CVS(1) CVS(1)
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 docu
mentation, please consult the Cederqvist manual (via the info CVS com
mand or otherwise, as described in the SEE ALSO section of this man
page). 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 ref
erence manual for that command. There are only two situations where
you may omit cvs_command: cvs -H elicits a list of available com
mands, 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 com
mand_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 doc
umentation 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 suc
cessful status if it found no differences, or a failure status if there
were differences or if there was an error. Because this behavior pro
vides 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 spec
ify that option. One example (the one that drove the implementation of
the .cvsrc support, actually) is that many people find the default out
put of the diff command to be very hard to read, and that either con
text diffs or unidiffs are much easier to understand.
The ~/.cvsrc file is a way that you can add default options to cvs_com
mands 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 follow
ing 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 direc
tory. 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 Win
dows - 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 reposi
tory. 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 infor
mation, 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 authen
ticated' in the CVS manual) or a Kerberos connection (see node Ker
beros 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 config
ure 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 com
pression (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 dif
ferent 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 nor
mally 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 speci
fication 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 revi
sion. As well as arbitrary tags defined with the tag or rtag com
mand, 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 oth
erwise (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 inter
preted 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 his
torical 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, cre
ate 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 manipu
late 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 man
ual.
-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, with
out depositing a revision. With cvs, add files with the cvs add com
mand (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 exam
ple, cvs admin -nname: associates name with the current latest revi
sion of all the RCS files; this contrasts with cvs admin -nname:$
which associates name with the revision numbers extracted from key
word 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 itthere 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 symbol
ically 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 $State$ key
words (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 notifica
tion (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 specify
ing 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 repos
itory. 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 dif
ferent 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 speci
fied, the CVSREAD environment variable is specified (see node Envi
ronment 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 man
ual, 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 substitu
tion' 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 cre
ating or modifying any files or directories in your working direc
tory.
-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 direc
tories.
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 specifica
tion 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 cur
rent revisions in the source repository; it will notify you, and exit
without committing, if any of the specified files must be made cur
rent 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 man
ual.
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 com
mit 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 any
ways by either regestering 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 com
mit changes made within these working sources will be automatically
added to a branch revision, thereby not disturbing main-line develop
ment 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 revi
sions 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 substitu
tion' 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 cur
rent 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 spec
ify an output format by itself; it has no effect unless it is com
bined 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 differ
ences.
-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 equiv
alent.
-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 for
mat.
--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 man
ual.
--unchanged-line-format=format
Use format to output a line common to both files in if-then-else for
mat. 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 applica
tions that allow if-then-else input, including programming languages
and text formatting languages. A line group format specifies the out
put 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 for
mats.
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 for
mat 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 new
line. 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 for
mat.
%%
stands for %.
%c'C'
where C is a single character, stands for C. C may not be a back
slash 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 char
acter with octal code O. For example, %c'\0' stands for a null char
acter.
Fn
where F is a printf conversion specification and n is one of the fol
lowing 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, spec
ifying decimal, octal, lower case hexadecimal, or upper case hex
adecimal output respectively. After the % the following options
can appear in sequence: a - specifying left-justification; an inte
ger 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 con
stant 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 simul
taneously.
In a line format, ordinary characters represent themselves; conver
sion specifications start with % and have one of the following forms.
%l
stands for the contents of the line, not counting its trailing new
line (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 incom
pleteness.
%%
stands for %.
%c'C'
where C is a single character, stands for C. C may not be a back
slash 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 char
acter with octal code O. For example, %c'\0' stands for a null char
acter.
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 substi
tuted, 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 fol
lowing 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 suitesee 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 $CVSROOT/CVSROOT/history
Changes: nothing.
cvs can keep a history log that tracks each use of most cvs commands.
You can use history to display this information in various formats.
To enable logging, the LogHistory config option must be set to some
value other than the empty string and the history file specified by
the HistoryLogPath option must be writable by all users who may run
the cvs executable (see node config' in the CVS manual).
To enable the history command, logging must be enabled as above and
the HistorySearchPath config option (see node config' in the CVS
manual) must be set to specify some number of the history logs cre
ated thereby and these files must be readable by each user who might
run the history command.
Creating a repository via the cvs init command will enable logging of
all possible events to a single history log file ($CVSROOT/CVS
ROOT/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 man
ual 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 sev
eral -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 out
side 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 discus
sion on this subject.
The repository argument gives a directory name (or a path to a direc
tory) 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 iden
tify 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 previ
ously 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 work
ing 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 set
ting 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 modi
fied; 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. Peo
ple 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 recre
ate 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 vari
able, 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 for
mats 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:
d1d1
Select the revisions that were deposited between d1 and d2.
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 contain
ing 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 pre
fix 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 com
mands 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 combina
tion of one or two revisions or dates. If only one revision or date
is specified, the patch file reflects differences between that revi
sion 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 substitu
tion' in the CVS manual.
-l
Local; don't descend subdirectories.
-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 ver
sions 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 imme
diately 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 direc
tory.
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 deletedeven 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 any
thing 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 some
how, 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 $CVS
ROOT/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 [-ACdflPpR] [-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 man
ual, 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 substitu
tion' 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.
-p
Pipe files to the standard output.
-R
Update directories recursively (default). see node Recursive behav
ior' 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 reposi
tory (the modified file is saved in .#file.revision, however).
-d
Create any directories that exist in the repository if they're miss
ing from the working directory. Normally, update acts only on direc
tories and files that were already enrolled in your working direc
tory.
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 directo
ries you wanted on the command line), then updating with -d will cre
ate those directories, which may not be what you want.
-I name
Ignore files whose names match name (in your working directory) dur
ing 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 specifica
tion 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 modifica
tions 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 revi
sion 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 any
thing 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), rcsd
iff(1), rcsmerge(1), rlog(1).
CVS(1)
|
