NAME
cvs - Concurrent Versions System
SYNOPSIS
- cvs [ cvs_options ]
- cvs_command [ command_options ] [
command_args ]
NOTE
This manpage is a summary of some of the features of
cvs. It is
auto-generated from an appendix of the CVS manual. For more in-depth
documentation, please consult the Cederqvist manual (via the
info CVS
command or otherwise, as described in the SEE ALSO section of this manpage).
Cross-references in this man page refer to nodes in the same.
CVS commands
Guide to CVS commands
This appendix describes the overall structure of
cvs commands, and
describes some commands in detail (others are described elsewhere; for a quick
reference to
cvs commands, see node `Invoking CVS' in the CVS manual).
Structure
Overall structure of CVS commands
The overall format of all
cvs commands is:
-
- cvs [ cvs_options ] cvs_command [ command_options ] [
command_args ]
-
-
-
- cvs
-
- The name of the cvs program.
-
- cvs_options
-
- Some options that affect all sub-commands of cvs.
These are described below.
-
- cvs_command
-
- One of several different sub-commands. Some of the commands
have aliases that can be used instead; those aliases are noted in the
reference manual for that command. There are only two situations where you
may omit cvs_command: cvs -H elicits a list of available
commands, and cvs -v displays version information on cvs
itself.
-
- command_options
-
- Options that are specific for the command.
-
- command_args
-
- Arguments to the commands.
There is unfortunately some confusion between cvs_options and
command_options. When given as a cvs_option, some options
only affect some of the commands. When given as a command_option it
may have a different meaning, and be accepted by more commands. In other
words, do not take the above categorization too seriously. Look at the
documentation instead.
Exit status
CVS's exit status
cvs can indicate to the calling environment whether it succeeded or
failed by setting its
exit status. The exact way of testing the exit
status will vary from one operating system to another. For example in a unix
shell script the
$? variable will be 0 if the last command returned a
successful exit status, or greater than 0 if the exit status indicated
failure.
If
cvs is successful, it returns a successful status; if there is an
error, it prints an error message and returns a failure status. The one
exception to this is the
cvs diff command. It will return a successful
status if it found no differences, or a failure status if there were
differences or if there was an error. Because this behavior provides no good
way to detect errors, in the future it is possible that
cvs diff will
be changed to behave like the other
cvs commands.
~/.cvsrc
Default options and the ~/.cvsrc file
There are some
command_options that are used so often that you might have
set up an alias or some other means to make sure you always specify that
option. One example (the one that drove the implementation of the
.cvsrc support, actually) is that many people find the default output
of the
diff command to be very hard to read, and that either context
diffs or unidiffs are much easier to understand.
The
~/.cvsrc file is a way that you can add default options to
cvs_commands within cvs, instead of relying on aliases or other shell
scripts.
The format of the
~/.cvsrc file is simple. The file is searched for a
line that begins with the same name as the
cvs_command being executed.
If a match is found, then the remainder of the line is split up (at whitespace
characters) into separate options and added to the command arguments
before any options from the command line.
If a command has two names (e.g.,
checkout and
co), the official
name, not necessarily the one used on the command line, will be used to match
against the file. So if this is the contents of the user's
~/.cvsrc
file:
-
- log -N
-
- diff -uN
-
- rdiff -u
-
- update -Pd
-
- checkout -P
-
- release -d
-
-
the command cvs checkout foo would have the -P option added to
the arguments, as well as cvs co foo.
With the example file above, the output from cvs diff foobar
will be in unidiff format. cvs diff -c foobar will provide
context diffs, as usual. Getting "old" format diffs would be
slightly more complicated, because diff doesn't have an option to
specify use of the "old" format, so you would need cvs -f
diff foobar.
In place of the command name you can use cvs to specify global
options (see node `Global options' in the CVS manual). For example the
following line in .cvsrc
-
- cvs -z6
-
-
causes cvs to use compression level 6.
Global options
The available
cvs_options (that are given to the left of
cvs_command) are:
-
- --allow-root=rootdir
-
- May be invoked multiple times to specify one legal
cvsroot directory with each invocation. Also causes CVS to preparse
the configuration file for each specified root, which can be useful when
configuring write proxies, See see node `Password authentication server'
in the CVS manual & see node `Write proxies' in the CVS manual.
-
- -a
-
- Authenticate all communication between the client and the
server. Only has an effect on the cvs client. As of this writing,
this is only implemented when using a GSSAPI connection (see node `GSSAPI
authenticated' in the CVS manual). Authentication prevents certain sorts
of attacks involving hijacking the active tcp connection. Enabling
authentication does not enable encryption.
-
- -b bindir
-
- In cvs 1.9.18 and older, this specified that
rcs programs are in the bindir directory. Current versions
of cvs do not run rcs programs; for compatibility this
option is accepted, but it does nothing.
-
- -T tempdir
-
- Use tempdir as the directory where temporary files
are located.
The cvs client and server store temporary files in a temporary
directory. The path to this temporary directory is set via, in order of
precedence:
- •
- The argument to the global -T option.
- •
- The value set for TmpDir in the config file (server
only - see node `config' in the CVS manual).
- •
- The contents of the $TMPDIR environment variable
(%TMPDIR% on Windows - see node `Environment variables' in the CVS
manual).
- •
- /tmp
Temporary directories should always be specified as an absolute pathname.
When running a CVS client, -T affects only the local process;
specifying -T for the client has no effect on the server and vice
versa.
-
- -d cvs_root_directory
-
- Use cvs_root_directory as the root directory
pathname of the repository. Overrides the setting of the $CVSROOT
environment variable. see node `Repository' in the CVS manual.
-
- -e editor
-
- Use editor to enter revision log information.
Overrides the setting of the $CVSEDITOR and $EDITOR
environment variables. For more information, see see node `Committing your
changes' in the CVS manual.
-
- -f
-
- Do not read the ~/.cvsrc file. This option is most
often used because of the non-orthogonality of the cvs option set.
For example, the cvs log option -N (turn off display of tag
names) does not have a corresponding option to turn the display on. So if
you have -N in the ~/.cvsrc entry for log, you may
need to use -f to show the tag names.
-
- -H
-
-
- --help
-
- Display usage information about the specified
cvs_command (but do not actually execute the command). If you don't
specify a command name, cvs -H displays overall help for
cvs, including a list of other help options.
-
- -R
-
- Turns on read-only repository mode. This allows one to
check out from a read-only repository, such as within an anoncvs server,
or from a cd-rom repository.
Same effect as if the CVSREADONLYFS environment variable is set.
Using -R can also considerably speed up checkouts over NFS.
-
- -n
-
- Do not change any files. Attempt to execute the
cvs_command, but only to issue reports; do not remove, update, or
merge any existing files, or create any new files.
Note that cvs will not necessarily produce exactly the same output as
without -n. In some cases the output will be the same, but in other
cases cvs will skip some of the processing that would have been
required to produce the exact same output.
-
- -Q
-
- Cause the command to be really quiet; the command will only
generate output for serious problems.
-
- -q
-
- Cause the command to be somewhat quiet; informational
messages, such as reports of recursion through subdirectories, are
suppressed.
-
- -r
-
- Make new working files read-only. Same effect as if the
$CVSREAD environment variable is set (see node `Environment
variables' in the CVS manual). The default is to make working files
writable, unless watches are on (see node `Watches' in the CVS manual).
-
- -s variable=value
-
- Set a user variable (see node `Variables' in the CVS
manual).
-
- -t
-
- Trace program execution; display messages showing the steps
of cvs activity. Particularly useful with -n to explore the
potential impact of an unfamiliar command.
-
- -v
-
-
- --version
-
- Display version and copyright information for cvs.
-
- -w
-
- Make new working files read-write. Overrides the setting of
the $CVSREAD environment variable. Files are created read-write by
default, unless $CVSREAD is set or -r is given.
-
- -x
-
- Encrypt all communication between the client and the
server. Only has an effect on the cvs client. As of this writing,
this is only implemented when using a GSSAPI connection (see node `GSSAPI
authenticated' in the CVS manual) or a Kerberos connection (see node
`Kerberos authenticated' in the CVS manual). Enabling encryption implies
that message traffic is also authenticated. Encryption support is not
available by default; it must be enabled using a special configure option,
--enable-encryption, when you build cvs.
-
- -z level
-
- Request compression level for network traffic.
cvs interprets level identically to the gzip program.
Valid levels are 1 (high speed, low compression) to 9 (low speed, high
compression), or 0 to disable compression (the default). Data sent to the
server will be compressed at the requested level and the client will
request the server use the same compression level for data returned. The
server will use the closest level allowed by the server administrator to
compress returned data. This option only has an effect when passed to the
cvs client.
Common options
Common command options
This section describes the
command_options that are available across
several
cvs commands. These options are always given to the right of
cvs_command. Not all commands support all of these options; each option
is only supported for commands where it makes sense. However, when a command
has one of these options you can almost always count on the same behavior of
the option as in other commands. (Other command options, which are listed with
the individual commands, may have different behavior from one
cvs
command to the other).
Note: the history command is an exception; it supports
many options that conflict even with these standard options.
-
- -D date_spec
-
- Use the most recent revision no later than
date_spec. date_spec is a single argument, a date
description specifying a date in the past.
The specification is sticky when you use it to make a private copy of
a source file; that is, when you get a working file using -D,
cvs records the date you specified, so that further updates in the
same directory will use the same date (for more information on sticky
tags/dates, see node `Sticky tags' in the CVS manual).
-D is available with the annotate, checkout,
diff, export, history, ls, rdiff,
rls, rtag, tag, and update commands. (The
history command uses this option in a slightly different way; see
node `history options' in the CVS manual).
For a complete description of the date formats accepted by cvs, see
node `Date input formats' in the CVS manual.
Remember to quote the argument to the -D flag so that your shell
doesn't interpret spaces as argument separators. A command using the
-D flag can look like this:
-
- $ cvs diff -D "1 hour ago" cvs.texinfo
-
-
-
- -f
-
- When you specify a particular date or tag to cvs
commands, they normally ignore files that do not contain the tag (or did
not exist prior to the date) that you specified. Use the -f option
if you want files retrieved even when there is no match for the tag or
date. (The most recent revision of the file will be used).
Note that even with -f, a tag that you specify must exist (that is,
in some file, not necessary in every file). This is so that cvs
will continue to give an error if you mistype a tag name.
-f is available with these commands: annotate,
checkout, export, rdiff, rtag, and
update.
WARNING: The commit and remove
commands also have a -f option, but it has a
different behavior for those commands. See see node `commit
options' in the CVS manual, and see node `Removing files' in the
CVS manual.
-
- -k kflag
-
- Override the default processing of RCS keywords other than
-kb. see node `Keyword substitution' in the CVS manual, for the
meaning of kflag. Used with the checkout and update
commands, your kflag specification is sticky; that is, when
you use this option with a checkout or update command,
cvs associates your selected kflag with any files it
operates on, and continues to use that kflag with future commands
on the same files until you specify otherwise.
The -k option is available with the add, checkout,
diff, export, import, rdiff, and update
commands.
WARNING: Prior to CVS version 1.12.2, the -k flag
overrode the -kb indication for a binary file. This
could sometimes corrupt binary files. see node `Merging and
keywords' in the CVS manual, for more.
-
- -l
-
- Local; run only in current working directory, rather than
recursing through subdirectories.
Available with the following commands: annotate, checkout,
commit, diff, edit, editors, export,
log, rdiff, remove, rtag, status,
tag, unedit, update, watch, and
watchers.
-
- -m message
-
- Use message as log information, instead of invoking
an editor.
Available with the following commands: add, commit and
import.
-
- -n
-
- Do not run any tag program. (A program can be specified to
run in the modules database (see node `modules' in the CVS manual); this
option bypasses it).
Note: this is not the same as the cvs -n program
option, which you can specify to the left of a cvs command!
Available with the checkout, commit, export, and
rtag commands.
-
- -P
-
- Prune empty directories. See see node `Removing
directories' in the CVS manual.
-
- -p
-
- Pipe the files retrieved from the repository to standard
output, rather than writing them in the current directory. Available with
the checkout and update commands.
-
- -R
-
- Process directories recursively. This is the default for
all cvs commands, with the exception of ls & rls.
Available with the following commands: annotate, checkout,
commit, diff, edit, editors, export,
ls, rdiff, remove, rls, rtag,
status, tag, unedit, update, watch, and
watchers.
-
- -r tag
-
-
- -r tag[:date]
-
- Use the revision specified by the tag argument (and
the date argument for the commands which accept it) instead of the
default head revision. As well as arbitrary tags defined with the
tag or rtag command, two special tags are always available:
HEAD refers to the most recent version available in the repository,
and BASE refers to the revision you last checked out into the
current working directory.
The tag specification is sticky when you use this with checkout or
update to make your own copy of a file: cvs remembers the
tag and continues to use it on future update commands, until you specify
otherwise (for more information on sticky tags/dates, see node `Sticky
tags' in the CVS manual).
The tag can be either a symbolic or numeric tag, as described in see node
`Tags' in the CVS manual, or the name of a branch, as described in see
node `Branching and merging' in the CVS manual. When tag is the
name of a branch, some commands accept the optional date argument
to specify the revision as of the given date on the branch. When a command
expects a specific revision, the name of a branch is interpreted as the
most recent revision on that branch.
Specifying the -q global option along with the -r command
option is often useful, to suppress the warning messages when the
rcs file does not contain the specified tag.
Note: this is not the same as the overall cvs -r
option, which you can specify to the left of a cvs
command!
-r tag is available with the commit and
history commands.
-r tag[:date] is available with the
annotate, checkout, diff, export,
rdiff, rtag, and update commands.
-
- -W
-
- Specify file names that should be filtered. You can use
this option repeatedly. The spec can be a file name pattern of the same
type that you can specify in the .cvswrappers file. Available with
the following commands: import, and update.
admin
Administration
- •
- Requires: repository, working directory.
- •
- Changes: repository.
- •
- Synonym: rcs
This is the cvs interface to assorted administrative facilities. Some
of them have questionable usefulness for cvs but exist for
historical purposes. Some of the questionable options are likely to
disappear in the future. This command does work recursively, so
extreme care should be used.
On unix, if there is a group named cvsadmin, only members of that
group can run cvs admin commands, except for those specified using
the UserAdminOptions configuration option in the
CVSROOT/config file. Options specified using
UserAdminOptions can be run by any user. See see node `config' in
the CVS manual for more on UserAdminOptions.
The cvsadmin group should exist on the server, or any system running
the non-client/server cvs. To disallow cvs admin for all
users, create a group with no users in it. On NT, the cvsadmin
feature does not exist and all users can run cvs admin.
admin options
Some of these options have questionable usefulness for
cvs but exist for
historical purposes. Some even make it impossible to use
cvs until you
undo the effect!
-
- -Aoldfile
-
- Might not work together with cvs. Append the access
list of oldfile to the access list of the rcs file.
-
- -alogins
-
- Might not work together with cvs. Append the login
names appearing in the comma-separated list logins to the access
list of the rcs file.
-
- -b[rev]
-
- Set the default branch to rev. In cvs, you
normally do not manipulate default branches; sticky tags (see node `Sticky
tags' in the CVS manual) are a better way to decide which branch you want
to work on. There is one reason to run cvs admin -b: to revert to
the vendor's version when using vendor branches (see node `Reverting local
changes' in the CVS manual). There can be no space between -b and
its argument.
-
- -cstring
-
- Sets the comment leader to string. The comment
leader is not used by current versions of cvs or rcs 5.7.
Therefore, you can almost surely not worry about it. see node `Keyword
substitution' in the CVS manual.
-
- -e[logins]
-
- Might not work together with cvs. Erase the login
names appearing in the comma-separated list logins from the access
list of the RCS file. If logins is omitted, erase the entire access
list. There can be no space between -e and its argument.
-
- -I
-
- Run interactively, even if the standard input is not a
terminal. This option does not work with the client/server cvs and
is likely to disappear in a future release of cvs.
-
- -i
-
- Useless with cvs. This creates and initializes a new
rcs file, without depositing a revision. With cvs, add files
with the cvs add command (see node `Adding files' in the CVS
manual).
-
- -ksubst
-
- Set the default keyword substitution to subst. see
node `Keyword substitution' in the CVS manual. Giving an explicit
-k option to cvs update, cvs export, or cvs
checkout overrides this default.
-
- -l[rev]
-
- Lock the revision with number rev. If a branch is
given, lock the latest revision on that branch. If rev is omitted,
lock the latest revision on the default branch. There can be no space
between -l and its argument.
This can be used in conjunction with the rcslock.pl script in the
contrib directory of the cvs source distribution to provide
reserved checkouts (where only one user can be editing a given file at a
time). See the comments in that file for details (and see the
README file in that directory for disclaimers about the unsupported
nature of contrib). According to comments in that file, locking must set
to strict (which is the default).
-
- -L
-
- Set locking to strict. Strict locking means that the owner
of an RCS file is not exempt from locking for checkin. For use with
cvs, strict locking must be set; see the discussion under the
-l option above.
-
- -mrev:msg
-
- Replace the log message of revision rev with
msg.
-
- -Nname[:[rev]]
-
- Act like -n, except override any previous assignment
of name. For use with magic branches, see see node `Magic branch
numbers' in the CVS manual.
-
- -nname[:[rev]]
-
- Associate the symbolic name name with the branch or
revision rev. It is normally better to use cvs tag or cvs
rtag instead. Delete the symbolic name if both : and rev
are omitted; otherwise, print an error message if name is already
associated with another number. If rev is symbolic, it is expanded
before association. A rev consisting of a branch number followed by
a . stands for the current latest revision in the branch. A
: with an empty rev stands for the current latest revision
on the default branch, normally the trunk. For example, cvs admin
-n name: associates name with the current latest
revision of all the RCS files; this contrasts with cvs admin
-nname :$ which associates name with the revision
numbers extracted from keyword strings in the corresponding working files.
-
- -orange
-
- Deletes (outdates) the revisions given by
range.
Note that this command can be quite dangerous unless you know exactly
what you are doing (for example see the warnings below about how the
rev1: rev2 syntax is confusing).
If you are short on disc this option might help you. But think twice before
using it—there is no way short of restoring the latest backup to
undo this command! If you delete different revisions than you planned,
either due to carelessness or (heaven forbid) a cvs bug, there is
no opportunity to correct the error before the revisions are deleted. It
probably would be a good idea to experiment on a copy of the repository
first.
Specify range in one of the following ways:
-
- rev1::rev2
-
- Collapse all revisions between rev1 and rev2, so that
cvs only stores the differences associated with going from rev1 to
rev2, not intermediate steps. For example, after -o 1.3::1.5 one
can retrieve revision 1.3, revision 1.5, or the differences to get from
1.3 to 1.5, but not the revision 1.4, or the differences between 1.3 and
1.4. Other examples: -o 1.3::1.4 and -o 1.3::1.3 have no
effect, because there are no intermediate revisions to remove.
-
- ::rev
-
- Collapse revisions between the beginning of the branch
containing rev and rev itself. The branchpoint and
rev are left intact. For example, -o ::1.3.2.6 deletes
revision 1.3.2.1, revision 1.3.2.5, and everything in between, but leaves
1.3 and 1.3.2.6 intact.
-
- rev::
-
- Collapse revisions between rev and the end of the
branch containing rev. Revision rev is left intact but the
head revision is deleted.
-
- rev
-
- Delete the revision rev. For example, -o
1.3 is equivalent to -o 1.2::1.4.
-
- rev1:rev2
-
- Delete the revisions from rev1 to rev2,
inclusive, on the same branch. One will not be able to retrieve
rev1 or rev2 or any of the revisions in between. For
example, the command cvs admin -oR_1_01:R_1_02 . is rarely useful.
It means to delete revisions up to, and including, the tag R_1_02. But
beware! If there are files that have not changed between R_1_02 and R_1_03
the file will have the same numerical revision number assigned to
the tags R_1_02 and R_1_03. So not only will it be impossible to retrieve
R_1_02; R_1_03 will also have to be restored from the tapes! In most cases
you want to specify rev1::rev2 instead.
-
- :rev
-
- Delete revisions from the beginning of the branch
containing rev up to and including rev.
-
- rev:
-
- Delete revisions from revision rev, including
rev itself, to the end of the branch containing rev.
None of the revisions to be deleted may have branches or locks.
If any of the revisions to be deleted have symbolic names, and one specifies
one of the :: syntaxes, then cvs will give an error and not
delete any revisions. If you really want to delete both the symbolic names
and the revisions, first delete the symbolic names with cvs tag -d,
then run cvs admin -o. If one specifies the non- ::
syntaxes, then cvs will delete the revisions but leave the symbolic
names pointing to nonexistent revisions. This behavior is preserved for
compatibility with previous versions of cvs, but because it isn't
very useful, in the future it may change to be like the :: case.
Due to the way cvs handles branches rev cannot be specified
symbolically if it is a branch. see node `Magic branch numbers' in the CVS
manual, for an explanation.
Make sure that no-one has checked out a copy of the revision you outdate.
Strange things will happen if he starts to edit it and tries to check it
back in. For this reason, this option is not a good way to take back a
bogus commit; commit a new revision undoing the bogus change instead (see
node `Merging two revisions' in the CVS manual).
-
- -q
-
- Run quietly; do not print diagnostics.
-
- -sstate[:rev]
-
- Useful with cvs. Set the state attribute of the
revision rev to state. If rev is a branch number,
assume the latest revision on that branch. If rev is omitted,
assume the latest revision on the default branch. Any identifier is
acceptable for state. A useful set of states is Exp (for
experimental), Stab (for stable), and Rel (for released). By
default, the state of a new revision is set to Exp when it is
created. The state is visible in the output from cvs log (see node
`log' in the CVS manual), and in the $Log$ and
$State$ keywords (see node `Keyword substitution' in the CVS
manual). Note that cvs uses the dead state for its own
purposes (see node `Attic' in the CVS manual); to take a file to or from
the dead state use commands like cvs remove and cvs
add (see node `Adding and removing' in the CVS manual), not cvs
admin -s.
-
- -t[file]
-
- Useful with cvs. Write descriptive text from the
contents of the named file into the RCS file, deleting the existing
text. The file pathname may not begin with -. The
descriptive text can be seen in the output from cvs log (see node
`log' in the CVS manual). There can be no space between -t and its
argument.
If file is omitted, obtain the text from standard input, terminated
by end-of-file or by a line containing . by itself. Prompt for the
text if interaction is possible; see -I.
-
- -t-string
-
- Similar to -tfile. Write descriptive
text from the string into the rcs file, deleting the
existing text. There can be no space between -t and its argument.
-
- -U
-
- Set locking to non-strict. Non-strict locking means that
the owner of a file need not lock a revision for checkin. For use with
cvs, strict locking must be set; see the discussion under the
-l option above.
-
- -u[rev]
-
- See the option -l above, for a discussion of using
this option with cvs. Unlock the revision with number rev.
If a branch is given, unlock the latest revision on that branch. If
rev is omitted, remove the latest lock held by the caller.
Normally, only the locker of a revision may unlock it; somebody else
unlocking a revision breaks the lock. This causes the original locker to
be sent a commit notification (see node `Getting Notified' in the
CVS manual). There can be no space between -u and its argument.
-
- -Vn
-
- In previous versions of cvs, this option meant to
write an rcs file which would be acceptable to rcs version
n, but it is now obsolete and specifying it will produce an error.
-
- -xsuffixes
-
- In previous versions of cvs, this was documented as
a way of specifying the names of the rcs files. However, cvs
has always required that the rcs files used by cvs end in
,v, so this option has never done anything useful.
annotate
What revision modified each line of a file?
- •
- Synopsis: annotate [options] files...
- •
- Requires: repository.
- •
- Changes: nothing.
For each file in files, print the head revision of the trunk,
together with information on the last modification for each line.
annotate options
These standard options are supported by
annotate (see node `Common
options' in the CVS manual, for a complete description of them):
-
- -l
-
- Local directory only, no recursion.
-
- -R
-
- Process directories recursively.
-
- -f
-
- Use head revision if tag/date not found.
-
- -F
-
- Annotate binary files.
-
- -r tag[:date]
-
- Annotate file as of specified revision/tag or, when
date is specified and tag is a branch tag, the version from
the branch tag as it existed on date. See see node `Common
options' in the CVS manual.
-
- -D date
-
- Annotate file as of specified date.
annotate example
For example:
-
- $ cvs annotate ssfile
-
- Annotations for ssfile
-
- ***************
-
- 1.1 (mary 27-Mar-96): ssfile line 1
-
- 1.2 (joe 28-Mar-96): ssfile line 2
-
-
The file ssfile currently contains two lines. The ssfile line
1 line was checked in by mary on March 27. Then, on March 28,
joe added a line ssfile line 2, without modifying the
ssfile line 1 line. This report doesn't tell you anything about
lines which have been deleted or replaced; you need to use cvs diff
for that (see node `diff' in the CVS manual).
The options to cvs annotate are listed in see node `Invoking CVS' in
the CVS manual, and can be used to select the files and revisions to
annotate. The options are described in more detail there and in see node
`Common options' in the CVS manual.
checkout
Check out sources for editing
- •
- Synopsis: checkout [options] modules...
- •
- Requires: repository.
- •
- Changes: working directory.
- •
- Synonyms: co, get
Create or update a working directory containing copies of the source files
specified by modules. You must execute checkout before using
most of the other cvs commands, since most of them operate on your
working directory.
The modules are either symbolic names for some collection of source
directories and files, or paths to directories or files in the repository.
The symbolic names are defined in the modules file. see node
`modules' in the CVS manual.
Depending on the modules you specify, checkout may recursively create
directories and populate them with the appropriate source files. You can
then edit these source files at any time (regardless of whether other
software developers are editing their own copies of the sources); update
them to include new changes applied by others to the source repository; or
commit your work as a permanent change to the source repository.
Note that checkout is used to create directories. The top-level
directory created is always added to the directory where checkout
is invoked, and usually has the same name as the specified module. In the
case of a module alias, the created sub-directory may have a different
name, but you can be sure that it will be a sub-directory, and that
checkout will show the relative path leading to each file as it is
extracted into your private work area (unless you specify the -Q
global option).
The files created by checkout are created read-write, unless the
-r option to cvs (see node `Global options' in the CVS
manual) is specified, the CVSREAD environment variable is specified
(see node `Environment variables' in the CVS manual), or a watch is in
effect for that file (see node `Watches' in the CVS manual).
Note that running checkout on a directory that was already built by a
prior checkout is also permitted. This is similar to specifying the
-d option to the update command in the sense that new
directories that have been created in the repository will appear in your
work area. However, checkout takes a module name whereas
update takes a directory name. Also to use checkout this way
it must be run from the top level directory (where you originally ran
checkout from), so before you run checkout to update an
existing directory, don't forget to change your directory to the top level
directory.
For the output produced by the checkout command see see node `update
output' in the CVS manual.
checkout options
These standard options are supported by
checkout (see node `Common
options' in the CVS manual, for a complete description of them):
-
- -D date
-
- Use the most recent revision no later than date.
This option is sticky, and implies -P. See see node `Sticky tags'
in the CVS manual, for more information on sticky tags/dates.
-
- -f
-
- Only useful with the -D or -r flags. If no
matching revision is found, retrieve the most recent revision (instead of
ignoring the file).
-
- -k kflag
-
- Process keywords according to kflag. See see node
`Keyword substitution' in the CVS manual. This option is sticky; future
updates of this file in this working directory will use the same
kflag. The status command can be viewed to see the sticky
options. See see node `Invoking CVS' in the CVS manual, for more
information on the status command.
-
- -l
-
- Local; run only in current working directory.
-
- -n
-
- Do not run any checkout program (as specified with the
-o option in the modules file; see node `modules' in the CVS
manual).
-
- -P
-
- Prune empty directories. See see node `Moving directories'
in the CVS manual.
-
- -p
-
- Pipe files to the standard output.
-
- -R
-
- Checkout directories recursively. This option is on by
default.
-
- -r tag[:date]
-
- Checkout the revision specified by tag or, when
date is specified and tag is a branch tag, the version from
the branch tag as it existed on date. This option is sticky,
and implies -P. See see node `Sticky tags' in the CVS manual, for
more information on sticky tags/dates. Also, see see node `Common options'
in the CVS manual.
In addition to those, you can use these special command options with
checkout:
-
- -A
-
- Reset any sticky tags, dates, or -k options. See see
node `Sticky tags' in the CVS manual, for more information on sticky
tags/dates.
-
- -c
-
- Copy the module file, sorted, to the standard output,
instead of creating or modifying any files or directories in your working
directory.
-
- -d dir
-
- Create a directory called dir for the working files,
instead of using the module name. In general, using this flag is
equivalent to using mkdir dir; cd
dir followed by the checkout command without the
-d flag.
There is an important exception, however. It is very convenient when
checking out a single item to have the output appear in a directory that
doesn't contain empty intermediate directories. In this case only,
cvs tries to ``shorten'' pathnames to avoid those empty
directories.
For example, given a module foo that contains the file bar.c,
the command cvs co -d dir foo will create directory
dir and place bar.c inside. Similarly, given a module
bar which has subdirectory baz wherein there is a file
quux.c, the command cvs co -d dir bar/baz will create
directory dir and place quux.c inside.
Using the -N flag will defeat this behavior. Given the same module
definitions above, cvs co -N -d dir foo will create
directories dir/foo and place bar.c inside, while cvs co
-N -d dir bar/baz will create directories dir/bar/baz
and place quux.c inside.
-
- -j tag
-
- With two -j options, merge changes from the revision
specified with the first -j option to the revision specified with
the second j option, into the working directory.
With one -j option, merge changes from the ancestor revision to the
revision specified with the -j option, into the working directory.
The ancestor revision is the common ancestor of the revision which the
working directory is based on, and the revision specified in the -j
option.
In addition, each -j option can contain an optional date specification
which, when used with branches, can limit the chosen revision to one
within a specific date. An optional date is specified by adding a colon
(:) to the tag:
-jSymbolic_Tag:Date_Specifier.
see node `Branching and merging' in the CVS manual.
-
- -N
-
- Only useful together with -d dir. With
this option, cvs will not ``shorten'' module paths in your working
directory when you check out a single module. See the -d flag for
examples and a discussion.
-
- -s
-
- Like -c, but include the status of all modules, and
sort it by the status string. see node `modules' in the CVS manual, for
info about the -s option that is used inside the modules file to
set the module status.
checkout examples
Get a copy of the module
tc:
-
- $ cvs checkout tc
-
-
Get a copy of the module tc as it looked one day ago:
-
- $ cvs checkout -D yesterday tc
-
-
commit
Check files into the repository
- •
- Synopsis: commit [-lnRf] [-m 'log_message' | -F file] [-r
revision] [files...]
- •
- Requires: working directory, repository.
- •
- Changes: repository.
- •
- Synonym: ci
Use commit when you want to incorporate changes from your working
source files into the source repository.
If you don't specify particular files to commit, all of the files in your
working current directory are examined. commit is careful to change
in the repository only those files that you have really changed. By
default (or if you explicitly specify the -R option), files in
subdirectories are also examined and committed if they have changed; you
can use the -l option to limit commit to the current
directory only.
commit verifies that the selected files are up to date with the
current revisions in the source repository; it will notify you, and exit
without committing, if any of the specified files must be made current
first with update (see node `update' in the CVS manual).
commit does not call the update command for you, but rather
leaves that for you to do when the time is right.
When all is well, an editor is invoked to allow you to enter a log message
that will be written to one or more logging programs (see node `modules'
in the CVS manual, and see node `loginfo' in the CVS manual) and placed in
the rcs file inside the repository. This log message can be
retrieved with the log command; see see node `log' in the CVS
manual. You can specify the log message on the command line with the
-m message option, and thus avoid the editor
invocation, or use the -F file option to specify that
the argument file contains the log message.
At commit, a unique commitid is placed in the rcs file inside
the repository. All files committed at once get the same commitid. The
commitid can be retrieved with the log and status command;
see see node `log' in the CVS manual, see node `File status' in the CVS
manual.
commit options
These standard options are supported by
commit (see node `Common options'
in the CVS manual, for a complete description of them):
-
- -l
-
- Local; run only in current working directory.
-
- -R
-
- Commit directories recursively. This is on by default.
-
- -r revision
-
- Commit to revision. revision must be either a
branch, or a revision on the main trunk that is higher than any existing
revision number (see node `Assigning revisions' in the CVS manual). You
cannot commit to a specific revision on a branch.
commit also supports these options:
-
- -c
-
- Refuse to commit files unless the user has registered a
valid edit on the file via cvs edit. This is most useful when
commit -c and edit -c have been placed in all .cvsrc
files. A commit can be forced anyways by either registering an edit
retroactively via cvs edit (no changes to the file will be lost) or
using the -f option to commit. Support for commit -c
requires both client and a server versions 1.12.10 or greater.
-
- -F file
-
- Read the log message from file, instead of invoking
an editor.
-
- -f
-
- Note that this is not the standard behavior of the
-f option as defined in see node `Common options' in the CVS
manual.
Force cvs to commit a new revision even if you haven't made any
changes to the file. As of cvs version 1.12.10, it also causes the
-c option to be ignored. If the current revision of file is
1.7, then the following two commands are equivalent:
-
- $ cvs commit -f file
-
- $ cvs commit -r 1.8 file
-
-
The -f option disables recursion (i.e., it implies -l). To
force cvs to commit a new revision for all files in all
subdirectories, you must use -f -R.
-
- -m message
-
- Use message as the log message, instead of invoking
an editor.
commit examples
Committing to a branch
You can commit to a branch revision (one that has an even number of dots) with
the
-r option. To create a branch revision, use the
-b option of
the
rtag or
tag commands (see node `Branching and merging' in
the CVS manual). Then, either
checkout or
update can be used to
base your sources on the newly created branch. From that point on, all
commit changes made within these working sources will be automatically
added to a branch revision, thereby not disturbing main-line development in
any way. For example, if you had to create a patch to the 1.2 version of the
product, even though the 2.0 version is already under development, you might
do:
-
- $ cvs rtag -b -r FCS1_2 FCS1_2_Patch product_module
-
- $ cvs checkout -r FCS1_2_Patch product_module
-
- $ cd product_module
-
- [[ hack away ]]
-
- $ cvs commit
-
-
This works automatically since the -r option is sticky.
Creating the branch after editing
Say you have been working on some extremely experimental software, based on
whatever revision you happened to checkout last week. If others in your group
would like to work on this software with you, but without disturbing main-line
development, you could commit your change to a new branch. Others can then
checkout your experimental stuff and utilize the full benefit of
cvs
conflict resolution. The scenario might look like:
-
- [[ hacked sources are present ]]
-
- $ cvs tag -b EXPR1
-
- $ cvs update -r EXPR1
-
- $ cvs commit
-
-
The update command will make the -r EXPR1 option sticky
on all files. Note that your changes to the files will never be removed by
the update command. The commit will automatically commit to
the correct branch, because the -r is sticky. You could also do
like this:
-
- [[ hacked sources are present ]]
-
- $ cvs tag -b EXPR1
-
- $ cvs commit -r EXPR1
-
-
but then, only those files that were changed by you will have the -r
EXPR1 sticky flag. If you hack away, and commit without specifying the
-r EXPR1 flag, some files may accidentally end up on the main
trunk.
To work with you on the experimental change, others would simply do
-
- $ cvs checkout -r EXPR1 whatever_module
-
-
diff
Show differences between revisions
- •
- Synopsis: diff [-lR] [-k kflag] [format_options] [(-r
rev1[:date1] | -D date1) [-r rev2[:date2] | -D date2]] [files...]
- •
- Requires: working directory, repository.
- •
- Changes: nothing.
The diff command is used to compare different revisions of files. The
default action is to compare your working files with the revisions they
were based on, and report any differences that are found.
If any file names are given, only those files are compared. If any
directories are given, all files under them will be compared.
The exit status for diff is different than for other cvs commands;
for details see node `Exit status' in the CVS manual.
diff options
These standard options are supported by
diff (see node `Common options'
in the CVS manual, for a complete description of them):
-
- -D date
-
- Use the most recent revision no later than date. See
-r for how this affects the comparison.
-
- -k kflag
-
- Process keywords according to kflag. See see node
`Keyword substitution' in the CVS manual.
-
- -l
-
- Local; run only in current working directory.
-
- -R
-
- Examine directories recursively. This option is on by
default.
-
- -r tag[:date]
-
- Compare with revision specified by tag or, when
date is specified and tag is a branch tag, the version from
the branch tag as it existed on date. Zero, one or two
-r options can be present. With no -r option, the working
file will be compared with the revision it was based on. With one
-r, that revision will be compared to your current working file.
With two -r options those two revisions will be compared (and your
working file will not affect the outcome in any way).
One or both -r options can be replaced by a -D
date option, described above.
The following options specify the format of the output. They have the same
meaning as in GNU diff. Most options have two equivalent names, one of
which is a single letter preceded by -, and the other of which is a
long name preceded by --.
-
- -lines
-
- Show lines (an integer) lines of context. This
option does not specify an output format by itself; it has no effect
unless it is combined with -c or -u. This option is
obsolete. For proper operation, patch typically needs at least two
lines of context.
-
- -a
-
- Treat all files as text and compare them line-by-line, even
if they do not seem to be text.
-
- -b
-
- Ignore trailing white space and consider all other
sequences of one or more white space characters to be equivalent.
-
- -B
-
- Ignore changes that just insert or delete blank lines.
-
- --binary
-
- Read and write data in binary mode.
-
- --brief
-
- Report only whether the files differ, not the details of
the differences.
-
- -c
-
- Use the context output format.
-
- -C lines
-
-
- --context[=lines]
-
- Use the context output format, showing lines (an
integer) lines of context, or three if lines is not given. For
proper operation, patch typically needs at least two lines of
context.
-
- --changed-group-format=format
-
- Use format to output a line group containing
differing lines from both files in if-then-else format. see node `Line
group formats' in the CVS manual.
-
- -d
-
- Change the algorithm to perhaps find a smaller set of
changes. This makes diff slower (sometimes much slower).
-
- -e
-
-
- --ed
-
- Make output that is a valid ed script.
-
- --expand-tabs
-
- Expand tabs to spaces in the output, to preserve the
alignment of tabs in the input files.
-
- -f
-
- Make output that looks vaguely like an ed script but
has changes in the order they appear in the file.
-
- -F regexp
-
- In context and unified format, for each hunk of
differences, show some of the last preceding line that matches
regexp.
-
- --forward-ed
-
- Make output that looks vaguely like an ed script but
has changes in the order they appear in the file.
-
- -H
-
- Use heuristics to speed handling of large files that have
numerous scattered small changes.
-
- --horizon-lines=lines
-
- Do not discard the last lines lines of the common
prefix and the first lines lines of the common suffix.
-
- -i
-
- Ignore changes in case; consider upper- and lower-case
letters equivalent.
-
- -I regexp
-
- Ignore changes that just insert or delete lines that match
regexp.
-
- --ifdef=name
-
- Make merged if-then-else output using name.
-
- --ignore-all-space
-
- Ignore white space when comparing lines.
-
- --ignore-blank-lines
-
- Ignore changes that just insert or delete blank lines.
-
- --ignore-case
-
- Ignore changes in case; consider upper- and lower-case to
be the same.
-
- --ignore-matching-lines=regexp
-
- Ignore changes that just insert or delete lines that match
regexp.
-
- --ignore-space-change
-
- Ignore trailing white space and consider all other
sequences of one or more white space characters to be equivalent.
-
- --initial-tab
-
- Output a tab rather than a space before the text of a line
in normal or context format. This causes the alignment of tabs in the line
to look normal.
-
- -L label
-
- Use label instead of the file name in the context
format and unified format headers.
-
- --label=label
-
- Use label instead of the file name in the context
format and unified format headers.
-
- --left-column
-
- Print only the left column of two common lines in side by
side format.
-
- --line-format=format
-
- Use format to output all input lines in if-then-else
format. see node `Line formats' in the CVS manual.
-
- --minimal
-
- Change the algorithm to perhaps find a smaller set of
changes. This makes diff slower (sometimes much slower).
-
- -n
-
- Output RCS-format diffs; like -f except that each
command specifies the number of lines affected.
-
- -N
-
-
- --new-file
-
- In directory comparison, if a file is found in only one
directory, treat it as present but empty in the other directory.
-
- --new-group-format=format
-
- Use format to output a group of lines taken from
just the second file in if-then-else format. see node `Line group formats'
in the CVS manual.
-
- --new-line-format=format
-
- Use format to output a line taken from just the
second file in if-then-else format. see node `Line formats' in the CVS
manual.
-
- --old-group-format=format
-
- Use format to output a group of lines taken from
just the first file in if-then-else format. see node `Line group formats'
in the CVS manual.
-
- --old-line-format=format
-
- Use format to output a line taken from just the
first file in if-then-else format. see node `Line formats' in the CVS
manual.
-
- -p
-
- Show which C function each change is in.
-
- --rcs
-
- Output RCS-format diffs; like -f except that each
command specifies the number of lines affected.
-
- --report-identical-files
-
-
- -s
-
- Report when two files are the same.
-
- --show-c-function
-
- Show which C function each change is in.
-
- --show-function-line=regexp
-
- In context and unified format, for each hunk of
differences, show some of the last preceding line that matches
regexp.
-
- --side-by-side
-
- Use the side by side output format.
-
- --speed-large-files
-
- Use heuristics to speed handling of large files that have
numerous scattered small changes.
-
- --suppress-common-lines
-
- Do not print common lines in side by side format.
-
- -t
-
- Expand tabs to spaces in the output, to preserve the
alignment of tabs in the input files.
-
- -T
-
- Output a tab rather than a space before the text of a line
in normal or context format. This causes the alignment of tabs in the line
to look normal.
-
- --text
-
- Treat all files as text and compare them line-by-line, even
if they do not appear to be text.
-
- -u
-
- Use the unified output format.
-
- --unchanged-group-format=format
-
- Use format to output a group of common lines taken
from both files in if-then-else format. see node `Line group formats' in
the CVS manual.
-
- --unchanged-line-format=format
-
- Use format to output a line common to both files in
if-then-else format. see node `Line formats' in the CVS manual.
-
- -U lines
-
-
- --unified[=lines]
-
- Use the unified output format, showing lines (an
integer) lines of context, or three if lines is not given. For
proper operation, patch typically needs at least two lines of
context.
-
- -w
-
- Ignore white space when comparing lines.
-
- -W columns
-
-
- --width=columns
-
- Use an output width of columns in side by side
format.
-
- -y
-
- Use the side by side output format.
Line group formats
Line group formats let you specify formats suitable for many applications that
allow if-then-else input, including programming languages and text formatting
languages. A line group format specifies the output format for a contiguous
group of similar lines.
For example, the following command compares the TeX file
myfile with the
original version from the repository, and outputs a merged file in which old
regions are surrounded by
\begin{em}-
\end{em} lines, and new
regions are surrounded by
\begin{bf}-
\end{bf} lines.
-
- cvs diff \
-
-
--old-group-format='\begin{em}
-
- %<\end{em}
-
- ' \
-
-
--new-group-format='\begin{bf}
-
- %>\end{bf}
-
- ' \
-
-
myfile
-
-
The following command is equivalent to the above example, but it is a little
more verbose, because it spells out the default line group formats.
-
- cvs diff \
-
-
--old-group-format='\begin{em}
-
- %<\end{em}
-
- ' \
-
-
--new-group-format='\begin{bf}
-
- %>\end{bf}
-
- ' \
-
-
--unchanged-group-format='%=' \
-
-
--changed-group-format='\begin{em}
-
- %<\end{em}
-
- \begin{bf}
-
- %>\end{bf}
-
- ' \
-
-
myfile
-
-
Here is a more advanced example, which outputs a diff listing with headers
containing line numbers in a ``plain English'' style.
-
- cvs diff \
-
-
--unchanged-group-format='' \
-
-
--old-group-format='-------- %dn line%(n=1?:s) deleted at %df:
-
- %<' \
-
-
--new-group-format='-------- %dN line%(N=1?:s) added after %de:
-
- %>' \
-
-
--changed-group-format='-------- %dn line%(n=1?:s) changed at %df:
-
- %<-------- to:
-
- %>' \
-
-
myfile
-
-
To specify a line group format, use one of the options listed below. You can
specify up to four line group formats, one for each kind of line group.
You should quote format, because it typically contains shell
metacharacters.
-
- --old-group-format=format
-
- These line groups are hunks containing only lines from the
first file. The default old group format is the same as the changed group
format if it is specified; otherwise it is a format that outputs the line
group as-is.
-
- --new-group-format=format
-
- These line groups are hunks containing only lines from the
second file. The default new group format is same as the changed group
format if it is specified; otherwise it is a format that outputs the line
group as-is.
-
- --changed-group-format=format
-
- These line groups are hunks containing lines from both
files. The default changed group format is the concatenation of the old
and new group formats.
-
- --unchanged-group-format=format
-
- These line groups contain lines common to both files. The
default unchanged group format is a format that outputs the line group
as-is.
In a line group format, ordinary characters represent themselves; conversion
specifications start with % and have one of the following forms.
-
- %<
-
- stands for the lines from the first file, including the
trailing newline. Each line is formatted according to the old line format
(see node `Line formats' in the CVS manual).
-
- %>
-
- stands for the lines from the second file, including the
trailing newline. Each line is formatted according to the new line format.
-
- %=
-
- stands for the lines common to both files, including the
trailing newline. Each line is formatted according to the unchanged line
format.
-
- %%
-
- stands for %.
-
- %c'C'
-
- where C is a single character, stands for C.
C may not be a backslash or an apostrophe. For example,
%c':' stands for a colon, even inside the then-part of an
if-then-else format, which a colon would normally terminate.
-
- %c'\O'
-
- where O is a string of 1, 2, or 3 octal digits,
stands for the character with octal code O. For example,
%c'\0' stands for a null character.
-
- Fn
-
- where F is a printf conversion specification
and n is one of the following letters, stands for n's value
formatted with F.
-
- e
-
- The line number of the line just before the group in the
old file.
-
- f
-
- The line number of the first line in the group in the old
file; equals e + 1.
-
- l
-
- The line number of the last line in the group in the old
file.
-
- m
-
- The line number of the line just after the group in the old
file; equals l + 1.
-
- n
-
- The number of lines in the group in the old file; equals
l - f + 1.
-
- E, F, L, M, N
-
- Likewise, for lines in the new file.
The printf conversion specification can be %d, %o,
%x, or %X, specifying decimal, octal, lower case
hexadecimal, or upper case hexadecimal output respectively. After the
% the following options can appear in sequence: a -
specifying left-justification; an integer specifying the minimum field
width; and a period followed by an optional integer specifying the minimum
number of digits. For example, %5dN prints the number of new lines
in the group in a field of width 5 characters, using the printf
format "%5d".
-
- (A=B?T:E)
-
- If A equals B then T else E.
A and B are each either a decimal constant or a single
letter interpreted as above. This format spec is equivalent to T if
A's value equals B's; otherwise it is equivalent to
E.
For example, %(N=0?no:%dN) line%(N=1?:s) is equivalent to no
lines if N (the number of lines in the group in the new file)
is 0, to 1 line if N is 1, and to %dN lines
otherwise.
Line formats
Line formats control how each line taken from an input file is output as part of
a line group in if-then-else format.
For example, the following command outputs text with a one-column change
indicator to the left of the text. The first column of output is
- for
deleted lines,
| for added lines, and a space for unchanged lines. The
formats contain newline characters where newlines are desired on output.
-
- cvs diff \
-
-
--old-line-format='-%l
-
- ' \
-
-
--new-line-format='|%l
-
- ' \
-
-
--unchanged-line-format=' %l
-
- ' \
-
-
myfile
-
-
To specify a line format, use one of the following options. You should quote
format, since it often contains shell metacharacters.
-
- --old-line-format=format
-
- formats lines just from the first file.
-
- --new-line-format=format
-
- formats lines just from the second file.
-
- --unchanged-line-format=format
-
- formats lines common to both files.
-
- --line-format=format
-
- formats all lines; in effect, it sets all three above
options simultaneously.
In a line format, ordinary characters represent themselves; conversion
specifications start with % and have one of the following forms.
-
- %l
-
- stands for the contents of the line, not counting its
trailing newline (if any). This format ignores whether the line is
incomplete.
-
- %L
-
- stands for the contents of the line, including its trailing
newline (if any). If a line is incomplete, this format preserves its
incompleteness.
-
- %%
-
- stands for %.
-
- %c'C'
-
- where C is a single character, stands for C.
C may not be a backslash or an apostrophe. For example,
%c':' stands for a colon.
-
- %c'\O'
-
- where O is a string of 1, 2, or 3 octal digits,
stands for the character with octal code O. For example,
%c'\0' stands for a null character.
-
- Fn
-
- where F is a printf conversion specification,
stands for the line number formatted with F. For example,
%.5dn prints the line number using the printf format
"%.5d". see node `Line group formats' in the CVS manual,
for more about printf conversion specifications.
The default line format is %l followed by a newline character.
If the input contains tab characters and it is important that they line up
on output, you should ensure that %l or %L in a line format
is just after a tab stop (e.g. by preceding %l or %L with a
tab character), or you should use the -t or --expand-tabs
option.
Taken together, the line and line group formats let you specify many
different formats. For example, the following command uses a format
similar to diff's normal format. You can tailor this command to get
fine control over diff's output.
-
- cvs diff \
-
-
--old-line-format='< %l
-
- ' \
-
-
--new-line-format='> %l
-
- ' \
-
-
--old-group-format='%df%(f=l?:,%dl)d%dE
-
- %<' \
-
-
--new-group-format='%dea%dF%(F=L?:,%dL)
-
- %>' \
-
-
--changed-group-format='%df%(f=l?:,%dl)c%dF%(F=L?:,%dL)
-
- %<—
-
- %>' \
-
-
--unchanged-group-format='' \
-
-
myfile
-
-
diff examples
The following line produces a Unidiff (
-u flag) between revision 1.14
and 1.19 of
backend.c. Due to the
-kk flag no keywords are
substituted, so differences that only depend on keyword substitution are
ignored.
-
- $ cvs diff -kk -u -r 1.14 -r 1.19 backend.c
-
-
Suppose the experimental branch EXPR1 was based on a set of files tagged
RELEASE_1_0. To see what has happened on that branch, the following can be
used:
-
- $ cvs diff -r RELEASE_1_0 -r EXPR1
-
-
A command like this can be used to produce a context diff between two
releases:
-
- $ cvs diff -c -r RELEASE_1_0 -r RELEASE_1_1 > diffs
-
-
If you are maintaining ChangeLogs, a command like the following just before
you commit your changes may help you write the ChangeLog entry. All local
modifications that have not yet been committed will be printed.
-
- $ cvs diff -u | less
-
-
export
Export sources from CVS, similar to checkout
- •
- Synopsis: export [-flNnR] (-r rev[:date] | -D date) [-k
subst] [-d dir] module...
- •
- Requires: repository.
- •
- Changes: current directory.
This command is a variant of checkout; use it when you want a copy of
the source for module without the cvs administrative directories.
For example, you might use export to prepare source for shipment
off-site. This command requires that you specify a date or tag (with
-D or -r), so that you can count on reproducing the source
you ship to others (and thus it always prunes empty directories).
One often would like to use -kv with cvs export. This
causes any keywords to be expanded such that an import done at some other
site will not lose the keyword revision information. But be aware that
doesn't handle an export containing binary files correctly. Also be aware
that after having used -kv, one can no longer use the ident
command (which is part of the rcs suite—see ident(1)) which
looks for keyword strings. If you want to be able to use ident you
must not use -kv.
export options
These standard options are supported by
export (see node `Common options'
in the CVS manual, for a complete description of them):
-
- -D date
-
- Use the most recent revision no later than date.
-
- -f
-
- If no matching revision is found, retrieve the most recent
revision (instead of ignoring the file).
-
- -l
-
- Local; run only in current working directory.
-
- -n
-
- Do not run any checkout program.
-
- -R
-
- Export directories recursively. This is on by default.
-
- -r tag[:date]
-
- Export the revision specified by tag or, when
date is specified and tag is a branch tag, the version from
the branch tag as it existed on date. See see node `Common
options' in the CVS manual.
In addition, these options (that are common to checkout and
export) are also supported:
-
- -d dir
-
- Create a directory called dir for the working files,
instead of using the module name. see node `checkout options' in the CVS
manual, for complete details on how cvs handles this flag.
-
- -k subst
-
- Set keyword expansion mode (see node `Substitution modes'
in the CVS manual).
-
- -N
-
- Only useful together with -d dir. see
node `checkout options' in the CVS manual, for complete details on how
cvs handles this flag.
history
Show status of files and users
- •
- Synopsis: history [-report] [-flags] [-options args]
[files...]
- •
- Requires: the file $CVSROOT/CVSROOT/history
- •
- Changes: nothing.
cvs can keep a history log that tracks each use of most cvs
commands. You can use history to display this information in
various formats.
To enable logging, the LogHistory config option must be set to some
value other than the empty string and the history file specified by the
HistoryLogPath option must be writable by all users who may run the
cvs executable (see node `config' in the CVS manual).
To enable the history command, logging must be enabled as above and
the HistorySearchPath config option (see node `config' in the CVS
manual) must be set to specify some number of the history logs created
thereby and these files must be readable by each user who might run the
history command.
Creating a repository via the cvs init command will enable logging of
all possible events to a single history log file (
$CVSROOT/CVSROOT/history) with read and write permissions for all
users (see node `Creating a repository' in the CVS manual).
Note: history uses -f, -l,
-n, and -p in ways that conflict with
the normal use inside cvs (see node `Common options'
in the CVS manual).
history options
Several options (shown above as
-report) control what kind of report is
generated:
-
- -c
-
- Report on each time commit was used (i.e., each time the
repository was modified).
-
- -e
-
- Everything (all record types). Equivalent to specifying
-x with all record types. Of course, -e will also include
record types which are added in a future version of cvs; if you are
writing a script which can only handle certain record types, you'll want
to specify -x.
-
- -m module
-
- Report on a particular module. (You can meaningfully use
-m more than once on the command line.)
-
- -o
-
- Report on checked-out modules. This is the default report
type.
-
- -T
-
- Report on all tags.
-
- -x type
-
- Extract a particular set of record types type from
the cvs history. The types are indicated by single letters, which
you may specify in combination.
Certain commands have a single record type:
-
- F
-
- release
-
- O
-
- checkout
-
- E
-
- export
-
- T
-
- rtag
One of five record types may result from an update:
-
- C
-
- A merge was necessary but collisions were detected
(requiring manual merging).
-
- G
-
- A merge was necessary and it succeeded.
-
- U
-
- A working file was copied from the repository.
-
- P
-
- A working file was patched to match the repository.
-
- W
-
- The working copy of a file was deleted during update
(because it was gone from the repository).
One of three record types results from commit:
-
- A
-
- A file was added for the first time.
-
- M
-
- A file was modified.
-
- R
-
- A file was removed.
The options shown as -flags constrain or expand the report without
requiring option arguments:
-
- -a
-
- Show data for all users (the default is to show data only
for the user executing history).
-
- -l
-
- Show last modification only.
-
- -w
-
- Show only the records for modifications done from the same
working directory where history is executing.
The options shown as -options args constrain the report
based on an argument:
-
- -b str
-
- Show data back to a record containing the string str
in either the module name, the file name, or the repository path.
-
- -D date
-
- Show data since date. This is slightly different
from the normal use of -D date, which selects the
newest revision older than date.
-
- -f file
-
- Show data for a particular file (you can specify several
-f options on the same command line). This is equivalent to
specifying the file on the command line.
-
- -n module
-
- Show data for a particular module (you can specify several
-n options on the same command line).
-
- -p repository
-
- Show data for a particular source repository (you can
specify several -p options on the same command line).
-
- -r rev
-
- Show records referring to revisions since the revision or
tag named rev appears in individual rcs files. Each
rcs file is searched for the revision or tag.
-
- -t tag
-
- Show records since tag tag was last added to the
history file. This differs from the -r flag above in that it reads
only the history file, not the rcs files, and is much faster.
-
- -u name
-
- Show records for user name.
-
- -z timezone
-
- Show times in the selected records using the specified time
zone instead of UTC.
import
Import sources into CVS, using vendor branches
- •
- Synopsis: import [-options] repository vendortag
releasetag...
- •
- Requires: Repository, source distribution directory.
- •
- Changes: repository.
Use import to incorporate an entire source distribution from an
outside source (e.g., a source vendor) into your source repository
directory. You can use this command both for initial creation of a
repository, and for wholesale updates to the module from the outside
source. see node `Tracking sources' in the CVS manual, for a discussion on
this subject.
The repository argument gives a directory name (or a path to a
directory) under the cvs root directory for repositories; if the
directory did not exist, import creates it.
When you use import for updates to source that has been modified in your
source repository (since a prior import), it will notify you of any files
that conflict in the two branches of development; use checkout
-j to reconcile the differences, as import instructs you to do.
If cvs decides a file should be ignored (see node `cvsignore' in the
CVS manual), it does not import it and prints I followed by the
filename (see node `import output' in the CVS manual, for a complete
description of the output).
If the file $CVSROOT/CVSROOT/cvswrappers exists, any file whose names
match the specifications in that file will be treated as packages and the
appropriate filtering will be performed on the file/directory before being
imported. see node `Wrappers' in the CVS manual.
The outside source is saved in a first-level branch, by default 1.1.1.
Updates are leaves of this branch; for example, files from the first
imported collection of source will be revision 1.1.1.1, then files from
the first imported update will be revision 1.1.1.2, and so on.
At least three arguments are required. repository is needed to
identify the collection of source. vendortag is a tag for the
entire branch (e.g., for 1.1.1). You must also specify at least one
releasetag to uniquely identify the files at the leaves created
each time you execute import. The releasetag should be new,
not previously existing in the repository file, and uniquely identify the
imported release,
Note that import does not change the directory in which you
invoke it. In particular, it does not set up that directory as a
cvs working directory; if you want to work with the sources import
them first and then check them out into a different directory (see node
`Getting the source' in the CVS manual).
import options
This standard option is supported by
import (see node `Common options' in
the CVS manual, for a complete description):
-
- -m message
-
- Use message as log information, instead of invoking
an editor.
There are the following additional special options.
-
- -b branch
-
- See see node `Multiple vendor branches' in the CVS manual.
-
- -k subst
-
- Indicate the keyword expansion mode desired. This setting
will apply to all files created during the import, but not to any files
that previously existed in the repository. See see node `Substitution
modes' in the CVS manual, for a list of valid -k settings.
-
- -I name
-
- Specify file names that should be ignored during import.
You can use this option repeatedly. To avoid ignoring any files at all
(even those ignored by default), specify `-I !'.
name can be a file name pattern of the same type that you can
specify in the .cvsignore file. see node `cvsignore' in the CVS
manual.
-
- -W spec
-
- Specify file names that should be filtered during import.
You can use this option repeatedly.
spec can be a file name pattern of the same type that you can
specify in the .cvswrappers file. see node `Wrappers' in the CVS
manual.
-
- -X
-
- Modify the algorithm used by cvs when importing new
files so that new files do not immediately appear on the main trunk.
Specifically, this flag causes cvs to mark new files as if they were
deleted on the main trunk, by taking the following steps for each file in
addition to those normally taken on import: creating a new revision on the
main trunk indicating that the new file is dead, resetting the new
file's default branch, and placing the file in the Attic (see node `Attic'
in the CVS manual) directory.
Use of this option can be forced on a repository-wide basis by setting the
ImportNewFilesToVendorBranchOnly option in CVSROOT/config (see node
`config' in the CVS manual).
import output
import keeps you informed of its progress by printing a line for each
file, preceded by one character indicating the status of the file:
-
- U file
-
- The file already exists in the repository and has not been
locally modified; a new revision has been created (if necessary).
-
- N file
-
- The file is a new file which has been added to the
repository.
-
- C file
-
- The file already exists in the repository but has been
locally modified; you will have to merge the changes.
-
- I file
-
- The file is being ignored (see node `cvsignore' in the CVS
manual).
-
- L file
-
- The file is a symbolic link; cvs import ignores
symbolic links. People periodically suggest that this behavior should be
changed, but if there is a consensus on what it should be changed to, it
is not apparent. (Various options in the modules file can be used
to recreate symbolic links on checkout, update, etc.; see node `modules'
in the CVS manual.)
import examples
See see node `Tracking sources' in the CVS manual, and see node `From files' in
the CVS manual.
log
Print out log information for files
- •
- Synopsis: log [options] [files...]
- •
- Requires: repository, working directory.
- •
- Changes: nothing.
Display log information for files. log used to call the rcs
utility rlog. Although this is no longer true in the current
sources, this history determines the format of the output and the options,
which are not quite in the style of the other cvs commands.
The output includes the location of the rcs file, the head
revision (the latest revision on the trunk), all symbolic names (tags) and
some other things. For each revision, the revision number, the date, the
author, the number of lines added/deleted, the commitid and the log
message are printed. All dates are displayed in local time at the client.
This is typically specified in the $TZ environment variable, which
can be set to govern how log displays dates.
Note: log uses -R in a way that
conflicts with the normal use inside cvs (see node
`Common options' in the CVS manual).
log options
By default,
log prints all information that is available. All other
options restrict the output. Note that the revision selection options (
-d,
-r,
-s, and
-w) have no effect, other than
possibly causing a search for files in Attic directories, when used in
conjunction with the options that restrict the output to only
log
header fields (
-b,
-h,
-R, and
-t) unless the
-S option is also specified.
-
- -b
-
- Print information about the revisions on the default
branch, normally the highest branch on the trunk.
-
- -d dates
-
- Print information about revisions with a checkin date/time
in the range given by the semicolon-separated list of dates. The date
formats accepted are those accepted by the -D option to many other
cvs commands (see node `Common options' in the CVS manual). Dates
can be combined into ranges as follows:
-
- d1<d2
-
-
- d2>d1
-
- Select the revisions that were deposited between d1
and d2.
-
- <d
-
-
- d>
-
- Select all revisions dated d or earlier.
-
- d<
-
-
- >d
-
- Select all revisions dated d or later.
-
- d
-
- Select the single, latest revision dated d or
earlier.
The > or < characters may be followed by = to
indicate an inclusive range rather than an exclusive one.
Note that the separator is a semicolon (;).
-
- -h
-
- Print only the name of the rcs file, name of the
file in the working directory, head, default branch, access list, locks,
symbolic names, and suffix.
-
- -l
-
- Local; run only in current working directory. (Default is
to run recursively).
-
- -N
-
- Do not print the list of tags for this file. This option
can be very useful when your site uses a lot of tags, so rather than
"more"'ing over 3 pages of tag information, the log information
is presented without tags at all.
-
- -R
-
- Print only the name of the rcs file.
-
- -rrevisions
-
- Print information about revisions given in the
comma-separated list revisions of revisions and ranges. The
following table explains the available range formats:
-
- rev1:rev2
-
- Revisions rev1 to rev2 (which must be on the
same branch).
-
- rev1::rev2
-
- The same, but excluding rev1.
-
- :rev
-
-
- ::rev
-
- Revisions from the beginning of the branch up to and
including rev.
-
- rev:
-
- Revisions starting with rev to the end of the branch
containing rev.
-
- rev::
-
- Revisions starting just after rev to the end of the
branch containing rev.
-
- branch
-
- An argument that is a branch means all revisions on that
branch.
-
- branch1:branch2
-
-
- branch1::branch2
-
- A range of branches means all revisions on the branches in
that range.
-
- branch.
-
- The latest revision in branch.
A bare -r with no revisions means the latest revision on the default
branch, normally the trunk. There can be no space between the -r
option and its argument.
-
- -S
-
- Suppress the header if no revisions are selected.
-
- -s states
-
- Print information about revisions whose state attributes
match one of the states given in the comma-separated list states.
Individual states may be any text string, though cvs commonly only
uses two states, Exp and dead. See see node `admin options'
in the CVS manual for more information.
-
- -t
-
- Print the same as -h, plus the descriptive text.
-
- -wlogins
-
- Print information about revisions checked in by users with
login names appearing in the comma-separated list logins. If
logins is omitted, the user's login is assumed. There can be no
space between the -w option and its argument.
log prints the intersection of the revisions selected with the
options -d, -s, and -w, intersected with the union of
the revisions selected by -b and -r.
log examples
Since
log shows dates in local time, you might want to see them in
Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) or some other timezone. To do this you can
set your
$TZ environment variable before invoking
cvs:
-
- $ TZ=UTC cvs log foo.c
-
- $ TZ=EST cvs log bar.c
-
-
(If you are using a csh-style shell, like tcsh, you would need
to prefix the examples above with env.)
ls & rls
- •
- ls [-e | -l] [-RP] [-r tag[:date]] [-D date] [path...]
- •
- Requires: repository for rls, repository &
working directory for ls.
- •
- Changes: nothing.
- •
- Synonym: dir & list are synonyms for
ls and rdir & rlist are synonyms for rls.
The ls and rls commands are used to list files and directories
in the repository.
By default ls lists the files and directories that belong in your
working directory, what would be there after an update.
By default rls lists the files and directories on the tip of the
trunk in the topmost directory of the repository.
Both commands accept an optional list of file and directory names, relative
to the working directory for ls and the topmost directory of the
repository for rls. Neither is recursive by default.
ls & rls options
These standard options are supported by
ls &
rls:
-
- -d
-
- Show dead revisions (with tag when specified).
-
- -e
-
- Display in CVS/Entries format. This format is meant to
remain easily parsable by automation.
-
- -l
-
- Display all details.
-
- -P
-
- Don't list contents of empty directories when recursing.
-
- -R
-
- List recursively.
-
- -r tag[:date]
-
- Show files specified by tag or, when date is
specified and tag is a branch tag, the version from the branch
tag as it existed on date. See see node `Common options' in
the CVS manual.
-
- -D date
-
- Show files from date.
rls examples
-
- $ cvs rls
-
- cvs rls: Listing module: `.'
-
- CVSROOT
-
- first-dir
-
-
-
- $ cvs rls CVSROOT
-
- cvs rls: Listing module: `CVSROOT'
-
- checkoutlist
-
- commitinfo
-
- config
-
- cvswrappers
-
- loginfo
-
- modules
-
- notify
-
- rcsinfo
-
- taginfo
-
- verifymsg
-
-
rdiff
'patch' format diffs between releases
- •
- rdiff [-flags] [-V vn] (-r tag1[:date1] | -D date1) [-r
tag2[:date2] | -D date2] modules...
- •
- Requires: repository.
- •
- Changes: nothing.
- •
- Synonym: patch
Builds a Larry Wall format patch(1) file between two releases, that can be
fed directly into the patch program to bring an old release
up-to-date with the new release. (This is one of the few cvs
commands that operates directly from the repository, and doesn't require a
prior checkout.) The diff output is sent to the standard output device.
You can specify (using the standard -r and -D options) any
combination of one or two revisions or dates. If only one revision or date
is specified, the patch file reflects differences between that revision or
date and the current head revisions in the rcs file.
Note that if the software release affected is contained in more than one
directory, then it may be necessary to specify the -p option to the
patch command when patching the old sources, so that patch
is able to find the files that are located in other directories.
rdiff options
These standard options are supported by
rdiff (see node `Common options'
in the CVS manual, for a complete description of them):
-
- -D date
-
- Use the most recent revision no later than date.
-
- -f
-
- If no matching revision is found, retrieve the most recent
revision (instead of ignoring the file).
-
- -k kflag
-
- Process keywords according to kflag. See see node
`Keyword substitution' in the CVS manual.
-
- -l
-
- Local; don't descend subdirectories.
-
- -p
-
- Show which C function each change is in.
-
- -R
-
- Examine directories recursively. This option is on by
default.
-
- -r tag
-
- Use the revision specified by tag, or when
date is specified and tag is a branch tag, the version from
the branch tag as it existed on date. See see node `Common
options' in the CVS manual.
In addition to the above, these options are available:
-
- -c
-
- Use the context diff format. This is the default format.
-
- -s
-
- Create a summary change report instead of a patch. The
summary includes information about files that were changed or added
between the releases. It is sent to the standard output device. This is
useful for finding out, for example, which files have changed between two
dates or revisions.
-
- -t
-
- A diff of the top two revisions is sent to the standard
output device. This is most useful for seeing what the last change to a
file was.
-
- -u
-
- Use the unidiff format for the context diffs. Remember that
old versions of the patch program can't handle the unidiff format,
so if you plan to post this patch to the net you should probably not use
-u.
-
- -V vn
-
- Expand keywords according to the rules current in
rcs version vn (the expansion format changed with rcs
version 5). Note that this option is no longer accepted. cvs will
always expand keywords the way that rcs version 5 does.
rdiff examples
Suppose you receive mail from foo@example.net asking for an update from release
1.2 to 1.4 of the tc compiler. You have no such patches on hand, but with
cvs that can easily be fixed with a command such as this:
-
- $ cvs rdiff -c -r FOO1_2 -r FOO1_4 tc | \
-
- $$ Mail -s 'The patches you asked for' foo@example.net
-
-
Suppose you have made release 1.3, and forked a branch called
R_1_3fix for bug fixes. R_1_3_1 corresponds to release
1.3.1, which was made some time ago. Now, you want to see how much
development has been done on the branch. This command can be used:
-
- $ cvs patch -s -r R_1_3_1 -r R_1_3fix module-name
-
- cvs rdiff: Diffing module-name
-
- File ChangeLog,v changed from revision 1.52.2.5 to
1.52.2.6
-
- File foo.c,v changed from revision 1.52.2.3 to
1.52.2.4
-
- File bar.h,v changed from revision 1.29.2.1 to 1.2
-
-
release
Indicate that a Module is no longer in use
- •
- release [-d] directories...
- •
- Requires: Working directory.
- •
- Changes: Working directory, history log.
This command is meant to safely cancel the effect of cvs checkout.
Since cvs doesn't lock files, it isn't strictly necessary to use
this command. You can always simply delete your working directory, if you
like; but you risk losing changes you may have forgotten, and you leave no
trace in the cvs history file (see node `history file' in the CVS
manual) that you've abandoned your checkout.
Use cvs release to avoid these problems. This command checks that no
uncommitted changes are present; that you are executing it from
immediately above a cvs working directory; and that the repository
recorded for your files is the same as the repository defined in the
module database.
If all these conditions are true, cvs release leaves a record of its
execution (attesting to your intentionally abandoning your checkout) in
the cvs history log.
release options
The
release command supports one command option:
-
- -d
-
- Delete your working copy of the file if the release
succeeds. If this flag is not given your files will remain in your working
directory.
WARNING: The release command deletes all
directories and files recursively. This has the very serious
side-effect that any directory that you have created inside your
checked-out sources, and not added to the repository (using the
add command; see node `Adding files' in the CVS
manual) will be silently deleted—even if it is non-empty!
release output
Before
release releases your sources it will print a one-line message for
any file that is not up-to-date.
-
- U file
-
-
- P file
-
- There exists a newer revision of this file in the
repository, and you have not modified your local copy of the file (
U and P mean the same thing).
-
- A file
-
- The file has been added to your private copy of the
sources, but has not yet been committed to the repository. If you delete
your copy of the sources this file will be lost.
-
- R file
-
- The file has been removed from your private copy of the
sources, but has not yet been removed from the repository, since you have
not yet committed the removal. see node `commit' in the CVS manual.
-
- M file
-
- The file is modified in your working directory. There might
also be a newer revision inside the repository.
-
- ? file
-
- file is in your working directory, but does not
correspond to anything in the source repository, and is not in the list of
files for cvs to ignore (see the description of the -I
option, and see node `cvsignore' in the CVS manual). If you remove your
working sources, this file will be lost.
release examples
Release the
tc directory, and delete your local working copy of the
files.
-
- $ cd .. # You must stand immediately above the
-
-
# sources when you issue cvs release.
-
- $ cvs release -d tc
-
- You have [0] altered files in this repository.
-
- Are you sure you want to release (and delete) directory
`tc': y
-
- $
-
-
server & pserver
Act as a server for a client on stdin/stdout
- •
- pserver [-c path]
server [-c path]
- •
- Requires: repository, client conversation on
stdin/stdout
- •
- Changes: Repository or, indirectly, client working
directory.
The cvs server and pserver commands are used to provide
repository access to remote clients and expect a client conversation on
stdin & stdout. Typically these commands are launched from
inetd or via ssh (see node `Remote repositories' in the CVS
manual).
server expects that the client has already been authenticated
somehow, typically via ssh, and pserver attempts to
authenticate the client itself.
Only one option is available with the server and pserver
commands:
-
- -c path
-
- Load configuration from path rather than the default
location $CVSROOT/CVSROOT/config (see node `config' in the CVS
manual). path must be /etc/cvs.conf or prefixed by
/etc/cvs/. This option is supported beginning with cvs
release 1.12.13.
update
Bring work tree in sync with repository
- •
- update [-ACdflPpRt] [-I name] [-j rev [-j rev]] [-k kflag]
[-r tag[:date] | -D date] [-W spec] files...
- •
- Requires: repository, working directory.
- •
- Changes: working directory.
After you've run checkout to create your private copy of source from the
common repository, other developers will continue changing the central
source. From time to time, when it is convenient in your development
process, you can use the update command from within your working
directory to reconcile your work with any revisions applied to the source
repository since your last checkout or update. Without the -C
option, update will also merge any differences between the local
copy of files and their base revisions into any destination revisions
specified with -r, -D, or -A.
update options
These standard options are available with
update (see node `Common
options' in the CVS manual, for a complete description of them):
-
- -D date
-
- Use the most recent revision no later than date.
This option is sticky, and implies -P. See see node `Sticky tags'
in the CVS manual, for more information on sticky tags/dates.
-
- -f
-
- Only useful with the -D or -r flags. If no
matching revision is found, retrieve the most recent revision (instead of
ignoring the file).
-
- -k kflag
-
- Process keywords according to kflag. See see node
`Keyword substitution' in the CVS manual. This option is sticky; future
updates of this file in this working directory will use the same
kflag. The status command can be viewed to see the sticky
options. See see node `Invoking CVS' in the CVS manual, for more
information on the status command.
-
- -l
-
- Local; run only in current working directory. see node
`Recursive behavior' in the CVS manual.
-
- -P
-
- Prune empty directories. See see node `Moving directories'
in the CVS manual.
-
- -t
-
- Preserve source timestamps. Unlike checkout where
files are created using the original timestamp of the file in the
repository, update updates files using the current time of the
machine. This is convenient because updated files appear newer than any
other files on the system so make(1) knows that are their
corresponding built artifacts are out of date and they will get rebuilt.
The -t flag instead preserves the timestamps of the original
repository files, behaving exactly like checkout. This is useful
for maintaining a tree in the original checked-out state.
-
- -p
-
- Pipe files to the standard output.
-
- -R
-
- Update directories recursively (default). see node
`Recursive behavior' in the CVS manual.
-
- -r tag[:date]
-
- Retrieve the revisions specified by tag or, when
date is specified and tag is a branch tag, the version from
the branch tag as it existed on date. This option is sticky,
and implies -P. See see node `Sticky tags' in the CVS manual, for
more information on sticky tags/dates. Also see see node `Common options'
in the CVS manual.
These special options are also available with update.
-
- -A
-
- Reset any sticky tags, dates, or -k options. See see
node `Sticky tags' in the CVS manual, for more information on sticky
tags/dates.
-
- -C
-
- Overwrite locally modified files with clean copies from the
repository (the modified file is saved in
.#file.revision , however).
-
- -d
-
- Create any directories that exist in the repository if
they're missing from the working directory. Normally, update acts
only on directories and files that were already enrolled in your working
directory.
This is useful for updating directories that were created in the repository
since the initial checkout; but it has an unfortunate side effect. If you
deliberately avoided certain directories in the repository when you
created your working directory (either through use of a module name or by
listing explicitly the files and directories you wanted on the command
line), then updating with -d will create those directories, which
may not be what you want.
-
- -I name
-
- Ignore files whose names match name (in your working
directory) during the update. You can specify -I more than once on
the command line to specify several files to ignore. Use -I ! to
avoid ignoring any files at all. see node `cvsignore' in the CVS manual,
for other ways to make cvs ignore some files.
-
- -Wspec
-
- Specify file names that should be filtered during update.
You can use this option repeatedly.
spec can be a file name pattern of the same type that you can
specify in the .cvswrappers file. see node `Wrappers' in the CVS
manual.
-
- -jrevision
-
- With two -j options, merge changes from the revision
specified with the first -j option to the revision specified with
the second j option, into the working directory.
With one -j option, merge changes from the ancestor revision to the
revision specified with the -j option, into the working directory.
The ancestor revision is the common ancestor of the revision which the
working directory is based on, and the revision specified in the -j
option.
Note that using a single -j tagname option rather than
-j branchname to merge changes from a branch will
often not remove files which were removed on the branch. see node `Merging
adds and removals' in the CVS manual, for more.
In addition, each -j option can contain an optional date
specification which, when used with branches, can limit the chosen
revision to one within a specific date. An optional date is specified by
adding a colon (:) to the tag:
-jSymbolic_Tag:Date_Specifier .
see node `Branching and merging' in the CVS manual.
update output
update and
checkout keep you informed of their progress by
printing a line for each file, preceded by one character indicating the status
of the file:
-
- U file
-
- The file was brought up to date with respect to the
repository. This is done for any file that exists in the repository but
not in your working directory, and for files that you haven't changed but
are not the most recent versions available in the repository.
-
- P file
-
- Like U, but the cvs server sends a patch
instead of an entire file. This accomplishes the same thing as U
using less bandwidth.
-
- A file
-
- The file has been added to your private copy of the
sources, and will be added to the source repository when you run
commit on the file. This is a reminder to you that the file needs
to be committed.
-
- R file
-
- The file has been removed from your private copy of the
sources, and will be removed from the source repository when you run
commit on the file. This is a reminder to you that the file needs
to be committed.
-
- M file
-
- The file is modified in your working directory.
M can indicate one of two states for a file you're working on:
either there were no modifications to the same file in the repository, so
that your file remains as you last saw it; or there were modifications in
the repository as well as in your copy, but they were merged successfully,
without conflict, in your working directory.
cvs will print some messages if it merges your work, and a backup
copy of your working file (as it looked before you ran update) will
be made. The exact name of that file is printed while update runs.
-
- C file
-
- A conflict was detected while trying to merge your changes
to file with changes from the source repository. file (the
copy in your working directory) is now the result of attempting to merge
the two revisions; an unmodified copy of your file is also in your working
directory, with the name
.#file.revision where revision
is the revision that your modified file started from. Resolve the conflict
as described in see node `Conflicts example' in the CVS manual. (Note that
some systems automatically purge files that begin with .# if they
have not been accessed for a few days. If you intend to keep a copy of
your original file, it is a very good idea to rename it.) Under
vms, the file name starts with __ rather than .#.
-
- ? file
-
- file is in your working directory, but does not
correspond to anything in the source repository, and is not in the list of
files for cvs to ignore (see the description of the -I
option, and see node `cvsignore' in the CVS manual).
AUTHORS
- Dick Grune
- Original author of the cvs shell script version
posted to comp.sources.unix in the volume6 release of December,
1986. Credited with much of the cvs conflict resolution
algorithms.
- Brian Berliner
- Coder and designer of the cvs program itself in
April, 1989, based on the original work done by Dick.
- Jeff Polk
- Helped Brian with the design of the cvs module and
vendor branch support and author of the checkin(1) shell
script (the ancestor of cvs import).
- Larry Jones, Derek R. Price, and Mark D. Baushke
- Have helped maintain cvs for many years.
- And many others too numerous to mention here.
SEE ALSO
The most comprehensive manual for CVS is Version Management with CVS by Per
Cederqvist et al. Depending on your system, you may be able to get it with the
info CVS command or it may be available as cvs.pdf (Portable Document
Format), cvs.ps (PostScript), cvs.texinfo (Texinfo source), or cvs.html.
For CVS updates, more information on documentation, software related to CVS,
development of CVS, and more, see:
-
- http://www.nongnu.org/cvs/
ci(1), co(1), cvs(5),
cvsbug(8), diff(1), grep(1),
patch(1), rcs(1), rcsdiff(1),
rcsmerge(1), rlog(1).