to put in the `notify' file is the single 4323line: 4324 4325 ALL mail %s -s "CVS notification" 4326 4327This causes users to be notified by electronic mail. 4328 4329 Note that if you set this up in the straightforward way, users 4330receive notifications on the server machine. One could of course write 4331a `notify' script which directed notifications elsewhere, but to make 4332this easy, CVS allows you to associate a notification address for each 4333user. To do so create a file `users' in `CVSROOT' with a line for each 4334user in the format USER:VALUE. Then instead of passing the name of the 4335user to be notified to `notify', CVS will pass the VALUE (normally an 4336email address on some other machine). 4337 4338 CVS does not notify you for your own changes. Currently this check 4339is done based on whether the user name of the person taking the action 4340which triggers notification matches the user name of the person getting 4341notification. In fact, in general, the watches features only track one 4342edit by each user. It probably would be more useful if watches tracked 4343each working directory separately, so this behavior might be worth 4344changing. 4345 4346 4347File: cvs.info, Node: Editing files, Next: Watch information, Prev: Getting Notified, Up: Watches 4348 434910.6.3 How to edit a file which is being watched 4350------------------------------------------------ 4351 4352Since a file which is being watched is checked out read-only, you cannot 4353simply edit it. To make it read-write, and inform others that you are 4354planning to edit it, use the `cvs edit' command. Some systems call this 4355a "checkout", but CVS uses that term for obtaining a copy of the sources 4356(*note Getting the source::), an operation which those systems call a 4357"get" or a "fetch". 4358 4359 -- Command: cvs edit [`-lR'] [`-a' ACTION]... [FILES]... 4360 Prepare to edit the working files FILES. CVS makes the FILES 4361 read-write, and notifies users who have requested `edit' 4362 notification for any of FILES. 4363 4364 The `cvs edit' command accepts the same options as the `cvs watch 4365 add' command, and establishes a temporary watch for the user on 4366 FILES; CVS will remove the watch when FILES are `unedit'ed or 4367 `commit'ted. If the user does not wish to receive notifications, 4368 she should specify `-a none'. 4369 4370 The FILES and the options are processed as for the `cvs watch' 4371 commands. 4372 4373 Normally when you are done with a set of changes, you use the `cvs 4374commit' command, which checks in your changes and returns the watched 4375files to their usual read-only state. But if you instead decide to 4376abandon your changes, or not to make any changes, you can use the `cvs 4377unedit' command. 4378 4379 -- Command: cvs unedit [`-lR'] [FILES]... 4380 Abandon work on the working files FILES, and revert them to the 4381 repository versions on which they are based. CVS makes those FILES 4382 read-only for which users have requested notification using `cvs 4383 watch on'. CVS notifies users who have requested `unedit' 4384 notification for any of FILES. 4385 4386 The FILES and options are processed as for the `cvs watch' 4387 commands. 4388 4389 If watches are not in use, the `unedit' command probably does not 4390 work, and the way to revert to the repository version is with the 4391 command `cvs update -C file' (*note update::). The meaning is not 4392 precisely the same; the latter may also bring in some changes which 4393 have been made in the repository since the last time you updated. 4394 4395 When using client/server CVS, you can use the `cvs edit' and `cvs 4396unedit' commands even if CVS is unable to successfully communicate with 4397the server; the notifications will be sent upon the next successful CVS 4398command. 4399 4400 4401File: cvs.info, Node: Watch information, Next: Watches Compatibility, Prev: Editing files, Up: Watches 4402 440310.6.4 Information about who is watching and editing 4404---------------------------------------------------- 4405 4406 -- Command: cvs watchers [`-lR'] [FILES]... 4407 List the users currently watching changes to FILES. The report 4408 includes the files being watched, and the mail address of each 4409 watcher. 4410 4411 The FILES and options are processed as for the `cvs watch' 4412 commands. 4413 4414 -- Command: cvs editors [`-lR'] [FILES]... 4415 List the users currently working on FILES. The report includes the 4416 mail address of each user, the time when the user began working 4417 with the file, and the host and path of the working directory 4418 containing the file. 4419 4420 The FILES and options are processed as for the `cvs watch' 4421 commands. 4422 4423 4424File: cvs.info, Node: Watches Compatibility, Prev: Watch information, Up: Watches 4425 442610.6.5 Using watches with old versions of CVS 4427--------------------------------------------- 4428 4429If you use the watch features on a repository, it creates `CVS' 4430directories in the repository and stores the information about watches 4431in that directory. If you attempt to use CVS 1.6 or earlier with the 4432repository, you get an error message such as the following (all on one 4433line): 4434 4435 cvs update: cannot open CVS/Entries for reading: 4436 No such file or directory 4437 4438and your operation will likely be aborted. To use the watch features, 4439you must upgrade all copies of CVS which use that repository in local or 4440server mode. If you cannot upgrade, use the `watch off' and `watch 4441remove' commands to remove all watches, and that will restore the 4442repository to a state which CVS 1.6 can cope with. 4443 4444 4445File: cvs.info, Node: Choosing a model, Prev: Watches, Up: Multiple developers 4446 444710.7 Choosing between reserved or unreserved checkouts 4448====================================================== 4449 4450Reserved and unreserved checkouts each have pros and cons. Let it be 4451said that a lot of this is a matter of opinion or what works given 4452different groups' working styles, but here is a brief description of 4453some of the issues. There are many ways to organize a team of 4454developers. CVS does not try to enforce a certain organization. It is 4455a tool that can be used in several ways. 4456 4457 Reserved checkouts can be very counter-productive. If two persons 4458want to edit different parts of a file, there may be no reason to 4459prevent either of them from doing so. Also, it is common for someone to 4460take out a lock on a file, because they are planning to edit it, but 4461then forget to release the lock. 4462 4463 People, especially people who are familiar with reserved checkouts, 4464often wonder how often conflicts occur if unreserved checkouts are used, 4465and how difficult they are to resolve. The experience with many groups 4466is that they occur rarely and usually are relatively straightforward to 4467resolve. 4468 4469 The rarity of serious conflicts may be surprising, until one realizes 4470that they occur only when two developers disagree on the proper design 4471for a given section of code; such a disagreement suggests that the team 4472has not been communicating properly in the first place. In order to 4473collaborate under _any_ source management regimen, developers must agree 4474on the general design of the system; given this agreement, overlapping 4475changes are usually straightforward to merge. 4476 4477 In some cases unreserved checkouts are clearly inappropriate. If no 4478merge tool exists for the kind of file you are managing (for example 4479word processor files or files edited by Computer Aided Design programs), 4480and it is not desirable to change to a program which uses a mergeable 4481data format, then resolving conflicts is going to be unpleasant enough 4482that you generally will be better off to simply avoid the conflicts 4483instead, by using reserved checkouts. 4484 4485 The watches features described above in *note Watches:: can be 4486considered to be an intermediate model between reserved checkouts and 4487unreserved checkouts. When you go to edit a file, it is possible to 4488find out who else is editing it. And rather than having the system 4489simply forbid both people editing the file, it can tell you what the 4490situation is and let you figure out whether it is a problem in that 4491particular case or not. Therefore, for some groups it can be considered 4492the best of both the reserved checkout and unreserved checkout worlds. 4493 4494 4495File: cvs.info, Node: Revision management, Next: Keyword substitution, Prev: Multiple developers, Up: Top 4496 449711 Revision management 4498********************** 4499 4500If you have read this far, you probably have a pretty good grasp on what 4501CVS can do for you. This chapter talks a little about things that you 4502still have to decide. 4503 4504 If you are doing development on your own using CVS you could probably 4505skip this chapter. The questions this chapter takes up become more 4506important when more than one person is working in a repository. 4507 4508* Menu: 4509 4510* When to commit:: Some discussion on the subject 4511 4512 4513File: cvs.info, Node: When to commit, Up: Revision management 4514 451511.1 When to commit? 4516==================== 4517 4518Your group should decide which policy to use regarding commits. Several 4519policies are possible, and as your experience with CVS grows you will 4520probably find out what works for you. 4521 4522 If you commit files too quickly you might commit files that do not 4523even compile. If your partner updates his working sources to include 4524your buggy file, he will be unable to compile the code. On the other 4525hand, other persons will not be able to benefit from the improvements 4526you make to the code if you commit very seldom, and conflicts will 4527probably be more common. 4528 4529 It is common to only commit files after making sure that they can be 4530compiled. Some sites require that the files pass a test suite. 4531Policies like this can be enforced using the commitinfo file (*note 4532commitinfo::), but you should think twice before you enforce such a 4533convention. By making the development environment too controlled it 4534might become too regimented and thus counter-productive to the real 4535goal, which is to get software written. 4536 4537 4538File: cvs.info, Node: Keyword substitution, Next: Tracking sources, Prev: Revision management, Up: Top 4539 454012 Keyword substitution 4541*********************** 4542 4543As long as you edit source files inside a working directory you can 4544always find out the state of your files via `cvs status' and `cvs log'. 4545But as soon as you export the files from your development environment it 4546becomes harder to identify which revisions they are. 4547 4548 CVS can use a mechanism known as "keyword substitution" (or "keyword 4549expansion") to help identifying the files. Embedded strings of the form 4550`$KEYWORD$' and `$KEYWORD:...$' in a file are replaced with strings of 4551the form `$KEYWORD:VALUE$' whenever you obtain a new revision of the 4552file. 4553 4554* Menu: 4555 4556* Keyword list:: Keywords 4557* Using keywords:: Using keywords 4558* Avoiding substitution:: Avoiding substitution 4559* Substitution modes:: Substitution modes 4560* Configuring keyword expansion:: Configuring keyword expansion 4561* Log keyword:: Problems with the $ Log$ keyword. 4562 4563 4564File: cvs.info, Node: Keyword list, Next: Using keywords, Up: Keyword substitution 4565 456612.1 Keyword List 4567================= 4568 4569This is a list of the keywords: 4570 4571`$ Author$' 4572 The login name of the user who checked in the revision. 4573 4574`$ CVSHeader' 4575 A standard header (similar to $ Header$, but with the CVS root 4576 stripped off). It contains the relative pathname of the RCS file to 4577 the CVS root, the revision number, the date (UTC), the author, the 4578 state, and the locker (if locked). Files will normally never be 4579 locked when you use CVS. 4580 4581 Note that this keyword has only been recently introduced to CVS and 4582 may cause problems with existing installations if $ CVSHeader$ is 4583 already in the files for a different purpose. This keyword may be 4584 excluded using the `KeywordExpansion=eCVSHeader' in the 4585 `CVSROOT/config' file. See *note Configuring keyword expansion:: 4586 for more details. 4587 4588`$ Date$' 4589 The date and time (UTC) the revision was checked in. 4590 4591`$ Header$' 4592 A standard header containing the full pathname of the RCS file, the 4593 revision number, the date (UTC), the author, the state, and the 4594 locker (if locked). Files will normally never be locked when you 4595 use CVS. 4596 4597`$ Id$' 4598 Same as `$ Header$', except that the RCS filename is without a 4599 path. 4600 4601`$ Name$' 4602 Tag name used to check out this file. The keyword is expanded only 4603 if one checks out with an explicit tag name. For example, when 4604 running the command `cvs co -r first', the keyword expands to 4605 `Name: first'. 4606 4607`$ Locker$' 4608 The login name of the user who locked the revision (empty if not 4609 locked, which is the normal case unless `cvs admin -l' is in use). 4610 4611`$ Log$' 4612 The log message supplied during commit, preceded by a header 4613 containing the RCS filename, the revision number, the author, and 4614 the date (UTC). Existing log messages are _not_ replaced. 4615 Instead, the new log message is inserted after `$ Log:...$'. Each 4616 new line is prefixed with the same string which precedes the `$Log' 4617 keyword. For example, if the file contains: 4618 4619 /* Here is what people have been up to: 4620 * 4621 * $ Log: frob.c,v $ 4622 * Revision 1.1 1997/01/03 14:23:51 joe 4623 * Add the superfrobnicate option 4624 * 4625 */ 4626 4627 then additional lines which are added when expanding the `$Log' 4628 keyword will be preceded by ` * '. Unlike previous versions of 4629 CVS and RCS, the "comment leader" from the RCS file is not used. 4630 The `$Log' keyword is useful for accumulating a complete change log 4631 in a source file, but for several reasons it can be problematic. 4632 *Note Log keyword::. 4633 4634`$ RCSfile$' 4635 The name of the RCS file without a path. 4636 4637`$ Revision$' 4638 The revision number assigned to the revision. 4639 4640`$ Source$' 4641 The full pathname of the RCS file. 4642 4643`$ State$' 4644 The state assigned to the revision. States can be assigned with 4645 `cvs admin -s'--see *note admin options::. 4646 4647`Local keyword' 4648 The `LocalKeyword' option in the `CVSROOT/config' file may be used 4649 to specify a local keyword which is to be used as an alias for one 4650 of the other keywords. For example, if the `CVSROOT/config' file 4651 contains a line with `LocalKeyword=MYBSD=CVSHeader', then a file 4652 with the local keyword $ MYBSD$ will be expanded as if it were a $ 4653 CVSHeader$ keyword. If the src/frob.c file contained this keyword, 4654 it might look something like this: 4655 4656 /* 4657 * $ MYBSD: src/frob.c,v 1.1 2003/05/04 09:27:45 john Exp $ 4658 */ 4659 4660 Many repositories make use of a such a "local keyword" feature. An 4661 old patch to CVS provided the `LocalKeyword' feature using a `tag=' 4662 option and called this the "custom tag" or "local tag" feature. It 4663 was used in conjunction with the what they called the `tagexpand=' 4664 option. In CVS this other option is known as the `KeywordExpand' 4665 option. See *note Configuring keyword expansion:: for more 4666 details. 4667 4668 Examples from popular projects include: $ FreeBSD$, $ NetBSD$, $ 4669 OpenBSD$, $ XFree86$, $ Xorg$. 4670 4671 The advantage of this is that you can include your local version 4672 information in a file using this local keyword without disrupting 4673 the upstream version information (which may be a different local 4674 keyword or a standard keyword). Allowing bug reports and the like 4675 to more properly identify the source of the original bug to the 4676 third-party and reducing the number of conflicts that arise during 4677 an import of a new version. 4678 4679 All keyword expansion except the local keyword may be disabled 4680 using the `KeywordExpansion' option in the `CVSROOT/config' 4681 file--see *note Configuring keyword expansion:: for more details. 4682 4683 4684File: cvs.info, Node: Using keywords, Next: Avoiding substitution, Prev: Keyword list, Up: Keyword substitution 4685 468612.2 Using keywords 4687=================== 4688 4689To include a keyword string you simply include the relevant text string, 4690such as `$ Id$', inside the file, and commit the file. CVS will 4691automatically expand the string as part of the commit operation. 4692 4693 It is common to embed the `$ Id$' string in the source files so that 4694it gets passed through to generated files. For example, if you are 4695managing computer program source code, you might include a variable 4696which is initialized to contain that string. Or some C compilers may 4697provide a `#pragma ident' directive. Or a document management system 4698might provide a way to pass a string through to generated files. 4699 4700 The `ident' command (which is part of the RCS package) can be used to 4701extract keywords and their values from a file. This can be handy for 4702text files, but it is even more useful for extracting keywords from 4703binary files. 4704 4705 $ ident samp.c 4706 samp.c: 4707 $ Id: samp.c,v 1.5 1993/10/19 14:57:32 ceder Exp $ 4708 $ gcc samp.c 4709 $ ident a.out 4710 a.out: 4711 $ Id: samp.c,v 1.5 1993/10/19 14:57:32 ceder Exp $ 4712 4713 SCCS is another popular revision control system. It has a command, 4714`what', which is very similar to `ident' and used for the same purpose. 4715Many sites without RCS have SCCS. Since `what' looks for the character 4716sequence `@(#)' it is easy to include keywords that are detected by 4717either command. Simply prefix the keyword with the magic SCCS phrase, 4718like this: 4719 4720 static char *id="@(#) $ Id: ab.c,v 1.5 1993/10/19 14:57:32 ceder Exp $"; 4721 4722 4723File: cvs.info, Node: Avoiding substitution, Next: Substitution modes, Prev: Using keywords, Up: Keyword substitution 4724 472512.3 Avoiding substitution 4726========================== 4727 4728Keyword substitution has its disadvantages. Sometimes you might want 4729the literal text string `$ Author$' to appear inside a file without CVS 4730interpreting it as a keyword and expanding it into something like `$ 4731Author: ceder $'. 4732 4733 There is unfortunately no way to selectively turn off keyword 4734substitution. You can use `-ko' (*note Substitution modes::) to turn 4735off keyword substitution entirely. 4736 4737 In many cases you can avoid using keywords in the source, even though 4738they appear in the final product. For example, the source for this 4739manual contains `$@asis{}Author$' whenever the text `$ Author$' should 4740appear. In `nroff' and `troff' you can embed the null-character `\&' 4741inside the keyword for a similar effect. 4742 4743 It is also possible to specify an explicit list of keywords to 4744include or exclude using the `KeywordExpand' option in the 4745`CVSROOT/config' file-see *note Configuring keyword expansion:: for more 4746details. This feature is intended primarily for use with the 4747`LocalKeyword' option-see *note Keyword list::. 4748 4749 4750File: cvs.info, Node: Substitution modes, Next: Configuring keyword expansion, Prev: Avoiding substitution, Up: Keyword substitution 4751 475212.4 Substitution modes 4753======================= 4754 4755Each file has a stored default substitution mode, and each working 4756directory copy of a file also has a substitution mode. The former is 4757set by the `-k' option to `cvs add' and `cvs admin'; the latter is set 4758by the `-k' or `-A' options to `cvs checkout' or `cvs update'. `cvs 4759diff' also has a `-k' option. For some examples, see *note Binary 4760files::, and *note Merging and keywords::. 4761 4762 The modes available are: 4763 4764`-kkv' 4765 Generate keyword strings using the default form, e.g. `$ Revision: 4766 5.7 $' for the `Revision' keyword. 4767 4768`-kkvl' 4769 Like `-kkv', except that a locker's name is always inserted if the 4770 given revision is currently locked. The locker's name is only 4771 relevant if `cvs admin -l' is in use. 4772 4773`-kk' 4774 Generate only keyword names in keyword strings; omit their values. 4775 For example, for the `Revision' keyword, generate the string `$ 4776 Revision$' instead of `$ Revision: 5.7 $'. This option is useful 4777 to ignore differences due to keyword substitution when comparing 4778 different revisions of a file (*note Merging and keywords::). 4779 4780`-ko' 4781 Generate the old keyword string, present in the working file just 4782 before it was checked in. For example, for the `Revision' keyword, 4783 generate the string `$ Revision: 1.1 $' instead of `$ Revision: 5.7 4784 $' if that is how the string appeared when the file was checked in. 4785 4786`-kb' 4787 Like `-ko', but also inhibit conversion of line endings between the 4788 canonical form in which they are stored in the repository (linefeed 4789 only), and the form appropriate to the operating system in use on 4790 the client. For systems, like unix, which use linefeed only to 4791 terminate lines, this is very similar to `-ko'. For more 4792 information on binary files, see *note Binary files::. In CVS 4793 version 1.12.2 and later `-kb', as set by `cvs add', `cvs admin', 4794 or `cvs import' may not be overridden by a `-k' option specified on 4795 the command line. 4796 4797`-kv' 4798 Generate only keyword values for keyword strings. For example, for 4799 the `Revision' keyword, generate the string `5.7' instead of `$ 4800 Revision: 5.7 $'. This can help generate files in programming 4801 languages where it is hard to strip keyword delimiters like `$ 4802 Revision: $' from a string. However, further keyword substitution 4803 cannot be performed once the keyword names are removed, so this 4804 option should be used with care. 4805 4806 One often would like to use `-kv' with `cvs export'--*note 4807 export::. But be aware that doesn't handle an export containing 4808 binary files correctly. 4809 4810 4811File: cvs.info, Node: Configuring keyword expansion, Next: Log keyword, Prev: Substitution modes, Up: Keyword substitution 4812 481312.5 Configuring Keyord Expansion 4814================================= 4815 4816In a repository that includes third-party software on vendor branches, 4817it is sometimes helpful to configure CVS to use a local keyword instead 4818of the standard $ Id$ or $ Header$ keywords. Examples from real projects 4819includ, $ Xorg$, $ XFree86$, $ FreeBSD$, $ NetBSD$, $ OpenBSD$, and even 4820$ dotat$. The advantage of this is that you can include your local 4821version information in a file using this local keyword (sometimes called 4822a "custom tag" or a "local tag") without disrupting the upstream version 4823information (which may be a different local keyword or a standard 4824keyword). In these cases, it is typically desirable to disable the 4825expansion of all keywords except the configured local keyword. 4826 4827 The `KeywordExpansion' option in the `CVSROOT/config' file is 4828intended to allow for the either the explicit exclusion of a keyword or 4829list of keywords, or for the explicit inclusion of a keyword or a list 4830of keywords. This list may include the `LocalKeyword' that has been 4831configured. 4832 4833 The `KeywordExpansion' option is followed by `=' and the next 4834character may either be `i' to start an inclusion list or `e' to start 4835an exclusion list. If the following lines were added to the 4836`CVSROOT/config' file: 4837 4838 # Add a "MyBSD" keyword and restrict keyword 4839 # expansion 4840 LocalKeyword=MyBSD=CVSHeader 4841 KeywordExpand=iMyBSD 4842 4843 then only the $ MyBSD$ keyword would be expanded. A list may be 4844used. The this example: 4845 4846 # Add a "MyBSD" keyword and restrict keyword 4847 # expansion to the MyBSD, Name and Date keywords. 4848 LocalKeyword=MyBSD=CVSHeader 4849 KeywordExpand=iMyBSD,Name,Date 4850 4851 would allow $ MyBSD$, $ Name$, and $ Date$ to be expanded. 4852 4853 It is also possible to configure an exclusion list using the 4854following: 4855 4856 # Do not expand the non-RCS keyword CVSHeader 4857 KeywordExpand=eCVSHeader 4858 4859 This allows CVS to ignore the recently introduced $ CVSHeader$ 4860keyword and retain all of the others. The exclusion entry could also 4861contain the standard RCS keyword list, but this could be confusing to 4862users that expect RCS keywords to be expanded, so ycare should be taken 4863to properly set user expectations for a repository that is configured in 4864that manner. 4865 4866 If there is a desire to not have any RCS keywords expanded and not 4867use the `-ko' flags everywhere, an administrator may disable all keyword 4868expansion using the `CVSROOT/config' line: 4869 4870 # Do not expand any RCS keywords 4871 KeywordExpand=i 4872 4873 this could be confusing to users that expect RCS keywords like $ Id$ 4874to be expanded properly, so care should be taken to properly set user 4875expectations for a repository so configured. 4876 4877 It should be noted that a patch to provide both the `KeywordExpand' 4878and `LocalKeyword' features has been around a long time. However, that 4879patch implemented these features using `tag=' and `tagexpand=' keywords 4880and those keywords are NOT recognized. 4881 4882 4883File: cvs.info, Node: Log keyword, Prev: Configuring keyword expansion, Up: Keyword substitution 4884 488512.6 Problems with the $ Log$ keyword. 4886====================================== 4887 4888The `$ Log$' keyword is somewhat controversial. As long as you are 4889working on your development system the information is easily accessible 4890even if you do not use the `$ Log$' keyword--just do a `cvs log'. Once 4891you export the file the history information might be useless anyhow. 4892 4893 A more serious concern is that CVS is not good at handling `$ Log$' 4894entries when a branch is merged onto the main trunk. Conflicts often 4895result from the merging operation. 4896 4897 People also tend to "fix" the log entries in the file (correcting 4898spelling mistakes and maybe even factual errors). If that is done the 4899information from `cvs log' will not be consistent with the information 4900inside the file. This may or may not be a problem in real life. 4901 4902 It has been suggested that the `$ Log$' keyword should be inserted 4903_last_ in the file, and not in the files header, if it is to be used at 4904all. That way the long list of change messages will not interfere with 4905everyday source file browsing. 4906 4907 4908File: cvs.info, Node: Tracking sources, Next: Builds, Prev: Keyword substitution, Up: Top 4909 491013 Tracking third-party sources 4911******************************* 4912 4913If you modify a program to better fit your site, you probably want to 4914include your modifications when the next release of the program arrives. 4915CVS can help you with this task. 4916 4917 In the terminology used in CVS, the supplier of the program is called 4918a "vendor". The unmodified distribution from the vendor is checked in 4919on its own branch, the "vendor branch". CVS reserves branch 1.1.1 for 4920this use. 4921 4922 When you modify the source and commit it, your revision will end up 4923on the main trunk. When a new release is made by the vendor, you commit 4924it on the vendor branch and copy the modifications onto the main trunk. 4925 4926 Use the `import' command to create and update the vendor branch. 4927When you import a new file, the vendor branch is made the `head' 4928revision, so anyone that checks out a copy of the file gets that 4929revision. When a local modification is committed it is placed on the 4930main trunk, and made the `head' revision. 4931 4932* Menu: 4933 4934* First import:: Importing for the first time 4935* Update imports:: Updating with the import command 4936* Reverting local changes:: Reverting to the latest vendor release 4937* Binary files in imports:: Binary files require special handling 4938* Keywords in imports:: Keyword substitution might be undesirable 4939* Multiple vendor branches:: What if you get sources from several places? 4940 4941 4942File: cvs.info, Node: First import, Next: Update imports, Up: Tracking sources 4943 494413.1 Importing for the first time 4945================================= 4946 4947Use the `import' command to check in the sources for the first time. 4948When you use the `import' command to track third-party sources, the 4949"vendor tag" and "release tags" are useful. The "vendor tag" is a 4950symbolic name for the branch (which is always 1.1.1, unless you use the 4951`-b BRANCH' flag--see *note Multiple vendor branches::.). The "release 4952tags" are symbolic names for a particular release, such as `FSF_0_04'. 4953 4954 Note that `import' does _not_ change the directory in which you 4955invoke it. In particular, it does not set up that directory as a CVS 4956working directory; if you want to work with the sources import them 4957first and then check them out into a different directory (*note Getting 4958the source::). 4959 4960 Suppose you have the sources to a program called `wdiff' in a 4961directory `wdiff-0.04', and are going to make private modifications that 4962you want to be able to use even when new releases are made in the 4963future. You start by importing the source to your repository: 4964 4965 $ cd wdiff-0.04 4966 $ cvs import -m "Import of FSF v. 0.04" fsf/wdiff FSF_DIST WDIFF_0_04 4967 4968 The vendor tag is named `FSF_DIST' in the above example, and the only 4969release tag assigned is `WDIFF_0_04'. 4970 4971 4972File: cvs.info, Node: Update imports, Next: Reverting local changes, Prev: First import, Up: Tracking sources 4973 497413.2 Updating with the import command 4975===================================== 4976 4977When a new release of the source arrives, you import it into the 4978repository with the same `import' command that you used to set up the 4979repository in the first place. The only difference is that you specify 4980a different release tag this time: 4981 4982 $ tar xfz wdiff-0.05.tar.gz 4983 $ cd wdiff-0.05 4984 $ cvs import -m "Import of FSF v. 0.05" fsf/wdiff FSF_DIST WDIFF_0_05 4985 4986 For files that have not been modified locally, the newly created 4987revision becomes the head revision. If you have made local changes, 4988`import' will warn you that you must merge the changes into the main 4989trunk, and tell you to use `checkout -j' to do so: 4990 4991 $ cvs checkout -jFSF_DIST:yesterday -jFSF_DIST wdiff 4992 4993The above command will check out the latest revision of `wdiff', merging 4994the changes made on the vendor branch `FSF_DIST' since yesterday into 4995the working copy. If any conflicts arise during the merge they should 4996be resolved in the normal way (*note Conflicts example::). Then, the 4997modified files may be committed. 4998 4999 However, it is much better to use the two release tags rather than 5000using a date on the branch as suggested above: 5001 5002 $ cvs checkout -jWDIFF_0_04 -jWDIFF_0_05 wdiff 5003 5004The reason this is better is that using a date, as suggested above, 5005assumes that you do not import more than one release of a product per 5006day. More importantly, using the release tags allows CVS to detect 5007files that were removed between the two vendor releases and mark them 5008for removal. Since `import' has no way to detect removed files, you 5009should do a merge like this even if `import' doesn't tell you to. 5010 5011 5012File: cvs.info, Node: Reverting local changes, Next: Binary files in imports, Prev: Update imports, Up: Tracking sources 5013 501413.3 Reverting to the latest vendor release 5015=========================================== 5016 5017You can also revert local changes completely and return to the latest 5018vendor release by changing the `head' revision back to the vendor branch 5019on all files. For example, if you have a checked-out copy of the 5020sources in `~/work.d/wdiff', and you want to revert to the vendor's 5021version for all the files in that directory, you would type: 5022 5023 $ cd ~/work.d/wdiff 5024 $ cvs admin -bWDIFF . 5025 5026You must specify the `-bWDIFF' without any space after the `-b'. *Note 5027admin options::. 5028 5029 5030File: cvs.info, Node: Binary files in imports, Next: Keywords in imports, Prev: Reverting local changes, Up: Tracking sources 5031 503213.4 How to handle binary files with cvs import 5033=============================================== 5034 5035Use the `-k' wrapper option to tell import which files are binary. 5036*Note Wrappers::. 5037 5038 5039File: cvs.info, Node: Keywords in imports, Next: Multiple vendor branches, Prev: Binary files in imports, Up: Tracking sources 5040 504113.5 How to handle keyword substitution with cvs import 5042======================================================= 5043 5044The sources which you are importing may contain keywords (*note Keyword 5045substitution::). For example, the vendor may use CVS or some other 5046system which uses similar keyword expansion syntax. If you just import 5047the files in the default fashion, then the keyword expansions supplied 5048by the vendor will be replaced by keyword expansions supplied by your 5049own copy of CVS. It may be more convenient to maintain the expansions 5050supplied by the vendor, so that this information can supply information 5051about the sources that you imported from the vendor. 5052 5053 To maintain the keyword expansions supplied by the vendor, supply the 5054`-ko' option to `cvs import' the first time you import the file. This 5055will turn off keyword expansion for that file entirely, so if you want 5056to be more selective you'll have to think about what you want and use 5057the `-k' option to `cvs update' or `cvs admin' as appropriate. 5058 5059 5060File: cvs.info, Node: Multiple vendor branches, Prev: Keywords in imports, Up: Tracking sources 5061 506213.6 Multiple vendor branches 5063============================= 5064 5065All the examples so far assume that there is only one vendor from which 5066you are getting sources. In some situations you might get sources from 5067a variety of places. For example, suppose that you are dealing with a 5068project where many different people and teams are modifying the 5069software. There are a variety of ways to handle this, but in some cases 5070you have a bunch of source trees lying around and what you want to do 5071more than anything else is just to all put them in CVS so that you at 5072least have them in one place. 5073 5074 For handling situations in which there may be more than one vendor, 5075you may specify the `-b' option to `cvs import'. It takes as an 5076argument the vendor branch to import to. The default is `-b 1.1.1'. 5077 5078 For example, suppose that there are two teams, the red team and the 5079blue team, that are sending you sources. You want to import the red 5080team's efforts to branch 1.1.1 and use the vendor tag RED. You want to 5081import the blue team's efforts to branch 1.1.3 and use the vendor tag 5082BLUE. So the commands you might use are: 5083 5084 $ cvs import dir RED RED_1-0 5085 $ cvs import -b 1.1.3 dir BLUE BLUE_1-5 5086 5087 Note that if your vendor tag does not match your `-b' option, CVS 5088will not detect this case! For example, 5089 5090 $ cvs import -b 1.1.3 dir RED RED_1-0 5091 5092Be careful; this kind of mismatch is sure to sow confusion or worse. I 5093can't think of a useful purpose for the ability to specify a mismatch 5094here, but if you discover such a use, don't. CVS is likely to make this 5095an error in some future release. 5096 5097 5098File: cvs.info, Node: Builds, Next: Special Files, Prev: Tracking sources, Up: Top 5099 510014 How your build system interacts with CVS 5101******************************************* 5102 5103As mentioned in the introduction, CVS does not contain software for 5104building your software from source code. This section describes how 5105various aspects of your build system might interact with CVS. 5106 5107 One common question, especially from people who are accustomed to 5108RCS, is how to make their build get an up to date copy of the sources. 5109The answer to this with CVS is two-fold. First of all, since CVS itself 5110can recurse through directories, there is no need to modify your 5111`Makefile' (or whatever configuration file your build tool uses) to make 5112sure each file is up to date. Instead, just use two commands, first 5113`cvs -q update' and then `make' or whatever the command is to invoke 5114your build tool. Secondly, you do not necessarily _want_ to get a copy 5115of a change someone else made until you have finished your own work. 5116One suggested approach is to first update your sources, then implement, 5117build and test the change you were thinking of, and then commit your 5118sources (updating first if necessary). By periodically (in between 5119changes, using the approach just described) updating your entire tree, 5120you ensure that your sources are sufficiently up to date. 5121 5122 One common need is to record which versions of which source files 5123went into a particular build. This kind of functionality is sometimes 5124called "bill of materials" or something similar. The best way to do 5125this with CVS is to use the `tag' command to record which versions went 5126into a given build (*note Tags::). 5127 5128 Using CVS in the most straightforward manner possible, each developer 5129will have a copy of the entire source tree which is used in a particular 5130build. If the source tree is small, or if developers are geographically 5131dispersed, this is the preferred solution. In fact one approach for 5132larger projects is to break a project down into smaller 5133separately-compiled subsystems, and arrange a way of releasing them 5134internally so that each developer need check out only those subsystems 5135which they are actively working on. 5136 5137 Another approach is to set up a structure which allows developers to 5138have their own copies of some files, and for other files to access 5139source files from a central location. Many people have come up with 5140some such a system using features such as the symbolic link feature 5141found in many operating systems, or the `VPATH' feature found in many 5142versions of `make'. One build tool which is designed to help with this 5143kind of thing is Odin (see 5144`ftp://ftp.cs.colorado.edu/pub/distribs/odin'). 5145 5146 5147File: cvs.info, Node: Special Files, Next: CVS commands, Prev: Builds, Up: Top 5148 514915 Special Files 5150**************** 5151 5152In normal circumstances, CVS works only with regular files. Every file 5153in a project is assumed to be persistent; it must be possible to open, 5154read and close them; and so on. CVS also ignores file permissions and 5155ownerships, leaving such issues to be resolved by the developer at 5156installation time. In other words, it is not possible to "check in" a 5157device into a repository; if the device file cannot be opened, CVS will 5158refuse to handle it. Files also lose their ownerships and permissions 5159during repository transactions. 5160 5161 5162File: cvs.info, Node: CVS commands, Next: Invoking CVS, Prev: Special Files, Up: Top 5163 5164Appendix A Guide to CVS commands 5165******************************** 5166 5167This appendix describes the overall structure of CVS commands, and 5168describes some commands in detail (others are described elsewhere; for a 5169quick reference to CVS commands, *note Invoking CVS::). 5170 5171* Menu: 5172 5173* Structure:: Overall structure of CVS commands 5174* Exit status:: Indicating CVS's success or failure 5175* ~/.cvsrc:: Default options with the ~/.csvrc file 5176* Global options:: Options you give to the left of cvs_command 5177* Common options:: Options you give to the right of cvs_command 5178* admin:: Administration 5179* checkout:: Checkout sources for editing 5180* commit:: Check files into the repository 5181* diff:: Show differences between revisions 5182* export:: Export sources from CVS, similar to checkout 5183* history:: Show status of files and users 5184* import:: Import sources into CVS, using vendor branches 5185* log:: Show log messages for files 5186* rdiff:: 'patch' format diffs between releases 5187* release:: Indicate that a directory is no longer in use 5188* update:: Bring work tree in sync with repository 5189 5190 5191File: cvs.info, Node: Structure, Next: Exit status, Up: CVS commands 5192 5193A.1 Overall structure of CVS commands 5194===================================== 5195 5196The overall format of all CVS commands is: 5197 5198 cvs [ cvs_options ] cvs_command [ command_options ] [ command_args ] 5199 5200`cvs' 5201 The name of the CVS program. 5202 5203`cvs_options' 5204 Some options that affect all sub-commands of CVS. These are 5205 described below. 5206 5207`cvs_command' 5208 One of several different sub-commands. Some of the commands have 5209 aliases that can be used instead; those aliases are noted in the 5210 reference manual for that command. There are only two situations 5211 where you may omit `cvs_command': `cvs -H' elicits a list of 5212 available commands, and `cvs -v' displays version information on 5213 CVS itself. 5214 5215`command_options' 5216 Options that are specific for the command. 5217 5218`command_args' 5219 Arguments to the commands. 5220 5221 There is unfortunately some confusion between `cvs_options' and 5222`command_options'. `-l', when given as a `cvs_option', only affects 5223some of the commands. When it is given as a `command_option' is has a 5224different meaning, and is accepted by more commands. In other words, do 5225not take the above categorization too seriously. Look at the 5226documentation instead. 5227 5228 5229File: cvs.info, Node: Exit status, Next: ~/.cvsrc, Prev: Structure, Up: CVS commands 5230 5231A.2 CVS's exit status 5232===================== 5233 5234CVS can indicate to the calling environment whether it succeeded or 5235failed by setting its "exit status". The exact way of testing the exit 5236status will vary from one operating system to another. For example in a 5237unix shell script the `$?' variable will be 0 if the last command 5238returned a successful exit status, or greater than 0 if the exit status 5239indicated failure. 5240 5241 If CVS is successful, it returns a successful status; if there is an 5242error, it prints an error message and returns a failure status. The one 5243exception to this is the `cvs diff' command. It will return a 5244successful status if it found no differences, or a failure status if 5245there were differences or if there was an error. Because this behavior 5246provides no good way to detect errors, in the future it is possible that 5247`cvs diff' will be changed to behave like the other CVS commands. 5248 5249 5250File: cvs.info, Node: ~/.cvsrc, Next: Global options, Prev: Exit status, Up: CVS commands 5251 5252A.3 Default options and the ~/.cvsrc file 5253========================================= 5254 5255There are some `command_options' that are used so often that you might 5256have set up an alias or some other means to make sure you always specify 5257that option. One example (the one that drove the implementation of the 5258`.cvsrc' support, actually) is that many people find the default output 5259of the `diff' command to be very hard to read, and that either context 5260diffs or unidiffs are much easier to understand. 5261 5262 The `~/.cvsrc' file is a way that you can add default options to 5263`cvs_commands' within cvs, instead of relying on aliases or other shell 5264scripts. 5265 5266 The format of the `~/.cvsrc' file is simple. The file is searched 5267for a line that begins with the same name as the `cvs_command' being 5268executed. If a match is found, then the remainder of the line is split 5269up (at whitespace characters) into separate options and added to the 5270command arguments _before_ any options from the command line. 5271 5272 If a command has two names (e.g., `checkout' and `co'), the official 5273name, not necessarily the one used on the command line, will be used to 5274match against the file. So if this is the contents of the user's 5275`~/.cvsrc' file: 5276 5277 log -N 5278 diff -uN 5279 rdiff -u 5280 update -Pd 5281 checkout -P 5282 release -d 5283 5284the command `cvs checkout foo' would have the `-P' option added to the 5285arguments, as well as `cvs co foo'. 5286 5287 With the example file above, the output from `cvs diff foobar' will 5288be in unidiff format. `cvs diff -c foobar' will provide context diffs, 5289as usual. Getting "old" format diffs would be slightly more 5290complicated, because `diff' doesn't have an option to specify use of the 5291"old" format, so you would need `cvs -f diff foobar'. 5292 5293 In place of the command name you can use `cvs' to specify global 5294options (*note Global options::). For example the following line in 5295`.cvsrc' 5296 5297 cvs -z6 5298 5299causes CVS to use compression level 6. 5300 5301 5302File: cvs.info, Node: Global options, Next: Common options, Prev: ~/.cvsrc, Up: CVS commands 5303 5304A.4 Global options 5305================== 5306 5307The available `cvs_options' (that are given to the left of 5308`cvs_command') are: 5309 5310`--allow-root=ROOTDIR' 5311 Specify legal CVSROOT directory. See *note Password authentication 5312 server::. 5313 5314`-a' 5315 Authenticate all communication between the client and the server. 5316 Only has an effect on the CVS client. As of this writing, this is 5317 only implemented when using a GSSAPI connection (*note GSSAPI 5318 authenticated::). Authentication prevents certain sorts of attacks 5319 involving hijacking the active TCP connection. Enabling 5320 authentication does not enable encryption. 5321 5322`-b BINDIR' 5323 In CVS 1.9.18 and older, this specified that RCS programs are in 5324 the BINDIR directory. Current versions of CVS do not run RCS 5325 programs; for compatibility this option is accepted, but it does 5326 nothing. 5327 5328`-T TEMPDIR' 5329 Use TEMPDIR as the directory where temporary files are located. 5330 Overrides the setting of the `$TMPDIR' environment variable and any 5331 precompiled directory. This parameter should be specified as an 5332 absolute pathname. (When running client/server, `-T' affects only 5333 the local process; specifying `-T' for the client has no effect on 5334 the server and vice versa.) 5335 5336`-d CVS_ROOT_DIRECTORY' 5337 Use CVS_ROOT_DIRECTORY as the root directory pathname of the 5338 repository. Overrides the setting of the `$CVSROOT' environment 5339 variable. *Note Repository::. 5340 5341`-e EDITOR' 5342 Use EDITOR to enter revision log information. Overrides the 5343 setting of the `$CVSEDITOR' and `$EDITOR' environment variables. 5344 For more information, see *note Committing your changes::. 5345 5346`-f' 5347 Do not read the `~/.cvsrc' file. This option is most often used 5348 because of the non-orthogonality of the CVS option set. For 5349 example, the `cvs log' option `-N' (turn off display of tag names) 5350 does not have a corresponding option to turn the display on. So if 5351 you have `-N' in the `~/.cvsrc' entry for `log', you may need to 5352 use `-f' to show the tag names. 5353 5354`-H' 5355`--help' 5356 Display usage information about the specified `cvs_command' (but do 5357 not actually execute the command). If you don't specify a command 5358 name, `cvs -H' displays overall help for CVS, including a list of 5359 other help options. 5360 5361`-l' 5362 Do not log the `cvs_command' in the command history (but execute it 5363 anyway). *Note history::, for information on command history. 5364 5365`-R' 5366 Turns on read-only repository mode. This allows one to check out 5367 from a read-only repository, such as within an anoncvs server, or 5368 from a CDROM repository. 5369 5370 Same effect as if the `CVSREADONLYFS' environment variable is set. 5371 Using `-R' can also considerably speed up checkout's over NFS. 5372 5373`-n' 5374 Do not change any files. Attempt to execute the `cvs_command', but 5375 only to issue reports; do not remove, update, or merge any existing 5376 files, or create any new files. 5377 5378 Note that CVS will not necessarily produce exactly the same output 5379 as without `-n'. In some cases the output will be the same, but in 5380 other cases CVS will skip some of the processing that would have 5381 been required to produce the exact same output. 5382 5383`-Q' 5384 Cause the command to be really quiet; the command will only 5385 generate output for serious problems. 5386 5387`-q' 5388 Cause the command to be somewhat quiet; informational messages, 5389 such as reports of recursion through subdirectories, are 5390 suppressed. 5391 5392`-r' 5393 Make new working files read-only. Same effect as if the `$CVSREAD' 5394 environment variable is set (*note Environment variables::). The 5395 default is to make working files writable, unless watches are on 5396 (*note Watches::). 5397 5398`-s VARIABLE=VALUE' 5399 Set a user variable (*note Variables::). 5400 5401`-t' 5402 Trace program execution; display messages showing the steps of CVS 5403 activity. Particularly useful with `-n' to explore the potential 5404 impact of an unfamiliar command. 5405 5406`-v' 5407 5408`--version' 5409 Display version and copyright information for CVS. 5410 5411`-w' 5412 Make new working files read-write. Overrides the setting of the 5413 `$CVSREAD' environment variable. Files are created read-write by 5414 default, unless `$CVSREAD' is set or `-r' is given. 5415 5416`-x' 5417 Encrypt all communication between the client and the server. Only 5418 has an effect on the CVS client. As of this writing, this is only 5419 implemented when using a GSSAPI connection (*note GSSAPI 5420 authenticated::) or a Kerberos connection (*note Kerberos 5421 authenticated::). Enabling encryption implies that message traffic 5422 is also authenticated. Encryption support is not available by 5423 default; it must be enabled using a special configure option, 5424 `--enable-encryption', when you build CVS. 5425 5426`-z GZIP-LEVEL' 5427 Set the compression level. Valid levels are 1 (high speed, low 5428 compression) to 9 (low speed, high compression), or 0 to disable 5429 compression (the default). Only has an effect on the CVS client. 5430 5431 5432File: cvs.info, Node: Common options, Next: admin, Prev: Global options, Up: CVS commands 5433 5434A.5 Common command options 5435========================== 5436 5437This section describes the `command_options' that are available across 5438several CVS commands. These options are always given to the right of 5439`cvs_command'. Not all commands support all of these options; each 5440option is only supported for commands where it makes sense. However, 5441when a command has one of these options you can almost always count on 5442the same behavior of the option as in other commands. (Other command 5443options, which are listed with the individual commands, may have 5444different behavior from one CVS command to the other). 5445 5446 *Note: the `history' command is an exception; it supports many 5447options that conflict even with these standard options.* 5448 5449`-D DATE_SPEC' 5450 Use the most recent revision no later than DATE_SPEC. DATE_SPEC is 5451 a single argument, a date description specifying a date in the 5452 past. 5453 5454 The specification is "sticky" when you use it to make a private 5455 copy of a source file; that is, when you get a working file using 5456 `-D', CVS records the date you specified, so that further updates 5457 in the same directory will use the same date (for more information 5458 on sticky tags/dates, *note Sticky tags::). 5459 5460 `-D' is available with the `annotate', `checkout', `diff', 5461 `export', `history', `rdiff', `rtag', `tag', and `update' commands. 5462 (The `history' command uses this option in a slightly different 5463 way; *note history options::). 5464 5465 A wide variety of date formats are supported by CVS. The most 5466 standard ones are ISO8601 (from the International Standards 5467 Organization) and the Internet e-mail standard (specified in RFC822 5468 as amended by RFC1123). 5469 5470 ISO8601 dates have many variants but a few examples are: 5471 5472 1972-09-24 5473 1972-09-24 20:05 5474 5475 There are a lot more ISO8601 date formats, and CVS accepts many of 5476 them, but you probably don't want to hear the _whole_ long story 5477 :-). 5478 5479 In addition to the dates allowed in Internet e-mail itself, CVS 5480 also allows some of the fields to be omitted. For example: 5481 5482 24 Sep 1972 20:05 5483 24 Sep 5484 5485 The date is interpreted as being in the local timezone, unless a 5486 specific timezone is specified. 5487 5488 These two date formats are preferred. However, CVS currently 5489 accepts a wide variety of other date formats. They are 5490 intentionally not documented here in any detail, and future 5491 versions of CVS might not accept all of them. 5492 5493 One such format is `MONTH/DAY/YEAR'. This may confuse people who 5494 are accustomed to having the month and day in the other order; 5495 `1/4/96' is January 4, not April 1. 5496 5497 Remember to quote the argument to the `-D' flag so that your shell 5498 doesn't interpret spaces as argument separators. A command using 5499 the `-D' flag can look like this: 5500 5501 $ cvs diff -D "1 hour ago" cvs.texinfo 5502 5503`-f' 5504 When you specify a particular date or tag to CVS commands, they 5505 normally ignore files that do not contain the tag (or did not exist 5506 prior to the date) that you specified. Use the `-f' option if you 5507 want files retrieved even when there is no match for the tag or 5508 date. (The most recent revision of the file will be used). 5509 5510 Note that even with `-f', a tag that you specify must exist (that 5511 is, in some file, not necessary in every file). This is so that 5512 CVS will continue to give an error if you mistype a tag name. 5513 5514 `-f' is available with these commands: `annotate', `checkout', 5515 `export', `rdiff', `rtag', and `update'. 5516 5517 *WARNING: The `commit' and `remove' commands also have a `-f' 5518 option, but it has a different behavior for those commands. See 5519 *note commit options::, and *note Removing files::.* 5520 5521`-k KFLAG' 5522 Override the default processing of RCS keywords other than `-kb'. 5523 *Note Keyword substitution::, for the meaning of KFLAG. Used with 5524 the `checkout' and `update' commands, your KFLAG specification is 5525 "sticky"; that is, when you use this option with a `checkout' or 5526 `update' command, CVS associates your selected KFLAG with any files 5527 it operates on, and continues to use that KFLAG with future 5528 commands on the same files until you specify otherwise. 5529 5530 The `-k' option is available with the `add', `checkout', `diff', 5531 `export', `import' and `update' commands. 5532 5533 *WARNING: Prior to CVS version 1.12.2, the `-k' flag overrode the 5534 `-kb' indication for a binary file. This could sometimes corrupt 5535 binary files. *Note Merging and keywords::, for more.* 5536 5537`-l' 5538 Local; run only in current working directory, rather than recursing 5539 through subdirectories. 5540 5541 Available with the following commands: `annotate', `checkout', 5542 `commit', `diff', `edit', `editors', `export', `log', `rdiff', 5543 `remove', `rtag', `status', `tag', `unedit', `update', `watch', and 5544 `watchers'. 5545 5546`-m MESSAGE' 5547 Use MESSAGE as log information, instead of invoking an editor. 5548 5549 Available with the following commands: `add', `commit' and 5550 `import'. 5551 5552`-n' 5553 Do not run any tag program. (A program can be specified to run in 5554 the modules database (*note modules::); this option bypasses it). 5555 5556 *Note: this is not the same as the `cvs -n' program option, which 5557 you can specify to the left of a cvs command!* 5558 5559 Available with the `checkout', `commit', `export', and `rtag' 5560 commands. 5561 5562`-P' 5563 Prune empty directories. See *note Removing directories::. 5564 5565`-p' 5566 Pipe the files retrieved from the repository to standard output, 5567 rather than writing them in the current directory. Available with 5568 the `checkout' and `update' commands. 5569 5570`-R' 5571 Process directories recursively. This is on by default. 5572 5573 Available with the following commands: `annotate', `checkout', 5574 `commit', `diff', `edit', `editors', `export', `rdiff', `remove', 5575 `rtag', `status', `tag', `unedit', `update', `watch', and 5576 `watchers'. 5577 5578`-r TAG' 5579 Use the revision specified by the TAG argument instead of the 5580 default "head" revision. As well as arbitrary tags defined with 5581 the `tag' or `rtag' command, two special tags are always available: 5582 `HEAD' refers to the most recent version available in the 5583 repository, and `BASE' refers to the revision you last checked out 5584 into the current working directory. 5585 5586 The tag specification is sticky when you use this with `checkout' 5587 or `update' to make your own copy of a file: CVS remembers the tag 5588 and continues to use it on future update commands, until you 5589 specify otherwise (for more information on sticky tags/dates, *note 5590 Sticky tags::). 5591 5592 The tag can be either a symbolic or numeric tag, as described in 5593 *note Tags::, or the name of a branch, as described in *note 5594 Branching and merging::. 5595 5596 Specifying the `-q' global option along with the `-r' command 5597 option is often useful, to suppress the warning messages when the 5598 RCS file does not contain the specified tag. 5599 5600 *Note: this is not the same as the overall `cvs -r' option, which 5601 you can specify to the left of a CVS command!* 5602 5603 `-r' is available with the `checkout', `commit', `diff', `history', 5604 `export', `rdiff', `rtag', and `update' commands. 5605 5606`-W' 5607 Specify file names that should be filtered. You can use this 5608 option repeatedly. The spec can be a file name pattern of the same 5609 type that you can specify in the `.cvswrappers' file. Available 5610 with the following commands: `import', and `update'. 5611 5612 5613File: cvs.info, Node: admin, Next: checkout, Prev: Common options, Up: CVS commands 5614 5615A.6 admin--Administration 5616========================= 5617 5618 * Requires: repository, working directory. 5619 5620 * Changes: repository. 5621 5622 * Synonym: rcs 5623 5624 This is the CVS interface to assorted administrative facilities. 5625Some of them have questionable usefulness for CVS but exist for 5626historical purposes. Some of the questionable options are likely to 5627disappear in the future. This command _does_ work recursively, so 5628extreme care should be used. 5629 5630 On unix, if there is a group named `cvsadmin', only members of that 5631group can run `cvs admin' commands, except for those specified using the 5632`UserAdminOptions' configuration option in the `CVSROOT/config' file. 5633Options specified using `UserAdminOptions' can be run by any user. See 5634*note config:: for more on `UserAdminOptions'. 5635 5636 The `cvsadmin' group should exist on the server, or any system 5637running the non-client/server CVS. To disallow `cvs admin' for all 5638users, create a group with no users in it. On NT, the `cvsadmin' 5639feature does not exist and all users can run `cvs admin'. 5640 5641* Menu: 5642 5643* admin options:: admin options 5644 5645 5646File: cvs.info, Node: admin options, Up: admin 5647 5648A.6.1 admin options 5649------------------- 5650 5651Some of these options have questionable usefulness for CVS but exist for 5652historical purposes. Some even make it impossible to use CVS until you 5653undo the effect! 5654 5655`-AOLDFILE' 5656 Might not work together with CVS. Append the access list of 5657 OLDFILE to the access list of the RCS file. 5658 5659`-aLOGINS' 5660 Might not work together with CVS. Append the login names appearing 5661 in the comma-separated list LOGINS to the access list of the RCS 5662 file. 5663 5664`-b[REV]' 5665 Set the default branch to REV. In CVS, you normally do not 5666 manipulate default branches; sticky tags (*note Sticky tags::) are 5667 a better way to decide which branch you want to work on. There is 5668 one reason to run `cvs admin -b': to revert to the vendor's version 5669 when using vendor branches (*note Reverting local changes::). 5670 There can be no space between `-b' and its argument. 5671 5672`-cSTRING' 5673 Sets the comment leader to STRING. The comment leader is not used 5674 by current versions of CVS or RCS 5.7. Therefore, you can almost 5675 surely not worry about it. *Note Keyword substitution::. 5676 5677`-e[LOGINS]' 5678 Might not work together with CVS. Erase the login names appearing 5679 in the comma-separated list LOGINS from the access list of the RCS 5680 file. If LOGINS is omitted, erase the entire access list. There 5681 can be no space between `-e' and its argument. 5682 5683`-I' 5684 Run interactively, even if the standard input is not a terminal. 5685 This option does not work with the client/server CVS and is likely 5686 to disappear in a future release of CVS. 5687 5688`-i' 5689 Useless with CVS. This creates and initializes a new RCS file, 5690 without depositing a revision. With CVS, add files with the `cvs 5691 add' command (*note Adding files::). 5692 5693`-kSUBST' 5694 Set the default keyword substitution to SUBST. *Note Keyword 5695 substitution::. Giving an explicit `-k' option to `cvs update', 5696 `cvs export', or `cvs checkout' overrides this default. 5697 5698`-l[REV]' 5699 Lock the revision with number REV. If a branch is given, lock the 5700 latest revision on that branch. If REV is omitted, lock the latest 5701 revision on the default branch. There can be no space between `-l' 5702 and its argument. 5703 5704 This can be used in conjunction with the `rcslock.pl' script in the 5705 `contrib' directory of the CVS source distribution to provide 5706 reserved checkouts (where only one user can be editing a given file 5707 at a time). See the comments in that file for details (and see the 5708 `README' file in that directory for disclaimers about the 5709 unsupported nature of contrib). According to comments in that 5710 file, locking must set to strict (which is the default). 5711 5712`-L' 5713 Set locking to strict. Strict locking means that the owner of an 5714 RCS file is not exempt from locking for checkin. For use with CVS, 5715 strict locking must be set; see the discussion under the `-l' 5716 option above. 5717 5718`-mREV:MSG' 5719 Replace the log message of revision REV with MSG. 5720 5721`-NNAME[:[REV]]' 5722 Act like `-n', except override any previous assignment of NAME. 5723 For use with magic branches, see *note Magic branch numbers::. 5724 5725`-nNAME[:[REV]]' 5726 Associate the symbolic name NAME with the branch or revision REV. 5727 It is normally better to use `cvs tag' or `cvs rtag' instead. 5728 Delete the symbolic name if both `:' and REV are omitted; 5729 otherwise, print an error message if NAME is already associated 5730 with another number. If REV is symbolic, it is expanded before 5731 association. A REV consisting of a branch number followed by a `.' 5732 stands for the current latest revision in the branch. A `:' with 5733 an empty REV stands for the current latest revision on the default 5734 branch, normally the trunk. For example, `cvs admin -nNAME:' 5735 associates NAME with the current latest revision of all the RCS 5736 files; this contrasts with `cvs admin -nNAME:$' which associates 5737 NAME with the revision numbers extracted from keyword strings in 5738 the corresponding working files. 5739 5740`-oRANGE' 5741 Deletes ("outdates") the revisions given by RANGE. 5742 5743 Note that this command can be quite dangerous unless you know 5744 _exactly_ what you are doing (for example see the warnings below 5745 about how the REV1:REV2 syntax is confusing). 5746 5747 If you are short on disc this option might help you. But think 5748 twice before using it--there is no way short of restoring the 5749 latest backup to undo this command! If you delete different 5750 revisions than you planned, either due to carelessness or (heaven 5751 forbid) a CVS bug, there is no opportunity to correct the error 5752 before the revisions are deleted. It probably would be a good idea 5753 to experiment on a copy of the repository first. 5754 5755 Specify RANGE in one of the following ways: 5756 5757 `REV1::REV2' 5758 Collapse all revisions between rev1 and rev2, so that CVS only 5759 stores the differences associated with going from rev1 to 5760 rev2, not intermediate steps. For example, after `-o 5761 1.3::1.5' one can retrieve revision 1.3, revision 1.5, or the 5762 differences to get from 1.3 to 1.5, but not the revision 1.4, 5763 or the differences between 1.3 and 1.4. Other examples: `-o 5764 1.3::1.4' and `-o 1.3::1.3' have no effect, because there are 5765 no intermediate revisions to remove. 5766 5767 `::REV' 5768 Collapse revisions between the beginning of the branch 5769 containing REV and REV itself. The branchpoint and REV are 5770 left intact. For example, `-o ::1.3.2.6' deletes revision 5771 1.3.2.1, revision 1.3.2.5, and everything in between, but 5772 leaves 1.3 and 1.3.2.6 intact. 5773 5774 `REV::' 5775 Collapse revisions between REV and the end of the branch 5776 containing REV. Revision REV is left intact but the head 5777 revision is deleted. 5778 5779 `REV' 5780 Delete the revision REV. For example, `-o 1.3' is equivalent 5781 to `-o 1.2::1.4'. 5782 5783 `REV1:REV2' 5784 Delete the revisions from REV1 to REV2, inclusive, on the same 5785 branch. One will not be able to retrieve REV1 or REV2 or any 5786 of the revisions in between. For example, the command `cvs 5787 admin -oR_1_01:R_1_02 .' is rarely useful. It means to delete 5788 revisions up to, and including, the tag R_1_02. But beware! 5789 If there are files that have not changed between R_1_02 and 5790 R_1_03 the file will have _the same_ numerical revision number 5791 assigned to the tags R_1_02 and R_1_03. So not only will it 5792 be impossible to retrieve R_1_02; R_1_03 will also have to be 5793 restored from the tapes! In most cases you want to specify 5794 REV1::REV2 instead. 5795 5796 `:REV' 5797 Delete revisions from the beginning of the branch containing 5798 REV up to and including REV. 5799 5800 `REV:' 5801 Delete revisions from revision REV, including REV itself, to 5802 the end of the branch containing REV. 5803 5804 None of the revisions to be deleted may have branches or locks. 5805 5806 If any of the revisions to be deleted have symbolic names, and one 5807 specifies one of the `::' syntaxes, then CVS will give an error and 5808 not delete any revisions. If you really want to delete both the 5809 symbolic names and the revisions, first delete the symbolic names 5810 with `cvs tag -d', then run `cvs admin -o'. If one specifies the 5811 non-`::' syntaxes, then CVS will delete the revisions but leave the 5812 symbolic names pointing to nonexistent revisions. This behavior is 5813 preserved for compatibility with previous versions of CVS, but 5814 because it isn't very useful, in the future it may change to be 5815 like the `::' case. 5816 5817 Due to the way CVS handles branches REV cannot be specified 5818 symbolically if it is a branch. *Note Magic branch numbers::, for 5819 an explanation. 5820 5821 Make sure that no-one has checked out a copy of the revision you 5822 outdate. Strange things will happen if he starts to edit it and 5823 tries to check it back in. For this reason, this option is not a 5824 good way to take back a bogus commit; commit a new revision undoing 5825 the bogus change instead (*note Merging two revisions::). 5826 5827`-q' 5828 Run quietly; do not print diagnostics. 5829 5830`-sSTATE[:REV]' 5831 Useful with CVS. Set the state attribute of the revision REV to 5832 STATE. If REV is a branch number, assume the latest revision on 5833 that branch. If REV is omitted, assume the latest revision on the 5834 default branch. Any identifier is acceptable for STATE. A useful 5835 set of states is `Exp' (for experimental), `Stab' (for stable), and 5836 `Rel' (for released). By default, the state of a new revision is 5837 set to `Exp' when it is created. The state is visible in the 5838 output from CVS LOG (*note log::), and in the `$ Log$' and `$ 5839 State$' keywords (*note Keyword substitution::). Note that CVS 5840 uses the `dead' state for its own purposes; to take a file to or 5841 from the `dead' state use commands like `cvs remove' and `cvs add', 5842 not `cvs admin -s'. 5843 5844`-t[FILE]' 5845 Useful with CVS. Write descriptive text from the contents of the 5846 named FILE into the RCS file, deleting the existing text. The FILE 5847 pathname may not begin with `-'. The descriptive text can be seen 5848 in the output from `cvs log' (*note log::). There can be no space 5849 between `-t' and its argument. 5850 5851 If FILE is omitted, obtain the text from standard input, terminated 5852 by end-of-file or by a line containing `.' by itself. Prompt for 5853 the text if interaction is possible; see `-I'. 5854 5855`-t-STRING' 5856 Similar to `-tFILE'. Write descriptive text from the STRING into 5857 the RCS file, deleting the existing text. There can be no space 5858 between `-t' and its argument. 5859 5860`-U' 5861 Set locking to non-strict. Non-strict locking means that the owner 5862 of a file need not lock a revision for checkin. For use with CVS, 5863 strict locking must be set; see the discussion under the `-l' 5864 option above. 5865 5866`-u[REV]' 5867 See the option `-l' above, for a discussion of using this option 5868 with CVS. Unlock the revision with number REV. If a branch is 5869 given, unlock the latest revision on that branch. If REV is 5870 omitted, remove the latest lock held by the caller. Normally, only 5871 the locker of a revision may unlock it; somebody else unlocking a 5872 revision breaks the lock. This causes the original locker to be 5873 sent a `commit' notification (*note Getting Notified::). There can 5874 be no space between `-u' and its argument. 5875 5876`-VN' 5877 In previous versions of CVS, this option meant to write an RCS file 5878 which would be acceptable to RCS version N, but it is now obsolete 5879 and specifying it will produce an error. 5880 5881`-xSUFFIXES' 5882 In previous versions of CVS, this was documented as a way of 5883 specifying the names of the RCS files. However, CVS has always 5884 required that the RCS files used by CVS end in `,v', so this option 5885 has never done anything useful. 5886 5887 5888File: cvs.info, Node: checkout, Next: commit, Prev: admin, Up: CVS commands 5889 5890A.7 checkout--Check out sources for editing 5891=========================================== 5892 5893 * Synopsis: checkout [options] modules... 5894 5895 * Requires: repository. 5896 5897 * Changes: working directory. 5898 5899 * Synonyms: co, get 5900 5901 Create or update a working directory containing copies of the source 5902files specified by MODULES. You must execute `checkout' before using 5903most of the other CVS commands, since most of them operate on your 5904working directory. 5905 5906 The MODULES are either symbolic names for some collection of source 5907directories and files, or paths to directories or files in the 5908repository. The symbolic names are defined in the `modules' file. 5909*Note modules::. 5910 5911 Depending on the modules you specify, `checkout' may recursively 5912create directories and populate them with the appropriate source files. 5913You can then edit these source files at any time (regardless of whether 5914other software developers are editing their own copies of the sources); 5915update them to include new changes applied by others to the source 5916repository; or commit your work as a permanent change to the source 5917repository. 5918 5919 Note that `checkout' is used to create directories. The top-level 5920directory created is always added to the directory where `checkout' is 5921invoked, and usually has the same name as the specified module. In the 5922case of a module alias, the created sub-directory may have a different 5923name, but you can be sure that it will be a sub-directory, and that 5924`checkout' will show the relative path leading to each file as it is 5925extracted into your private work area (unless you specify the `-Q' 5926global option). 5927 5928 The files created by `checkout' are created read-write, unless the 5929`-r' option to CVS (*note Global options::) is specified, the `CVSREAD' 5930environment variable is specified (*note Environment variables::), or a 5931watch is in effect for that file (*note Watches::). 5932 5933 Note that running `checkout' on a directory that was already built by 5934a prior `checkout' is also permitted. This is similar to specifying the 5935`-d' option to the `update' command in the sense that new directories 5936that have been created in the repository will appear in your work area. 5937However, `checkout' takes a module name whereas `update' takes a 5938directory name. Also to use `checkout' this way it must be run from the 5939top level directory (where you originally ran `checkout' from), so 5940before you run `checkout' to update an existing directory, don't forget 5941to change your directory to the top level directory. 5942 5943 For the output produced by the `checkout' command see *note update 5944output::. 5945 5946* Menu: 5947 5948* checkout options:: checkout options 5949* checkout examples:: checkout examples 5950 5951 5952File: cvs.info, Node: checkout options, Next: checkout examples, Up: checkout 5953 5954A.7.1 checkout options 5955---------------------- 5956 5957These standard options are supported by `checkout' (*note Common 5958options::, for a complete description of them): 5959 5960`-D DATE' 5961 Use the most recent revision no later than DATE. This option is 5962 sticky, and implies `-P'. See *note Sticky tags::, for more 5963 information on sticky tags/dates. 5964 5965`-f' 5966 Only useful with the `-D DATE' or `-r TAG' flags. If no matching 5967 revision is found, retrieve the most recent revision (instead of 5968 ignoring the file). 5969 5970`-k KFLAG' 5971 Process keywords according to KFLAG. See *note Keyword 5972 substitution::. This option is sticky; future updates of this file 5973 in this working directory will use the same KFLAG. The `status' 5974 command can be viewed to see the sticky options. See *note 5975 Invoking CVS::, for more information on the `status' command. 5976 5977`-l' 5978 Local; run only in current working directory. 5979 5980`-n' 5981 Do not run any checkout program (as specified with the `-o' option 5982 in the modules file; *note modules::). 5983 5984`-P' 5985 Prune empty directories. See *note Moving directories::. 5986 5987`-p' 5988 Pipe files to the standard output. 5989 5990`-R' 5991 Checkout directories recursively. This option is on by default. 5992 5993`-r TAG' 5994 Use revision TAG. This option is sticky, and implies `-P'. See 5995 *note Sticky tags::, for more information on sticky tags/dates. 5996 5997 In addition to those, you can use these special command options with 5998`checkout': 5999 6000`-A' 6001 Reset any sticky tags, dates, or `-k' options. See *note Sticky 6002 tags::, for more information on sticky tags/dates. 6003 6004`-c' 6005 Copy the module file, sorted, to the standard output, instead of 6006 creating or modifying any files or directories in your working 6007 directory. 6008 6009`-d DIR' 6010 Create a directory called DIR for the working files, instead of 6011 using the module name. In general, using this flag is equivalent 6012 to using `mkdir DIR; cd DIR' followed by the checkout command 6013 without the `-d' flag. 6014 6015 There is an important exception, however. It is very convenient 6016 when checking out a single item to have the output appear in a 6017 directory that doesn't contain empty intermediate directories. In 6018 this case _only_, CVS tries to "shorten" pathnames to avoid those 6019 empty directories. 6020 6021 For example, given a module `foo' that contains the file `bar.c', 6022 the command `cvs co -d dir foo' will create directory `dir' and 6023 place `bar.c' inside. Similarly, given a module `bar' which has 6024 subdirectory `baz' wherein there is a file `quux.c', the command 6025 `cvs co -d dir bar/baz' will create directory `dir' and place 6026 `quux.c' inside. 6027 6028 Using the `-N' flag will defeat this behavior. Given the same 6029 module definitions above, `cvs co -N -d dir foo' will create 6030 directories `dir/foo' and place `bar.c' inside, while `cvs co -N -d 6031 dir bar/baz' will create directories `dir/bar/baz' and place 6032 `quux.c' inside. 6033 6034`-j TAG' 6035 With two `-j' options, merge changes from the revision specified 6036 with the first `-j' option to the revision specified with the 6037 second `j' option, into the working directory. 6038 6039 With one `-j' option, merge changes from the ancestor revision to 6040 the revision specified with the `-j' option, into the working 6041 directory. The ancestor revision is the common ancestor of the 6042 revision which the working directory is based on, and the revision 6043 specified in the `-j' option. 6044 6045 In addition, each -j option can contain an optional date 6046 specification which, when used with branches, can limit the chosen 6047 revision to one within a specific date. An optional date is 6048 specified by adding a colon (:) to the tag: 6049 `-jSYMBOLIC_TAG:DATE_SPECIFIER'. 6050 6051 *Note Branching and merging::. 6052 6053`-N' 6054 Only useful together with `-d DIR'. With this option, CVS will not 6055 "shorten" module paths in your working directory when you check out 6056 a single module. See the `-d' flag for examples and a discussion. 6057 6058`-s' 6059 Like `-c', but include the status of all modules, and sort it by 6060 the status string. *Note modules::, for info about the `-s' option 6061 that is used inside the modules file to set the module status. 6062 6063 6064File: cvs.info, Node: checkout examples, Prev: checkout options, Up: checkout 6065 6066A.7.2 checkout examples 6067----------------------- 6068 6069Get a copy of the module `tc': 6070 6071 $ cvs checkout tc 6072 6073 Get a copy of the module `tc' as it looked one day ago: 6074 6075 $ cvs checkout -D yesterday tc 6076 6077 6078File: cvs.info, Node: commit, Next: diff, Prev: checkout, Up: CVS commands 6079 6080A.8 commit--Check files into the repository 6081=========================================== 6082 6083 * Synopsis: commit [-lnRf] [-m 'log_message' | -F file] [-r revision] 6084 [files...] 6085 6086 * Requires: working directory, repository. 6087 6088 * Changes: repository. 6089 6090 * Synonym: ci 6091 6092 Use `commit' when you want to incorporate changes from your working 6093source files into the source repository. 6094 6095 If you don't specify particular files to commit, all of the files in 6096your working current directory are examined. `commit' is careful to 6097change in the repository only those files that you have really changed. 6098By default (or if you explicitly specify the `-R' option), files in 6099subdirectories are also examined and committed if they have changed; you 6100can use the `-l' option to limit `commit' to the current directory only. 6101 6102 `commit' verifies that the selected files are up to date with the 6103current revisions in the source repository; it will notify you, and exit 6104without committing, if any of the specified files must be made current 6105first with `update' (*note update::). `commit' does not call the 6106`update' command for you, but rather leaves that for you to do when the 6107time is right. 6108 6109 When all is well, an editor is invoked to allow you to enter a log 6110message that will be written to one or more logging programs (*note 6111modules::, and *note loginfo::) and placed in the RCS file inside the 6112repository. This log message can be retrieved with the `log' command; 6113see *note log::. You can specify the log message on the command line 6114with the `-m MESSAGE' option, and thus avoid the editor invocation, or 6115use the `-F FILE' option to specify that the argument file contains the 6116log message. 6117 6118* Menu: 6119 6120* commit options:: commit options 6121* commit examples:: commit examples 6122 6123 6124File: cvs.info, Node: commit options, Next: commit examples, Up: commit 6125 6126A.8.1 commit options 6127-------------------- 6128 6129These standard options are supported by `commit' (*note Common 6130options::, for a complete description of them): 6131 6132`-l' 6133 Local; run only in current working directory. 6134 6135`-R' 6136 Commit directories recursively. This is on by default. 6137 6138`-r REVISION' 6139 Commit to REVISION. REVISION must be either a branch, or a 6140 revision on the main trunk that is higher than any existing 6141 revision number (*note Assigning revisions::). You cannot commit 6142 to a specific revision on a branch. 6143 6144 `commit' also supports these options: 6145 6146`-F FILE' 6147 Read the log message from FILE, instead of invoking an editor. 6148 6149`-f' 6150 Note that this is not the standard behavior of the `-f' option as 6151 defined in *note Common options::. 6152 6153 Force CVS to commit a new revision even if you haven't made any 6154 changes to the file. If the current revision of FILE is 1.7, then 6155 the following two commands are equivalent: 6156 6157 $ cvs commit -f FILE 6158 $ cvs commit -r 1.8 FILE 6159 6160 The `-f' option disables recursion (i.e., it implies `-l'). To 6161 force CVS to commit a new revision for all files in all 6162 subdirectories, you must use `-f -R'. 6163 6164`-m MESSAGE' 6165 Use MESSAGE as the log message, instead of invoking an editor. 6166 6167 6168File: cvs.info, Node: commit examples, Prev: commit options, Up: commit 6169 6170A.8.2 commit examples 6171--------------------- 6172 6173A.8.2.1 Committing to a branch 6174.............................. 6175 6176You can commit to a branch revision (one that has an even number of 6177dots) with the `-r' option. To create a branch revision, use the `-b' 6178option of the `rtag' or `tag' commands (*note Branching and merging::). 6179Then, either `checkout' or `update' can be used to base your sources on 6180the newly created branch. From that point on, all `commit' changes made 6181within these working sources will be automatically added to a branch 6182revision, thereby not disturbing main-line development in any way. For 6183example, if you had to create a patch to the 1.2 version of the product, 6184even though the 2.0 version is already under development, you might do: 6185 6186 $ cvs rtag -b -r FCS1_2 FCS1_2_Patch product_module 6187 $ cvs checkout -r FCS1_2_Patch product_module 6188 $ cd product_module 6189 [[ hack away ]] 6190 $ cvs commit 6191 6192This works automatically since the `-r' option is sticky. 6193 6194A.8.2.2 Creating the branch after editing 6195......................................... 6196 6197Say you have been working on some extremely experimental software, based 6198on whatever revision you happened to checkout last week. If others in 6199your group would like to work on this software with you, but without 6200disturbing main-line development, you could commit your change to a new 6201branch. Others can then checkout your experimental stuff and utilize 6202the full benefit of CVS conflict resolution. The scenario might look 6203like: 6204 6205 [[ hacked sources are present ]] 6206 $ cvs tag -b EXPR1 6207 $ cvs update -r EXPR1 6208 $ cvs commit 6209 6210 The `update' command will make the `-r EXPR1' option sticky on all 6211files. Note that your changes to the files will never be removed by the 6212`update' command. The `commit' will automatically commit to the correct 6213branch, because the `-r' is sticky. You could also do like this: 6214 6215 [[ hacked sources are present ]] 6216 $ cvs tag -b EXPR1 6217 $ cvs commit -r EXPR1 6218 6219but then, only those files that were changed by you will have the `-r 6220EXPR1' sticky flag. If you hack away, and commit without specifying the 6221`-r EXPR1' flag, some files may accidentally end up on the main trunk. 6222 6223 To work with you on the experimental change, others would simply do 6224 6225 $ cvs checkout -r EXPR1 whatever_module 6226 6227 6228File: cvs.info, Node: diff, Next: export, Prev: commit, Up: CVS commands 6229 6230A.9 diff--Show differences between revisions 6231============================================ 6232 6233 * Synopsis: diff [-lR] [-k kflag] [format_options] [[-r rev1 | -D 6234 date1] [-r rev2 | -D date2]] [files...] 6235 6236 * Requires: working directory, repository. 6237 6238 * Changes: nothing. 6239 6240 The `diff' command is used to compare different revisions of files. 6241The default action is to compare your working files with the revisions 6242they were based on, and report any differences that are found. 6243 6244 If any file names are given, only those files are compared. If any 6245directories are given, all files under them will be compared. 6246 6247 The exit status for diff is different than for other CVS commands; 6248for details *note Exit status::. 6249 6250* Menu: 6251 6252* diff options:: diff options 6253* diff examples:: diff examples 6254 6255 6256File: cvs.info, Node: diff options, Next: diff examples, Up: diff 6257 6258A.9.1 diff options 6259------------------ 6260 6261These standard options are supported by `diff' (*note Common options::, 6262for a complete description of them): 6263 6264`-D DATE' 6265 Use the most recent revision no later than DATE. See `-r' for how 6266 this affects the comparison. 6267 6268`-k KFLAG' 6269 Process keywords according to KFLAG. See *note Keyword 6270 substitution::. 6271 6272`-l' 6273 Local; run only in current working directory. 6274 6275`-R' 6276 Examine directories recursively. This option is on by default. 6277 6278`-r TAG' 6279 Compare with revision TAG. Zero, one or two `-r' options can be 6280 present. With no `-r' option, the working file will be compared 6281 with the revision it was based on. With one `-r', that revision 6282 will be compared to your current working file. With two `-r' 6283 options those two revisions will be compared (and your working file 6284 will not affect the outcome in any way). 6285 6286 One or both `-r' options can be replaced by a `-D DATE' option, 6287 described above. 6288 6289 The following options specify the format of the output. They have 6290the same meaning as in GNU diff. Most options have two equivalent 6291names, one of which is a single letter preceded by `-', and the other of 6292which is a long name preceded by `--'. 6293 6294`-LINES' 6295 Show LINES (an integer) lines of context. This option does not 6296 specify an output format by itself; it has no effect unless it is 6297 combined with `-c' or `-u'. This option is obsolete. For proper 6298 operation, `patch' typically needs at least two lines of context. 6299 6300`-a' 6301 Treat all files as text and compare them line-by-line, even if they 6302 do not seem to be text. 6303 6304`-b' 6305 Ignore trailing white space and consider all other sequences of one 6306 or more white space characters to be equivalent. 6307 6308`-B' 6309 Ignore changes that just insert or delete blank lines. 6310 6311`--binary' 6312 Read and write data in binary mode. 6313 6314`--brief' 6315 Report only whether the files differ, not the details of the 6316 differences. 6317 6318`-c' 6319 Use the context output format. 6320 6321`-C LINES' 6322`--context[=LINES]' 6323 Use the context output format, showing LINES (an integer) lines of 6324 context, or three if LINES is not given. For proper operation, 6325 `patch' typically needs at least two lines of context. 6326 6327`--changed-group-format=FORMAT' 6328 Use FORMAT to output a line group containing differing lines from 6329 both files in if-then-else format. *Note Line group formats::. 6330 6331`-d' 6332 Change the algorithm to perhaps find a smaller set of changes. 6333 This makes `diff' slower (sometimes much slower). 6334 6335`-e' 6336`--ed' 6337 Make output that is a valid `ed' script. 6338 6339`--expand-tabs' 6340 Expand tabs to spaces in the output, to preserve the alignment of 6341 tabs in the input files. 6342 6343`-f' 6344 Make output that looks vaguely like an `ed' script but has changes 6345 in the order they appear in the file. 6346 6347`-F REGEXP' 6348 In context and unified format, for each hunk of differences, show 6349 some of the last preceding line that matches REGEXP. 6350 6351`--forward-ed' 6352 Make output that looks vaguely like an `ed' script but has changes 6353 in the order they appear in the file. 6354 6355`-H' 6356 Use heuristics to speed handling of large files that have numerous 6357 scattered small changes. 6358 6359`--horizon-lines=LINES' 6360 Do not discard the last LINES lines of the common prefix and the 6361 first LINES lines of the common suffix. 6362 6363`-i' 6364 Ignore changes in case; consider upper- and lower-case letters 6365 equivalent. 6366 6367`-I REGEXP' 6368 Ignore changes that just insert or delete lines that match REGEXP. 6369 6370`--ifdef=NAME' 6371 Make merged if-then-else output using NAME. 6372 6373`--ignore-all-space' 6374 Ignore white space when comparing lines. 6375 6376`--ignore-blank-lines' 6377 Ignore changes that just insert or delete blank lines. 6378 6379`--ignore-case' 6380 Ignore changes in case; consider upper- and lower-case to be the 6381 same. 6382 6383`--ignore-matching-lines=REGEXP' 6384 Ignore changes that just insert or delete lines that match REGEXP. 6385 6386`--ignore-space-change' 6387 Ignore trailing white space and consider all other sequences of one 6388 or more white space characters to be equivalent. 6389 6390`--initial-tab' 6391 Output a tab rather than a space before the text of a line in 6392 normal or context format. This causes the alignment of tabs in the 6393 line to look normal. 6394 6395`-L LABEL' 6396 Use LABEL instead of the file name in the context format and 6397 unified format headers. 6398 6399`--label=LABEL' 6400 Use LABEL instead of the file name in the context format and 6401 unified format headers. 6402 6403`--left-column' 6404 Print only the left column of two common lines in side by side 6405 format. 6406 6407`--line-format=FORMAT' 6408 Use FORMAT to output all input lines in if-then-else format. *Note 6409 Line formats::. 6410 6411`--minimal' 6412 Change the algorithm to perhaps find a smaller set of changes. 6413 This makes `diff' slower (sometimes much slower). 6414 6415`-n' 6416 Output RCS-format diffs; like `-f' except that each command 6417 specifies the number of lines affected. 6418 6419`-N' 6420`--new-file' 6421 In directory comparison, if a file is found in only one directory, 6422 treat it as present but empty in the other directory. 6423 6424`--new-group-format=FORMAT' 6425 Use FORMAT to output a group of lines taken from just the second 6426 file in if-then-else format. *Note Line group formats::. 6427 6428`--new-line-format=FORMAT' 6429 Use FORMAT to output a line taken from just the second file in 6430 if-then-else format. *Note Line formats::. 6431 6432`--old-group-format=FORMAT' 6433 Use FORMAT to output a group of lines taken from just the first 6434 file in if-then-else format. *Note Line group formats::. 6435 6436`--old-line-format=FORMAT' 6437 Use FORMAT to output a line taken from just the first file in 6438 if-then-else format. *Note Line formats::. 6439 6440`-p' 6441 Show which C function each change is in. 6442 6443`--rcs' 6444 Output RCS-format diffs; like `-f' except that each command 6445 specifies the number of lines affected. 6446 6447`--report-identical-files' 6448`-s' 6449 Report when two files are the same. 6450 6451`--show-c-function' 6452 Show which C function each change is in. 6453 6454`--show-function-line=REGEXP' 6455 In context and unified format, for each hunk of differences, show 6456 some of the last preceding line that matches REGEXP. 6457 6458`--side-by-side' 6459 Use the side by side output format. 6460 6461`--speed-large-files' 6462 Use heuristics to speed handling of large files that have numerous 6463 scattered small changes. 6464 6465`--suppress-common-lines' 6466 Do not print common lines in side by side format. 6467 6468`-t' 6469 Expand tabs to spaces in the output, to preserve the alignment of 6470 tabs in the input files. 6471 6472`-T' 6473 Output a tab rather than a space before the text of a line in 6474 normal or context format. This causes the alignment of tabs in the 6475 line to look normal. 6476 6477`--text' 6478 Treat all files as text and compare them line-by-line, even if they 6479 do not appear to be text. 6480 6481`-u' 6482 Use the unified output format. 6483 6484`--unchanged-group-format=FORMAT' 6485 Use FORMAT to output a group of common lines taken from both files 6486 in if-then-else format. *Note Line group formats::. 6487 6488`--unchanged-line-format=FORMAT' 6489 Use FORMAT to output a line common to both files in if-then-else 6490 format. *Note Line formats::. 6491 6492`-U LINES' 6493`--unified[=LINES]' 6494 Use the unified output format, showing LINES (an integer) lines of 6495 context, or three if LINES is not given. For proper operation, 6496 `patch' typically needs at least two lines of context. 6497 6498`-w' 6499 Ignore white space when comparing lines. 6500 6501`-W COLUMNS' 6502`--width=COLUMNS' 6503 Use an output width of COLUMNS in side by side format. 6504 6505`-y' 6506 Use the side by side output format. 6507 6508* Menu: 6509 6510* Line group formats:: Line group formats 6511* Line formats:: Line formats 6512 6513 6514File: cvs.info, Node: Line group formats, Next: Line formats, Up: diff options 6515 6516A.9.1.1 Line group formats 6517.......................... 6518 6519Line group formats let you specify formats suitable for many 6520applications that allow if-then-else input, including programming 6521languages and text formatting languages. A line group format specifies 6522the output format for a contiguous group of similar lines. 6523 6524 For example, the following command compares the TeX file `myfile' 6525with the original version from the repository, and outputs a merged file 6526in which old regions are surrounded by `\begin{em}'-`\end{em}' lines, 6527and new regions are surrounded by `\begin{bf}'-`\end{bf}' lines. 6528 6529 cvs diff \ 6530 --old-group-format='\begin{em} 6531 %<\end{em} 6532 ' \ 6533 --new-group-format='\begin{bf} 6534 %>\end{bf} 6535 ' \ 6536 myfile 6537 6538 The following command is equivalent to the above example, but it is a 6539little more verbose, because it spells out the default line group 6540formats. 6541 6542 cvs diff \ 6543 --old-group-format='\begin{em} 6544 %<\end{em} 6545 ' \ 6546 --new-group-format='\begin{bf} 6547 %>\end{bf} 6548 ' \ 6549 --unchanged-group-format='%=' \ 6550 --changed-group-format='\begin{em} 6551 %<\end{em} 6552 \begin{bf} 6553 %>\end{bf} 6554 ' \ 6555 myfile 6556 6557 Here is a more advanced example, which outputs a diff listing with 6558headers containing line numbers in a "plain English" style. 6559 6560 cvs diff \ 6561 --unchanged-group-format='' \ 6562 --old-group-format='-------- %dn line%(n=1?:s) deleted at %df: 6563 %<' \ 6564 --new-group-format='-------- %dN line%(N=1?:s) added after %de: 6565 %>' \ 6566 --changed-group-format='-------- %dn line%(n=1?:s) changed at %df: 6567 %<-------- to: 6568 %>' \ 6569 myfile 6570 6571 To specify a line group format, use one of the options listed below. 6572You can specify up to four line group formats, one for each kind of line 6573group. You should quote FORMAT, because it typically contains shell 6574metacharacters. 6575 6576`--old-group-format=FORMAT' 6577 These line groups are hunks containing only lines from the first 6578 file. The default old group format is the same as the changed 6579 group format if it is specified; otherwise it is a format that 6580 outputs the line group as-is. 6581 6582`--new-group-format=FORMAT' 6583 These line groups are hunks containing only lines from the second 6584 file. The default new group format is same as the changed group 6585 format if it is specified; otherwise it is a format that outputs 6586 the line group as-is. 6587 6588`--changed-group-format=FORMAT' 6589 These line groups are hunks containing lines from both files. The 6590 default changed group format is the concatenation of the old and 6591 new group formats. 6592 6593`--unchanged-group-format=FORMAT' 6594 These line groups contain lines common to both files. The default 6595 unchanged group format is a format that outputs the line group 6596 as-is. 6597 6598 In a line group format, ordinary characters represent themselves; 6599conversion specifications start with `%' and have one of the following 6600forms. 6601 6602`%<' 6603 stands for the lines from the first file, including the trailing 6604 newline. Each line is formatted according to the old line format 6605 (*note Line formats::). 6606 6607`%>' 6608 stands for the lines from the second file, including the trailing 6609 newline. Each line is formatted according to the new line format. 6610 6611`%=' 6612 stands for the lines common to both files, including the trailing 6613 newline. Each line is formatted according to the unchanged line 6614 format. 6615 6616`%%' 6617 stands for `%'. 6618 6619`%c'C'' 6620 where C is a single character, stands for C. C may not be a 6621 backslash or an apostrophe. For example, `%c':'' stands for a 6622 colon, even inside the then-part of an if-then-else format, which a 6623 colon would normally terminate. 6624 6625`%c'\O'' 6626 where O is a string of 1, 2, or 3 octal digits, stands for the 6627 character with octal code O. For example, `%c'\0'' stands for a 6628 null character. 6629 6630`FN' 6631 where F is a `printf' conversion specification and N is one of the 6632 following letters, stands for N's value formatted with F. 6633 6634 `e' 6635 The line number of the line just before the group in the old 6636 file. 6637 6638 `f' 6639 The line number of the first line in the group in the old 6640 file; equals E + 1. 6641 6642 `l' 6643 The line number of the last line in the group in the old file. 6644 6645 `m' 6646 The line number of the line just after the group in the old 6647 file; equals L + 1. 6648 6649 `n' 6650 The number of lines in the group in the old file; equals L - F 6651 + 1. 6652 6653 `E, F, L, M, N' 6654 Likewise, for lines in the new file. 6655 6656 The `printf' conversion specification can be `%d', `%o', `%x', or 6657 `%X', specifying decimal, octal, lower case hexadecimal, or upper 6658 case hexadecimal output respectively. After the `%' the following 6659 options can appear in sequence: a `-' specifying 6660 left-justification; an integer specifying the minimum field width; 6661 and a period followed by an optional integer specifying the minimum 6662 number of digits. For example, `%5dN' prints the number of new 6663 lines in the group in a field of width 5 characters, using the 6664 `printf' format `"%5d"'. 6665 6666`(A=B?T:E)' 6667 If A equals B then T else E. A and B are each either a decimal 6668 constant or a single letter interpreted as above. This format spec 6669 is equivalent to T if A's value equals B's; otherwise it is 6670 equivalent to E. 6671 6672 For example, `%(N=0?no:%dN) line%(N=1?:s)' is equivalent to `no 6673 lines' if N (the number of lines in the group in the new file) is 6674 0, to `1 line' if N is 1, and to `%dN lines' otherwise. 6675 6676 6677File: cvs.info, Node: Line formats, Prev: Line group formats, Up: diff options 6678 6679A.9.1.2 Line formats 6680.................... 6681 6682Line formats control how each line taken from an input file is output as 6683part of a line group in if-then-else format. 6684 6685 For example, the following command outputs text with a one-column 6686change indicator to the left of the text. The first column of output is 6687`-' for deleted lines, `|' for added lines, and a space for unchanged 6688lines. The formats contain newline characters where newlines are 6689desired on output. 6690 6691 cvs diff \ 6692 --old-line-format='-%l 6693 ' \ 6694 --new-line-format='|%l 6695 ' \ 6696 --unchanged-line-format=' %l 6697 ' \ 6698 myfile 6699 6700 To specify a line format, use one of the following options. You 6701should quote FORMAT, since it often contains shell metacharacters. 6702 6703`--old-line-format=FORMAT' 6704 formats lines just from the first file. 6705 6706`--new-line-format=FORMAT' 6707 formats lines just from the second file. 6708 6709`--unchanged-line-format=FORMAT' 6710 formats lines common to both files. 6711 6712`--line-format=FORMAT' 6713 formats all lines; in effect, it sets all three above options 6714 simultaneously. 6715 6716 In a line format, ordinary characters represent themselves; 6717conversion specifications start with `%' and have one of the following 6718forms. 6719 6720`%l' 6721 stands for the contents of the line, not counting its trailing 6722 newline (if any). This format ignores whether the line is 6723 incomplete. 6724 6725`%L' 6726 stands for the contents of the line, including its trailing newline 6727 (if any). If a line is incomplete, this format preserves its 6728 incompleteness. 6729 6730`%%' 6731 stands for `%'. 6732 6733`%c'C'' 6734 where C is a single character, stands for C. C may not be a 6735 backslash or an apostrophe. For example, `%c':'' stands for a 6736 colon. 6737 6738`%c'\O'' 6739 where O is a string of 1, 2, or 3 octal digits, stands for the 6740 character with octal code O. For example, `%c'\0'' stands for a 6741 null character. 6742 6743`Fn' 6744 where F is a `printf' conversion specification, stands for the line 6745 number formatted with F. For example, `%.5dn' prints the line 6746 number using the `printf' format `"%.5d"'. *Note Line group 6747 formats::, for more about printf conversion specifications. 6748 6749 The default line format is `%l' followed by a newline character. 6750 6751 If the input contains tab characters and it is important that they 6752line up on output, you should ensure that `%l' or `%L' in a line format 6753is just after a tab stop (e.g. by preceding `%l' or `%L' with a tab 6754character), or you should use the `-t' or `--expand-tabs' option. 6755 6756 Taken together, the line and line group formats let you specify many 6757different formats. For example, the following command uses a format 6758similar to `diff''s normal format. You can tailor this command to get 6759fine control over `diff''s output. 6760 6761 cvs diff \ 6762 --old-line-format='< %l 6763 ' \ 6764 --new-line-format='> %l 6765 ' \ 6766 --old-group-format='%df%(f=l?:,%dl)d%dE 6767 %<' \ 6768 --new-group-format='%dea%dF%(F=L?:,%dL) 6769 %>' \ 6770 --changed-group-format='%df%(f=l?:,%dl)c%dF%(F=L?:,%dL) 6771 %<--- 6772 %>' \ 6773 --unchanged-group-format='' \ 6774 myfile 6775 6776 6777File: cvs.info, Node: diff examples, Prev: diff options, Up: diff 6778 6779A.9.2 diff examples 6780------------------- 6781 6782The following line produces a Unidiff (`-u' flag) between revision 1.14 6783and 1.19 of `backend.c'. Due to the `-kk' flag no keywords are 6784substituted, so differences that only depend on keyword substitution are 6785ignored. 6786 6787 $ cvs diff -kk -u -r 1.14 -r 1.19 backend.c 6788 6789 Suppose the experimental branch EXPR1 was based on a set of files 6790tagged RELEASE_1_0. To see what has happened on that branch, the 6791following can be used: 6792 6793 $ cvs diff -r RELEASE_1_0 -r EXPR1 6794 6795 A command like this can be used to produce a context diff between two 6796releases: 6797 6798 $ cvs diff -c -r RELEASE_1_0 -r RELEASE_1_1 > diffs 6799 6800 If you are maintaining ChangeLogs, a command like the following just 6801before you commit your changes may help you write the ChangeLog entry. 6802All local modifications that have not yet been committed will be 6803printed. 6804 6805 $ cvs diff -u | less 6806 6807 6808File: cvs.info, Node: export, Next: history, Prev: diff, Up: CVS commands 6809 6810A.10 export--Export sources from CVS, similar to checkout 6811========================================================= 6812 6813 * Synopsis: export [-flNnR] [-r rev|-D date] [-k subst] [-d dir] 6814 module... 6815 6816 * Requires: repository. 6817 6818 * Changes: current directory. 6819 6820 This command is a variant of `checkout'; use it when you want a copy 6821of the source for module without the CVS administrative directories. 6822For example, you might use `export' to prepare source for shipment 6823off-site. This command requires that you specify a date or tag (with 6824`-D' or `-r'), so that you can count on reproducing the source you ship 6825to others (and thus it always prunes empty directories). 6826 6827 One often would like to use `-kv' with `cvs export'. This causes any 6828keywords to be expanded such that an import done at some other site will 6829not lose the keyword revision information. But be aware that doesn't 6830handle an export containing binary files correctly. Also be aware that 6831after having used `-kv', one can no longer use the `ident' command 6832(which is part of the RCS suite--see ident(1)) which looks for keyword 6833strings. If you want to be able to use `ident' you must not use `-kv'. 6834 6835* Menu: 6836 6837* export options:: export options 6838 6839 6840File: cvs.info, Node: export options, Up: export 6841 6842A.10.1 export options 6843--------------------- 6844 6845These standard options are supported by `export' (*note Common 6846options::, for a complete description of them): 6847 6848`-D DATE' 6849 Use the most recent revision no later than DATE. 6850 6851`-f' 6852 If no matching revision is found, retrieve the most recent revision 6853 (instead of ignoring the file). 6854 6855`-l' 6856 Local; run only in current working directory. 6857 6858`-n' 6859 Do not run any checkout program. 6860 6861`-R' 6862 Export directories recursively. This is on by default. 6863 6864`-r TAG' 6865 Use revision TAG. 6866 6867 In addition, these options (that are common to `checkout' and 6868`export') are also supported: 6869 6870`-d DIR' 6871 Create a directory called DIR for the working files, instead of 6872 using the module name. *Note checkout options::, for complete 6873 details on how CVS handles this flag. 6874 6875`-k SUBST' 6876 Set keyword expansion mode (*note Substitution modes::). 6877 6878`-N' 6879 Only useful together with `-d DIR'. *Note checkout options::, for 6880 complete details on how CVS handles this flag. 6881 6882 6883File: cvs.info, Node: history, Next: import, Prev: export, Up: CVS commands 6884 6885A.11 history--Show status of files and users 6886============================================ 6887 6888 * Synopsis: history [-report] [-flags] [-options args] [files...] 6889 6890 * Requires: the file `$CVSROOT/CVSROOT/history' 6891 6892 * Changes: nothing. 6893 6894 CVS can keep a history file that tracks each use of the `checkout', 6895`commit', `rtag', `update', and `release' commands. You can use 6896`history' to display this information in various formats. 6897 6898 Logging must be enabled by creating the file 6899`$CVSROOT/CVSROOT/history'. 6900 6901 *Note: `history' uses `-f', `-l', `-n', and `-p' in ways that 6902conflict with the normal use inside CVS (*note Common options::).* 6903 6904* Menu: 6905 6906* history options:: history options 6907 6908 6909File: cvs.info, Node: history options, Up: history 6910 6911A.11.1 history options 6912---------------------- 6913 6914Several options (shown above as `-report') control what kind of report 6915is generated: 6916 6917`-c' 6918 Report on each time commit was used (i.e., each time the repository 6919 was modified). 6920 6921`-e' 6922 Everything (all record types). Equivalent to specifying `-x' with 6923 all record types. Of course, `-e' will also include record types 6924 which are added in a future version of CVS; if you are writing a 6925 script which can only handle certain record types, you'll want to 6926 specify `-x'. 6927 6928`-m MODULE' 6929 Report on a particular module. (You can meaningfully use `-m' more 6930 than once on the command line.) 6931 6932`-o' 6933 Report on checked-out modules. This is the default report type. 6934 6935`-T' 6936 Report on all tags. 6937 6938`-x TYPE' 6939 Extract a particular set of record types TYPE from the CVS history. 6940 The types are indicated by single letters, which you may specify in 6941 combination. 6942 6943 Certain commands have a single record type: 6944 6945 `F' 6946 release 6947 6948 `O' 6949 checkout 6950 6951 `E' 6952 export 6953 6954 `T' 6955 rtag 6956 6957 One of four record types may result from an update: 6958 6959 `C' 6960 A merge was necessary but collisions were detected (requiring 6961 manual merging). 6962 6963 `G' 6964 A merge was necessary and it succeeded. 6965 6966 `U' 6967 A working file was copied from the repository. 6968 6969 `W' 6970 The working copy of a file was deleted during update (because 6971 it was gone from the repository). 6972 6973 One of three record types results from commit: 6974 6975 `A' 6976 A file was added for the first time. 6977 6978 `M' 6979 A file was modified. 6980 6981 `R' 6982 A file was removed. 6983 6984 The options shown as `-flags' constrain or expand the report without 6985requiring option arguments: 6986 6987`-a' 6988 Show data for all users (the default is to show data only for the 6989 user executing `history'). 6990 6991`-l' 6992 Show last modification only. 6993 6994`-w' 6995 Show only the records for modifications done from the same working 6996 directory where `history' is executing. 6997 6998 The options shown as `-options ARGS' constrain the report based on an 6999argument: 7000 7001`-b STR' 7002 Show data back to a record containing the string STR in either 7003 the module name, the file name, or the repository path. 7004 7005`-D DATE' 7006 Show data since DATE. This is slightly different from the normal 7007 use of `-D DATE', which selects the newest revision older than 7008 DATE. 7009 7010`-f FILE' 7011 Show data for a particular file (you can specify several `-f' 7012 options on the same command line). This is equivalent to 7013 specifying the file on the command line. 7014 7015`-n MODULE' 7016 Show data for a particular module (you can specify several `-n' 7017 options on the same command line). 7018 7019`-p REPOSITORY' 7020 Show data for a particular source repository (you can specify 7021 several `-p' options on the same command line). 7022 7023`-r REV' 7024 Show records referring to revisions since the revision or tag named 7025 REV appears in individual RCS files. Each RCS file is searched for 7026 the revision or tag. 7027 7028`-t TAG' 7029 Show records since tag TAG was last added to the history file. 7030 This differs from the `-r' flag above in that it reads only the 7031 history file, not the RCS files, and is much faster. 7032 7033`-u NAME' 7034 Show records for user NAME. 7035 7036`-z TIMEZONE' 7037 Show times in the selected records using the specified time zone 7038 instead of UTC. 7039 7040 7041File: cvs.info, Node: import, Next: log, Prev: history, Up: CVS commands 7042 7043A.12 import--Import sources into CVS, using vendor branches 7044=========================================================== 7045 7046 * Synopsis: import [-options] repository vendortag releasetag... 7047 7048 * Requires: Repository, source distribution directory. 7049 7050 * Changes: repository. 7051 7052 Use `import' to incorporate an entire source distribution from an 7053outside source (e.g., a source vendor) into your source repository 7054directory. You can use this command both for initial creation of a 7055repository, and for wholesale updates to the module from the outside 7056source. *Note Tracking sources::, for a discussion on this subject. 7057 7058 The REPOSITORY argument gives a directory name (or a path to a 7059directory) under the CVS root directory for repositories; if the 7060directory did not exist, import creates it. 7061 7062 When you use import for updates to source that has been modified in 7063your source repository (since a prior import), it will notify you of any 7064files that conflict in the two branches of development; use `checkout 7065-j' to reconcile the differences, as import instructs you to do. 7066 7067 If CVS decides a file should be ignored (*note cvsignore::), it does 7068not import it and prints `I ' followed by the filename (*note import 7069output::, for a complete description of the output). 7070 7071 If the file `$CVSROOT/CVSROOT/cvswrappers' exists, any file whose 7072names match the specifications in that file will be treated as packages 7073and the appropriate filtering will be performed on the file/directory 7074before being imported. *Note Wrappers::. 7075 7076 The outside source is saved in a first-level branch, by default 70771.1.1. Updates are leaves of this branch; for example, files from the 7078first imported collection of source will be revision 1.1.1.1, then files 7079from the first imported update will be revision 1.1.1.2, and so on. 7080 7081 At least three arguments are required. REPOSITORY is needed to 7082identify the collection of source. VENDORTAG is a tag for the entire 7083branch (e.g., for 1.1.1). You must also specify at least one RELEASETAG 7084to identify the files at the leaves created each time you execute 7085`import'. 7086 7087 Note that `import' does _not_ change the directory in which you 7088invoke it. In particular, it does not set up that directory as a CVS 7089working directory; if you want to work with the sources import them 7090first and then check them out into a different directory (*note Getting 7091the source::). 7092 7093* Menu: 7094 7095* import options:: import options 7096* import output:: import output 7097* import examples:: import examples 7098 7099 7100File: cvs.info, Node: import options, Next: import output, Up: import 7101 7102A.12.1 import options 7103--------------------- 7104 7105This standard option is supported by `import' (*note Common options::, 7106for a complete description): 7107 7108`-m MESSAGE' 7109 Use MESSAGE as log information, instead of invoking an editor. 7110 7111 There are the following additional special options. 7112 7113`-b BRANCH' 7114 See *note Multiple vendor branches::. 7115 7116`-k SUBST' 7117 Indicate the keyword expansion mode desired. This setting will 7118 apply to all files created during the import, but not to any files 7119 that previously existed in the repository. See *note Substitution 7120 modes::, for a list of valid `-k' settings. 7121 7122`-I NAME' 7123 Specify file names that should be ignored during import. You can 7124 use this option repeatedly. To avoid ignoring any files at all 7125 (even those ignored by default), specify `-I !'. 7126 7127 NAME can be a file name pattern of the same type that you can 7128 specify in the `.cvsignore' file. *Note cvsignore::. 7129 7130`-W SPEC' 7131 Specify file names that should be filtered during import. You can 7132 use this option repeatedly. 7133 7134 SPEC can be a file name pattern of the same type that you can 7135 specify in the `.cvswrappers' file. *Note Wrappers::. 7136 7137 7138File: cvs.info, Node: import output, Next: import examples, Prev: import options, Up: import 7139 7140A.12.2 import output 7141-------------------- 7142 7143`import' keeps you informed of its progress by printing a line for each 7144file, preceded by one character indicating the status of the file: 7145 7146`U FILE' 7147 The file already exists in the repository and has not been locally 7148 modified; a new revision has been created (if necessary). 7149 7150`N FILE' 7151 The file is a new file which has been added to the repository. 7152 7153`C FILE' 7154 The file already exists in the repository but has been locally 7155 modified; you will have to merge the changes. 7156 7157`I FILE' 7158 The file is being ignored (*note cvsignore::). 7159 7160`L FILE' 7161 The file is a symbolic link; `cvs import' ignores symbolic links. 7162 People periodically suggest that this behavior should be changed, 7163 but if there is a consensus on what it should be changed to, it is 7164 not apparent. (Various options in the `modules' file can be used 7165 to recreate symbolic links on checkout, update, etc.; *note 7166 modules::.) 7167 7168 7169File: cvs.info, Node: import examples, Prev: import output, Up: import 7170 7171A.12.3 import examples 7172---------------------- 7173 7174See *note Tracking sources::, and *note From files::. 7175 7176 7177File: cvs.info, Node: log, Next: rdiff, Prev: import, Up: CVS commands 7178 7179A.13 log--Print out log information for files 7180============================================= 7181 7182 * Synopsis: log [options] [files...] 7183 7184 * Requires: repository, working directory. 7185 7186 * Changes: nothing. 7187 7188 Display log information for files. `log' used to call the RCS 7189utility `rlog'. Although this is no longer true in the current sources, 7190this history determines the format of the output and the options, which 7191are not quite in the style of the other CVS commands. 7192 7193 The output includes the location of the RCS file, the "head" revision 7194(the latest revision on the trunk), all symbolic names (tags) and some 7195other things. For each revision, the revision number, the author, the 7196number of lines added/deleted and the log message are printed. All 7197times are displayed in Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). (Other parts 7198of CVS print times in the local timezone). 7199 7200 *Note: `log' uses `-R' in a way that conflicts with the normal use 7201inside CVS (*note Common options::).* 7202 7203* Menu: 7204 7205* log options:: log options 7206* log examples:: log examples 7207 7208 7209File: cvs.info, Node: log options, Next: log examples, Up: log 7210 7211A.13.1 log options 7212------------------ 7213 7214By default, `log' prints all information that is available. All other 7215options restrict the output. 7216 7217`-b' 7218 Print information about the revisions on the default branch, 7219 normally the highest branch on the trunk. 7220 7221`-d DATES' 7222 Print information about revisions with a checkin date/time in the 7223 range given by the semicolon-separated list of dates. The date 7224 formats accepted are those accepted by the `-D' option to many 7225 other CVS commands (*note Common options::). Dates can be combined 7226 into ranges as follows: 7227 7228 `D1<D2' 7229 `D2>D1' 7230 Select the revisions that were deposited between D1 and D2. 7231 7232 `<D' 7233 `D>' 7234 Select all revisions dated D or earlier. 7235 7236 `D<' 7237 `>D' 7238 Select all revisions dated D or later. 7239 7240 `D' 7241 Select the single, latest revision dated D or earlier. 7242 7243 The `>' or `<' characters may be followed by `=' to indicate an 7244 inclusive range rather than an exclusive one. 7245 7246 Note that the separator is a semicolon (;). 7247 7248`-h' 7249 Print only the name of the RCS file, name of the file in the 7250 working directory, head, default branch, access list, locks, 7251 symbolic names, and suffix. 7252 7253`-l' 7254 Local; run only in current working directory. (Default is to run 7255 recursively). 7256 7257`-N' 7258 Do not print the list of tags for this file. This option can be 7259 very useful when your site uses a lot of tags, so rather than 7260 "more"'ing over 3 pages of tag information, the log information is 7261 presented without tags at all. 7262 7263`-R' 7264 Print only the name of the RCS file. 7265 7266`-rREVISIONS' 7267 Print information about revisions given in the comma-separated list 7268 REVISIONS of revisions and ranges. The following table explains 7269 the available range formats: 7270 7271 `REV1:REV2' 7272 Revisions REV1 to REV2 (which must be on the same branch). 7273 7274 `REV1::REV2' 7275 The same, but excluding REV1. 7276 7277 `:REV' 7278 `::REV' 7279 Revisions from the beginning of the branch up to and including 7280 REV. 7281 7282 `REV:' 7283 Revisions starting with REV to the end of the branch 7284 containing REV. 7285 7286 `REV::' 7287 Revisions starting just after REV to the end of the branch 7288 containing REV. 7289 7290 `BRANCH' 7291 An argument that is a branch means all revisions on that 7292 branch. 7293 7294 `BRANCH1:BRANCH2' 7295 `BRANCH1::BRANCH2' 7296 A range of branches means all revisions on the branches in 7297 that range. 7298 7299 `BRANCH.' 7300 The latest revision in BRANCH. 7301 7302 A bare `-r' with no revisions means the latest revision on the 7303 default branch, normally the trunk. There can be no space between 7304 the `-r' option and its argument. 7305 7306`-S' 7307 Suppress the header if no revisions are selected. 7308 7309`-s STATES' 7310 Print information about revisions whose state attributes match one 7311 of the states given in the comma-separated list STATES. 7312 7313`-t' 7314 Print the same as `-h', plus the descriptive text. 7315 7316`-wLOGINS' 7317 Print information about revisions checked in by users with login 7318 names appearing in the comma-separated list LOGINS. If LOGINS is 7319 omitted, the user's login is assumed. There can be no space 7320 between the `-w' option and its argument. 7321 7322 `log' prints the intersection of the revisions selected with the 7323options `-d', `-s', and `-w', intersected with the union of the 7324revisions selected by `-b' and `-r'. 7325 7326