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Code Editor : cvs.html

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<title>CVS&mdash;Concurrent Versions System v1.12.13</title>

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<h1 class="settitle" align="center">CVS&mdash;Concurrent Versions System v1.12.13</h1>

<h2 class="shortcontents-heading">Short Table of Contents</h2>

<div class="shortcontents">
<ul class="no-bullet">
<li><a id="stoc-Overview-1" href="#toc-Overview-1">1 Overview</a></li>
<li><a id="stoc-The-Repository" href="#toc-The-Repository">2 The Repository</a></li>
<li><a id="stoc-Starting-a-project-with-CVS" href="#toc-Starting-a-project-with-CVS">3 Starting a project with CVS</a></li>
<li><a id="stoc-Revisions-1" href="#toc-Revisions-1">4 Revisions</a></li>
<li><a id="stoc-Branching-and-merging-1" href="#toc-Branching-and-merging-1">5 Branching and merging</a></li>
<li><a id="stoc-Recursive-behavior-1" href="#toc-Recursive-behavior-1">6 Recursive behavior</a></li>
<li><a id="stoc-Adding_002c-removing_002c-and-renaming-files-and-directories" href="#toc-Adding_002c-removing_002c-and-renaming-files-and-directories">7 Adding, removing, and renaming files and directories</a></li>
<li><a id="stoc-History-browsing-1" href="#toc-History-browsing-1">8 History browsing</a></li>
<li><a id="stoc-Handling-binary-files" href="#toc-Handling-binary-files">9 Handling binary files</a></li>
<li><a id="stoc-Multiple-developers-1" href="#toc-Multiple-developers-1">10 Multiple developers</a></li>
<li><a id="stoc-Revision-management-1" href="#toc-Revision-management-1">11 Revision management</a></li>
<li><a id="stoc-Keyword-substitution-1" href="#toc-Keyword-substitution-1">12 Keyword substitution</a></li>
<li><a id="stoc-Tracking-third_002dparty-sources" href="#toc-Tracking-third_002dparty-sources">13 Tracking third-party sources</a></li>
<li><a id="stoc-How-your-build-system-interacts-with-CVS" href="#toc-How-your-build-system-interacts-with-CVS">14 How your build system interacts with CVS</a></li>
<li><a id="stoc-Special-Files-1" href="#toc-Special-Files-1">15 Special Files</a></li>
<li><a id="stoc-Guide-to-CVS-commands" href="#toc-Guide-to-CVS-commands">Appendix A Guide to CVS commands</a></li>
<li><a id="stoc-Quick-reference-to-CVS-commands" href="#toc-Quick-reference-to-CVS-commands">Appendix B Quick reference to CVS commands</a></li>
<li><a id="stoc-Reference-manual-for-Administrative-files" href="#toc-Reference-manual-for-Administrative-files">Appendix C Reference manual for Administrative files</a></li>
<li><a id="stoc-All-environment-variables-which-affect-CVS" href="#toc-All-environment-variables-which-affect-CVS">Appendix D All environment variables which affect CVS</a></li>
<li><a id="stoc-Compatibility-between-CVS-Versions" href="#toc-Compatibility-between-CVS-Versions">Appendix E Compatibility between CVS Versions</a></li>
<li><a id="stoc-Troubleshooting-1" href="#toc-Troubleshooting-1">Appendix F Troubleshooting</a></li>
<li><a id="stoc-Credits-1" href="#toc-Credits-1">Appendix G Credits</a></li>
<li><a id="stoc-Dealing-with-bugs-in-CVS-or-this-manual" href="#toc-Dealing-with-bugs-in-CVS-or-this-manual">Appendix H Dealing with bugs in CVS or this manual</a></li>
<li><a id="stoc-Alphabetical-list-of-all-CVS-commands" href="#toc-Alphabetical-list-of-all-CVS-commands">Appendix I Alphabetical list of all CVS commands</a></li>
<li><a id="stoc-Index-1" href="#toc-Index-1" rel="index">Index</a></li>
</ul>
</div>

<h2 class="contents-heading">Table of Contents</h2>

<ul class="no-bullet">
 <li><a id="toc-Overview-1" href="#Overview">1 Overview</a>
 <ul class="no-bullet">
 <li><a id="toc-What-is-CVS_003f-1" href="#What-is-CVS_003f">1.1 What is CVS?</a></li>
 <li><a id="toc-What-is-CVS-not_003f-1" href="#What-is-CVS-not_003f">1.2 What is CVS not?</a></li>
 <li><a id="toc-A-sample-session-1" href="#A-sample-session">1.3 A sample session</a>
 <ul class="no-bullet">
 <li><a id="toc-Getting-the-source-1" href="#Getting-the-source">1.3.1 Getting the source</a></li>
 <li><a id="toc-Committing-your-changes-1" href="#Committing-your-changes">1.3.2 Committing your changes</a></li>
 <li><a id="toc-Cleaning-up-1" href="#Cleaning-up">1.3.3 Cleaning up</a></li>
 <li><a id="toc-Viewing-differences-1" href="#Viewing-differences">1.3.4 Viewing differences</a></li>
 </ul></li>
 </ul></li>
 <li><a id="toc-The-Repository" href="#Repository">2 The Repository</a>
 <ul class="no-bullet">
 <li><a id="toc-Telling-CVS-where-your-repository-is" href="#Specifying-a-repository">2.1 Telling CVS where your repository is</a></li>
 <li><a id="toc-How-data-is-stored-in-the-repository" href="#Repository-storage">2.2 How data is stored in the repository</a>
 <ul class="no-bullet">
 <li><a id="toc-Where-files-are-stored-within-the-repository" href="#Repository-files">2.2.1 Where files are stored within the repository</a></li>
 <li><a id="toc-File-permissions-1" href="#File-permissions">2.2.2 File permissions</a></li>
 <li><a id="toc-File-Permission-issues-specific-to-Windows" href="#Windows-permissions">2.2.3 File Permission issues specific to Windows</a></li>
 <li><a id="toc-The-attic" href="#Attic">2.2.4 The attic</a></li>
 <li><a id="toc-The-CVS-directory-in-the-repository" href="#CVS-in-repository">2.2.5 The CVS directory in the repository</a></li>
 <li><a id="toc-CVS-locks-in-the-repository" href="#Locks">2.2.6 CVS locks in the repository</a></li>
 <li><a id="toc-How-files-are-stored-in-the-CVSROOT-directory" href="#CVSROOT-storage">2.2.7 How files are stored in the CVSROOT directory</a></li>
 </ul></li>
 <li><a id="toc-How-data-is-stored-in-the-working-directory" href="#Working-directory-storage">2.3 How data is stored in the working directory</a></li>
 <li><a id="toc-The-administrative-files" href="#Intro-administrative-files">2.4 The administrative files</a>
 <ul class="no-bullet">
 <li><a id="toc-Editing-administrative-files" href="#Editing-administrative-files">2.4.1 Editing administrative files</a></li>
 </ul></li>
 <li><a id="toc-Multiple-repositories-1" href="#Multiple-repositories">2.5 Multiple repositories</a></li>
 <li><a id="toc-Creating-a-repository-1" href="#Creating-a-repository">2.6 Creating a repository</a></li>
 <li><a id="toc-Backing-up-a-repository" href="#Backing-up">2.7 Backing up a repository</a></li>
 <li><a id="toc-Moving-a-repository-1" href="#Moving-a-repository">2.8 Moving a repository</a></li>
 <li><a id="toc-Remote-repositories-1" href="#Remote-repositories">2.9 Remote repositories</a>
 <ul class="no-bullet">
 <li><a id="toc-Server-requirements-1" href="#Server-requirements">2.9.1 Server requirements</a></li>
 <li><a id="toc-The-connection-method-1" href="#The-connection-method">2.9.2 The connection method</a></li>
 <li><a id="toc-Connecting-with-rsh" href="#Connecting-via-rsh">2.9.3 Connecting with rsh</a></li>
 <li><a id="toc-Direct-connection-with-password-authentication" href="#Password-authenticated">2.9.4 Direct connection with password authentication</a>
 <ul class="no-bullet">
 <li><a id="toc-Setting-up-the-server-for-password-authentication" href="#Password-authentication-server">2.9.4.1 Setting up the server for password authentication</a></li>
 <li><a id="toc-Using-the-client-with-password-authentication" href="#Password-authentication-client">2.9.4.2 Using the client with password authentication</a></li>
 <li><a id="toc-Security-considerations-with-password-authentication" href="#Password-authentication-security">2.9.4.3 Security considerations with password authentication</a></li>
 </ul></li>
 <li><a id="toc-Direct-connection-with-GSSAPI" href="#GSSAPI-authenticated">2.9.5 Direct connection with GSSAPI</a></li>
 <li><a id="toc-Direct-connection-with-Kerberos" href="#Kerberos-authenticated">2.9.6 Direct connection with Kerberos</a></li>
 <li><a id="toc-Connecting-with-fork" href="#Connecting-via-fork">2.9.7 Connecting with fork</a></li>
 <li><a id="toc-Distributing-load-across-several-CVS-servers" href="#Write-proxies">2.9.8 Distributing load across several CVS servers</a></li>
 </ul></li>
 <li><a id="toc-Read_002donly-repository-access" href="#Read_002donly-access">2.10 Read-only repository access</a></li>
 <li><a id="toc-Temporary-directories-for-the-server" href="#Server-temporary-directory">2.11 Temporary directories for the server</a></li>
 </ul></li>
 <li><a id="toc-Starting-a-project-with-CVS" href="#Starting-a-new-project">3 Starting a project with CVS</a>
 <ul class="no-bullet">
 <li><a id="toc-Setting-up-the-files-1" href="#Setting-up-the-files">3.1 Setting up the files</a>
 <ul class="no-bullet">
 <li><a id="toc-Creating-a-directory-tree-from-a-number-of-files" href="#From-files">3.1.1 Creating a directory tree from a number of files</a></li>
 <li><a id="toc-Creating-Files-From-Other-Version-Control-Systems" href="#From-other-version-control-systems">3.1.2 Creating Files From Other Version Control Systems</a></li>
 <li><a id="toc-Creating-a-directory-tree-from-scratch" href="#From-scratch">3.1.3 Creating a directory tree from scratch</a></li>
 </ul></li>
 <li><a id="toc-Defining-the-module-1" href="#Defining-the-module">3.2 Defining the module</a></li>
 </ul></li>
 <li><a id="toc-Revisions-1" href="#Revisions">4 Revisions</a>
 <ul class="no-bullet">
 <li><a id="toc-Revision-numbers-1" href="#Revision-numbers">4.1 Revision numbers</a></li>
 <li><a id="toc-Versions_002c-revisions-and-releases" href="#Versions-revisions-releases">4.2 Versions, revisions and releases</a></li>
 <li><a id="toc-Assigning-revisions-1" href="#Assigning-revisions">4.3 Assigning revisions</a></li>
 <li><a id="toc-Tags_002d_002dSymbolic-revisions" href="#Tags">4.4 Tags&ndash;Symbolic revisions</a></li>
 <li><a id="toc-Specifying-what-to-tag-from-the-working-directory" href="#Tagging-the-working-directory">4.5 Specifying what to tag from the working directory</a></li>
 <li><a id="toc-Specifying-what-to-tag-by-date-or-revision" href="#Tagging-by-date_002ftag">4.6 Specifying what to tag by date or revision</a></li>
 <li><a id="toc-Deleting_002c-moving_002c-and-renaming-tags" href="#Modifying-tags">4.7 Deleting, moving, and renaming tags</a></li>
 <li><a id="toc-Tagging-and-adding-and-removing-files" href="#Tagging-add_002fremove">4.8 Tagging and adding and removing files</a></li>
 <li><a id="toc-Sticky-tags-1" href="#Sticky-tags">4.9 Sticky tags</a></li>
 </ul></li>
 <li><a id="toc-Branching-and-merging-1" href="#Branching-and-merging">5 Branching and merging</a>
 <ul class="no-bullet">
 <li><a id="toc-What-branches-are-good-for" href="#Branches-motivation">5.1 What branches are good for</a></li>
 <li><a id="toc-Creating-a-branch-1" href="#Creating-a-branch">5.2 Creating a branch</a></li>
 <li><a id="toc-Accessing-branches-1" href="#Accessing-branches">5.3 Accessing branches</a></li>
 <li><a id="toc-Branches-and-revisions-1" href="#Branches-and-revisions">5.4 Branches and revisions</a></li>
 <li><a id="toc-Magic-branch-numbers-1" href="#Magic-branch-numbers">5.5 Magic branch numbers</a></li>
 <li><a id="toc-Merging-an-entire-branch" href="#Merging-a-branch">5.6 Merging an entire branch</a></li>
 <li><a id="toc-Merging-from-a-branch-several-times" href="#Merging-more-than-once">5.7 Merging from a branch several times</a></li>
 <li><a id="toc-Merging-differences-between-any-two-revisions" href="#Merging-two-revisions">5.8 Merging differences between any two revisions</a></li>
 <li><a id="toc-Merging-can-add-or-remove-files" href="#Merging-adds-and-removals">5.9 Merging can add or remove files</a></li>
 <li><a id="toc-Merging-and-keywords-1" href="#Merging-and-keywords">5.10 Merging and keywords</a></li>
 </ul></li>
 <li><a id="toc-Recursive-behavior-1" href="#Recursive-behavior">6 Recursive behavior</a></li>
 <li><a id="toc-Adding_002c-removing_002c-and-renaming-files-and-directories" href="#Adding-and-removing">7 Adding, removing, and renaming files and directories</a>
 <ul class="no-bullet">
 <li><a id="toc-Adding-files-to-a-directory" href="#Adding-files">7.1 Adding files to a directory</a></li>
 <li><a id="toc-Removing-files-1" href="#Removing-files">7.2 Removing files</a></li>
 <li><a id="toc-Removing-directories-1" href="#Removing-directories">7.3 Removing directories</a></li>
 <li><a id="toc-Moving-and-renaming-files" href="#Moving-files">7.4 Moving and renaming files</a>
 <ul class="no-bullet">
 <li><a id="toc-The-Normal-way-to-Rename" href="#Outside">7.4.1 The Normal way to Rename</a></li>
 <li><a id="toc-Moving-the-history-file" href="#Inside">7.4.2 Moving the history file</a></li>
 <li><a id="toc-Copying-the-history-file" href="#Rename-by-copying">7.4.3 Copying the history file</a></li>
 </ul></li>
 <li><a id="toc-Moving-and-renaming-directories" href="#Moving-directories">7.5 Moving and renaming directories</a></li>
 </ul></li>
 <li><a id="toc-History-browsing-1" href="#History-browsing">8 History browsing</a>
 <ul class="no-bullet">
 <li><a id="toc-Log-messages" href="#log-messages">8.1 Log messages</a></li>
 <li><a id="toc-The-history-database" href="#history-database">8.2 The history database</a></li>
 <li><a id="toc-User_002ddefined-logging" href="#user_002ddefined-logging">8.3 User-defined logging</a></li>
 </ul></li>
 <li><a id="toc-Handling-binary-files" href="#Binary-files">9 Handling binary files</a>
 <ul class="no-bullet">
 <li><a id="toc-The-issues-with-binary-files" href="#Binary-why">9.1 The issues with binary files</a></li>
 <li><a id="toc-How-to-store-binary-files" href="#Binary-howto">9.2 How to store binary files</a></li>
 </ul></li>
 <li><a id="toc-Multiple-developers-1" href="#Multiple-developers">10 Multiple developers</a>
 <ul class="no-bullet">
 <li><a id="toc-File-status-1" href="#File-status">10.1 File status</a></li>
 <li><a id="toc-Bringing-a-file-up-to-date" href="#Updating-a-file">10.2 Bringing a file up to date</a></li>
 <li><a id="toc-Conflicts-example-1" href="#Conflicts-example">10.3 Conflicts example</a></li>
 <li><a id="toc-Informing-others-about-commits" href="#Informing-others">10.4 Informing others about commits</a></li>
 <li><a id="toc-Several-developers-simultaneously-attempting-to-run-CVS" href="#Concurrency">10.5 Several developers simultaneously attempting to run CVS</a></li>
 <li><a id="toc-Mechanisms-to-track-who-is-editing-files" href="#Watches">10.6 Mechanisms to track who is editing files</a>
 <ul class="no-bullet">
 <li><a id="toc-Telling-CVS-to-watch-certain-files" href="#Setting-a-watch">10.6.1 Telling CVS to watch certain files</a></li>
 <li><a id="toc-Telling-CVS-to-notify-you" href="#Getting-Notified">10.6.2 Telling CVS to notify you</a></li>
 <li><a id="toc-How-to-edit-a-file-which-is-being-watched" href="#Editing-files">10.6.3 How to edit a file which is being watched</a></li>
 <li><a id="toc-Information-about-who-is-watching-and-editing" href="#Watch-information">10.6.4 Information about who is watching and editing</a></li>
 <li><a id="toc-Using-watches-with-old-versions-of-CVS" href="#Watches-Compatibility">10.6.5 Using watches with old versions of CVS</a></li>
 </ul></li>
 <li><a id="toc-Choosing-between-reserved-or-unreserved-checkouts" href="#Choosing-a-model">10.7 Choosing between reserved or unreserved checkouts</a></li>
 </ul></li>
 <li><a id="toc-Revision-management-1" href="#Revision-management">11 Revision management</a>
 <ul class="no-bullet">
 <li><a id="toc-When-to-commit_003f" href="#When-to-commit">11.1 When to commit?</a></li>
 </ul></li>
 <li><a id="toc-Keyword-substitution-1" href="#Keyword-substitution">12 Keyword substitution</a>
 <ul class="no-bullet">
 <li><a id="toc-Keyword-List" href="#Keyword-list">12.1 Keyword List</a></li>
 <li><a id="toc-Using-keywords-1" href="#Using-keywords">12.2 Using keywords</a></li>
 <li><a id="toc-Avoiding-substitution-1" href="#Avoiding-substitution">12.3 Avoiding substitution</a></li>
 <li><a id="toc-Substitution-modes-1" href="#Substitution-modes">12.4 Substitution modes</a></li>
 <li><a id="toc-Configuring-Keyword-Expansion" href="#Configuring-keyword-expansion">12.5 Configuring Keyword Expansion</a></li>
 <li><a id="toc-Problems-with-the-_0024Log_0024-keyword_002e" href="#Log-keyword">12.6 Problems with the $Log$ keyword.</a></li>
 </ul></li>
 <li><a id="toc-Tracking-third_002dparty-sources" href="#Tracking-sources">13 Tracking third-party sources</a>
 <ul class="no-bullet">
 <li><a id="toc-Importing-for-the-first-time" href="#First-import">13.1 Importing for the first time</a></li>
 <li><a id="toc-Updating-with-the-import-command" href="#Update-imports">13.2 Updating with the import command</a></li>
 <li><a id="toc-Reverting-to-the-latest-vendor-release" href="#Reverting-local-changes">13.3 Reverting to the latest vendor release</a></li>
 <li><a id="toc-How-to-handle-binary-files-with-cvs-import" href="#Binary-files-in-imports">13.4 How to handle binary files with cvs import</a></li>
 <li><a id="toc-How-to-handle-keyword-substitution-with-cvs-import" href="#Keywords-in-imports">13.5 How to handle keyword substitution with cvs import</a></li>
 <li><a id="toc-Multiple-vendor-branches-1" href="#Multiple-vendor-branches">13.6 Multiple vendor branches</a></li>
 </ul></li>
 <li><a id="toc-How-your-build-system-interacts-with-CVS" href="#Builds">14 How your build system interacts with CVS</a></li>
 <li><a id="toc-Special-Files-1" href="#Special-Files">15 Special Files</a></li>
 <li><a id="toc-Guide-to-CVS-commands" href="#CVS-commands">Appendix A Guide to CVS commands</a>
 <ul class="no-bullet">
 <li><a id="toc-Overall-structure-of-CVS-commands" href="#Structure">A.1 Overall structure of CVS commands</a></li>
 <li><a id="toc-CVS_0027s-exit-status" href="#Exit-status">A.2 CVS&rsquo;s exit status</a></li>
 <li><a id="toc-Default-options-and-the-_007e_002f_002ecvsrc-file" href="#g_t_007e_002f_002ecvsrc">A.3 Default options and the ~/.cvsrc file</a></li>
 <li><a id="toc-Global-options-1" href="#Global-options">A.4 Global options</a></li>
 <li><a id="toc-Common-command-options" href="#Common-options">A.5 Common command options</a></li>
 <li><a id="toc-Date-input-formats-1" href="#Date-input-formats">A.6 Date input formats</a>
 <ul class="no-bullet">
 <li><a id="toc-General-date-syntax-1" href="#General-date-syntax">A.6.1 General date syntax</a></li>
 <li><a id="toc-Calendar-date-items-1" href="#Calendar-date-items">A.6.2 Calendar date items</a></li>
 <li><a id="toc-Time-of-day-items-1" href="#Time-of-day-items">A.6.3 Time of day items</a></li>
 <li><a id="toc-Time-zone-items-1" href="#Time-zone-items">A.6.4 Time zone items</a></li>
 <li><a id="toc-Day-of-week-items-1" href="#Day-of-week-items">A.6.5 Day of week items</a></li>
 <li><a id="toc-Relative-items-in-date-strings-1" href="#Relative-items-in-date-strings">A.6.6 Relative items in date strings</a></li>
 <li><a id="toc-Pure-numbers-in-date-strings-1" href="#Pure-numbers-in-date-strings">A.6.7 Pure numbers in date strings</a></li>
 <li><a id="toc-Seconds-since-the-Epoch-1" href="#Seconds-since-the-Epoch">A.6.8 Seconds since the Epoch</a></li>
 <li><a id="toc-Authors-of-get_005fdate-1" href="#Authors-of-get_005fdate">A.6.9 Authors of <code>get_date</code></a></li>
 </ul></li>
 <li><a id="toc-admin_002d_002d_002dAdministration-front_002dend-for-RCS" href="#admin">A.7 admin&mdash;Administration front-end for RCS</a>
 <ul class="no-bullet">
 <li><a id="toc-admin-options-1" href="#admin-options">A.7.1 admin options</a></li>
 </ul></li>
 <li><a id="toc-annotate_002d_002d_002dWhat-revision-modified-each-line-of-a-file_003f" href="#annotate">A.8 annotate&mdash;What revision modified each line of a file?</a>
 <ul class="no-bullet">
 <li><a id="toc-annotate-options-1" href="#annotate-options">A.8.1 annotate options</a></li>
 <li><a id="toc-annotate-example-1" href="#annotate-example">A.8.2 annotate example</a></li>
 </ul></li>
 <li><a id="toc-checkout_002d_002d_002dCheck-out-sources-for-editing" href="#checkout">A.9 checkout&mdash;Check out sources for editing</a>
 <ul class="no-bullet">
 <li><a id="toc-checkout-options-1" href="#checkout-options">A.9.1 checkout options</a></li>
 <li><a id="toc-checkout-examples-1" href="#checkout-examples">A.9.2 checkout examples</a></li>
 </ul></li>
 <li><a id="toc-commit_002d_002d_002dCheck-files-into-the-repository" href="#commit">A.10 commit&mdash;Check files into the repository</a>
 <ul class="no-bullet">
 <li><a id="toc-commit-options-1" href="#commit-options">A.10.1 commit options</a></li>
 <li><a id="toc-commit-examples-1" href="#commit-examples">A.10.2 commit examples</a>
 <ul class="no-bullet">
 <li><a id="toc-Committing-to-a-branch" href="#Committing-to-a-branch">A.10.2.1 Committing to a branch</a></li>
 <li><a id="toc-Creating-the-branch-after-editing" href="#Creating-the-branch-after-editing">A.10.2.2 Creating the branch after editing</a></li>
 </ul></li>
 </ul></li>
 <li><a id="toc-diff_002d_002d_002dShow-differences-between-revisions" href="#diff">A.11 diff&mdash;Show differences between revisions</a>
 <ul class="no-bullet">
 <li><a id="toc-diff-options-1" href="#diff-options">A.11.1 diff options</a>
 <ul class="no-bullet">
 <li><a id="toc-Line-group-formats-1" href="#Line-group-formats">A.11.1.1 Line group formats</a></li>
 <li><a id="toc-Line-formats-1" href="#Line-formats">A.11.1.2 Line formats</a></li>
 </ul></li>
 <li><a id="toc-diff-examples-1" href="#diff-examples">A.11.2 diff examples</a></li>
 </ul></li>
 <li><a id="toc-export_002d_002d_002dExport-sources-from-CVS_002c-similar-to-checkout" href="#export">A.12 export&mdash;Export sources from CVS, similar to checkout</a>
 <ul class="no-bullet">
 <li><a id="toc-export-options-1" href="#export-options">A.12.1 export options</a></li>
 </ul></li>
 <li><a id="toc-history_002d_002d_002dShow-repository-access-history" href="#history">A.13 history&mdash;Show repository access history</a>
 <ul class="no-bullet">
 <li><a id="toc-history-options-1" href="#history-options">A.13.1 history options</a></li>
 </ul></li>
 <li><a id="toc-import_002d_002d_002dImport-sources-into-CVS_002c-using-vendor-branches" href="#import">A.14 import&mdash;Import sources into CVS, using vendor branches</a>
 <ul class="no-bullet">
 <li><a id="toc-import-options-1" href="#import-options">A.14.1 import options</a></li>
 <li><a id="toc-import-output-1" href="#import-output">A.14.2 import output</a></li>
 <li><a id="toc-import-examples-1" href="#import-examples">A.14.3 import examples</a></li>
 </ul></li>
 <li><a id="toc-log_002d_002d_002dPrint-out-history-information-for-files" href="#log">A.15 log&mdash;Print out history information for files</a>
 <ul class="no-bullet">
 <li><a id="toc-log-options-1" href="#log-options">A.15.1 log options</a></li>
 <li><a id="toc-log-examples-1" href="#log-examples">A.15.2 log examples</a></li>
 </ul></li>
 <li><a id="toc-ls-_0026-rls_002d_002d_002dList-files-in-the-repository" href="#ls-_0026-rls">A.16 ls &amp; rls&mdash;List files in the repository</a>
 <ul class="no-bullet">
 <li><a id="toc-ls-_0026-rls-options-1" href="#ls-_0026-rls-options">A.16.1 ls &amp; rls options</a></li>
 <li><a id="toc-rls-examples-1" href="#rls-examples">A.16.2 rls examples</a></li>
 </ul></li>
 <li><a id="toc-rdiff_002d_002d_002dCreate-_0027patch_0027-format-diffs-between-revisions" href="#rdiff">A.17 rdiff&mdash;Create &rsquo;patch&rsquo; format diffs between revisions</a>
 <ul class="no-bullet">
 <li><a id="toc-rdiff-options-1" href="#rdiff-options">A.17.1 rdiff options</a></li>
 <li><a id="toc-rdiff-examples-1" href="#rdiff-examples">A.17.2 rdiff examples</a></li>
 </ul></li>
 <li><a id="toc-release_002d_002d_002dIndicate-that-a-directory-is-no-longer-in-use" href="#release">A.18 release&mdash;Indicate that a directory is no longer in use</a>
 <ul class="no-bullet">
 <li><a id="toc-release-options-1" href="#release-options">A.18.1 release options</a></li>
 <li><a id="toc-release-output-1" href="#release-output">A.18.2 release output</a></li>
 <li><a id="toc-release-examples-1" href="#release-examples">A.18.3 release examples</a></li>
 </ul></li>
 <li><a id="toc-server-_0026-pserver_002d_002d_002dAct-as-a-server-for-a-client-on-stdin_002fstdout" href="#server-_0026-pserver">A.19 server &amp; pserver&mdash;Act as a server for a client on stdin/stdout</a></li>
 <li><a id="toc-suck_002d_002d_002dDownload-RCS-_002cv-file-raw" href="#suck">A.20 suck&mdash;Download RCS ,v file raw</a></li>
 <li><a id="toc-update_002d_002d_002dBring-work-tree-in-sync-with-repository" href="#update">A.21 update&mdash;Bring work tree in sync with repository</a>
 <ul class="no-bullet">
 <li><a id="toc-update-options-1" href="#update-options">A.21.1 update options</a></li>
 <li><a id="toc-update-output-1" href="#update-output">A.21.2 update output</a></li>
 </ul></li>
 </ul></li>
 <li><a id="toc-Quick-reference-to-CVS-commands" href="#Invoking-CVS">Appendix B Quick reference to CVS commands</a></li>
 <li><a id="toc-Reference-manual-for-Administrative-files" href="#Administrative-files">Appendix C Reference manual for Administrative files</a>
 <ul class="no-bullet">
 <li><a id="toc-The-modules-file" href="#modules">C.1 The modules file</a>
 <ul class="no-bullet">
 <li><a id="toc-Alias-modules-1" href="#Alias-modules">C.1.1 Alias modules</a></li>
 <li><a id="toc-Regular-modules-1" href="#Regular-modules">C.1.2 Regular modules</a></li>
 <li><a id="toc-Ampersand-modules-1" href="#Ampersand-modules">C.1.3 Ampersand modules</a></li>
 <li><a id="toc-Excluding-directories-1" href="#Excluding-directories">C.1.4 Excluding directories</a></li>
 <li><a id="toc-Module-options-1" href="#Module-options">C.1.5 Module options</a></li>
 <li><a id="toc-How-the-modules-file-_0060_0060program-options_0027_0027-programs-are-run" href="#Module-program-options">C.1.6 How the modules file &ldquo;program options&rdquo; programs are run</a></li>
 </ul></li>
 <li><a id="toc-The-cvswrappers-file" href="#Wrappers">C.2 The cvswrappers file</a></li>
 <li><a id="toc-The-Trigger-Scripts" href="#Trigger-Scripts">C.3 The Trigger Scripts</a>
 <ul class="no-bullet">
 <li><a id="toc-The-common-syntax" href="#syntax">C.3.1 The common syntax</a></li>
 <li><a id="toc-Security-and-the-Trigger-Scripts" href="#Trigger-Script-Security">C.3.2 Security and the Trigger Scripts</a></li>
 <li><a id="toc-The-commit-support-files" href="#commit-files">C.3.3 The commit support files</a>
 <ul class="no-bullet">
 <li><a id="toc-Updating-legacy-repositories-to-stop-using-deprecated-command-line-template-formats" href="#Updating-Commit-Files">C.3.3.1 Updating legacy repositories to stop using deprecated command line template formats</a></li>
 </ul></li>
 <li><a id="toc-Commitinfo" href="#commitinfo">C.3.4 Commitinfo</a></li>
 <li><a id="toc-Verifying-log-messages" href="#verifymsg">C.3.5 Verifying log messages</a>
 <ul class="no-bullet">
 <li><a id="toc-Verifying-log-messages-1" href="#verifymsg-example">C.3.5.1 Verifying log messages</a></li>
 </ul></li>
 <li><a id="toc-Loginfo" href="#loginfo">C.3.6 Loginfo</a>
 <ul class="no-bullet">
 <li><a id="toc-Loginfo-example" href="#loginfo-example">C.3.6.1 Loginfo example</a></li>
 <li><a id="toc-Keeping-a-checked-out-copy-1" href="#Keeping-a-checked-out-copy">C.3.6.2 Keeping a checked out copy</a></li>
 </ul></li>
 <li><a id="toc-Logging-admin-commands" href="#postadmin">C.3.7 Logging admin commands</a></li>
 <li><a id="toc-Taginfo" href="#taginfo">C.3.8 Taginfo</a></li>
 <li><a id="toc-Logging-tags" href="#posttag">C.3.9 Logging tags</a></li>
 <li><a id="toc-Logging-watch-commands" href="#postwatch">C.3.10 Logging watch commands</a></li>
 <li><a id="toc-Launch-a-Script-before-Proxying" href="#preproxy">C.3.11 Launch a Script before Proxying</a></li>
 <li><a id="toc-Launch-a-Script-after-Proxying" href="#postproxy">C.3.12 Launch a Script after Proxying</a></li>
 </ul></li>
 <li><a id="toc-Rcsinfo" href="#rcsinfo">C.4 Rcsinfo</a></li>
 <li><a id="toc-Ignoring-files-via-cvsignore" href="#cvsignore">C.5 Ignoring files via cvsignore</a></li>
 <li><a id="toc-The-checkoutlist-file" href="#checkoutlist">C.6 The checkoutlist file</a></li>
 <li><a id="toc-The-history-file" href="#history-file">C.7 The history file</a></li>
 <li><a id="toc-Expansions-in-administrative-files" href="#Variables">C.8 Expansions in administrative files</a></li>
 <li><a id="toc-The-CVSROOT_002fconfig-configuration-file" href="#config">C.9 The CVSROOT/config configuration file</a></li>
 </ul></li>
 <li><a id="toc-All-environment-variables-which-affect-CVS" href="#Environment-variables">Appendix D All environment variables which affect CVS</a></li>
 <li><a id="toc-Compatibility-between-CVS-Versions" href="#Compatibility">Appendix E Compatibility between CVS Versions</a></li>
 <li><a id="toc-Troubleshooting-1" href="#Troubleshooting">Appendix F Troubleshooting</a>
 <ul class="no-bullet">
 <li><a id="toc-Partial-list-of-error-messages" href="#Error-messages">F.1 Partial list of error messages</a></li>
 <li><a id="toc-Trouble-making-a-connection-to-a-CVS-server" href="#Connection">F.2 Trouble making a connection to a CVS server</a></li>
 <li><a id="toc-Other-common-problems" href="#Other-problems">F.3 Other common problems</a></li>
 </ul></li>
 <li><a id="toc-Credits-1" href="#Credits">Appendix G Credits</a></li>
 <li><a id="toc-Dealing-with-bugs-in-CVS-or-this-manual" href="#BUGS">Appendix H Dealing with bugs in CVS or this manual</a></li>
 <li><a id="toc-Alphabetical-list-of-all-CVS-commands" href="#CVS-command-list">Appendix I Alphabetical list of all CVS commands</a></li>
 <li><a id="toc-Index-1" href="#Index" rel="index">Index</a></li>
</ul>
</div>

<div class="header">

Next: <a href="#Overview" accesskey="n" rel="next">Overview</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>

This info manual describes how to use and administer
CVS version 1.12.13-MirOS-0AB9.1 and up.

<table class="menu" border="0" cellspacing="0">
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#Overview" accesskey="1">Overview</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">An introduction to CVS
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#Repository" accesskey="2">Repository</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">Where all your sources are stored
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#Starting-a-new-project" accesskey="3">Starting a new project</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">Starting a project with CVS
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#Revisions" accesskey="4">Revisions</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">Numeric and symbolic names for revisions
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#Branching-and-merging" accesskey="5">Branching and merging</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">Diverging/rejoining branches of development
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#Recursive-behavior" accesskey="6">Recursive behavior</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">CVS descends directories
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#Adding-and-removing" accesskey="7">Adding and removing</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">Adding/removing/renaming files/directories
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#History-browsing" accesskey="8">History browsing</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">Viewing the history of files in various ways
</td></tr>
<tr><th colspan="3" align="left" valign="top"><pre class="menu-comment">

CVS and the Real World.
&mdash;&mdash;&mdash;&mdash;&mdash;&mdash;&mdash;&ndash;
</pre></th></tr><tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#Binary-files" accesskey="9">Binary files</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">CVS can handle binary files
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#Multiple-developers">Multiple developers</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">How CVS helps a group of developers
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#Revision-management">Revision management</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">Policy questions for revision management
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#Keyword-substitution">Keyword substitution</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">CVS can include the revision inside the file
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#Tracking-sources">Tracking sources</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">Tracking third-party sources
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#Builds">Builds</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">Issues related to CVS and builds
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#Special-Files">Special Files</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">Devices, links and other non-regular files
</td></tr>
<tr><th colspan="3" align="left" valign="top"><pre class="menu-comment">

References.
&mdash;&mdash;&mdash;&ndash;
</pre></th></tr><tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#CVS-commands">CVS commands</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">CVS commands share some things
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#Invoking-CVS">Invoking CVS</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">Quick reference to CVS commands
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#Administrative-files">Administrative files</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">Reference manual for the Administrative files
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#Environment-variables">Environment variables</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">All environment variables which affect CVS
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#Compatibility">Compatibility</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">Upgrading CVS versions
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#Troubleshooting">Troubleshooting</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">Some tips when nothing works
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#Credits">Credits</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">Some of the contributors to this manual
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#BUGS">BUGS</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">Dealing with bugs in CVS or this manual
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#CVS-command-list">CVS command list</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">Alphabetical list of all CVS commands
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#Index" rel="index">Index</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">Index
</td></tr>
</table>

<hr>
<div class="header">

Next: <a href="#Repository" accesskey="n" rel="next">Repository</a>, Previous: <a href="#Top" accesskey="p" rel="prev">Top</a>, Up: <a href="#Top" accesskey="u" rel="up">Top</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h2 class="chapter">1 Overview</h2>

This chapter is for people who have never used
CVS, and perhaps have never used version control
software before.

If you are already familiar with CVS and are just
trying to learn a particular feature or remember a
certain command, you can probably skip everything here.

<table class="menu" border="0" cellspacing="0">
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#What-is-CVS_003f" accesskey="1">What is CVS?</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">What you can do with CVS
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#What-is-CVS-not_003f" accesskey="2">What is CVS not?</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">Problems CVS doesn&rsquo;t try to solve
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#A-sample-session" accesskey="3">A sample session</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">A tour of basic CVS usage
</td></tr>
</table>

<hr>
<div class="header">

Next: <a href="#What-is-CVS-not_003f" accesskey="n" rel="next">What is CVS not?</a>, Up: <a href="#Overview" accesskey="u" rel="up">Overview</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h3 class="section">1.1 What is CVS?</h3>

CVS is a version control system. Using it, you can
record the history of your source files.

For example, bugs sometimes creep in when
software is modified, and you might not detect the bug
until a long time after you make the modification.
With CVS, you can easily retrieve old versions to see
exactly which change caused the bug. This can
sometimes be a big help.

You could of course save every version of every file
you have ever created. This would
however waste an enormous amount of disk space. CVS
stores all the versions of a file in a single file in a
clever way that only stores the differences between
versions.

CVS also helps you if you are part of a group of people working
on the same project. It is all too easy to overwrite
each others&rsquo; changes unless you are extremely careful.
Some editors, like GNU Emacs, try to make sure that
two people never modify the same file at the
same time. Unfortunately, if someone is using another
editor, that safeguard will not work. CVS solves this problem
by insulating the different developers from each other. Every
developer works in his own directory, and CVS merges
the work when each developer is done.





CVS started out as a bunch of shell scripts written by
Dick Grune, posted to the newsgroup
<code>comp.sources.unix</code> in the volume 6
release of July, 1986. While no actual code from
these shell scripts is present in the current version
of CVS much of the CVS conflict resolution algorithms
come from them.

In April, 1989, Brian Berliner designed and coded CVS.
Jeff Polk later helped Brian with the design of the CVS
module and vendor branch support.


You can get CVS in a variety of ways, including
free download from the Internet. For more information
on downloading CVS and other CVS topics, see:

<div class="example">
<pre class="example"><a href="http://cvs.nongnu.org/">http://cvs.nongnu.org/</a>
</pre></div>

There is a mailing list, known as <a href="mailto:info-cvs@nongnu.org">info-cvs@nongnu.org</a>,
devoted to CVS. To subscribe or
unsubscribe
write to
<a href="mailto:info-cvs-request@nongnu.org">info-cvs-request@nongnu.org</a>.
If you prefer a Usenet group, there is a one-way mirror (posts to the email
list are usually sent to the news group, but not visa versa) of
<a href="mailto:info-cvs@nongnu.org">info-cvs@nongnu.org</a> at <a href="news:gnu.cvs.help">news:gnu.cvs.help</a>. The right
Usenet group for posts is <a href="news:comp.software.config-mgmt">news:comp.software.config-mgmt</a> which is for
CVS discussions (along with other configuration
management systems). In the future, it might be
possible to create a
<code>comp.software.config-mgmt.cvs</code>, but probably only
if there is sufficient CVS traffic on
<a href="news:comp.software.config-mgmt">news:comp.software.config-mgmt</a>.

You can also subscribe to the <a href="mailto:bug-cvs@nongnu.org">bug-cvs@nongnu.org</a> mailing list,
described in more detail in <a href="#BUGS">BUGS</a>. To subscribe
send mail to <a href="mailto:bug-cvs-request@nongnu.org">bug-cvs-request@nongnu.org</a>. There is a two-way
Usenet mirror (posts to the Usenet group are usually sent to the email list and
visa versa) of <a href="mailto:bug-cvs@nongnu.org">bug-cvs@nongnu.org</a> named <a href="news:gnu.cvs.bug">news:gnu.cvs.bug</a>.

<hr>
<div class="header">

Next: <a href="#A-sample-session" accesskey="n" rel="next">A sample session</a>, Previous: <a href="#What-is-CVS_003f" accesskey="p" rel="prev">What is CVS?</a>, Up: <a href="#Overview" accesskey="u" rel="up">Overview</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h3 class="section">1.2 What is CVS not?</h3>

CVS can do a lot of things for you, but it does
not try to be everything for everyone.

<dl compact="compact">
<dt>CVS is not a build system.</dt>
<dd>
Though the structure of your repository and modules
file interact with your build system
(e.g. <samp>Makefile</samp>s), they are essentially
independent.

CVS does not dictate how you build anything. It
merely stores files for retrieval in a tree structure
you devise.

CVS does not dictate how to use disk space in the
checked out working directories. If you write your
<samp>Makefile</samp>s or scripts in every directory so they
have to know the relative positions of everything else,
you wind up requiring the entire repository to be
checked out.

If you modularise your work, and construct a build
system that will share files (via links, mounts,
<code>VPATH</code> in <samp>Makefile</samp>s, etc.), you can
arrange your disk usage however you like.

But you have to remember that any such system is
a lot of work to construct and maintain. CVS does
not address the issues involved.

Of course, you should place the tools created to
support such a build system (scripts, <samp>Makefile</samp>s,
etc) under CVS.

Figuring out what files need to be rebuilt when
something changes is, again, something to be handled
outside the scope of CVS. One traditional
approach is to use <code>make</code> for building, and use
some automated tool for generating the dependencies which
<code>make</code> uses.

See <a href="#Builds">Builds</a>, for more information on doing builds
in conjunction with CVS.

</dd>
<dt>CVS is not a substitute for management.</dt>
<dd>
Your managers and project leaders are expected to talk
to you frequently enough to make certain you are aware
of schedules, merge points, branch names and release
dates. If they don&rsquo;t, CVS can&rsquo;t help.

CVS is an instrument for making sources dance to
your tune. But you are the piper and the composer. No
instrument plays itself or writes its own music.

</dd>
<dt>CVS is not a substitute for developer communication.</dt>
<dd>
When faced with conflicts within a single file, most
developers manage to resolve them without too much
effort. But a more general definition of &ldquo;conflict&rdquo;
includes problems too difficult to solve without
communication between developers.

CVS cannot determine when simultaneous changes
within a single file, or across a whole collection of
files, will logically conflict with one another. Its
concept of a conflict is purely textual, arising
when two changes to the same base file are near enough
to spook the merge (i.e. <code>diff3</code>) command.

CVS does not claim to help at all in figuring out
non-textual or distributed conflicts in program logic.

For example: Say you change the arguments to function
<code>X</code> defined in file <samp>A</samp>. At the same time,
someone edits file <samp>B</samp>, adding new calls to
function <code>X</code> using the old arguments. You are
outside the realm of CVS&rsquo;s competence.

Acquire the habit of reading specs and talking to your
peers.

</dd>
<dt>CVS does not have change control</dt>
<dd>
Change control refers to a number of things. First of
all it can mean bug-tracking, that is being able
to keep a database of reported bugs and the status of
each one (is it fixed? in what release? has the bug
submitter agreed that it is fixed?). For interfacing
CVS to an external bug-tracking system, see the
<samp>rcsinfo</samp> and <samp>verifymsg</samp> files
(see <a href="#Administrative-files">Administrative files</a>).

Another aspect of change control is keeping track of
the fact that changes to several files were in fact
changed together as one logical change. If you check
in several files in a single <code>cvs commit</code>
operation, CVS then forgets that those files were
checked in together, and the fact that they have the
same log message is the only thing tying them
together. Keeping a GNU style <samp>ChangeLog</samp>
can help somewhat.

Another aspect of change control, in some systems, is
the ability to keep track of the status of each
change. Some changes have been written by a developer,
others have been reviewed by a second developer, and so
on. Generally, the way to do this with CVS is to
generate a diff (using <code>cvs diff</code> or <code>diff</code>)
and email it to someone who can then apply it using the
<code>patch</code> utility. This is very flexible, but
depends on mechanisms outside CVS to make sure
nothing falls through the cracks.

</dd>
<dt>CVS is not an automated testing program</dt>
<dd>
It should be possible to enforce mandatory use of a
test suite using the <code>commitinfo</code> file. I haven&rsquo;t
heard a lot about projects trying to do that or whether
there are subtle gotchas, however.

</dd>
<dt>CVS does not have a built-in process model</dt>
<dd>
Some systems provide ways to ensure that changes or
releases go through various steps, with various
approvals as needed. Generally, one can accomplish
this with CVS but it might be a little more work.
In some cases you&rsquo;ll want to use the <samp>commitinfo</samp>,
<samp>loginfo</samp>, <samp>rcsinfo</samp>, or <samp>verifymsg</samp>
files, to require that certain steps be performed
before cvs will allow a checkin. Also consider whether
features such as branches and tags can be used to
perform tasks such as doing work in a development tree
and then merging certain changes over to a stable tree
only once they have been proven.
</dd>
</dl>

<hr>
<div class="header">

Previous: <a href="#What-is-CVS-not_003f" accesskey="p" rel="prev">What is CVS not?</a>, Up: <a href="#Overview" accesskey="u" rel="up">Overview</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h3 class="section">1.3 A sample session</h3>

As a way of introducing CVS, we&rsquo;ll go through a
typical work-session using CVS. The first thing
to understand is that CVS stores all files in a
centralised repository (see <a href="#Repository">Repository</a>); this
section assumes that a repository is set up.

Suppose you are working on a simple compiler. The source
consists of a handful of C files and a <samp>Makefile</samp>.
The compiler is called &lsquo;<samp>tc</samp>&rsquo; (Trivial Compiler),
and the repository is set up so that there is a module
called &lsquo;<samp>tc</samp>&rsquo;.

<table class="menu" border="0" cellspacing="0">
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#Getting-the-source" accesskey="1">Getting the source</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">Creating a workspace
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#Committing-your-changes" accesskey="2">Committing your changes</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">Making your work available to others
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#Cleaning-up" accesskey="3">Cleaning up</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">Cleaning up
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#Viewing-differences" accesskey="4">Viewing differences</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">Viewing differences
</td></tr>
</table>

<hr>
<div class="header">

Next: <a href="#Committing-your-changes" accesskey="n" rel="next">Committing your changes</a>, Up: <a href="#A-sample-session" accesskey="u" rel="up">A sample session</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h4 class="subsection">1.3.1 Getting the source</h4>

The first thing you must do is to get your own working copy of the
source for &lsquo;<samp>tc</samp>&rsquo;. For this, you use the <code>checkout</code> command:

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">$ cvs checkout tc
</pre></div>

This will create a new directory called <samp>tc</samp> and populate it with
the source files.

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">$ cd tc
$ ls
CVS Makefile backend.c driver.c frontend.c parser.c
</pre></div>

The <samp>CVS</samp> directory is used internally by
CVS. Normally, you should not modify or remove
any of the files in it.

You start your favorite editor, hack away at <samp>backend.c</samp>, and a couple
of hours later you have added an optimization pass to the compiler.
A note to RCS and SCCS users: There is no need to lock the files that
you want to edit. See <a href="#Multiple-developers">Multiple developers</a>, for an explanation.

<hr>
<div class="header">

Next: <a href="#Cleaning-up" accesskey="n" rel="next">Cleaning up</a>, Previous: <a href="#Getting-the-source" accesskey="p" rel="prev">Getting the source</a>, Up: <a href="#A-sample-session" accesskey="u" rel="up">A sample session</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h4 class="subsection">1.3.2 Committing your changes</h4>

When you have checked that the compiler is still compilable you decide
to make a new version of <samp>backend.c</samp>. This will
store your new <samp>backend.c</samp> in the repository and
make it available to anyone else who is using that same
repository.

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">$ cvs commit backend.c
</pre></div>

CVS starts an editor, to allow you to enter a log
message. You type in &ldquo;Added an optimization pass.&rdquo;,
save the temporary file, and exit the editor.



The environment variable <code>$CVSEDITOR</code> determines
which editor is started. If <code>$CVSEDITOR</code> is not
set, then if the environment variable <code>$EDITOR</code> is
set, it will be used. If both <code>$CVSEDITOR</code> and
<code>$EDITOR</code> are not set then there is a default
which will vary with your operating system, for example
<code>vi</code> for unix or <code>notepad</code> for Windows
NT/95.


In addition, CVS checks the <code>$VISUAL</code> environment
variable. Opinions vary on whether this behavior is desirable and
whether future releases of CVS should check <code>$VISUAL</code> or
ignore it. You will be OK either way if you make sure that
<code>$VISUAL</code> is either unset or set to the same thing as
<code>$EDITOR</code>.

When CVS starts the editor, it includes a list of
files which are modified. For the CVS client,
this list is based on comparing the modification time
of the file against the modification time that the file
had when it was last gotten or updated. Therefore, if
a file&rsquo;s modification time has changed but its contents
have not, it will show up as modified. The simplest
way to handle this is simply not to worry about it&mdash;if
you proceed with the commit CVS will detect that
the contents are not modified and treat it as an
unmodified file. The next <code>update</code> will clue
CVS in to the fact that the file is unmodified,
and it will reset its stored timestamp so that the file
will not show up in future editor sessions.

If you want to avoid
starting an editor you can specify the log message on
the command line using the &lsquo;<samp>-m</samp>&rsquo; flag instead, like
this:

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">$ cvs commit -m &quot;Added an optimization pass&quot; backend.c
</pre></div>

<hr>
<div class="header">

Next: <a href="#Viewing-differences" accesskey="n" rel="next">Viewing differences</a>, Previous: <a href="#Committing-your-changes" accesskey="p" rel="prev">Committing your changes</a>, Up: <a href="#A-sample-session" accesskey="u" rel="up">A sample session</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h4 class="subsection">1.3.3 Cleaning up</h4>

Before you turn to other tasks you decide to remove your working copy of
tc. One acceptable way to do that is of course

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">$ cd ..
$ rm -r tc
</pre></div>

but a better way is to use the <code>release</code> command (see <a href="#release">release</a>):

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">$ cd ..
$ cvs release -d tc
M driver.c
? tc
You have [1] altered files in this repository.
Are you sure you want to release (and delete) directory `tc': n
** `release' aborted by user choice.
</pre></div>

The <code>release</code> command checks that all your modifications have been
committed. If history logging is enabled it also makes a note in the
history file. See <a href="#history-file">history file</a>.

When you use the &lsquo;<samp>-d</samp>&rsquo; flag with <code>release</code>, it
also removes your working copy.

In the example above, the <code>release</code> command wrote a couple of lines
of output. &lsquo;<samp>? tc</samp>&rsquo; means that the file <samp>tc</samp> is unknown to CVS.
That is nothing to worry about: <samp>tc</samp> is the executable compiler,
and it should not be stored in the repository. See <a href="#cvsignore">cvsignore</a>,
for information about how to make that warning go away.
See <a href="#release-output">release output</a>, for a complete explanation of
all possible output from <code>release</code>.

&lsquo;<samp>M driver.c</samp>&rsquo; is more serious. It means that the
file <samp>driver.c</samp> has been modified since it was
checked out.

The <code>release</code> command always finishes by telling
you how many modified files you have in your working
copy of the sources, and then asks you for confirmation
before deleting any files or making any note in the
history file.

You decide to play it safe and answer <kbd>n RET</kbd>
when <code>release</code> asks for confirmation.

<hr>
<div class="header">

Previous: <a href="#Cleaning-up" accesskey="p" rel="prev">Cleaning up</a>, Up: <a href="#A-sample-session" accesskey="u" rel="up">A sample session</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h4 class="subsection">1.3.4 Viewing differences</h4>

You do not remember modifying <samp>driver.c</samp>, so you want to see what
has happened to that file.

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">$ cd tc
$ cvs diff driver.c
</pre></div>

This command runs <code>diff</code> to compare the version of <samp>driver.c</samp>
that you checked out with your working copy. When you see the output
you remember that you added a command line option that enabled the
optimization pass. You check it in, and release the module.

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">$ cvs commit -m &quot;Added an optimization pass&quot; driver.c
Checking in driver.c;
/usr/local/cvsroot/tc/driver.c,v &lt;-- driver.c
new revision: 1.2; previous revision: 1.1
done
$ cd ..
$ cvs release -d tc
? tc
You have [0] altered files in this repository.
Are you sure you want to release (and delete) directory `tc': y
</pre></div>

<hr>
<div class="header">

Next: <a href="#Starting-a-new-project" accesskey="n" rel="next">Starting a new project</a>, Previous: <a href="#Overview" accesskey="p" rel="prev">Overview</a>, Up: <a href="#Top" accesskey="u" rel="up">Top</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h2 class="chapter">2 The Repository</h2>

The CVS repository stores a complete copy of
all the files and directories which are under version
control.

Normally, you never access any of the files in the
repository directly. Instead, you use CVS
commands to get your own copy of the files into a
working directory, and then
work on that copy. When you&rsquo;ve finished a set of
changes, you check (or commit) them back into the
repository. The repository then contains the changes
which you have made, as well as recording exactly what
you changed, when you changed it, and other such
information. Note that the repository is not a
subdirectory of the working directory, or vice versa;
they should be in separate locations.


CVS can access a repository by a variety of
means. It might be on the local computer, or it might
be on a computer across the room or across the world.
To distinguish various ways to access a repository, the
repository name can start with an access method.
For example, the access method <code>:local:</code> means to
access a repository directory, so the repository
<code>:local:/usr/local/cvsroot</code> means that the
repository is in <samp>/usr/local/cvsroot</samp> on the
computer running CVS. For information on other
access methods, see <a href="#Remote-repositories">Remote repositories</a>.

If the access method is omitted, then if the repository
starts with &lsquo;<samp>/</samp>&rsquo;, then <code>:local:</code> is
assumed. If it does not start with &lsquo;<samp>/</samp>&rsquo; then either
<code>:ext:</code> or <code>:server:</code> is assumed. For
example, if you have a local repository in
<samp>/usr/local/cvsroot</samp>, you can use
<code>/usr/local/cvsroot</code> instead of
<code>:local:/usr/local/cvsroot</code>. But if (under
Windows NT, for example) your local repository is
<samp>c:\src\cvsroot</samp>, then you must specify the access
method, as in <code>:local:c:/src/cvsroot</code>.

The repository is split in two parts. <samp>$CVSROOT/CVSROOT</samp> contains
administrative files for CVS. The other directories contain the actual
user-defined modules.

<table class="menu" border="0" cellspacing="0">
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#Specifying-a-repository" accesskey="1">Specifying a repository</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">Telling CVS where your repository is
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#Repository-storage" accesskey="2">Repository storage</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">The structure of the repository
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#Working-directory-storage" accesskey="3">Working directory storage</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">The structure of working directories
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#Intro-administrative-files" accesskey="4">Intro administrative files</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">Defining modules
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#Multiple-repositories" accesskey="5">Multiple repositories</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">Multiple repositories
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#Creating-a-repository" accesskey="6">Creating a repository</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">Creating a repository
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#Backing-up" accesskey="7">Backing up</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">Backing up a repository
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#Moving-a-repository" accesskey="8">Moving a repository</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">Moving a repository
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#Remote-repositories" accesskey="9">Remote repositories</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">Accessing repositories on remote machines
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#Read_002donly-access">Read-only access</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">Granting read-only access to the repository
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#Server-temporary-directory">Server temporary directory</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">The server creates temporary directories
</td></tr>
</table>

<hr>
<div class="header">

Next: <a href="#Repository-storage" accesskey="n" rel="next">Repository storage</a>, Up: <a href="#Repository" accesskey="u" rel="up">Repository</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h3 class="section">2.1 Telling CVS where your repository is</h3>

There are several ways to tell CVS
where to find the repository. You can name the
repository on the command line explicitly, with the
<code>-d</code> (for &quot;directory&quot;) option:

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">cvs -d /usr/local/cvsroot checkout yoyodyne/tc
</pre></div>

Or you can set the <code>$CVSROOT</code> environment
variable to an absolute path to the root of the
repository, <samp>/usr/local/cvsroot</samp> in this example.
To set <code>$CVSROOT</code>, <code>csh</code> and <code>tcsh</code>
users should have this line in their <samp>.cshrc</samp> or
<samp>.tcshrc</samp> files:

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">setenv CVSROOT /usr/local/cvsroot
</pre></div>

<code>sh</code> and <code>bash</code> users should instead have these lines in their
<samp>.profile</samp> or <samp>.bashrc</samp>:

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">CVSROOT=/usr/local/cvsroot
export CVSROOT
</pre></div>

A repository specified with <code>-d</code> will
override the <code>$CVSROOT</code> environment variable.
Once you&rsquo;ve checked a working copy out from the
repository, it will remember where its repository is
(the information is recorded in the
<samp>CVS/Root</samp> file in the working copy).

The <code>-d</code> option and the <samp>CVS/Root</samp> file both
override the <code>$CVSROOT</code> environment variable. If
<code>-d</code> option differs from <samp>CVS/Root</samp>, the
former is used. Of course, for proper operation they
should be two ways of referring to the same repository.

<hr>
<div class="header">

Next: <a href="#Working-directory-storage" accesskey="n" rel="next">Working directory storage</a>, Previous: <a href="#Specifying-a-repository" accesskey="p" rel="prev">Specifying a repository</a>, Up: <a href="#Repository" accesskey="u" rel="up">Repository</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h3 class="section">2.2 How data is stored in the repository</h3>

For most purposes it isn&rsquo;t important how
CVS stores information in the repository. In
fact, the format has changed in the past, and is likely
to change in the future. Since in almost all cases one
accesses the repository via CVS commands, such
changes need not be disruptive.

However, in some cases it may be necessary to
understand how CVS stores data in the repository,
for example you might need to track down CVS locks
(see <a href="#Concurrency">Concurrency</a>) or you might need to deal with
the file permissions appropriate for the repository.

<table class="menu" border="0" cellspacing="0">
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#Repository-files" accesskey="1">Repository files</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">What files are stored in the repository
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#File-permissions" accesskey="2">File permissions</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">File permissions
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#Windows-permissions" accesskey="3">Windows permissions</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">Issues specific to Windows
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#Attic" accesskey="4">Attic</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">Some files are stored in the Attic
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#CVS-in-repository" accesskey="5">CVS in repository</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">Additional information in CVS directory
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#Locks" accesskey="6">Locks</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">CVS locks control concurrent accesses
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#CVSROOT-storage" accesskey="7">CVSROOT storage</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">A few things about CVSROOT are different
</td></tr>
</table>

<hr>
<div class="header">

Next: <a href="#File-permissions" accesskey="n" rel="next">File permissions</a>, Up: <a href="#Repository-storage" accesskey="u" rel="up">Repository storage</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h4 class="subsection">2.2.1 Where files are stored within the repository</h4>

The overall structure of the repository is a directory
tree corresponding to the directories in the working
directory. For example, supposing the repository is in

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">/usr/local/cvsroot
</pre></div>

With the directories are history files for each file
under version control. The name of the history file is
the name of the corresponding file with &lsquo;<samp>,v</samp>&rsquo;
appended to the end. Here is what the repository for
the <samp>yoyodyne/tc</samp> directory might look like:
<div class="example">
<pre class="example"> <code>$CVSROOT</code>
 |
 +--<tt>yoyodyne</tt>
 | |
 | +--<tt>tc</tt>
 | | |
 +--<tt>Makefile,v</tt>
 +--<tt>backend.c,v</tt>
 +--<tt>driver.c,v</tt>
 +--<tt>frontend.c,v</tt>
 +--<tt>parser.c,v</tt>
 +--<tt>man</tt>
 | |
 | +--<tt>tc.1,v</tt>
 |
 +--<tt>testing</tt>
 |
 +--<tt>testpgm.t,v</tt>
 +--<tt>test2.t,v</tt>
</pre></div>

The history files contain, among other things, enough
information to recreate any revision of the file, a log
of all commit messages and the user-name of the person
who committed the revision. The history files are
known as RCS files, because the first program to
store files in that format was a version control system
known as RCS. For a full
description of the file format, see the <code>man</code> page
<cite>rcsfile(5)</cite>, distributed with RCS, or the
file <samp>doc/RCSFILES</samp> in the CVS source
distribution. This
file format has become very common&mdash;many systems other
than CVS or RCS can at least import history
files in this format.

The RCS files used in CVS differ in a few
ways from the standard format. The biggest difference
is magic branches; for more information see <a href="#Magic-branch-numbers">Magic branch numbers</a>. Also in CVS the valid tag names
are a subset of what RCS accepts; for CVS&rsquo;s
rules see <a href="#Tags">Tags</a>.

<hr>
<div class="header">

Next: <a href="#Windows-permissions" accesskey="n" rel="next">Windows permissions</a>, Previous: <a href="#Repository-files" accesskey="p" rel="prev">Repository files</a>, Up: <a href="#Repository-storage" accesskey="u" rel="up">Repository storage</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h4 class="subsection">2.2.2 File permissions</h4>





All &lsquo;<samp>,v</samp>&rsquo; files are created read-only, and you
should not change the permission of those files. The
directories inside the repository should be writable by
the persons that have permission to modify the files in
each directory. This normally means that you must
create a UNIX group (see group(5)) consisting of the
persons that are to edit the files in a project, and
set up the repository so that it is that group that
owns the directory.
(On some systems, you also need to set the set-group-ID-on-execution bit
on the repository directories (see chmod(1)) so that newly-created files
and directories get the group-ID of the parent directory rather than
that of the current process.)

This means that you can only control access to files on
a per-directory basis.

Note that users must also have write access to check
out files, because CVS needs to create lock files
(see <a href="#Concurrency">Concurrency</a>). You can use LockDir in CVSROOT/config
to put the lock files somewhere other than in the repository
if you want to allow read-only access to some directories
(see <a href="#config">config</a>).



Also note that users must have write access to the
<samp>CVSROOT/val-tags</samp> file. CVS uses it to keep
track of what tags are valid tag names (it is sometimes
updated when tags are used, as well as when they are
created).

Each RCS file will be owned by the user who last
checked it in. This has little significance; what
really matters is who owns the directories.



CVS tries to set up reasonable file permissions
for new directories that are added inside the tree, but
you must fix the permissions manually when a new
directory should have different permissions than its
parent directory. If you set the <code>CVSUMASK</code>
environment variable that will control the file
permissions which CVS uses in creating directories
and/or files in the repository. <code>CVSUMASK</code> does
not affect the file permissions in the working
directory; such files have the permissions which are
typical for newly created files, except that sometimes
CVS creates them read-only (see the sections on
watches, <a href="#Setting-a-watch">Setting a watch</a>; -r, <a href="#Global-options">Global options</a>; or <code>CVSREAD</code>, <a href="#Environment-variables">Environment variables</a>).

Note that using the client/server CVS
(see <a href="#Remote-repositories">Remote repositories</a>), there is no good way to
set <code>CVSUMASK</code>; the setting on the client machine
has no effect. If you are connecting with <code>rsh</code>, you
can set <code>CVSUMASK</code> in <samp>.bashrc</samp> or <samp>.cshrc</samp>, as
described in the documentation for your operating
system. This behavior might change in future versions
of CVS; do not rely on the setting of
<code>CVSUMASK</code> on the client having no effect.

Using pserver, you will generally need stricter
permissions on the CVSROOT directory and
directories above it in the tree; see <a href="#Password-authentication-security">Password authentication security</a>.





Some operating systems have features which allow a
particular program to run with the ability to perform
operations which the caller of the program could not.
For example, the set user ID (setuid) or set group ID
(setgid) features of unix or the installed image
feature of VMS. CVS was not written to use such
features and therefore attempting to install CVS in
this fashion will provide protection against only
accidental lapses; anyone who is trying to circumvent
the measure will be able to do so, and depending on how
you have set it up may gain access to more than just
CVS. You may wish to instead consider pserver. It
shares some of the same attributes, in terms of
possibly providing a false sense of security or opening
security holes wider than the ones you are trying to
fix, so read the documentation on pserver security
carefully if you are considering this option
(<a href="#Password-authentication-security">Password authentication security</a>).

<hr>
<div class="header">

Next: <a href="#Attic" accesskey="n" rel="next">Attic</a>, Previous: <a href="#File-permissions" accesskey="p" rel="prev">File permissions</a>, Up: <a href="#Repository-storage" accesskey="u" rel="up">Repository storage</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h4 class="subsection">2.2.3 File Permission issues specific to Windows</h4>

Some file permission issues are specific to Windows
operating systems (Windows 95, Windows NT, and
presumably future operating systems in this family.
Some of the following might apply to OS/2 but I&rsquo;m not
sure).

If you are using local CVS and the repository is on a
networked filesystem which is served by the Samba SMB
server, some people have reported problems with
permissions. Enabling WRITE=YES in the samba
configuration is said to fix/workaround it.
Disclaimer: I haven&rsquo;t investigated enough to know the
implications of enabling that option, nor do I know
whether there is something which CVS could be doing
differently in order to avoid the problem. If you find
something out, please let us know as described in
<a href="#BUGS">BUGS</a>.

<hr>
<div class="header">

Next: <a href="#CVS-in-repository" accesskey="n" rel="next">CVS in repository</a>, Previous: <a href="#Windows-permissions" accesskey="p" rel="prev">Windows permissions</a>, Up: <a href="#Repository-storage" accesskey="u" rel="up">Repository storage</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h4 class="subsection">2.2.4 The attic</h4>

You will notice that sometimes CVS stores an
RCS file in the <code>Attic</code>. For example, if the
CVSROOT is <samp>/usr/local/cvsroot</samp> and we are
talking about the file <samp>backend.c</samp> in the
directory <samp>yoyodyne/tc</samp>, then the file normally
would be in

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">/usr/local/cvsroot/yoyodyne/tc/backend.c,v
</pre></div>

but if it goes in the attic, it would be in

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">/usr/local/cvsroot/yoyodyne/tc/Attic/backend.c,v
</pre></div>

instead. It should not matter from a user point of
view whether a file is in the attic; CVS keeps
track of this and looks in the attic when it needs to.
But in case you want to know, the rule is that the RCS
file is stored in the attic if and only if the head
revision on the trunk has state <code>dead</code>. A
<code>dead</code> state means that file has been removed, or
never added, for that revision. For example, if you
add a file on a branch, it will have a trunk revision
in <code>dead</code> state, and a branch revision in a
non-<code>dead</code> state.

<hr>
<div class="header">

Next: <a href="#Locks" accesskey="n" rel="next">Locks</a>, Previous: <a href="#Attic" accesskey="p" rel="prev">Attic</a>, Up: <a href="#Repository-storage" accesskey="u" rel="up">Repository storage</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h4 class="subsection">2.2.5 The CVS directory in the repository</h4>

The <samp>CVS</samp> directory in each repository directory
contains information such as file attributes (in a file
called <samp>CVS/fileattr</samp>. In the
future additional files may be added to this directory,
so implementations should silently ignore additional
files.

This behavior is implemented only by CVS 1.7 and
later; for details see <a href="#Watches-Compatibility">Watches Compatibility</a>.

The format of the <samp>fileattr</samp> file is a series of entries
of the following form (where &lsquo;<samp>{</samp>&rsquo; and &lsquo;<samp>}</samp>&rsquo;
means the text between the braces can be repeated zero
or more times):

<var>ent-type</var> <var>filename</var> &lt;tab&gt; <var>attrname</var> = <var>attrval</var>
 {; <var>attrname</var> = <var>attrval</var>} &lt;linefeed&gt;

<var>ent-type</var> is &lsquo;<samp>F</samp>&rsquo; for a file, in which case the entry specifies the
attributes for that file.

<var>ent-type</var> is &lsquo;<samp>D</samp>&rsquo;,
and <var>filename</var> empty, to specify default attributes
to be used for newly added files.

Other <var>ent-type</var> are reserved for future expansion. CVS 1.9 and older
will delete them any time it writes file attributes.
CVS 1.10 and later will preserve them.

Note that the order of the lines is not significant;
a program writing the fileattr file may
rearrange them at its convenience.

There is currently no way of quoting tabs or line feeds in the
filename, &lsquo;<samp>=</samp>&rsquo; in <var>attrname</var>,
&lsquo;<samp>;</samp>&rsquo; in <var>attrval</var>, etc. Note: some implementations also
don&rsquo;t handle a NUL character in any of the fields, but
implementations are encouraged to allow it.

By convention, <var>attrname</var> starting with &lsquo;<samp>_</samp>&rsquo; is for an attribute given
special meaning by CVS; other <var>attrname</var>s are for user-defined attributes
(or will be, once implementations start supporting user-defined attributes).

Built-in attributes:

<dl compact="compact">
<dt><code>_watched</code></dt>
<dd>Present means the file is watched and should be checked out
read-only.

</dd>
<dt><code>_watchers</code></dt>
<dd>Users with watches for this file. Value is
<var>watcher</var> &gt; <var>type</var> { , <var>watcher</var> &gt; <var>type</var> }
where <var>watcher</var> is a username, and <var>type</var>
is zero or more of edit,unedit,commit separated by
&lsquo;<samp>+</samp>&rsquo; (that is, nothing if none; there is no &quot;none&quot; or &quot;all&quot; keyword).

</dd>
<dt><code>_editors</code></dt>
<dd>Users editing this file. Value is
<var>editor</var> &gt; <var>val</var> { , <var>editor</var> &gt; <var>val</var> }
where <var>editor</var> is a username, and <var>val</var> is
<var>time</var>+<var>hostname</var>+<var>pathname</var>, where
<var>time</var> is when the <code>cvs edit</code> command (or
equivalent) happened,
and <var>hostname</var> and <var>pathname</var> are for the working directory.
</dd>
</dl>

Example:

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">Ffile1 _watched=;_watchers=joe&gt;edit,mary&gt;commit
Ffile2 _watched=;_editors=sue&gt;8 Jan 1975+workstn1+/home/sue/cvs
D _watched=
</pre></div>

means that the file <samp>file1</samp> should be checked out
read-only. Furthermore, joe is watching for edits and
mary is watching for commits. The file <samp>file2</samp>
should be checked out read-only; sue started editing it
on 8 Jan 1975 in the directory <samp>/home/sue/cvs</samp> on
the machine <code>workstn1</code>. Future files which are
added should be checked out read-only. To represent
this example here, we have shown a space after
&lsquo;<samp>D</samp>&rsquo;, &lsquo;<samp>Ffile1</samp>&rsquo;, and &lsquo;<samp>Ffile2</samp>&rsquo;, but in fact
there must be a single tab character there and no spaces.

<hr>
<div class="header">

Next: <a href="#CVSROOT-storage" accesskey="n" rel="next">CVSROOT storage</a>, Previous: <a href="#CVS-in-repository" accesskey="p" rel="prev">CVS in repository</a>, Up: <a href="#Repository-storage" accesskey="u" rel="up">Repository storage</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h4 class="subsection">2.2.6 CVS locks in the repository</h4>

For an introduction to CVS locks focusing on
user-visible behavior, see <a href="#Concurrency">Concurrency</a>. The
following section is aimed at people who are writing
tools which want to access a CVS repository without
interfering with other tools accessing the same
repository. If you find yourself confused by concepts
described here, like read lock, write lock,
and deadlock, you might consult the literature on
operating systems or databases.


Any file in the repository with a name starting
with <samp>#cvs.rfl.</samp> is a read lock. Any file in
the repository with a name starting with
<samp>#cvs.pfl</samp> is a promotable read lock. Any file in
the repository with a name starting with
<samp>#cvs.wfl</samp> is a write lock. Old versions of CVS
(before CVS 1.5) also created files with names starting
with <samp>#cvs.tfl</samp>, but they are not discussed here.
The directory <samp>#cvs.lock</samp> serves as a master
lock. That is, one must obtain this lock first before
creating any of the other locks.

To obtain a read lock, first create the <samp>#cvs.lock</samp>
directory. This operation must be atomic (which should
be true for creating a directory under most operating
systems). If it fails because the directory already
existed, wait for a while and try again. After
obtaining the <samp>#cvs.lock</samp> lock, create a file
whose name is <samp>#cvs.rfl.</samp> followed by information
of your choice (for example, hostname and process
identification number). Then remove the
<samp>#cvs.lock</samp> directory to release the master lock.
Then proceed with reading the repository. When you are
done, remove the <samp>#cvs.rfl</samp> file to release the
read lock.

Promotable read locks are a concept you may not find in other literature on
concurrency. They are used to allow a two (or more) pass process to only lock
a file for read on the first (read) pass(es), then upgrade its read locks to
write locks if necessary for a final pass, still assured that the files have
not changed since they were first read. CVS uses promotable read locks,
for example, to prevent commit and tag verification passes from interfering
with other reading processes. It can then lock only a single directory at a
time for write during the write pass.

To obtain a promotable read lock, first create the <samp>#cvs.lock</samp> directory,
as with a non-promotable read lock. Then check
that there are no files that start with
<samp>#cvs.pfl</samp>. If there are, remove the master <samp>#cvs.lock</samp> directory,
wait awhile (CVS waits 30 seconds between lock attempts), and try again. If
there are no other promotable locks, go ahead and create a file whose name is
<samp>#cvs.pfl</samp> followed by information of your choice (for example, CVS uses
its hostname and the process identification number of the CVS server process
creating the lock). If versions of CVS older than version 1.12.4 access
your repository directly (not via a CVS server of version 1.12.4 or
later), then you should also create a read lock since older versions of CVS
will ignore the promotable lock when attempting to create their own write lock.
Then remove the master <samp>#cvs.lock</samp> directory in order to allow other
processes to obtain read locks.

To obtain a write lock, first create the
<samp>#cvs.lock</samp> directory, as with read locks. Then
check that there are no files whose names start with
<samp>#cvs.rfl.</samp> and no files whose names start with <samp>#cvs.pfl</samp> that are
not owned by the process attempting to get the write lock. If either exist,
remove <samp>#cvs.lock</samp>, wait for a while, and try again. If
there are no readers or promotable locks from other processes, then create a
file whose name is <samp>#cvs.wfl</samp> followed by information of your choice
(again, CVS uses the hostname and server process identification
number). Remove your <samp>#cvs.pfl</samp> file if present. Hang on to the
<samp>#cvs.lock</samp> lock. Proceed
with writing the repository. When you are done, first
remove the <samp>#cvs.wfl</samp> file and then the
<samp>#cvs.lock</samp> directory. Note that unlike the
<samp>#cvs.rfl</samp> file, the <samp>#cvs.wfl</samp> file is just
informational; it has no effect on the locking operation
beyond what is provided by holding on to the
<samp>#cvs.lock</samp> lock itself.

Note that each lock (write lock or read lock) only locks
a single directory in the repository, including
<samp>Attic</samp> and <samp>CVS</samp> but not including
subdirectories which represent other directories under
version control. To lock an entire tree, you need to
lock each directory (note that if you fail to obtain
any lock you need, you must release the whole tree
before waiting and trying again, to avoid deadlocks).

Note also that CVS expects write locks to control
access to individual <samp>foo,v</samp> files. RCS has
a scheme where the <samp>,foo,</samp> file serves as a lock,
but CVS does not implement it and so taking out a
CVS write lock is recommended. See the comments at
rcs_internal_lockfile in the CVS source code for
further discussion/rationale.

<hr>
<div class="header">

Previous: <a href="#Locks" accesskey="p" rel="prev">Locks</a>, Up: <a href="#Repository-storage" accesskey="u" rel="up">Repository storage</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h4 class="subsection">2.2.7 How files are stored in the CVSROOT directory</h4>

The <samp>$CVSROOT/CVSROOT</samp> directory contains the
various administrative files. In some ways this
directory is just like any other directory in the
repository; it contains RCS files whose names end
in &lsquo;<samp>,v</samp>&rsquo;, and many of the CVS commands operate
on it the same way. However, there are a few
differences.

For each administrative file, in addition to the
RCS file, there is also a checked out copy of the
file. For example, there is an RCS file
<samp>loginfo,v</samp> and a file <samp>loginfo</samp> which
contains the latest revision contained in
<samp>loginfo,v</samp>. When you check in an administrative
file, CVS should print

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">cvs commit: Rebuilding administrative file database
</pre></div>

and update the checked out copy in
<samp>$CVSROOT/CVSROOT</samp>. If it does not, there is
something wrong (see <a href="#BUGS">BUGS</a>). To add your own files
to the files to be updated in this fashion, you can add
them to the <samp>checkoutlist</samp> administrative file
(see <a href="#checkoutlist">checkoutlist</a>).




By default, the <samp>modules</samp> file behaves as
described above. If the modules file is very large,
storing it as a flat text file may make looking up
modules slow (I&rsquo;m not sure whether this is as much of a
concern now as when CVS first evolved this
feature; I haven&rsquo;t seen benchmarks). Therefore, by
making appropriate edits to the CVS source code
one can store the modules file in a database which
implements the <code>ndbm</code> interface, such as Berkeley
db or GDBM. If this option is in use, then the modules
database will be stored in the files <samp>modules.db</samp>,
<samp>modules.pag</samp>, and/or <samp>modules.dir</samp>.

For information on the meaning of the various
administrative files, see <a href="#Administrative-files">Administrative files</a>.

<hr>
<div class="header">

Next: <a href="#Intro-administrative-files" accesskey="n" rel="next">Intro administrative files</a>, Previous: <a href="#Repository-storage" accesskey="p" rel="prev">Repository storage</a>, Up: <a href="#Repository" accesskey="u" rel="up">Repository</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h3 class="section">2.3 How data is stored in the working directory</h3>

While we are discussing CVS internals which may
become visible from time to time, we might as well talk
about what CVS puts in the <samp>CVS</samp> directories
in the working directories. As with the repository,
CVS handles this information and one can usually
access it via CVS commands. But in some cases it
may be useful to look at it, and other programs, such
as the <code>jCVS</code> graphical user interface or the
<code>VC</code> package for emacs, may need to look at it.
Such programs should follow the recommendations in this
section if they hope to be able to work with other
programs which use those files, including future
versions of the programs just mentioned and the
command-line CVS client.

The <samp>CVS</samp> directory contains several files.
Programs which are reading this directory should
silently ignore files which are in the directory but
which are not documented here, to allow for future
expansion.

The files are stored according to the text file
convention for the system in question. This means that
working directories are not portable between systems
with differing conventions for storing text files.
This is intentional, on the theory that the files being
managed by CVS probably will not be portable between
such systems either.

<dl compact="compact">
<dt><samp>Root</samp></dt>
<dd>This file contains the current CVS root, as
described in <a href="#Specifying-a-repository">Specifying a repository</a>.



</dd>
<dt><samp>Repository</samp></dt>
<dd>This file contains the directory within the repository
which the current directory corresponds with. It can
be either an absolute pathname or a relative pathname;
CVS has had the ability to read either format
since at least version 1.3 or so. The relative
pathname is relative to the root, and is the more
sensible approach, but the absolute pathname is quite
common and implementations should accept either. For
example, after the command

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">cvs -d :local:/usr/local/cvsroot checkout yoyodyne/tc
</pre></div>

<samp>Root</samp> will contain

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">:local:/usr/local/cvsroot
</pre></div>

and <samp>Repository</samp> will contain either

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">/usr/local/cvsroot/yoyodyne/tc
</pre></div>

or

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">yoyodyne/tc
</pre></div>

If the particular working directory does not correspond
to a directory in the repository, then <samp>Repository</samp>
should contain <samp>CVSROOT/Emptydir</samp>.





</dd>
<dt><samp>Entries</samp></dt>
<dd>This file lists the files and directories in the
working directory.
The first character of each line indicates what sort of
line it is. If the character is unrecognised, programs
reading the file should silently skip that line, to
allow for future expansion.

If the first character is &lsquo;<samp>/</samp>&rsquo;, then the format is:

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">/<var>name</var>/<var>revision</var>/<var>timestamp</var>[+<var>conflict</var>]/<var>options</var>/<var>tagdate</var>
</pre></div>

where &lsquo;<samp>[</samp>&rsquo; and &lsquo;<samp>]</samp>&rsquo; are not part of the entry,
but instead indicate that the &lsquo;<samp>+</samp>&rsquo; and conflict
marker are optional. <var>name</var> is the name of the
file within the directory. <var>revision</var> is the
revision that the file in the working derives from, or
&lsquo;<samp>0</samp>&rsquo; for an added file, or &lsquo;<samp>-</samp>&rsquo; followed by a
revision for a removed file. <var>timestamp</var> is the
timestamp of the file at the time that CVS created
it; if the timestamp differs with the actual
modification time of the file it means the file has
been modified. It is stored in
the format used by the ISO C asctime() function (for
example, &lsquo;<samp>Sun Apr 7 01:29:26 1996</samp>&rsquo;). One may
write a string which is not in that format, for
example, &lsquo;<samp>Result of merge</samp>&rsquo;, to indicate that the
file should always be considered to be modified. This
is not a special case; to see whether a file is
modified a program should take the timestamp of the file
and simply do a string compare with <var>timestamp</var>.
If there was a conflict, <var>conflict</var> can be set to
the modification time of the file after the file has been
written with conflict markers (see <a href="#Conflicts-example">Conflicts example</a>).
Thus if <var>conflict</var> is subsequently the same as the actual
modification time of the file it means that the user
has obviously not resolved the conflict. <var>options</var>
contains sticky options (for example &lsquo;<samp>-kb</samp>&rsquo; for a
binary file). <var>tagdate</var> contains &lsquo;<samp>T</samp>&rsquo; followed
by a tag name, or &lsquo;<samp>D</samp>&rsquo; for a date, followed by a
sticky tag or date. Note that if <var>timestamp</var>
contains a pair of timestamps separated by a space,
rather than a single timestamp, you are dealing with a
version of CVS earlier than CVS 1.5 (not
documented here).

The timezone on the timestamp in CVS/Entries (local or
universal) should be the same as the operating system
stores for the timestamp of the file itself. For
example, on Unix the file&rsquo;s timestamp is in universal
time (UT), so the timestamp in CVS/Entries should be
too. On VMS, the file&rsquo;s timestamp is in local
time, so CVS on VMS should use local time.
This rule is so that files do not appear to be modified
merely because the timezone changed (for example, to or
from summer time).

If the first character of a line in <samp>Entries</samp> is
&lsquo;<samp>D</samp>&rsquo;, then it indicates a subdirectory. &lsquo;<samp>D</samp>&rsquo;
on a line all by itself indicates that the program
which wrote the <samp>Entries</samp> file does record
subdirectories (therefore, if there is such a line and
no other lines beginning with &lsquo;<samp>D</samp>&rsquo;, one knows there
are no subdirectories). Otherwise, the line looks
like:

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">D/<var>name</var>/<var>filler1</var>/<var>filler2</var>/<var>filler3</var>/<var>filler4</var>
</pre></div>

where <var>name</var> is the name of the subdirectory, and
all the <var>filler</var> fields should be silently ignored,
for future expansion. Programs which modify
<code>Entries</code> files should preserve these fields.

The lines in the <samp>Entries</samp> file can be in any order.



</dd>
<dt><samp>Entries.Log</samp></dt>
<dd>This file does not record any information beyond that
in <samp>Entries</samp>, but it does provide a way to update
the information without having to rewrite the entire
<samp>Entries</samp> file, including the ability to preserve
the information even if the program writing
<samp>Entries</samp> and <samp>Entries.Log</samp> abruptly aborts.
Programs which are reading the <samp>Entries</samp> file
should also check for <samp>Entries.Log</samp>. If the latter
exists, they should read <samp>Entries</samp> and then apply
the changes mentioned in <samp>Entries.Log</samp>. After
applying the changes, the recommended practice is to
rewrite <samp>Entries</samp> and then delete <samp>Entries.Log</samp>.
The format of a line in <samp>Entries.Log</samp> is a single
character command followed by a space followed by a
line in the format specified for a line in
<samp>Entries</samp>. The single character command is
&lsquo;<samp>A</samp>&rsquo; to indicate that the entry is being added,
&lsquo;<samp>R</samp>&rsquo; to indicate that the entry is being removed,
or any other character to indicate that the entire line
in <samp>Entries.Log</samp> should be silently ignored (for
future expansion). If the second character of the line
in <samp>Entries.Log</samp> is not a space, then it was
written by an older version of CVS (not documented
here).

Programs which are writing rather than reading can
safely ignore <samp>Entries.Log</samp> if they so choose.



</dd>
<dt><samp>Entries.Backup</samp></dt>
<dd>This is a temporary file. Recommended usage is to
write a new entries file to <samp>Entries.Backup</samp>, and
then to rename it (atomically, where possible) to <samp>Entries</samp>.



</dd>
<dt><samp>Entries.Static</samp></dt>
<dd>The only relevant thing about this file is whether it
exists or not. If it exists, then it means that only
part of a directory was gotten and CVS will
not create additional files in that directory. To
clear it, use the <code>update</code> command with the
&lsquo;<samp>-d</samp>&rsquo; option, which will get the additional files
and remove <samp>Entries.Static</samp>.





</dd>
<dt><samp>Tag</samp></dt>
<dd>This file contains per-directory sticky tags or dates.
The first character is &lsquo;<samp>T</samp>&rsquo; for a branch tag,
&lsquo;<samp>N</samp>&rsquo; for a non-branch tag, or &lsquo;<samp>D</samp>&rsquo; for a date,
or another character to mean the file should be
silently ignored, for future expansion. This character
is followed by the tag or date. Note that
per-directory sticky tags or dates are used for things
like applying to files which are newly added; they
might not be the same as the sticky tags or dates on
individual files. For general information on sticky
tags and dates, see <a href="#Sticky-tags">Sticky tags</a>.



</dd>
<dt><samp>Notify</samp></dt>
<dd>This file stores notifications (for example, for
<code>edit</code> or <code>unedit</code>) which have not yet been
sent to the server. Its format is not yet documented
here.



</dd>
<dt><samp>Notify.tmp</samp></dt>
<dd>This file is to <samp>Notify</samp> as <samp>Entries.Backup</samp>
is to <samp>Entries</samp>. That is, to write <samp>Notify</samp>,
first write the new contents to <samp>Notify.tmp</samp> and
then (atomically where possible), rename it to
<samp>Notify</samp>.



</dd>
<dt><samp>Base</samp></dt>
<dd>If watches are in use, then an <code>edit</code> command
stores the original copy of the file in the <samp>Base</samp>
directory. This allows the <code>unedit</code> command to
operate even if it is unable to communicate with the
server.



</dd>
<dt><samp>Baserev</samp></dt>
<dd>The file lists the revision for each of the files in
the <samp>Base</samp> directory. The format is:

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">B<var>name</var>/<var>rev</var>/<var>expansion</var>
</pre></div>

where <var>expansion</var> should be ignored, to allow for
future expansion.



</dd>
<dt><samp>Baserev.tmp</samp></dt>
<dd>This file is to <samp>Baserev</samp> as <samp>Entries.Backup</samp>
is to <samp>Entries</samp>. That is, to write <samp>Baserev</samp>,
first write the new contents to <samp>Baserev.tmp</samp> and
then (atomically where possible), rename it to
<samp>Baserev</samp>.



</dd>
<dt><samp>Template</samp></dt>
<dd>This file contains the template specified by the
<samp>rcsinfo</samp> file (see <a href="#rcsinfo">rcsinfo</a>). It is only used
by the client; the non-client/server CVS consults
<samp>rcsinfo</samp> directly.
</dd>
</dl>

<hr>
<div class="header">

Next: <a href="#Multiple-repositories" accesskey="n" rel="next">Multiple repositories</a>, Previous: <a href="#Working-directory-storage" accesskey="p" rel="prev">Working directory storage</a>, Up: <a href="#Repository" accesskey="u" rel="up">Repository</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h3 class="section">2.4 The administrative files</h3>

The directory <samp>$CVSROOT/CVSROOT</samp> contains some administrative
files. See <a href="#Administrative-files">Administrative files</a>, for a complete description.
You can use CVS without any of these files, but
some commands work better when at least the
<samp>modules</samp> file is properly set up.

The most important of these files is the <samp>modules</samp>
file. It defines all modules in the repository. This
is a sample <samp>modules</samp> file.

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">CVSROOT CVSROOT
modules CVSROOT modules
cvs gnu/cvs
rcs gnu/rcs
diff gnu/diff
tc yoyodyne/tc
</pre></div>

The <samp>modules</samp> file is line oriented. In its
simplest form each line contains the name of the
module, whitespace, and the directory where the module
resides. The directory is a path relative to
<code>$CVSROOT</code>. The last four lines in the example
above are examples of such lines.

The line that defines the module called &lsquo;<samp>modules</samp>&rsquo;
uses features that are not explained here.
See <a href="#modules">modules</a>, for a full explanation of all the
available features.

<h4 class="subsection">2.4.1 Editing administrative files</h4>

You edit the administrative files in the same way that you would edit
any other module. Use &lsquo;<samp>cvs checkout CVSROOT</samp>&rsquo; to get a working
copy, edit it, and commit your changes in the normal way.

It is possible to commit an erroneous administrative
file. You can often fix the error and check in a new
revision, but sometimes a particularly bad error in the
administrative file makes it impossible to commit new
revisions.

<hr>
<div class="header">

Next: <a href="#Creating-a-repository" accesskey="n" rel="next">Creating a repository</a>, Previous: <a href="#Intro-administrative-files" accesskey="p" rel="prev">Intro administrative files</a>, Up: <a href="#Repository" accesskey="u" rel="up">Repository</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h3 class="section">2.5 Multiple repositories</h3>

In some situations it is a good idea to have more than
one repository, for instance if you have two
development groups that work on separate projects
without sharing any code. All you have to do to have
several repositories is to specify the appropriate
repository, using the <code>CVSROOT</code> environment
variable, the &lsquo;<samp>-d</samp>&rsquo; option to CVS, or (once
you have checked out a working directory) by simply
allowing CVS to use the repository that was used
to check out the working directory
(see <a href="#Specifying-a-repository">Specifying a repository</a>).

The big advantage of having multiple repositories is
that they can reside on different servers. With CVS
version 1.10, a single command cannot recurse into
directories from different repositories. With development
versions of CVS, you can check out code from multiple
servers into your working directory. CVS will
recurse and handle all the details of making
connections to as many server machines as necessary to
perform the requested command. Here is an example of
how to set up a working directory:

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">cvs -d server1:/cvs co dir1
cd dir1
cvs -d server2:/root co sdir
cvs update
</pre></div>

The <code>cvs co</code> commands set up the working
directory, and then the <code>cvs update</code> command will
contact server2, to update the dir1/sdir subdirectory,
and server1, to update everything else.

<hr>
<div class="header">

Next: <a href="#Backing-up" accesskey="n" rel="next">Backing up</a>, Previous: <a href="#Multiple-repositories" accesskey="p" rel="prev">Multiple repositories</a>, Up: <a href="#Repository" accesskey="u" rel="up">Repository</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h3 class="section">2.6 Creating a repository</h3>

This section describes how to set up a CVS repository for any
sort of access method. After completing the setup described in this
section, you should be able to access your CVS repository immediately
via the local access method and several remote access methods. For
more information on setting up remote access to the repository you create
in this section, please read the section on See <a href="#Remote-repositories">Remote repositories</a>.

To set up a CVS repository, first choose the
machine and disk on which you want to store the
revision history of the source files. CPU and memory
requirements are modest, so most machines should be
adequate. For details see <a href="#Server-requirements">Server requirements</a>.

To estimate disk space
requirements, if you are importing RCS files from
another system, the size of those files is the
approximate initial size of your repository, or if you
are starting without any version history, a rule of
thumb is to allow for the server approximately three
times the size of the code to be under CVS for the
repository (you will eventually outgrow this, but not
for a while). On the machines on which the developers
will be working, you&rsquo;ll want disk space for
approximately one working directory for each developer
(either the entire tree or a portion of it, depending
on what each developer uses).

The repository should be accessible
(directly or via a networked filesystem) from all
machines which want to use CVS in server or local
mode; the client machines need not have any access to
it other than via the CVS protocol. It is not
normally possible to use CVS to read from a repository
which one only has read access to; CVS needs to be
able to create lock files (see <a href="#Concurrency">Concurrency</a>).

If the environment variable <code>$CVSREADONLYFS</code> is defined,
however, CVS will allow read-only access without creating any
history entries or reader lock files. This allows doing most
usual repository operations except checkin in a fast way,
although if any other user is accessing the same data at the
same time, it may lead to corrupt data. This mode is best used
for publicly accessible anonymous CVS mirrors, not the main
working repository.


To create a repository, run the <code>cvs init</code>
command. It will set up an empty repository in the
CVS root specified in the usual way
(see <a href="#Repository">Repository</a>). For example,

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">cvs -d /usr/local/cvsroot init
</pre></div>

<code>cvs init</code> is careful to never overwrite any
existing files in the repository, so no harm is done if
you run <code>cvs init</code> on an already set-up
repository.

The repository is created honouring the <code>$CVSUMASK</code>
setting (see <a href="#CVSUMASK">CVSUMASK</a>), even the <samp>history</samp> and
<samp>val-tags</samp> files are not created world-writable any
more as in previous CVS versions. History logging is,
accordingly, configured to log write operations only; if
you don’t want that, edit or remove the &lsquo;<samp>LogHistory</samp>&rsquo;
entry in the <samp>config</samp> file (see <a href="#config">config</a>) and make
sure that all users who need to write that file can do so,
for example by using a <code>$CVSUMASK</code> of 002 (which is
also the default) and putting everyone into the same Unix
group (consider the security implications if you really
want to enable world-writable logging).

<hr>
<div class="header">

Next: <a href="#Moving-a-repository" accesskey="n" rel="next">Moving a repository</a>, Previous: <a href="#Creating-a-repository" accesskey="p" rel="prev">Creating a repository</a>, Up: <a href="#Repository" accesskey="u" rel="up">Repository</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h3 class="section">2.7 Backing up a repository</h3>

There is nothing particularly magical about the files
in the repository; for the most part it is possible to
back them up just like any other files. However, there
are a few issues to consider.



The first is that to be paranoid, one should either not
use CVS during the backup, or have the backup
program lock CVS while doing the backup. To not
use CVS, you might forbid logins to machines which
can access the repository, turn off your CVS
server, or similar mechanisms. The details would
depend on your operating system and how you have
CVS set up. To lock CVS, you would create
<samp>#cvs.rfl</samp> locks in each repository directory.
See <a href="#Concurrency">Concurrency</a>, for more on CVS locks.
Having said all this, if you just back up without any
of these precautions, the results are unlikely to be
particularly dire. Restoring from backup, the
repository might be in an inconsistent state, but this
would not be particularly hard to fix manually.

When you restore a repository from backup, assuming
that changes in the repository were made after the time
of the backup, working directories which were not
affected by the failure may refer to revisions which no
longer exist in the repository. Trying to run CVS
in such directories will typically produce an error
message. One way to get those changes back into the
repository is as follows:

<ul>
<li> Get a new working directory.

</li><li> Copy the files from the working directory from before
the failure over to the new working directory (do not
copy the contents of the <samp>CVS</samp> directories, of
course).

</li><li> Working in the new working directory, use commands such
as <code>cvs update</code> and <code>cvs diff</code> to figure out
what has changed, and then when you are ready, commit
the changes into the repository.
</li></ul>

<hr>
<div class="header">

Next: <a href="#Remote-repositories" accesskey="n" rel="next">Remote repositories</a>, Previous: <a href="#Backing-up" accesskey="p" rel="prev">Backing up</a>, Up: <a href="#Repository" accesskey="u" rel="up">Repository</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h3 class="section">2.8 Moving a repository</h3>

Just as backing up the files in the repository is
pretty much like backing up any other files, if you
need to move a repository from one place to another it
is also pretty much like just moving any other
collection of files.

The main thing to consider is that working directories
point to the repository. The simplest way to deal with
a moved repository is to just get a fresh working
directory after the move. Of course, you&rsquo;ll want to
make sure that the old working directory had been
checked in before the move, or you figured out some
other way to make sure that you don&rsquo;t lose any
changes. If you really do want to reuse the existing
working directory, it should be possible with manual
surgery on the <samp>CVS/Repository</samp> files. You can
see <a href="#Working-directory-storage">Working directory storage</a>, for information on
the <samp>CVS/Repository</samp> and <samp>CVS/Root</samp> files, but
unless you are sure you want to bother, it probably
isn&rsquo;t worth it.

<hr>
<div class="header">

Next: <a href="#Read_002donly-access" accesskey="n" rel="next">Read-only access</a>, Previous: <a href="#Moving-a-repository" accesskey="p" rel="prev">Moving a repository</a>, Up: <a href="#Repository" accesskey="u" rel="up">Repository</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h3 class="section">2.9 Remote repositories</h3>

Your working copy of the sources can be on a
different machine than the repository. Using CVS
in this manner is known as client/server
operation. You run CVS on a machine which can
mount your working directory, known as the
client, and tell it to communicate to a machine
which can mount the repository, known as the
server. Generally, using a remote
repository is just like using a local one, except that
the format of the repository name is:

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">[:<var>method</var>:][[<var>user</var>][:<var>password</var>]@]<var>hostname</var>[:[<var>port</var>]]/path/to/repository
</pre></div>

Specifying a password in the repository name is not recommended during
checkout, since this will cause CVS to store a cleartext copy of the
password in each created directory. <code>cvs login</code> first instead
(see <a href="#Password-authentication-client">Password authentication client</a>).

The details of exactly what needs to be set up depend
on how you are connecting to the server.

<table class="menu" border="0" cellspacing="0">
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#Server-requirements" accesskey="1">Server requirements</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">Memory and other resources for servers
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#The-connection-method" accesskey="2">The connection method</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">Connection methods and method options
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#Connecting-via-rsh" accesskey="3">Connecting via rsh</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">Using the <code>rsh</code> program to connect
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#Password-authenticated" accesskey="4">Password authenticated</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">Direct connections using passwords
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#GSSAPI-authenticated" accesskey="5">GSSAPI authenticated</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">Direct connections using GSSAPI
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#Kerberos-authenticated" accesskey="6">Kerberos authenticated</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">Direct connections with Kerberos
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#Connecting-via-fork" accesskey="7">Connecting via fork</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">Using a forked <code>cvs server</code> to connect
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#Write-proxies" accesskey="8">Write proxies</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">Distributing load across several CVS servers
</td></tr>
</table>

For the protocol specification,
see <a href="cvsclient.html#Top">the CVS client/server protocol</a> in <cite>The CVS client/server protocol</cite>.

<hr>
<div class="header">

Next: <a href="#The-connection-method" accesskey="n" rel="next">The connection method</a>, Up: <a href="#Remote-repositories" accesskey="u" rel="up">Remote repositories</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h4 class="subsection">2.9.1 Server requirements</h4>

The quick answer to what sort of machine is suitable as
a server is that requirements are modest&mdash;a server
with 32M of memory or even less can handle a fairly
large source tree with a fair amount of activity.

The real answer, of course, is more complicated.
Estimating the known areas of large memory consumption
should be sufficient to estimate memory requirements.
There are two such areas documented here; other memory
consumption should be small by comparison (if you find
that is not the case, let us know, as described in
<a href="#BUGS">BUGS</a>, so we can update this documentation).

The first area of big memory consumption is large
checkouts, when using the CVS server. The server
consists of two processes for each client that it is
serving. Memory consumption on the child process
should remain fairly small. Memory consumption on the
parent process, particularly if the network connection
to the client is slow, can be expected to grow to
slightly more than the size of the sources in a single
directory, or two megabytes, whichever is larger.

Multiplying the size of each CVS server by the
number of servers which you expect to have active at
one time should give an idea of memory requirements for
the server. For the most part, the memory consumed by
the parent process probably can be swap space rather
than physical memory.

The second area of large memory consumption is
<code>diff</code>, when checking in large files. This is
required even for binary files. The rule of thumb is
to allow about ten times the size of the largest file
you will want to check in, although five times may be
adequate. For example, if you want to check in a file
which is 10 megabytes, you should have 100 megabytes of
memory on the machine doing the checkin (the server
machine for client/server, or the machine running
CVS for non-client/server). This can be swap
space rather than physical memory. Because the memory
is only required briefly, there is no particular need
to allow memory for more than one such checkin at a
time.

Resource consumption for the client is even more
modest&mdash;any machine with enough capacity to run the
operating system in question should have little
trouble.

For information on disk space requirements, see
<a href="#Creating-a-repository">Creating a repository</a>.

<hr>
<div class="header">

Next: <a href="#Connecting-via-rsh" accesskey="n" rel="next">Connecting via rsh</a>, Previous: <a href="#Server-requirements" accesskey="p" rel="prev">Server requirements</a>, Up: <a href="#Remote-repositories" accesskey="u" rel="up">Remote repositories</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h4 class="subsection">2.9.2 The connection method</h4>

In its simplest form, the <var>method</var> portion of the repository string
(see <a href="#Remote-repositories">Remote repositories</a>) may be one of &lsquo;<samp>ext</samp>&rsquo;, &lsquo;<samp>fork</samp>&rsquo;,
&lsquo;<samp>gserver</samp>&rsquo;, &lsquo;<samp>kserver</samp>&rsquo;, &lsquo;<samp>local</samp>&rsquo;, &lsquo;<samp>pserver</samp>&rsquo;, and, on some
platforms, &lsquo;<samp>server</samp>&rsquo;.

If <var>method</var> is not specified, and the repository
name starts with a &lsquo;<samp>/</samp>&rsquo;, then the default is <code>local</code>.
If <var>method</var> is not specified, and the repository
name does not start with a &lsquo;<samp>/</samp>&rsquo;, then the default is <code>ext</code>
or <code>server</code>, depending on your platform; both the &lsquo;<samp>ext</samp>&rsquo;
and &lsquo;<samp>server</samp>&rsquo; methods are described in <a href="#Connecting-via-rsh">Connecting via rsh</a>.



The <code>ext</code>, <code>fork</code>, <code>gserver</code>, and <code>pserver</code> connection
methods all accept optional method options, specified as part of the
<var>method</var> string, like so:

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">:<var>method</var>[;<var>option</var>=<var>arg</var>...]:<var>other_connection_data</var>
</pre></div>

CVS is not sensitive to the case of <var>method</var> or <var>option</var>, though
it may sometimes be sensitive to the case of <var>arg</var>. The possible method
options are as follows:

<dl compact="compact">
<dd>






</dd>
<dt><code>proxy=<var>hostname</var></code></dt>
<dt><code>proxyport=<var>port</var></code></dt>
<dd>These two method options can be used to connect via an HTTP tunnel style web
proxy. <var>hostname</var> should be the name of the HTTP proxy server to connect
through and <var>port</var> is the port number on the HTTP proxy server to connect
via. <var>port</var> defaults to 8080.

NOTE: An HTTP proxy server is not the same as a CVS write proxy
server - please see <a href="#Write-proxies">Write proxies</a> for more on CVS write proxies.

For example, to connect pserver via a web proxy listening on port 8000 of
www.myproxy.net, you would use a method of:

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">:pserver;proxy=www.myproxy.net;proxyport=8000:<var>connstr</var>
</pre></div>

NOTE: In the above example, the pserver connection string <var>connstr</var>
is still required to connect and authenticate to the CVS server, as noted in
the upcoming sections on password authentication, <code>gserver</code>, and
<code>kserver</code>. The example above only demonstrates a modification to the
<var>method</var> portion of the repository name.

These options first appeared in CVS version 1.12.7 and are valid as
modifcations to the <code>gserver</code> and <code>pserver</code> connection methods.


</dd>
<dt><code>CVS_RSH=<var>path</var></code></dt>
<dd>This method option can be used with the <code>ext</code> method to specify the path
the CVS client will use to find the remote shell used to contact the
CVS server and takes precedence over any path specified in the
<code>$CVS_RSH</code> environment variable (see <a href="#Connecting-via-rsh">Connecting via rsh</a>). For
example, to connect to a CVS server via the local
<samp>/path/to/ssh/command</samp> command, you could choose to specify the following
<var>path</var> via the <code>CVS_RSH</code> method option:

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">:ext;CVS_RSH=/path/to/ssh/command:<var>ext_connection_string</var>
</pre></div>

This method option first appeared in CVS version 1.12.11 and is valid only
as a modifcation to the <code>ext</code> connection method.


</dd>
<dt><code>CVS_SERVER=<var>path</var></code></dt>
<dd>This method option can be used with the <code>ext</code> and <code>fork</code> methods to
specify the path CVS will use to find the CVS executable on the
CVS server and takes precedence over any path specified in the
<code>$CVS_SERVER</code> environment variable (see <a href="#Connecting-via-rsh">Connecting via rsh</a>). For
example, to select the remote <samp>/path/to/cvs/command</samp> executable as your
CVS server application on the CVS server machine, you could choose to
specify the following <var>path</var> via the <code>CVS_SERVER</code> method option:

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">:ext;CVS_SERVER=/path/to/cvs/command:<var>ext_connection_string</var>
</pre></div>

or, to select an executable named &lsquo;<samp>cvs-1.12.11</samp>&rsquo;, assuming it is in your
<code>$PATH</code> on the CVS server:

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">:ext;CVS_SERVER=cvs-1.12.11:<var>ext_connection_string</var>
</pre></div>

This method option first appeared in CVS version 1.12.11 and is valid
as a modifcation to both the <code>ext</code> and <code>fork</code> connection methods.


</dd>
<dt><code>Redirect=<var>boolean-state</var></code></dt>
<dd>The <code>Redirect</code> method option determines whether the CVS client will
allow a CVS server to redirect it to a different CVS server, usually
for write requests, as in a write proxy setup.

A <var>boolean-state</var> of any value acceptable for boolean <samp>CVSROOT/config</samp>
file options is acceptable here (see <a href="#config">config</a>). For example, &lsquo;<samp>on</samp>&rsquo;,
&lsquo;<samp>off</samp>&rsquo;, &lsquo;<samp>true</samp>&rsquo;, and &lsquo;<samp>false</samp>&rsquo; are all valid values for
<var>boolean-state</var>. <var>boolean-state</var> for the <code>Redirect</code> method option
defaults to &lsquo;<samp>on</samp>&rsquo;.

This option will have no effect when talking to any non-secondary CVS
server. For more on write proxies and secondary servers, please see
<a href="#Write-proxies">Write proxies</a>.

This method option first appeared in CVS version 1.12.11 and is valid only
as a modifcation to the <code>ext</code> connection method.
</dd>
</dl>

As a further example, to combine both the <code>CVS_RSH</code> and <code>CVS_SERVER</code>
options, a method specification like the following would work:

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">:ext;CVS_RSH=/path/to/ssh/command;CVS_SERVER=/path/to/cvs/command:
</pre></div>

This means that you would not need to have
the <code>CVS_SERVER</code> or <code>CVS_RSH</code> environment
variables set correctly. See <a href="#Connecting-via-rsh">Connecting via rsh</a>, for more details on
these environment variables.

<hr>
<div class="header">

Next: <a href="#Password-authenticated" accesskey="n" rel="next">Password authenticated</a>, Previous: <a href="#The-connection-method" accesskey="p" rel="prev">The connection method</a>, Up: <a href="#Remote-repositories" accesskey="u" rel="up">Remote repositories</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h4 class="subsection">2.9.3 Connecting with rsh</h4>

CVS uses the &lsquo;<samp>rsh</samp>&rsquo; protocol to perform these
operations, so the remote user host needs to have a
<samp>.rhosts</samp> file which grants access to the local
user. Note that the program that CVS uses for this
purpose may be specified using the <samp>--with-rsh</samp>
flag to configure.

For example, suppose you are the user &lsquo;<samp>mozart</samp>&rsquo; on
the local machine &lsquo;<samp>toe.example.com</samp>&rsquo;, and the
server machine is &lsquo;<samp>faun.example.org</samp>&rsquo;. On
faun, put the following line into the file
<samp>.rhosts</samp> in &lsquo;<samp>bach</samp>&rsquo;&rsquo;s home directory:

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">toe.example.com mozart
</pre></div>

Then test that &lsquo;<samp>rsh</samp>&rsquo; is working with

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">rsh -l bach faun.example.org 'echo $PATH'
</pre></div>

Next you have to make sure that <code>rsh</code> will be able
to find the server. Make sure that the path which
<code>rsh</code> printed in the above example includes the
directory containing a program named <code>cvs</code> which
is the server. You need to set the path in
<samp>.bashrc</samp>, <samp>.cshrc</samp>, etc., not <samp>.login</samp>
or <samp>.profile</samp>. Alternately, you can set the
environment variable <code>CVS_SERVER</code> on the client
machine to the filename of the server you want to use,
for example <samp>/usr/local/bin/cvs-1.6</samp>.
For the <code>ext</code> and <code>fork</code> methods, you may
also specify <var>CVS_SERVER</var> as an option in the
<var>CVSROOT</var> so that you may use different servers for
differnt roots. See <a href="#Remote-repositories">Remote repositories</a> for more
details.

There is no need to edit <samp>inetd.conf</samp> or start a
CVS server daemon.






There are two access methods that you use in <code>CVSROOT</code>
for rsh. <code>:server:</code> specifies an internal rsh
client, which is supported only by some CVS ports.
This is not supported on most Unix-style systems.
<code>:ext:</code> specifies an external rsh program. By
default this is <code>rsh</code> (unless otherwise specified
by the <samp>--with-rsh</samp> flag to configure) but you may set the
<code>CVS_RSH</code> environment variable to invoke another
program which can access the remote server (for
example, <code>remsh</code> on HP-UX 9 because <code>rsh</code> is
something different, or <code>ssh</code> to allow the use of secure
and/or compressed connections). It must be a program which can
transmit data to and from the server without modifying
it; for example the Windows NT <code>rsh</code> is not
suitable since it by default translates between CRLF
and LF. The OS/2 CVS port has a hack to pass &lsquo;<samp>-b</samp>&rsquo;
to <code>rsh</code> to get around this, but since this could
potentially cause problems for programs other than the
standard <code>rsh</code>, it may change in the future. If
you set <code>CVS_RSH</code> to <code>SSH</code> or some other rsh
replacement, the instructions in the rest of this
section concerning <samp>.rhosts</samp> and so on are likely
to be inapplicable; consult the documentation for your rsh
replacement.

In the Debian and MirBSD versions of CVS, you can
also specify <code>:extssh:</code> to force use of the Secure
Shell, or <code>:ext=prog:</code> or <code>:ext=/path/to/prog:</code>
to specify the remote shell to use without needing to
touch the <code>CVS_RSH</code> environment variable.

You may choose to specify the <var>CVS_RSH</var> option as a method option
in the <var>CVSROOT</var> string to allow you to use different connection tools
for different roots (see <a href="#The-connection-method">The connection method</a>). For example, allowing
some roots to use <code>CVS_RSH=remsh</code> and some to use
<code>CVS_RSH=ssh</code> for the <code>ext</code> method. See also
the <a href="#Remote-repositories">Remote repositories</a> for more details.

Continuing our example, supposing you want to access
the module <samp>foo</samp> in the repository
<samp>/usr/local/cvsroot/</samp>, on machine
<samp>faun.example.org</samp>, you are ready to go:

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">cvs -d :ext:bach@faun.example.org:/usr/local/cvsroot checkout foo
</pre></div>

(The <samp>bach@</samp> can be omitted if the username is
the same on both the local and remote hosts.)

<hr>
<div class="header">

Next: <a href="#GSSAPI-authenticated" accesskey="n" rel="next">GSSAPI authenticated</a>, Previous: <a href="#Connecting-via-rsh" accesskey="p" rel="prev">Connecting via rsh</a>, Up: <a href="#Remote-repositories" accesskey="u" rel="up">Remote repositories</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h4 class="subsection">2.9.4 Direct connection with password authentication</h4>

The CVS client can also connect to the server
using a password protocol. This is particularly useful
if using <code>rsh</code> is not feasible (for example,
the server is behind a firewall), and Kerberos also is
not available.

To use this method, it is necessary to make
some adjustments on both the server and client sides.

<table class="menu" border="0" cellspacing="0">
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#Password-authentication-server" accesskey="1">Password authentication server</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">Setting up the server
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#Password-authentication-client" accesskey="2">Password authentication client</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">Using the client
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#Password-authentication-security" accesskey="3">Password authentication security</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">What this method does and does not do
</td></tr>
</table>

<hr>
<div class="header">

Next: <a href="#Password-authentication-client" accesskey="n" rel="next">Password authentication client</a>, Up: <a href="#Password-authenticated" accesskey="u" rel="up">Password authenticated</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h4 class="subsubsection">2.9.4.1 Setting up the server for password authentication</h4>

First of all, you probably want to tighten the
permissions on the <samp>$CVSROOT</samp> and
<samp>$CVSROOT/CVSROOT</samp> directories. See <a href="#Password-authentication-security">Password authentication security</a>, for more details.













On the server side, the file <samp>/etc/inetd.conf</samp>
needs to be edited so <code>inetd</code> knows to run the
command <code>cvs pserver</code> when it receives a
connection on the right port. By default, the port
number is 2401; it would be different if your client
were compiled with <code>CVS_AUTH_PORT</code> defined to
something else, though. This can also be specified in the CVSROOT variable
(see <a href="#Remote-repositories">Remote repositories</a>) or overridden with the CVS_CLIENT_PORT
environment variable (see <a href="#Environment-variables">Environment variables</a>).

If your <code>inetd</code> allows raw port numbers in
<samp>/etc/inetd.conf</samp>, then the following (all on a
single line in <samp>inetd.conf</samp>) should be sufficient:

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">2401 stream tcp nowait root /usr/local/bin/cvs
cvs -f --allow-root=/usr/cvsroot pserver
</pre></div>

(You could also use the
&lsquo;<samp>-T</samp>&rsquo; option to specify a temporary directory.)

The &lsquo;<samp>--allow-root</samp>&rsquo; option specifies the allowable
CVSROOT directory. Clients which attempt to use a
different CVSROOT directory will not be allowed to
connect. To allow a whole class of CVSROOT, specify
a POSIX extended regular expression to match allowed
directories with the &lsquo;<samp>--allow-root-regexp</samp>&rsquo; option.
These options may be used in conjunction, and both options
may be repeated to allow access to multiple CVSROOT
directories and classes of directories.
(Unfortunately, many versions of <code>inetd</code> have very small
limits on the number of arguments and/or the total length
of the command. The usual solution to this problem is
to have <code>inetd</code> run a shell script which then invokes
CVS with the necessary arguments.)

If your <code>inetd</code> wants a symbolic service
name instead of a raw port number, then put this in
<samp>/etc/services</samp>:

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">cvspserver 2401/tcp
</pre></div>

and put <code>cvspserver</code> instead of <code>2401</code> in <samp>inetd.conf</samp>.

If your system uses <code>xinetd</code> instead of <code>inetd</code>,
the procedure is slightly different.
Create a file called <samp>/etc/xinetd.d/cvspserver</samp> containing the following:

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">service cvspserver
{
 port = 2401
 socket_type = stream
 protocol = tcp
 wait = no
 user = root
 passenv = PATH
 server = /usr/local/bin/cvs
 server_args = -f --allow-root=/usr/cvsroot pserver
}
</pre></div>

(If <code>cvspserver</code> is defined in <samp>/etc/services</samp>, you can omit
the <code>port</code> line.)

Once the above is taken care of, restart your
<code>inetd</code>, or do whatever is necessary to force it
to reread its initialization files.

If you are having trouble setting this up, see
<a href="#Connection">Connection</a>.



Because the client stores and transmits passwords in
cleartext (almost&mdash;see <a href="#Password-authentication-security">Password authentication security</a>, for details), a separate CVS password
file is generally used, so people don&rsquo;t compromise
their regular passwords when they access the
repository. This file is
<samp>$CVSROOT/CVSROOT/passwd</samp> (see <a href="#Intro-administrative-files">Intro administrative files</a>). It uses a colon-separated
format, similar to <samp>/etc/passwd</samp> on Unix systems,
except that it has fewer fields: CVS username,
optional password, and an optional system username for
CVS to run as if authentication succeeds. Here is
an example <samp>passwd</samp> file with five entries:

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">anonymous:
bach:ULtgRLXo7NRxs
spwang:1sOp854gDF3DY
melissa:tGX1fS8sun6rY:pubcvs
qproj:XR4EZcEs0szik:pubcvs
</pre></div>

(The passwords are encrypted according to the standard
Unix <code>crypt()</code> function, so it is possible to
paste in passwords directly from regular Unix
<samp>/etc/passwd</samp> files.)

The first line in the example will grant access to any
CVS client attempting to authenticate as user
<code>anonymous</code>, no matter what password they use,
including an empty password. (This is typical for
sites granting anonymous read-only access; for
information on how to do the &quot;read-only&quot; part, see
<a href="#Read_002donly-access">Read-only access</a>.)

The second and third lines will grant access to
<code>bach</code> and <code>spwang</code> if they supply their
respective plaintext passwords.


The fourth line will grant access to <code>melissa</code>, if
she supplies the correct password, but her CVS
operations will actually run on the server side under
the system user <code>pubcvs</code>. Thus, there need not be
any system user named <code>melissa</code>, but there
must be one named <code>pubcvs</code>.

The fifth line shows that system user identities can be
shared: any client who successfully authenticates as
<code>qproj</code> will actually run as <code>pubcvs</code>, just
as <code>melissa</code> does. That way you could create a
single, shared system user for each project in your
repository, and give each developer their own line in
the <samp>$CVSROOT/CVSROOT/passwd</samp> file. The CVS
username on each line would be different, but the
system username would be the same. The reason to have
different CVS usernames is that CVS will log their
actions under those names: when <code>melissa</code> commits
a change to a project, the checkin is recorded in the
project&rsquo;s history under the name <code>melissa</code>, not
<code>pubcvs</code>. And the reason to have them share a
system username is so that you can arrange permissions
in the relevant area of the repository such that only
that account has write-permission there.

If the system-user field is present, all
password-authenticated CVS commands run as that
user; if no system user is specified, CVS simply
takes the CVS username as the system username and
runs commands as that user. In either case, if there
is no such user on the system, then the CVS
operation will fail (regardless of whether the client
supplied a valid password).

The password and system-user fields can both be omitted
(and if the system-user field is omitted, then also
omit the colon that would have separated it from the
encrypted password). For example, this would be a
valid <samp>$CVSROOT/CVSROOT/passwd</samp> file:

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">anonymous::pubcvs
fish:rKa5jzULzmhOo:kfogel
sussman:1sOp854gDF3DY
</pre></div>

When the password field is omitted or empty, then the
client&rsquo;s authentication attempt will succeed with any
password, including the empty string. However, the
colon after the CVS username is always necessary,
even if the password is empty.

CVS can also fall back to use system authentication.
When authenticating a password, the server first checks
for the user in the <samp>$CVSROOT/CVSROOT/passwd</samp>
file. If it finds the user, it will use that entry for
authentication as described above. But if it does not
find the user, or if the CVS <samp>passwd</samp> file
does not exist, then the server can try to authenticate
the username and password using the operating system&rsquo;s
user-lookup routines (this &quot;fallback&quot; behavior can be
disabled by setting <code>SystemAuth=no</code> in the
CVS <samp>config</samp> file, see <a href="#config">config</a>).

The default fallback behavior is to look in 
<samp>/etc/passwd</samp> for this system user unless your
system has PAM (Pluggable Authentication Modules)
and your CVS server executable was configured to
use it at compile time (using <code>./configure --enable-pam</code> - see the
INSTALL file for more). In this case, PAM will be consulted instead.
This means that CVS can be configured to use any password
authentication source PAM can be configured to use (possibilities
include a simple UNIX password, NIS, LDAP, and others) in its
global configuration file (usually <samp>/etc/pam.conf</samp>
or possibly <samp>/etc/pam.d/cvs</samp>). See your PAM documentation
for more details on PAM configuration.

Note that PAM is an experimental feature in CVS and feedback is
encouraged. Please send a mail to one of the CVS mailing lists
(<code>info-cvs@nongnu.org</code> or <code>bug-cvs@nongnu.org</code>) if you use the 
CVS PAM support.

WARNING: Using PAM gives the system administrator much more 
flexibility about how CVS users are authenticated but 
no more security than other methods. See below for more. 

CVS needs an &quot;auth&quot;, &quot;account&quot; and &quot;session&quot; module in the 
PAM configuration file. A typical PAM configuration 
would therefore have the following lines 
in <samp>/etc/pam.conf</samp> to emulate the standard CVS 
system <samp>/etc/passwd</samp> authentication:

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">cvs	auth	 required	pam_unix.so
cvs	account	 required	pam_unix.so
cvs	session	 required	pam_unix.so
</pre></div>

The the equivalent <samp>/etc/pam.d/cvs</samp> would contain

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">auth	 required	pam_unix.so
account	 required	pam_unix.so
session	 required	pam_unix.so
</pre></div>

Some systems require a full path to the module so that
<samp>pam_unix.so</samp> (Linux) would become something like 
<samp>/usr/lib/security/$ISA/pam_unix.so.1</samp> (Sun Solaris).
See the <samp>contrib/pam</samp> subdirectory of the CVS
source distribution for further example configurations.

The PAM service name given above as &quot;cvs&quot; is just
the service name in the default configuration and can be
set using
<code>./configure --with-hardcoded-pam-service-name=&lt;pam-service-name&gt;</code>
before compiling. CVS can also be configured to use whatever
name it is invoked as as its PAM service name using
<code>./configure --without-hardcoded-pam-service-name</code>, but this
feature should not be used if you may not have control of the name
CVS will be invoked as.

Be aware, also, that falling back to system
authentication might be a security risk: CVS
operations would then be authenticated with that user&rsquo;s
regular login password, and the password flies across
the network in plaintext. See <a href="#Password-authentication-security">Password authentication security</a> for more on this.
This may be more of a problem with PAM authentication
because it is likely that the source of the system 
password is some central authentication service like
LDAP which is also used to authenticate other services.

On the other hand, PAM makes it very easy to change your password
regularly. If they are given the option of a one-password system for
all of their activities, users are often more willing to change their
password on a regular basis.

In the non-PAM configuration where the password is stored in the
<samp>CVSROOT/passwd</samp> file, it is difficult to change passwords on a
regular basis since only administrative users (or in some cases
processes that act as an administrative user) are typically given
access to modify this file. Either there needs to be some
hand-crafted web page or set-uid program to update the file, or the
update needs to be done by submitting a request to an administrator to
perform the duty by hand. In the first case, having to remember to
update a separate password on a periodic basis can be difficult. In
the second case, the manual nature of the change will typically mean
that the password will not be changed unless it is absolutely
necessary.

Note that PAM administrators should probably avoid configuring
one-time-passwords (OTP) for CVS authentication/authorization. If
OTPs are desired, the administrator may wish to encourage the use of
one of the other Client/Server access methods. See the section on
see <a href="#Remote-repositories">Remote repositories</a> for a list of other methods.

Right now, the only way to put a password in the
CVS <samp>passwd</samp> file is to paste it there from
somewhere else. Someday, there may be a <code>cvs
passwd</code> command.

Unlike many of the files in <samp>$CVSROOT/CVSROOT</samp>, it
is normal to edit the <samp>passwd</samp> file in-place,
rather than via CVS. This is because of the
possible security risks of having the <samp>passwd</samp>
file checked out to people&rsquo;s working copies. If you do
want to include the <samp>passwd</samp> file in checkouts of
<samp>$CVSROOT/CVSROOT</samp>, see <a href="#checkoutlist">checkoutlist</a>.

<hr>
<div class="header">

Next: <a href="#Password-authentication-security" accesskey="n" rel="next">Password authentication security</a>, Previous: <a href="#Password-authentication-server" accesskey="p" rel="prev">Password authentication server</a>, Up: <a href="#Password-authenticated" accesskey="u" rel="up">Password authenticated</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h4 class="subsubsection">2.9.4.2 Using the client with password authentication</h4>




To run a CVS command on a remote repository via
the password-authenticating server, one specifies the
<code>pserver</code> protocol, optional username, repository host, an
optional port number, and path to the repository. For example:

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">cvs -d :pserver:faun.example.org:/usr/local/cvsroot checkout someproj
</pre></div>

or

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">CVSROOT=:pserver:bach@faun.example.org:2401/usr/local/cvsroot
cvs checkout someproj
</pre></div>

However, unless you&rsquo;re connecting to a public-access
repository (i.e., one where that username doesn&rsquo;t
require a password), you&rsquo;ll need to supply a password or log in first.
Logging in verifies your password with the repository and stores it in a file.
It&rsquo;s done with the <code>login</code> command, which will
prompt you interactively for the password if you didn&rsquo;t supply one as part of
<var>$CVSROOT</var>:

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">cvs -d :pserver:bach@faun.example.org:/usr/local/cvsroot login
CVS password:
</pre></div>

or

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">cvs -d :pserver:bach:p4ss30rd@faun.example.org:/usr/local/cvsroot login
</pre></div>

After you enter the password, CVS verifies it with
the server. If the verification succeeds, then that
combination of username, host, repository, and password
is permanently recorded, so future transactions with
that repository won&rsquo;t require you to run <code>cvs
login</code>. (If verification fails, CVS will exit
complaining that the password was incorrect, and
nothing will be recorded.)

The records are stored, by default, in the file
<samp>$HOME/.cvspass</samp>. That file&rsquo;s format is
human-readable, and to a degree human-editable, but
note that the passwords are not stored in
cleartext&mdash;they are trivially encoded to protect them
from &quot;innocent&quot; compromise (i.e., inadvertent viewing
by a system administrator or other non-malicious
person).


You can change the default location of this file by
setting the <code>CVS_PASSFILE</code> environment variable.
If you use this variable, make sure you set it
before <code>cvs login</code> is run. If you were to
set it after running <code>cvs login</code>, then later
CVS commands would be unable to look up the
password for transmission to the server.
 
Once you have logged in, all CVS commands using
that remote repository and username will authenticate
with the stored password. So, for example
 
<div class="example">
<pre class="example">cvs -d :pserver:bach@faun.example.org:/usr/local/cvsroot checkout foo
</pre></div>

should just work (unless the password changes on the
server side, in which case you&rsquo;ll have to re-run
<code>cvs login</code>).

Note that if the &lsquo;<samp>:pserver:</samp>&rsquo; were not present in
the repository specification, CVS would assume it
should use <code>rsh</code> to connect with the server
instead (see <a href="#Connecting-via-rsh">Connecting via rsh</a>).

Of course, once you have a working copy checked out and
are running CVS commands from within it, there is
no longer any need to specify the repository
explicitly, because CVS can deduce the repository
from the working copy&rsquo;s <samp>CVS</samp> subdirectory.


The password for a given remote repository can be
removed from the <code>CVS_PASSFILE</code> by using the
<code>cvs logout</code> command.

<hr>
<div class="header">

Previous: <a href="#Password-authentication-client" accesskey="p" rel="prev">Password authentication client</a>, Up: <a href="#Password-authenticated" accesskey="u" rel="up">Password authenticated</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h4 class="subsubsection">2.9.4.3 Security considerations with password authentication</h4>

The passwords are stored on the client side in a
trivial encoding of the cleartext, and transmitted in
the same encoding. The encoding is done only to
prevent inadvertent password compromises (i.e., a
system administrator accidentally looking at the file),
and will not prevent even a naive attacker from gaining
the password.

The separate CVS password file (see <a href="#Password-authentication-server">Password authentication server</a>) allows people
to use a different password for repository access than
for login access. On the other hand, once a user has
non-read-only
access to the repository, she can execute programs on
the server system through a variety of means. Thus, repository
access implies fairly broad system access as well. It
might be possible to modify CVS to prevent that,
but no one has done so as of this writing.

Note that because the <samp>$CVSROOT/CVSROOT</samp> directory
contains <samp>passwd</samp> and other files which are used
to check security, you must control the permissions on
this directory as tightly as the permissions on
<samp>/etc</samp>. The same applies to the <samp>$CVSROOT</samp>
directory itself and any directory
above it in the tree. Anyone who has write access to
such a directory will have the ability to become any
user on the system. Note that these permissions are
typically tighter than you would use if you are not
using pserver.

In summary, anyone who gets the password gets
repository access (which may imply some measure of general system
access as well). The password is available to anyone
who can sniff network packets or read a protected
(i.e., user read-only) file. If you want real
security, get Kerberos.

<hr>
<div class="header">

Next: <a href="#Kerberos-authenticated" accesskey="n" rel="next">Kerberos authenticated</a>, Previous: <a href="#Password-authenticated" accesskey="p" rel="prev">Password authenticated</a>, Up: <a href="#Remote-repositories" accesskey="u" rel="up">Remote repositories</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h4 class="subsection">2.9.5 Direct connection with GSSAPI</h4>

GSSAPI is a generic interface to network security
systems such as Kerberos 5.
If you have a working GSSAPI library, you can have
CVS connect via a direct TCP connection,
authenticating with GSSAPI.

To do this, CVS needs to be compiled with GSSAPI
support; when configuring CVS it tries to detect
whether GSSAPI libraries using Kerberos version 5 are
present. You can also use the <samp>--with-gssapi</samp>
flag to configure.

The connection is authenticated using GSSAPI, but the
message stream is not authenticated by default.
You must use the <code>-a</code> global option to request
stream authentication.

The data transmitted is not encrypted by
default. Encryption support must be compiled into both
the client and the server; use the
<samp>--enable-encrypt</samp> configure option to turn it on.
You must then use the <code>-x</code> global option to
request encryption.

GSSAPI connections are handled on the server side by
the same server which handles the password
authentication server; see <a href="#Password-authentication-server">Password authentication server</a>. If you are using a GSSAPI mechanism such as
Kerberos which provides for strong authentication, you
will probably want to disable the ability to
authenticate via cleartext passwords. To do so, create
an empty <samp>CVSROOT/passwd</samp> password file, and set
<code>SystemAuth=no</code> in the config file
(see <a href="#config">config</a>).

The GSSAPI server uses a principal name of
cvs/<var>hostname</var>, where <var>hostname</var> is the
canonical name of the server host. You will have to
set this up as required by your GSSAPI mechanism.

To connect using GSSAPI, use the &lsquo;<samp>:gserver:</samp>&rsquo; method. For
example,

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">cvs -d :gserver:faun.example.org:/usr/local/cvsroot checkout foo
</pre></div>

<hr>
<div class="header">

Next: <a href="#Connecting-via-fork" accesskey="n" rel="next">Connecting via fork</a>, Previous: <a href="#GSSAPI-authenticated" accesskey="p" rel="prev">GSSAPI authenticated</a>, Up: <a href="#Remote-repositories" accesskey="u" rel="up">Remote repositories</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h4 class="subsection">2.9.6 Direct connection with Kerberos</h4>

The easiest way to use Kerberos is to use the Kerberos
<code>rsh</code>, as described in <a href="#Connecting-via-rsh">Connecting via rsh</a>.
The main disadvantage of using rsh is that all the data
needs to pass through additional programs, so it may be
slower. So if you have Kerberos installed you can
connect via a direct TCP connection,
authenticating with Kerberos.

This section concerns the Kerberos network security
system, version 4. Kerberos version 5 is supported via
the GSSAPI generic network security interface, as
described in the previous section.

To do this, CVS needs to be compiled with Kerberos
support; when configuring CVS it tries to detect
whether Kerberos is present or you can use the
<samp>--with-krb4</samp> flag to configure.

The data transmitted is not encrypted by
default. Encryption support must be compiled into both
the client and server; use the
<samp>--enable-encryption</samp> configure option to turn it
on. You must then use the <code>-x</code> global option to
request encryption.

The CVS client will attempt to connect to port 1999 by default.


When you want to use CVS, get a ticket in the
usual way (generally <code>kinit</code>); it must be a ticket
which allows you to log into the server machine. Then
you are ready to go:

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">cvs -d :kserver:faun.example.org:/usr/local/cvsroot checkout foo
</pre></div>

Previous versions of CVS would fall back to a
connection via rsh; this version will not do so.

<hr>
<div class="header">

Next: <a href="#Write-proxies" accesskey="n" rel="next">Write proxies</a>, Previous: <a href="#Kerberos-authenticated" accesskey="p" rel="prev">Kerberos authenticated</a>, Up: <a href="#Remote-repositories" accesskey="u" rel="up">Remote repositories</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h4 class="subsection">2.9.7 Connecting with fork</h4>

This access method allows you to connect to a
repository on your local disk via the remote protocol.
In other words it does pretty much the same thing as
<code>:local:</code>, but various quirks, bugs and the like are
those of the remote CVS rather than the local
CVS.

For day-to-day operations you might prefer either
<code>:local:</code> or <code>:fork:</code>, depending on your
preferences. Of course <code>:fork:</code> comes in
particularly handy in testing or
debugging <code>cvs</code> and the remote protocol.
Specifically, we avoid all of the network-related
setup/configuration, timeouts, and authentication
inherent in the other remote access methods but still
create a connection which uses the remote protocol.

To connect using the <code>fork</code> method, use
&lsquo;<samp>:fork:</samp>&rsquo; and the pathname to your local
repository. For example:

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">cvs -d :fork:/usr/local/cvsroot checkout foo
</pre></div>

As with <code>:ext:</code>, the server is called &lsquo;<samp>cvs</samp>&rsquo;
by default, or the value of the <code>CVS_SERVER</code>
environment variable.

<hr>
<div class="header">

Previous: <a href="#Connecting-via-fork" accesskey="p" rel="prev">Connecting via fork</a>, Up: <a href="#Remote-repositories" accesskey="u" rel="up">Remote repositories</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h4 class="subsection">2.9.8 Distributing load across several CVS servers</h4>

CVS can be configured to distribute usage across several CVS
servers. This is accomplished by means of one or more write proxies, or
secondary servers, for a single primary server.

When a CVS client accesses a secondary server and only sends read
requests, then the secondary server handles the entire request. If the client
sends any write requests, however, the secondary server asks the client to
redirect its write request to the primary server, if the client supports
redirect requests, and otherwise becomes a transparent proxy for the primary
server, which actually handles the write request.

In this manner, any number of read-only secondary servers may be configured as
write proxies for the primary server, effectively distributing the load from
all read operations between the secondary servers and restricting the load on
the primary server to write operations and pushing changes to the secondaries.

Primary servers will not automatically push changes to secondaries. This must
be configured via <samp>loginfo</samp>, <samp>postadmin</samp>, <samp>posttag</samp>, &amp;
<samp>postwatch</samp> scripts (see <a href="#Trigger-Scripts">Trigger Scripts</a>) like the following:

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">ALL	rsync -gopr -essh ./ secondary:/cvsroot/%p &amp;
</pre></div>

You would probably actually want to lock directories for write on the secondary
and for read on the primary before running the &lsquo;<samp>rsync</samp>&rsquo; in the above
example, but describing such a setup is beyond the scope of this document.

A secondary advantage of a write proxy setup is that users pointing at the
secondary server can still execute fast read operations while on a network that
connects to the primary over a slow link or even one where the link to the
primary is periodically broken. Only write operations will require the network
link to the primary.

To configure write proxies, the primary must be specified with the
&lsquo;<samp>PrimaryServer</samp>&rsquo; option in <samp>CVSROOT/config</samp> (see <a href="#config">config</a>). For the
transparent proxy mode to work, all secondary servers must also be running the
same version of the CVS server, or at least one that provides the same
list of supported requests to the client as the primary server. This is not
necessary for redirection.

Once a primary server is configured, secondary servers may be configured by:

<ol>
<li> Duplicating the primary repository at the new location.
</li><li> Setting up the <samp>loginfo</samp>, <samp>postadmin</samp>, <samp>posttag</samp>, and
<samp>postwatch</samp> files on the primary to propagate writes to the new secondary.
</li><li> Configure remote access to the secondary(ies) as you would configure access
to any other CVS server (see <a href="#Remote-repositories">Remote repositories</a>).
</li><li> Ensuring that <code>--allow-root=<var>secondary-cvsroot</var></code> is passed to
all incovations of the secondary server if the path to the CVS
repository directory is different on the two servers and you wish to support
clients that do not handle the &lsquo;<samp>Redirect</samp>&rsquo; resopnse (CVS 1.12.9 and earlier
clients do not handle the &lsquo;<samp>Redirect</samp>&rsquo; response).

Please note, again, that writethrough proxy suport requires
<code>--allow-root=<var>secondary-cvsroot</var></code> to be specified for all
incovations of the secondary server, not just &lsquo;<samp>pserver</samp>&rsquo; invocations.
This may require a wrapper script for the CVS executable
on your server machine.
</li></ol>

<hr>
<div class="header">

Next: <a href="#Server-temporary-directory" accesskey="n" rel="next">Server temporary directory</a>, Previous: <a href="#Remote-repositories" accesskey="p" rel="prev">Remote repositories</a>, Up: <a href="#Repository" accesskey="u" rel="up">Repository</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h3 class="section">2.10 Read-only repository access</h3>

It is possible to grant read-only repository
access to people using the password-authenticated
server (see <a href="#Password-authenticated">Password authenticated</a>). (The
other access methods do not have explicit support for
read-only users because those methods all assume login
access to the repository machine anyway, and therefore
the user can do whatever local file permissions allow
her to do.)

A user who has read-only access can do only
those CVS operations which do not modify the
repository, except for certain &ldquo;administrative&rdquo; files
(such as lock files and the history file). It may be
desirable to use this feature in conjunction with
user-aliasing (see <a href="#Password-authentication-server">Password authentication server</a>).

Unlike with previous versions of CVS, read-only
users should be able merely to read the repository, and
not to execute programs on the server or otherwise gain
unexpected levels of access. Or to be more accurate,
the known holes have been plugged. Because this
feature is new and has not received a comprehensive
security audit, you should use whatever level of
caution seems warranted given your attitude concerning
security.

There are two ways to specify read-only access
for a user: by inclusion, and by exclusion.

&quot;Inclusion&quot; means listing that user
specifically in the <samp>$CVSROOT/CVSROOT/readers</samp>
file, which is simply a newline-separated list of
users. Here is a sample <samp>readers</samp> file:

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">melissa
splotnik
jrandom
</pre></div>

(Don&rsquo;t forget the newline after the last user.)

&quot;Exclusion&quot; means explicitly listing everyone
who has write access&mdash;if the file

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">$CVSROOT/CVSROOT/writers
</pre></div>

exists, then only
those users listed in it have write access, and
everyone else has read-only access (of course, even the
read-only users still need to be listed in the
CVS <samp>passwd</samp> file). The
<samp>writers</samp> file has the same format as the
<samp>readers</samp> file.

Note: if your CVS <samp>passwd</samp>
file maps cvs users onto system users (see <a href="#Password-authentication-server">Password authentication server</a>), make sure you deny or grant
read-only access using the cvs usernames, not
the system usernames. That is, the <samp>readers</samp> and
<samp>writers</samp> files contain cvs usernames, which may
or may not be the same as system usernames.

Here is a complete description of the server&rsquo;s
behavior in deciding whether to grant read-only or
read-write access:

If <samp>readers</samp> exists, and this user is
listed in it, then she gets read-only access. Or if
<samp>writers</samp> exists, and this user is NOT listed in
it, then she also gets read-only access (this is true
even if <samp>readers</samp> exists but she is not listed
there). Otherwise, she gets full read-write access.

Of course there is a conflict if the user is
listed in both files. This is resolved in the more
conservative way, it being better to protect the
repository too much than too little: such a user gets
read-only access.

<hr>
<div class="header">

Previous: <a href="#Read_002donly-access" accesskey="p" rel="prev">Read-only access</a>, Up: <a href="#Repository" accesskey="u" rel="up">Repository</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h3 class="section">2.11 Temporary directories for the server</h3>

While running, the CVS server creates temporary
directories. They are named

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">cvs-serv<var>pid</var>
</pre></div>

where <var>pid</var> is the process identification number of
the server.
They are located in the directory specified by 
the &lsquo;<samp>-T</samp>&rsquo; global option (see <a href="#Global-options">Global options</a>), 
the <code>TMPDIR</code> environment variable (see <a href="#Environment-variables">Environment variables</a>), 
or, failing that, <samp>/tmp</samp>.

In most cases the server will remove the temporary
directory when it is done, whether it finishes normally
or abnormally. However, there are a few cases in which
the server does not or cannot remove the temporary
directory, for example:

<ul>
<li> If the server aborts due to an internal server error,
it may preserve the directory to aid in debugging

</li><li> If the server is killed in a way that it has no way of
cleaning up (most notably, &lsquo;<samp>kill -KILL</samp>&rsquo; on unix).

</li><li> If the system shuts down without an orderly shutdown,
which tells the server to clean up.
</li></ul>

In cases such as this, you will need to manually remove
the <samp>cvs-serv<var>pid</var></samp> directories. As long as
there is no server running with process identification
number <var>pid</var>, it is safe to do so.

<hr>
<div class="header">

Next: <a href="#Revisions" accesskey="n" rel="next">Revisions</a>, Previous: <a href="#Repository" accesskey="p" rel="prev">Repository</a>, Up: <a href="#Top" accesskey="u" rel="up">Top</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h2 class="chapter">3 Starting a project with CVS</h2>

Because renaming files and moving them between
directories is somewhat inconvenient, the first thing
you do when you start a new project should be to think
through your file organization. It is not impossible
to rename or move files, but it does increase the
potential for confusion and CVS does have some
quirks particularly in the area of renaming
directories. See <a href="#Moving-files">Moving files</a>.

What to do next depends on the situation at hand.

<table class="menu" border="0" cellspacing="0">
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#Setting-up-the-files" accesskey="1">Setting up the files</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">Getting the files into the repository
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#Defining-the-module" accesskey="2">Defining the module</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">How to make a module of the files
</td></tr>
</table>

<hr>
<div class="header">

Next: <a href="#Defining-the-module" accesskey="n" rel="next">Defining the module</a>, Up: <a href="#Starting-a-new-project" accesskey="u" rel="up">Starting a new project</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h3 class="section">3.1 Setting up the files</h3>

The first step is to create the files inside the repository. This can
be done in a couple of different ways.

<table class="menu" border="0" cellspacing="0">
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#From-files" accesskey="1">From files</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">This method is useful with old projects
 where files already exists.
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#From-other-version-control-systems" accesskey="2">From other version control systems</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">Old projects where you want to
 preserve history from another system.
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#From-scratch" accesskey="3">From scratch</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">Creating a directory tree from scratch.
</td></tr>
</table>

<hr>
<div class="header">

Next: <a href="#From-other-version-control-systems" accesskey="n" rel="next">From other version control systems</a>, Up: <a href="#Setting-up-the-files" accesskey="u" rel="up">Setting up the files</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h4 class="subsection">3.1.1 Creating a directory tree from a number of files</h4>

When you begin using CVS, you will probably already have several
projects that can be
put under CVS control. In these cases the easiest way is to use the
<code>import</code> command. An example is probably the easiest way to
explain how to use it. If the files you want to install in
CVS reside in <samp><var>wdir</var></samp>, and you want them to appear in the
repository as <samp>$CVSROOT/yoyodyne/<var>rdir</var></samp>, you can do this:

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">$ cd <var>wdir</var>
$ cvs import -m &quot;Imported sources&quot; yoyodyne/<var>rdir</var> yoyo start
</pre></div>

Unless you supply a log message with the &lsquo;<samp>-m</samp>&rsquo;
flag, CVS starts an editor and prompts for a
message. The string &lsquo;<samp>yoyo</samp>&rsquo; is a vendor tag,
and &lsquo;<samp>start</samp>&rsquo; is a release tag. They may fill
no purpose in this context, but since CVS requires
them they must be present. See <a href="#Tracking-sources">Tracking sources</a>, for
more information about them.

You can now verify that it worked, and remove your
original source directory.

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">$ cd ..
$ cvs checkout yoyodyne/<var>rdir</var> # Explanation below
$ diff -r <var>wdir</var> yoyodyne/<var>rdir</var>
$ rm -r <var>wdir</var>
</pre></div>

Erasing the original sources is a good idea, to make sure that you do
not accidentally edit them in <var>wdir</var>, bypassing CVS.
Of course, it would be wise to make sure that you have
a backup of the sources before you remove them.

The <code>checkout</code> command can either take a module
name as argument (as it has done in all previous
examples) or a path name relative to <code>$CVSROOT</code>,
as it did in the example above.

It is a good idea to check that the permissions
CVS sets on the directories inside <code>$CVSROOT</code>
are reasonable, and that they belong to the proper
groups. See <a href="#File-permissions">File permissions</a>.

If some of the files you want to import are binary, you
may want to use the wrappers features to specify which
files are binary and which are not. See <a href="#Wrappers">Wrappers</a>.

<hr>
<div class="header">

Next: <a href="#From-scratch" accesskey="n" rel="next">From scratch</a>, Previous: <a href="#From-files" accesskey="p" rel="prev">From files</a>, Up: <a href="#Setting-up-the-files" accesskey="u" rel="up">Setting up the files</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h4 class="subsection">3.1.2 Creating Files From Other Version Control Systems</h4>

If you have a project which you are maintaining with
another version control system, such as RCS, you
may wish to put the files from that project into
CVS, and preserve the revision history of the
files.

<dl compact="compact">
<dd>
</dd>
<dt>From RCS</dt>
<dd>If you have been using RCS, find the RCS
files&mdash;usually a file named <samp>foo.c</samp> will have its
RCS file in <samp>RCS/foo.c,v</samp> (but it could be
other places; consult the RCS documentation for
details). Then create the appropriate directories in
CVS if they do not already exist. Then copy the
files into the appropriate directories in the CVS
repository (the name in the repository must be the name
of the source file with &lsquo;<samp>,v</samp>&rsquo; added; the files go
directly in the appropriate directory of the repository,
not in an <samp>RCS</samp> subdirectory). This is one of the
few times when it is a good idea to access the CVS
repository directly, rather than using CVS
commands. Then you are ready to check out a new
working directory.

The RCS file should not be locked when you move it
into CVS; if it is, CVS will have trouble
letting you operate on it.

</dd>
<dt>From another version control system</dt>
<dd>Many version control systems have the ability to export
RCS files in the standard format. If yours does,
export the RCS files and then follow the above
instructions.

Failing that, probably your best bet is to write a
script that will check out the files one revision at a
time using the command line interface to the other
system, and then check the revisions into CVS.
The <samp>sccs2rcs</samp> script mentioned below may be a
useful example to follow.


</dd>
<dt>From SCCS</dt>
<dd>There is a script in the <samp>contrib</samp> directory of
the CVS source distribution called <samp>sccs2rcs</samp>
which converts SCCS files to RCS files.
Note: you must run it on a machine which has both
SCCS and RCS installed, and like everything
else in contrib it is unsupported (your mileage may
vary).


</dd>
<dt>From PVCS</dt>
<dd>There is a script in the <samp>contrib</samp> directory of
the CVS source distribution called <samp>pvcs_to_rcs</samp>
which converts PVCS archives to RCS files.
You must run it on a machine which has both
PVCS and RCS installed, and like everything
else in contrib it is unsupported (your mileage may
vary). See the comments in the script for details.
</dd>
</dl>

<hr>
<div class="header">

Previous: <a href="#From-other-version-control-systems" accesskey="p" rel="prev">From other version control systems</a>, Up: <a href="#Setting-up-the-files" accesskey="u" rel="up">Setting up the files</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h4 class="subsection">3.1.3 Creating a directory tree from scratch</h4>

For a new project, the easiest thing to do is probably
to create an empty directory structure, like this:

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">$ mkdir tc
$ mkdir tc/man
$ mkdir tc/testing
</pre></div>

After that, you use the <code>import</code> command to create
the corresponding (empty) directory structure inside
the repository:

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">$ cd tc
$ cvs import -m &quot;Created directory structure&quot; yoyodyne/<var>dir</var> yoyo start
</pre></div>

This will add yoyodyne/<var>dir</var> as a directory under
<code>$CVSROOT</code>.

Use <code>checkout</code> to get the new project. Then, use <code>add</code>
to add files (and new directories) as needed.

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">$ cd ..
$ cvs co yoyodyne/<var>dir</var>
</pre></div>

Check that the permissions CVS sets on the
directories inside <code>$CVSROOT</code> are reasonable.

<hr>
<div class="header">

Previous: <a href="#Setting-up-the-files" accesskey="p" rel="prev">Setting up the files</a>, Up: <a href="#Starting-a-new-project" accesskey="u" rel="up">Starting a new project</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h3 class="section">3.2 Defining the module</h3>

The next step is to define the module in the
<samp>modules</samp> file. This is not strictly necessary,
but modules can be convenient in grouping together
related files and directories.

In simple cases these steps are sufficient to define a module.

<ol>
<li> Get a working copy of the modules file.

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">$ cvs checkout CVSROOT/modules
$ cd CVSROOT
</pre></div>

</li><li> Edit the file and insert a line that defines the module. See <a href="#Intro-administrative-files">Intro administrative files</a>, for an introduction. See <a href="#modules">modules</a>, for a full
description of the modules file. You can use the
following line to define the module &lsquo;<samp>tc</samp>&rsquo;:

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">tc yoyodyne/tc
</pre></div>

</li><li> Commit your changes to the modules file.

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">$ cvs commit -m &quot;Added the tc module.&quot; modules
</pre></div>

</li><li> Release the modules module.

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">$ cd ..
$ cvs release -d CVSROOT
</pre></div>
</li></ol>

<hr>
<div class="header">

Next: <a href="#Branching-and-merging" accesskey="n" rel="next">Branching and merging</a>, Previous: <a href="#Starting-a-new-project" accesskey="p" rel="prev">Starting a new project</a>, Up: <a href="#Top" accesskey="u" rel="up">Top</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h2 class="chapter">4 Revisions</h2>

For many uses of CVS, one doesn&rsquo;t need to worry
too much about revision numbers; CVS assigns
numbers such as <code>1.1</code>, <code>1.2</code>, and so on, and
that is all one needs to know. However, some people
prefer to have more knowledge and control concerning
how CVS assigns revision numbers.

If one wants to keep track of a set of revisions
involving more than one file, such as which revisions
went into a particular release, one uses a tag,
which is a symbolic revision which can be assigned to a
numeric revision in each file.

<table class="menu" border="0" cellspacing="0">
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#Revision-numbers" accesskey="1">Revision numbers</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">The meaning of a revision number
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#Versions-revisions-releases" accesskey="2">Versions revisions releases</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">Terminology used in this manual
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#Assigning-revisions" accesskey="3">Assigning revisions</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">Assigning revisions
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#Tags" accesskey="4">Tags</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">Tags&ndash;Symbolic revisions
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#Tagging-the-working-directory" accesskey="5">Tagging the working directory</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">The cvs tag command
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#Tagging-by-date_002ftag" accesskey="6">Tagging by date/tag</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">The cvs rtag command
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#Modifying-tags" accesskey="7">Modifying tags</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">Adding, renaming, and deleting tags
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#Tagging-add_002fremove" accesskey="8">Tagging add/remove</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">Tags with adding and removing files
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#Sticky-tags" accesskey="9">Sticky tags</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">Certain tags are persistent
</td></tr>
</table>

<hr>
<div class="header">

Next: <a href="#Versions-revisions-releases" accesskey="n" rel="next">Versions revisions releases</a>, Up: <a href="#Revisions" accesskey="u" rel="up">Revisions</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h3 class="section">4.1 Revision numbers</h3>

Each version of a file has a unique revision
number. Revision numbers look like &lsquo;<samp>1.1</samp>&rsquo;,
&lsquo;<samp>1.2</samp>&rsquo;, &lsquo;<samp>1.3.2.2</samp>&rsquo; or even &lsquo;<samp>1.3.2.2.4.5</samp>&rsquo;.
A revision number always has an even number of
period-separated decimal integers. By default revision
1.1 is the first revision of a file. Each successive
revision is given a new number by increasing the
rightmost number by one. The following figure displays
a few revisions, with newer revisions to the right.

<div class="example">
<pre class="example"> +-----+ +-----+ +-----+ +-----+ +-----+
 ! 1.1 !----! 1.2 !----! 1.3 !----! 1.4 !----! 1.5 !
 +-----+ +-----+ +-----+ +-----+ +-----+
</pre></div>

It is also possible to end up with numbers containing
more than one period, for example &lsquo;<samp>1.3.2.2</samp>&rsquo;. Such
revisions represent revisions on branches
(see <a href="#Branching-and-merging">Branching and merging</a>); such revision numbers
are explained in detail in <a href="#Branches-and-revisions">Branches and revisions</a>.

<hr>
<div class="header">

Next: <a href="#Assigning-revisions" accesskey="n" rel="next">Assigning revisions</a>, Previous: <a href="#Revision-numbers" accesskey="p" rel="prev">Revision numbers</a>, Up: <a href="#Revisions" accesskey="u" rel="up">Revisions</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h3 class="section">4.2 Versions, revisions and releases</h3>

A file can have several versions, as described above.
Likewise, a software product can have several versions.
A software product is often given a version number such
as &lsquo;<samp>4.1.1</samp>&rsquo;.

Versions in the first sense are called revisions
in this document, and versions in the second sense are
called releases. To avoid confusion, the word
version is almost never used in this document.

<hr>
<div class="header">

Next: <a href="#Tags" accesskey="n" rel="next">Tags</a>, Previous: <a href="#Versions-revisions-releases" accesskey="p" rel="prev">Versions revisions releases</a>, Up: <a href="#Revisions" accesskey="u" rel="up">Revisions</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h3 class="section">4.3 Assigning revisions</h3>

By default, CVS will assign numeric revisions by
leaving the first number the same and incrementing the
second number. For example, <code>1.1</code>, <code>1.2</code>,
<code>1.3</code>, etc.

When adding a new file, the second number will always
be one and the first number will equal the highest
first number of any file in that directory. For
example, the current directory contains files whose
highest numbered revisions are <code>1.7</code>, <code>3.1</code>,
and <code>4.12</code>, then an added file will be given the
numeric revision <code>4.1</code>.
(When using client/server CVS,
only files that are actually sent to the server are considered.)

Normally there is no reason to care
about the revision numbers&mdash;it is easier to treat them
as internal numbers that CVS maintains, and tags
provide a better way to distinguish between things like
release 1 versus release 2 of your product
(see <a href="#Tags">Tags</a>). However, if you want to set the
numeric revisions, the &lsquo;<samp>-r</samp>&rsquo; option to <code>cvs
commit</code> can do that. The &lsquo;<samp>-r</samp>&rsquo; option implies the
&lsquo;<samp>-f</samp>&rsquo; option, in the sense that it causes the
files to be committed even if they are not modified.

For example, to bring all your files up to
revision 3.0 (including those that haven&rsquo;t changed),
you might invoke:

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">$ cvs commit -r 3.0
</pre></div>

Note that the number you specify with &lsquo;<samp>-r</samp>&rsquo; must be
larger than any existing revision number. That is, if
revision 3.0 exists, you cannot &lsquo;<samp>cvs commit
-r 1.3</samp>&rsquo;. If you want to maintain several releases in
parallel, you need to use a branch (see <a href="#Branching-and-merging">Branching and merging</a>).

<hr>
<div class="header">

Next: <a href="#Tagging-the-working-directory" accesskey="n" rel="next">Tagging the working directory</a>, Previous: <a href="#Assigning-revisions" accesskey="p" rel="prev">Assigning revisions</a>, Up: <a href="#Revisions" accesskey="u" rel="up">Revisions</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h3 class="section">4.4 Tags&ndash;Symbolic revisions</h3>

The revision numbers live a life of their own. They
need not have anything at all to do with the release
numbers of your software product. Depending
on how you use CVS the revision numbers might change several times
between two releases. As an example, some of the
source files that make up RCS 5.6 have the following
revision numbers:


<div class="example">
<pre class="example">ci.c 5.21
co.c 5.9
ident.c 5.3
rcs.c 5.12
rcsbase.h 5.11
rcsdiff.c 5.10
rcsedit.c 5.11
rcsfcmp.c 5.9
rcsgen.c 5.10
rcslex.c 5.11
rcsmap.c 5.2
rcsutil.c 5.10
</pre></div>

You can use the <code>tag</code> command to give a symbolic name to a
certain revision of a file. You can use the &lsquo;<samp>-v</samp>&rsquo; flag to the
<code>status</code> command to see all tags that a file has, and
which revision numbers they represent. Tag names must
start with an uppercase or lowercase letter and can
contain uppercase and lowercase letters, digits,
&lsquo;<samp>-</samp>&rsquo;, and &lsquo;<samp>_</samp>&rsquo;. The two tag names <code>BASE</code>
and <code>HEAD</code> are reserved for use by CVS. It
is expected that future names which are special to
CVS will be specially named, for example by
starting with &lsquo;<samp>.</samp>&rsquo;, rather than being named analogously to
<code>BASE</code> and <code>HEAD</code>, to avoid conflicts with
actual tag names.

You&rsquo;ll want to choose some convention for naming tags,
based on information such as the name of the program
and the version number of the release. For example,
one might take the name of the program, immediately
followed by the version number with &lsquo;<samp>.</samp>&rsquo; changed to
&lsquo;<samp>-</samp>&rsquo;, so that CVS 1.9 would be tagged with the name
<code>cvs1-9</code>. If you choose a consistent convention,
then you won&rsquo;t constantly be guessing whether a tag is
<code>cvs-1-9</code> or <code>cvs1_9</code> or what. You might
even want to consider enforcing your convention in the
<samp>taginfo</samp> file (see <a href="#taginfo">taginfo</a>).



The following example shows how you can add a tag to a
file. The commands must be issued inside your working
directory. That is, you should issue the
command in the directory where <samp>backend.c</samp>
resides.

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">$ cvs tag rel-0-4 backend.c
T backend.c
$ cvs status -v backend.c
===================================================================
File: backend.c Status: Up-to-date

Version:            1.4     Tue Dec  1 14:39:01 1992
    RCS Version:        1.4     /u/cvsroot/yoyodyne/tc/backend.c,v
    Sticky Tag:         (none)
    Sticky Date:        (none)
    Sticky Options:     (none)

Existing Tags:
        rel-0-4                     (revision: 1.4)

</pre></div>

For a complete summary of the syntax of <code>cvs tag</code>,
including the various options, see <a href="#Invoking-CVS">Invoking CVS</a>.

There is seldom reason to tag a file in isolation. A more common use is
to tag all the files that constitute a module with the same tag at
strategic points in the development life-cycle, such as when a release
is made.

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">$ cvs tag rel-1-0 .
cvs tag: Tagging .
T Makefile
T backend.c
T driver.c
T frontend.c
T parser.c
</pre></div>

(When you give CVS a directory as argument, it generally applies the
operation to all the files in that directory, and (recursively), to any
subdirectories that it may contain. See <a href="#Recursive-behavior">Recursive behavior</a>.)



The <code>checkout</code> command has a flag, &lsquo;<samp>-r</samp>&rsquo;, that lets you check out
a certain revision of a module. This flag makes it easy to
retrieve the sources that make up release 1.0 of the module &lsquo;<samp>tc</samp>&rsquo; at
any time in the future:

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">$ cvs checkout -r rel-1-0 tc
</pre></div>

This is useful, for instance, if someone claims that there is a bug in
that release, but you cannot find the bug in the current working copy.

You can also check out a module as it was on any branch at any given date.
See <a href="#checkout-options">checkout options</a>. When specifying &lsquo;<samp>-r</samp>&rsquo; or &lsquo;<samp>-D</samp>&rsquo; to
any of these commands, you will need beware of sticky
tags; see <a href="#Sticky-tags">Sticky tags</a>.

When you tag more than one file with the same tag you
can think about the tag as &quot;a curve drawn through a
matrix of filename vs. revision number.&quot; Say we have 5
files with the following revisions:

<div class="example">
<pre class="example"> file1 file2 file3 file4 file5

1.1 1.1 1.1 1.1 /--1.1* &lt;-*- TAG
 1.2*- 1.2 1.2 -1.2*-
 1.3 \- 1.3*- 1.3 / 1.3
 1.4 \ 1.4 / 1.4
 \-1.5*- 1.5
 1.6
</pre></div>

At some time in the past, the <code>*</code> versions were tagged.
You can think of the tag as a handle attached to the curve
drawn through the tagged revisions. When you pull on
the handle, you get all the tagged revisions. Another
way to look at it is that you &quot;sight&quot; through a set of
revisions that is &quot;flat&quot; along the tagged revisions,
like this:

<div class="example">
<pre class="example"> file1 file2 file3 file4 file5

1.1
 1.2
 1.1 1.3 _
 1.1 1.2 1.4 1.1 /
 1.2*----1.3*----1.5*----1.2*----1.1* (--- &lt;--- Look here
 1.3 1.6 1.3 \_
 1.4 1.4
 1.5
</pre></div>

<hr>
<div class="header">

Next: <a href="#Tagging-by-date_002ftag" accesskey="n" rel="next">Tagging by date/tag</a>, Previous: <a href="#Tags" accesskey="p" rel="prev">Tags</a>, Up: <a href="#Revisions" accesskey="u" rel="up">Revisions</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h3 class="section">4.5 Specifying what to tag from the working directory</h3>

The example in the previous section demonstrates one of
the most common ways to choose which revisions to tag.
Namely, running the <code>cvs tag</code> command without
arguments causes CVS to select the revisions which
are checked out in the current working directory. For
example, if the copy of <samp>backend.c</samp> in working
directory was checked out from revision 1.4, then
CVS will tag revision 1.4. Note that the tag is
applied immediately to revision 1.4 in the repository;
tagging is not like modifying a file, or other
operations in which one first modifies the working
directory and then runs <code>cvs commit</code> to transfer
that modification to the repository.

One potentially surprising aspect of the fact that
<code>cvs tag</code> operates on the repository is that you
are tagging the checked-in revisions, which may differ
from locally modified files in your working directory.
If you want to avoid doing this by mistake, specify the
&lsquo;<samp>-c</samp>&rsquo; option to <code>cvs tag</code>. If there are any
locally modified files, CVS will abort with an
error before it tags any files:

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">$ cvs tag -c rel-0-4
cvs tag: backend.c is locally modified
cvs [tag aborted]: correct the above errors first!
</pre></div>

<hr>
<div class="header">

Next: <a href="#Modifying-tags" accesskey="n" rel="next">Modifying tags</a>, Previous: <a href="#Tagging-the-working-directory" accesskey="p" rel="prev">Tagging the working directory</a>, Up: <a href="#Revisions" accesskey="u" rel="up">Revisions</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h3 class="section">4.6 Specifying what to tag by date or revision</h3>

The <code>cvs rtag</code> command tags the repository as of a
certain date or time (or can be used to tag the latest
revision). <code>rtag</code> works directly on the
repository contents (it requires no prior checkout and
does not look for a working directory).

The following options specify which date or revision to
tag. See <a href="#Common-options">Common options</a>, for a complete
description of them.

<dl compact="compact">
<dt><code>-D <var>date</var></code></dt>
<dd>Tag the most recent revision no later than <var>date</var>.

</dd>
<dt><code>-f</code></dt>
<dd>Only useful with the &lsquo;<samp>-D</samp>&rsquo; or &lsquo;<samp>-r</samp>&rsquo;
flags. If no matching revision is found, use the most
recent revision (instead of ignoring the file).

</dd>
<dt><code>-r <var>tag</var>[:<var>date</var>]</code></dt>
<dd>Tag the revision already tagged with <var>tag</var> or, when <var>date</var> is specified
and <var>tag</var> is a branch tag, the version from the branch <var>tag</var> as it
existed on <var>date</var>. See <a href="#Common-options">Common options</a>.
</dd>
</dl>

The <code>cvs tag</code> command also allows one to specify
files by revision or date, using the same &lsquo;<samp>-r</samp>&rsquo;,
&lsquo;<samp>-D</samp>&rsquo;, and &lsquo;<samp>-f</samp>&rsquo; options. However, this
feature is probably not what you want. The reason is
that <code>cvs tag</code> chooses which files to tag based on
the files that exist in the working directory, rather
than the files which existed as of the given tag/date.
Therefore, you are generally better off using <code>cvs
rtag</code>. The exceptions might be cases like:

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">cvs tag -r 1.4 stable backend.c
</pre></div>

<hr>
<div class="header">

Next: <a href="#Tagging-add_002fremove" accesskey="n" rel="next">Tagging add/remove</a>, Previous: <a href="#Tagging-by-date_002ftag" accesskey="p" rel="prev">Tagging by date/tag</a>, Up: <a href="#Revisions" accesskey="u" rel="up">Revisions</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h3 class="section">4.7 Deleting, moving, and renaming tags</h3>

Normally one does not modify tags. They exist in order
to record the history of the repository and so deleting
them or changing their meaning would, generally, not be
what you want.

However, there might be cases in which one uses a tag
temporarily or accidentally puts one in the wrong
place. Therefore, one might delete, move, or rename a
tag.

WARNING: the commands in this section are
dangerous; they permanently discard historical
information and it can be difficult or impossible to
recover from errors. If you are a CVS
administrator, you may consider restricting these
commands with the <samp>taginfo</samp> file (see <a href="#taginfo">taginfo</a>).







To delete a tag, specify the &lsquo;<samp>-d</samp>&rsquo; option to either
<code>cvs tag</code> or <code>cvs rtag</code>. For example:

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">cvs rtag -d rel-0-4 tc
</pre></div>

deletes the non-branch tag <code>rel-0-4</code> from the module <code>tc</code>.
In the event that branch tags are encountered within the repository
with the given name, a warning message will be issued and the branch 
tag will not be deleted. If you are absolutely certain you know what
you are doing, the <code>-B</code> option may be specified to allow deletion
of branch tags. In that case, any non-branch tags encountered will
trigger warnings and will not be deleted.

WARNING: Moving branch tags is very dangerous! If you think
you need the <code>-B</code> option, think again and ask your CVS
administrator about it (if that isn&rsquo;t you). There is almost certainly
another way to accomplish what you want to accomplish.





When we say move a tag, we mean to make the same
name point to different revisions. For example, the
<code>stable</code> tag may currently point to revision 1.4
of <samp>backend.c</samp> and perhaps we want to make it
point to revision 1.6. To move a non-branch tag, specify the
&lsquo;<samp>-F</samp>&rsquo; option to either <code>cvs tag</code> or <code>cvs
rtag</code>. For example, the task just mentioned might be
accomplished as:

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">cvs tag -r 1.6 -F stable backend.c
</pre></div>

If any branch tags are encountered in the repository 
with the given name, a warning is issued and the branch
tag is not disturbed. If you are absolutely certain you
wish to move the branch tag, the <code>-B</code> option may be specified.
In that case, non-branch tags encountered with the given
name are ignored with a warning message.

WARNING: Moving branch tags is very dangerous! If you think you
need the <code>-B</code> option, think again and ask your CVS
administrator about it (if that isn&rsquo;t you). There is almost certainly
another way to accomplish what you want to accomplish.



When we say rename a tag, we mean to make a
different name point to the same revisions as the old
tag. For example, one may have misspelled the tag name
and want to correct it (hopefully before others are
relying on the old spelling). To rename a tag, first
create a new tag using the &lsquo;<samp>-r</samp>&rsquo; option to
<code>cvs rtag</code>, and then delete the old name. (Caution:
this method will not work with branch tags.) 
This leaves the new tag on exactly the 
same files as the old tag. For example:

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">cvs rtag -r old-name-0-4 rel-0-4 tc
cvs rtag -d old-name-0-4 tc
</pre></div>

<hr>
<div class="header">

Next: <a href="#Sticky-tags" accesskey="n" rel="next">Sticky tags</a>, Previous: <a href="#Modifying-tags" accesskey="p" rel="prev">Modifying tags</a>, Up: <a href="#Revisions" accesskey="u" rel="up">Revisions</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h3 class="section">4.8 Tagging and adding and removing files</h3>

The subject of exactly how tagging interacts with
adding and removing files is somewhat obscure; for the
most part CVS will keep track of whether files
exist or not without too much fussing. By default,
tags are applied to only files which have a revision
corresponding to what is being tagged. Files which did
not exist yet, or which were already removed, simply
omit the tag, and CVS knows to treat the absence
of a tag as meaning that the file didn&rsquo;t exist as of
that tag.

However, this can lose a small amount of information.
For example, suppose a file was added and then removed.
Then, if the tag is missing for that file, there is no
way to know whether the tag refers to the time before
the file was added, or the time after it was removed.
If you specify the &lsquo;<samp>-r</samp>&rsquo; option to <code>cvs rtag</code>,
then CVS tags the files which have been removed,
and thereby avoids this problem. For example, one
might specify <code>-r HEAD</code> to tag the head.

On the subject of adding and removing files, the
<code>cvs rtag</code> command has a &lsquo;<samp>-a</samp>&rsquo; option which
means to clear the tag from removed files that would
not otherwise be tagged. For example, one might
specify this option in conjunction with &lsquo;<samp>-F</samp>&rsquo; when
moving a tag. If one moved a tag without &lsquo;<samp>-a</samp>&rsquo;,
then the tag in the removed files might still refer to
the old revision, rather than reflecting the fact that
the file had been removed. I don&rsquo;t think this is
necessary if &lsquo;<samp>-r</samp>&rsquo; is specified, as noted above.

<hr>
<div class="header">

Previous: <a href="#Tagging-add_002fremove" accesskey="p" rel="prev">Tagging add/remove</a>, Up: <a href="#Revisions" accesskey="u" rel="up">Revisions</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h3 class="section">4.9 Sticky tags</h3>

Sometimes a working copy&rsquo;s revision has extra data
associated with it, for example it might be on a branch
(see <a href="#Branching-and-merging">Branching and merging</a>), or restricted to
versions prior to a certain date by &lsquo;<samp>checkout -D</samp>&rsquo;
or &lsquo;<samp>update -D</samp>&rsquo;. Because this data persists &ndash;
that is, it applies to subsequent commands in the
working copy &ndash; we refer to it as sticky.

Most of the time, stickiness is an obscure aspect of
CVS that you don&rsquo;t need to think about. However,
even if you don&rsquo;t want to use the feature, you may need
to know something about sticky tags (for
example, how to avoid them!).

You can use the <code>status</code> command to see if any
sticky tags or dates are set:

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">$ cvs status driver.c
===================================================================
File: driver.c Status: Up-to-date

Version:            1.7.2.1 Sat Dec  5 19:35:03 1992
    RCS Version:        1.7.2.1 /u/cvsroot/yoyodyne/tc/driver.c,v
    Sticky Tag:         rel-1-0-patches (branch: 1.7.2)
    Sticky Date:        (none)
    Sticky Options:     (none)

</pre></div>

The sticky tags will remain on your working files until
you delete them with &lsquo;<samp>cvs update -A</samp>&rsquo;. The
&lsquo;<samp>-A</samp>&rsquo; option merges local changes into the version of the
file from the head of the trunk, removing any sticky tags,
dates, or options. See <a href="#update">update</a> for more on the operation
of <code>cvs update</code>.


The most common use of sticky tags is to identify which
branch one is working on, as described in
<a href="#Accessing-branches">Accessing branches</a>. However, non-branch
sticky tags have uses as well. For example,
suppose that you want to avoid updating your working
directory, to isolate yourself from possibly
destabilizing changes other people are making. You
can, of course, just refrain from running <code>cvs
update</code>. But if you want to avoid updating only a
portion of a larger tree, then sticky tags can help.
If you check out a certain revision (such as 1.4) it
will become sticky. Subsequent <code>cvs update</code>
commands will
not retrieve the latest revision until you reset the
tag with <code>cvs update -A</code>. Likewise, use of the
&lsquo;<samp>-D</samp>&rsquo; option to <code>update</code> or <code>checkout</code>
sets a sticky date, which, similarly, causes that
date to be used for future retrievals.

People often want to retrieve an old version of
a file without setting a sticky tag. This can
be done with the &lsquo;<samp>-p</samp>&rsquo; option to <code>checkout</code> or
<code>update</code>, which sends the contents of the file to
standard output. For example:
<div class="example">
<pre class="example">$ cvs update -p -r 1.1 file1 &gt;file1
===================================================================
Checking out file1
RCS: /tmp/cvs-sanity/cvsroot/first-dir/Attic/file1,v
VERS: 1.1
***************
$
</pre></div>

However, this isn&rsquo;t the easiest way, if you are asking
how to undo a previous checkin (in this example, put
<samp>file1</samp> back to the way it was as of revision
1.1). In that case you are better off using the
&lsquo;<samp>-j</samp>&rsquo; option to <code>update</code>; for further
discussion see <a href="#Merging-two-revisions">Merging two revisions</a>.

<hr>
<div class="header">

Next: <a href="#Recursive-behavior" accesskey="n" rel="next">Recursive behavior</a>, Previous: <a href="#Revisions" accesskey="p" rel="prev">Revisions</a>, Up: <a href="#Top" accesskey="u" rel="up">Top</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h2 class="chapter">5 Branching and merging</h2>

CVS allows you to isolate changes onto a separate
line of development, known as a branch. When you
change files on a branch, those changes do not appear
on the main trunk or other branches.

Later you can move changes from one branch to another
branch (or the main trunk) by merging. Merging
involves first running <code>cvs update -j</code>, to merge
the changes into the working directory.
You can then commit that revision, and thus effectively
copy the changes onto another branch.

<table class="menu" border="0" cellspacing="0">
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#Branches-motivation" accesskey="1">Branches motivation</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">What branches are good for
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#Creating-a-branch" accesskey="2">Creating a branch</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">Creating a branch
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#Accessing-branches" accesskey="3">Accessing branches</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">Checking out and updating branches
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#Branches-and-revisions" accesskey="4">Branches and revisions</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">Branches are reflected in revision numbers
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#Magic-branch-numbers" accesskey="5">Magic branch numbers</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">Magic branch numbers
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#Merging-a-branch" accesskey="6">Merging a branch</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">Merging an entire branch
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#Merging-more-than-once" accesskey="7">Merging more than once</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">Merging from a branch several times
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#Merging-two-revisions" accesskey="8">Merging two revisions</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">Merging differences between two revisions
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#Merging-adds-and-removals" accesskey="9">Merging adds and removals</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">What if files are added or removed?
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#Merging-and-keywords">Merging and keywords</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">Avoiding conflicts due to keyword substitution
</td></tr>
</table>

<hr>
<div class="header">

Next: <a href="#Creating-a-branch" accesskey="n" rel="next">Creating a branch</a>, Up: <a href="#Branching-and-merging" accesskey="u" rel="up">Branching and merging</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h3 class="section">5.1 What branches are good for</h3>

Suppose that release 1.0 of tc has been made. You are continuing to
develop tc, planning to create release 1.1 in a couple of months. After a
while your customers start to complain about a fatal bug. You check
out release 1.0 (see <a href="#Tags">Tags</a>) and find the bug
(which turns out to have a trivial fix). However, the current revision
of the sources are in a state of flux and are not expected to be stable
for at least another month. There is no way to make a
bug fix release based on the newest sources.

The thing to do in a situation like this is to create a branch on
the revision trees for all the files that make up
release 1.0 of tc. You can then make
modifications to the branch without disturbing the main trunk. When the
modifications are finished you can elect to either incorporate them on
the main trunk, or leave them on the branch.

<hr>
<div class="header">

Next: <a href="#Accessing-branches" accesskey="n" rel="next">Accessing branches</a>, Previous: <a href="#Branches-motivation" accesskey="p" rel="prev">Branches motivation</a>, Up: <a href="#Branching-and-merging" accesskey="u" rel="up">Branching and merging</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h3 class="section">5.2 Creating a branch</h3>

You can create a branch with <code>tag -b</code>; for
example, assuming you&rsquo;re in a working copy:

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">$ cvs tag -b rel-1-0-patches
</pre></div>

This splits off a branch based on the current revisions
in the working copy, assigning that branch the name
&lsquo;<samp>rel-1-0-patches</samp>&rsquo;.

It is important to understand that branches get created
in the repository, not in the working copy. Creating a
branch based on current revisions, as the above example
does, will not automatically switch the working
copy to be on the new branch. For information on how
to do that, see <a href="#Accessing-branches">Accessing branches</a>.

You can also create a branch without reference to any
working copy, by using <code>rtag</code>:

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">$ cvs rtag -b -r rel-1-0 rel-1-0-patches tc
</pre></div>

&lsquo;<samp>-r rel-1-0</samp>&rsquo; says that this branch should be
rooted at the revision that
corresponds to the tag &lsquo;<samp>rel-1-0</samp>&rsquo;. It need not
be the most recent revision &ndash; it&rsquo;s often useful to
split a branch off an old revision (for example, when
fixing a bug in a past release otherwise known to be
stable).

As with &lsquo;<samp>tag</samp>&rsquo;, the &lsquo;<samp>-b</samp>&rsquo; flag tells
<code>rtag</code> to create a branch (rather than just a
symbolic revision name). Note that the numeric
revision number that matches &lsquo;<samp>rel-1-0</samp>&rsquo; will
probably be different from file to file.

So, the full effect of the command is to create a new
branch &ndash; named &lsquo;<samp>rel-1-0-patches</samp>&rsquo; &ndash; in module
&lsquo;<samp>tc</samp>&rsquo;, rooted in the revision tree at the point tagged
by &lsquo;<samp>rel-1-0</samp>&rsquo;.

<hr>
<div class="header">

Next: <a href="#Branches-and-revisions" accesskey="n" rel="next">Branches and revisions</a>, Previous: <a href="#Creating-a-branch" accesskey="p" rel="prev">Creating a branch</a>, Up: <a href="#Branching-and-merging" accesskey="u" rel="up">Branching and merging</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h3 class="section">5.3 Accessing branches</h3>

You can retrieve a branch in one of two ways: by
checking it out fresh from the repository, or by
switching an existing working copy over to the branch.

To check out a branch from the repository, invoke
&lsquo;<samp>checkout</samp>&rsquo; with the &lsquo;<samp>-r</samp>&rsquo; flag, followed by
the tag name of the branch (see <a href="#Creating-a-branch">Creating a branch</a>):

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">$ cvs checkout -r rel-1-0-patches tc
</pre></div>

Or, if you already have a working copy, you can switch
it to a given branch with &lsquo;<samp>update -r</samp>&rsquo;:

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">$ cvs update -r rel-1-0-patches tc
</pre></div>

or equivalently:

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">$ cd tc
$ cvs update -r rel-1-0-patches
</pre></div>

It does not matter if the working copy was originally
on the main trunk or on some other branch &ndash; the above
command will switch it to the named branch. And
similarly to a regular &lsquo;<samp>update</samp>&rsquo; command,
&lsquo;<samp>update -r</samp>&rsquo; merges any changes you have made,
notifying you of conflicts where they occur.

Once you have a working copy tied to a particular
branch, it remains there until you tell it otherwise.
This means that changes checked in from the working
copy will add new revisions on that branch, while
leaving the main trunk and other branches unaffected.


To find out what branch a working copy is on, you can
use the &lsquo;<samp>status</samp>&rsquo; command. In its output, look for
the field named &lsquo;<samp>Sticky tag</samp>&rsquo; (see <a href="#Sticky-tags">Sticky tags</a>)
&ndash; that&rsquo;s CVS&rsquo;s way of telling you the branch, if
any, of the current working files:

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">$ cvs status -v driver.c backend.c
===================================================================
File: driver.c Status: Up-to-date

Version:            1.7     Sat Dec  5 18:25:54 1992
    RCS Version:        1.7     /u/cvsroot/yoyodyne/tc/driver.c,v
    Sticky Tag:         rel-1-0-patches (branch: 1.7.2)
    Sticky Date:        (none)
    Sticky Options:     (none)

Existing Tags:
        rel-1-0-patches             (branch: 1.7.2)
        rel-1-0                     (revision: 1.7)

===================================================================
File: backend.c         Status: Up-to-date

Version:            1.4     Tue Dec  1 14:39:01 1992
    RCS Version:        1.4     /u/cvsroot/yoyodyne/tc/backend.c,v
    Sticky Tag:         rel-1-0-patches (branch: 1.4.2)
    Sticky Date:        (none)
    Sticky Options:     (none)

Existing Tags:
        rel-1-0-patches             (branch: 1.4.2)
        rel-1-0                     (revision: 1.4)
        rel-0-4                     (revision: 1.4)

</pre></div>

Don&rsquo;t be confused by the fact that the branch numbers
for each file are different (&lsquo;<samp>1.7.2</samp>&rsquo; and
&lsquo;<samp>1.4.2</samp>&rsquo; respectively). The branch tag is the
same, &lsquo;<samp>rel-1-0-patches</samp>&rsquo;, and the files are
indeed on the same branch. The numbers simply reflect
the point in each file&rsquo;s revision history at which the
branch was made. In the above example, one can deduce
that &lsquo;<samp>driver.c</samp>&rsquo; had been through more changes than
&lsquo;<samp>backend.c</samp>&rsquo; before this branch was created.

See <a href="#Branches-and-revisions">Branches and revisions</a> for details about how
branch numbers are constructed.

<hr>
<div class="header">

Next: <a href="#Magic-branch-numbers" accesskey="n" rel="next">Magic branch numbers</a>, Previous: <a href="#Accessing-branches" accesskey="p" rel="prev">Accessing branches</a>, Up: <a href="#Branching-and-merging" accesskey="u" rel="up">Branching and merging</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h3 class="section">5.4 Branches and revisions</h3>

Ordinarily, a file&rsquo;s revision history is a linear
series of increments (see <a href="#Revision-numbers">Revision numbers</a>):

<div class="example">
<pre class="example"> +-----+ +-----+ +-----+ +-----+ +-----+
 ! 1.1 !----! 1.2 !----! 1.3 !----! 1.4 !----! 1.5 !
 +-----+ +-----+ +-----+ +-----+ +-----+
</pre></div>

However, CVS is not limited to linear development. The
revision tree can be split into branches,
where each branch is a self-maintained line of
development. Changes made on one branch can easily be
moved back to the main trunk.

Each branch has a branch number, consisting of an
odd number of period-separated decimal integers. The
branch number is created by appending an integer to the
revision number where the corresponding branch forked
off. Having branch numbers allows more than one branch
to be forked off from a certain revision.

All revisions on a branch have revision numbers formed
by appending an ordinal number to the branch number.
The following figure illustrates branching with an
example.

<div class="example">
<pre class="example"> +-------------+
 Branch 1.2.2.3.2 -&gt; ! 1.2.2.3.2.1 !
 / +-------------+
 /
 /
 +---------+ +---------+ +---------+
Branch 1.2.2 -&gt; _! 1.2.2.1 !----! 1.2.2.2 !----! 1.2.2.3 !
 / +---------+ +---------+ +---------+
 /
 /
+-----+ +-----+ +-----+ +-----+ +-----+
! 1.1 !----! 1.2 !----! 1.3 !----! 1.4 !----! 1.5 ! &lt;- The main trunk
+-----+ +-----+ +-----+ +-----+ +-----+
 !
 !
 ! +---------+ +---------+ +---------+
Branch 1.2.4 -&gt; +---! 1.2.4.1 !----! 1.2.4.2 !----! 1.2.4.3 !
 +---------+ +---------+ +---------+

</pre></div>

The exact details of how the branch number is
constructed is not something you normally need to be
concerned about, but here is how it works: When
CVS creates a branch number it picks the first
unused even integer, starting with 2. So when you want
to create a branch from revision 6.4 it will be
numbered 6.4.2. All branch numbers ending in a zero
(such as 6.4.0) are used internally by CVS
(see <a href="#Magic-branch-numbers">Magic branch numbers</a>). The branch 1.1.1 has a
special meaning. See <a href="#Tracking-sources">Tracking sources</a>.

<hr>
<div class="header">

Next: <a href="#Merging-a-branch" accesskey="n" rel="next">Merging a branch</a>, Previous: <a href="#Branches-and-revisions" accesskey="p" rel="prev">Branches and revisions</a>, Up: <a href="#Branching-and-merging" accesskey="u" rel="up">Branching and merging</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h3 class="section">5.5 Magic branch numbers</h3>

This section describes a CVS feature called
magic branches. For most purposes, you need not
worry about magic branches; CVS handles them for
you. However, they are visible to you in certain
circumstances, so it may be useful to have some idea of
how it works.

Externally, branch numbers consist of an odd number of
dot-separated decimal integers. See <a href="#Revision-numbers">Revision numbers</a>. That is not the whole truth, however. For
efficiency reasons CVS sometimes inserts an extra 0
in the second rightmost position (1.2.4 becomes
1.2.0.4, 8.9.10.11.12 becomes 8.9.10.11.0.12 and so
on).

CVS does a pretty good job at hiding these so
called magic branches, but in a few places the hiding
is incomplete:

<ul>
<li> The magic branch number appears in the output from
<code>cvs log</code>.

</li><li> You cannot specify a symbolic branch name to <code>cvs
admin</code>.

</li></ul>

You can use the <code>admin</code> command to reassign a
symbolic name to a branch the way RCS expects it
to be. If <code>R4patches</code> is assigned to the branch
1.4.2 (magic branch number 1.4.0.2) in file
<samp>numbers.c</samp> you can do this:

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">$ cvs admin -NR4patches:1.4.2 numbers.c
</pre></div>

It only works if at least one revision is already
committed on the branch. Be very careful so that you
do not assign the tag to the wrong number. (There is
no way to see how the tag was assigned yesterday).

<hr>
<div class="header">

Next: <a href="#Merging-more-than-once" accesskey="n" rel="next">Merging more than once</a>, Previous: <a href="#Magic-branch-numbers" accesskey="p" rel="prev">Magic branch numbers</a>, Up: <a href="#Branching-and-merging" accesskey="u" rel="up">Branching and merging</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h3 class="section">5.6 Merging an entire branch</h3>

You can merge changes made on a branch into your working copy by giving
the &lsquo;<samp>-j <var>branchname</var></samp>&rsquo; flag to the <code>update</code> subcommand. With one
&lsquo;<samp>-j <var>branchname</var></samp>&rsquo; option it merges the changes made between the
greatest common ancestor (GCA) of the branch and the destination revision (in
the simple case below the GCA is the point where the branch forked) and the
newest revision on that branch into your working copy.


The &lsquo;<samp>-j</samp>&rsquo; stands for &ldquo;join&rdquo;.




Consider this revision tree:

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">+-----+ +-----+ +-----+ +-----+
! 1.1 !----! 1.2 !----! 1.3 !----! 1.4 ! &lt;- The main trunk
+-----+ +-----+ +-----+ +-----+
 !
 !
 ! +---------+ +---------+
Branch R1fix -&gt; +---! 1.2.2.1 !----! 1.2.2.2 !
 +---------+ +---------+
</pre></div>

The branch 1.2.2 has been given the tag (symbolic name) &lsquo;<samp>R1fix</samp>&rsquo;. The
following example assumes that the module &lsquo;<samp>mod</samp>&rsquo; contains only one
file, <samp>m.c</samp>.

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">$ cvs checkout mod # Retrieve the latest revision, 1.4

$ cvs update -j R1fix m.c # Merge all changes made on the branch,
 # i.e. the changes between revision 1.2
 # and 1.2.2.2, into your working copy
 # of the file.

$ cvs commit -m &quot;Included R1fix&quot; # Create revision 1.5.
</pre></div>

A conflict can result from a merge operation. If that
happens, you should resolve it before committing the
new revision. See <a href="#Conflicts-example">Conflicts example</a>.

If your source files contain keywords (see <a href="#Keyword-substitution">Keyword substitution</a>),
you might be getting more conflicts than strictly necessary. See
<a href="#Merging-and-keywords">Merging and keywords</a>, for information on how to avoid this.

The <code>checkout</code> command also supports the &lsquo;<samp>-j <var>branchname</var></samp>&rsquo; flag. The
same effect as above could be achieved with this:

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">$ cvs checkout -j R1fix mod
$ cvs commit -m &quot;Included R1fix&quot;
</pre></div>

It should be noted that <code>update -j <var>tagname</var></code> will also work but may
not produce the desired result. See <a href="#Merging-adds-and-removals">Merging adds and removals</a>, for more.

<hr>
<div class="header">

Next: <a href="#Merging-two-revisions" accesskey="n" rel="next">Merging two revisions</a>, Previous: <a href="#Merging-a-branch" accesskey="p" rel="prev">Merging a branch</a>, Up: <a href="#Branching-and-merging" accesskey="u" rel="up">Branching and merging</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h3 class="section">5.7 Merging from a branch several times</h3>

Continuing our example, the revision tree now looks
like this:

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">+-----+ +-----+ +-----+ +-----+ +-----+
! 1.1 !----! 1.2 !----! 1.3 !----! 1.4 !----! 1.5 ! &lt;- The main trunk
+-----+ +-----+ +-----+ +-----+ +-----+
 ! *
 ! *
 ! +---------+ +---------+
Branch R1fix -&gt; +---! 1.2.2.1 !----! 1.2.2.2 !
 +---------+ +---------+
</pre></div>

where the starred line represents the merge from the
&lsquo;<samp>R1fix</samp>&rsquo; branch to the main trunk, as just
discussed.

Now suppose that development continues on the
&lsquo;<samp>R1fix</samp>&rsquo; branch:

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">+-----+ +-----+ +-----+ +-----+ +-----+
! 1.1 !----! 1.2 !----! 1.3 !----! 1.4 !----! 1.5 ! &lt;- The main trunk
+-----+ +-----+ +-----+ +-----+ +-----+
 ! *
 ! *
 ! +---------+ +---------+ +---------+
Branch R1fix -&gt; +---! 1.2.2.1 !----! 1.2.2.2 !----! 1.2.2.3 !
 +---------+ +---------+ +---------+
</pre></div>

and then you want to merge those new changes onto the
main trunk. If you just use the <code>cvs update -j
R1fix m.c</code> command again, CVS will attempt to
merge again the changes which you have already merged,
which can have undesirable side effects.

So instead you need to specify that you only want to
merge the changes on the branch which have not yet been
merged into the trunk. To do that you specify two
&lsquo;<samp>-j</samp>&rsquo; options, and CVS merges the changes from
the first revision to the second revision. For
example, in this case the simplest way would be

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">cvs update -j 1.2.2.2 -j R1fix m.c # Merge changes from 1.2.2.2 to the
 # head of the R1fix branch
</pre></div>

The problem with this is that you need to specify the
1.2.2.2 revision manually. A slightly better approach
might be to use the date the last merge was done:

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">cvs update -j R1fix:yesterday -j R1fix m.c
</pre></div>

Better yet, tag the R1fix branch after every merge into
the trunk, and then use that tag for subsequent merges:

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">cvs update -j merged_from_R1fix_to_trunk -j R1fix m.c
</pre></div>

<hr>
<div class="header">

Next: <a href="#Merging-adds-and-removals" accesskey="n" rel="next">Merging adds and removals</a>, Previous: <a href="#Merging-more-than-once" accesskey="p" rel="prev">Merging more than once</a>, Up: <a href="#Branching-and-merging" accesskey="u" rel="up">Branching and merging</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h3 class="section">5.8 Merging differences between any two revisions</h3>

With two &lsquo;<samp>-j <var>revision</var></samp>&rsquo; flags, the <code>update</code>
(and <code>checkout</code>) command can merge the differences
between any two revisions into your working file.



<div class="example">
<pre class="example">$ cvs update -j 1.5 -j 1.3 backend.c
</pre></div>

will undo all changes made between revision
1.3 and 1.5. Note the order of the revisions!

If you try to use this option when operating on
multiple files, remember that the numeric revisions will
probably be very different between the various files.
You almost always use symbolic
tags rather than revision numbers when operating on
multiple files.



Specifying two &lsquo;<samp>-j</samp>&rsquo; options can also undo file
removals or additions. For example, suppose you have
a file
named <samp>file1</samp> which existed as revision 1.1, and
you then removed it (thus adding a dead revision 1.2).
Now suppose you want to add it again, with the same
contents it had previously. Here is how to do it:

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">$ cvs update -j 1.2 -j 1.1 file1
U file1
$ cvs commit -m test
Checking in file1;
/tmp/cvs-sanity/cvsroot/first-dir/file1,v &lt;-- file1
new revision: 1.3; previous revision: 1.2
done
$
</pre></div>

<hr>
<div class="header">

Next: <a href="#Merging-and-keywords" accesskey="n" rel="next">Merging and keywords</a>, Previous: <a href="#Merging-two-revisions" accesskey="p" rel="prev">Merging two revisions</a>, Up: <a href="#Branching-and-merging" accesskey="u" rel="up">Branching and merging</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h3 class="section">5.9 Merging can add or remove files</h3>

If the changes which you are merging involve removing
or adding some files, <code>update -j</code> will reflect
such additions or removals.

For example:
<div class="example">
<pre class="example">cvs update -A
touch a b c
cvs add a b c ; cvs ci -m &quot;added&quot; a b c
cvs tag -b branchtag
cvs update -r branchtag
touch d ; cvs add d
rm a ; cvs rm a
cvs ci -m &quot;added d, removed a&quot;
cvs update -A
cvs update -jbranchtag
</pre></div>

After these commands are executed and a &lsquo;<samp>cvs commit</samp>&rsquo; is done,
file <samp>a</samp> will be removed and file <samp>d</samp> added in the main branch.

Note that using a single static tag (&lsquo;<samp>-j <var>tagname</var></samp>&rsquo;)
rather than a dynamic tag (&lsquo;<samp>-j <var>branchname</var></samp>&rsquo;) to merge
changes from a branch will usually not remove files which were removed on the
branch since CVS does not automatically add static tags to dead revisions.
The exception to this rule occurs when
a static tag has been attached to a dead revision manually. Use the branch tag
to merge all changes from the branch or use two static tags as merge endpoints
to be sure that all intended changes are propagated in the merge.

<hr>
<div class="header">

Previous: <a href="#Merging-adds-and-removals" accesskey="p" rel="prev">Merging adds and removals</a>, Up: <a href="#Branching-and-merging" accesskey="u" rel="up">Branching and merging</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h3 class="section">5.10 Merging and keywords</h3>

If you merge files containing keywords (see <a href="#Keyword-substitution">Keyword substitution</a>), you will normally get numerous
conflicts during the merge, because the keywords are
expanded differently in the revisions which you are
merging.

Therefore, you will often want to specify the
&lsquo;<samp>-kk</samp>&rsquo; (see <a href="#Substitution-modes">Substitution modes</a>) switch to the
merge command line. By substituting just the name of
the keyword, not the expanded value of that keyword,
this option ensures that the revisions which you are
merging will be the same as each other, and avoid
spurious conflicts.

For example, suppose you have a file like this:

<div class="example">
<pre class="example"> +---------+
 _! 1.1.2.1 ! &lt;- br1
 / +---------+
 /
 /
+-----+ +-----+
! 1.1 !----! 1.2 !
+-----+ +-----+
</pre></div>

and your working directory is currently on the trunk
(revision 1.2). Then you might get the following
results from a merge:

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">$ cat file1
key $Revision: 1.2 $
. . .
$ cvs update -j br1
U file1
RCS file: /cvsroot/first-dir/file1,v
retrieving revision 1.1
retrieving revision 1.1.2.1
Merging differences between 1.1 and 1.1.2.1 into file1
rcsmerge: warning: conflicts during merge
$ cat file1
&lt;&lt;&lt;&lt;&lt;&lt;&lt; file1
key $Revision: 1.2 $
=======
key $Revision: 1.1.2.1 $
&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt; 1.1.2.1
. . .
</pre></div>

What happened was that the merge tried to merge the
differences between 1.1 and 1.1.2.1 into your working
directory. So, since the keyword changed from
<code>Revision: 1.1</code> to <code>Revision: 1.1.2.1</code>,
CVS tried to merge that change into your working
directory, which conflicted with the fact that your
working directory had contained <code>Revision: 1.2</code>.

Here is what happens if you had used &lsquo;<samp>-kk</samp>&rsquo;:

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">$ cat file1
key $Revision: 1.2 $
. . .
$ cvs update -kk -j br1
U file1
RCS file: /cvsroot/first-dir/file1,v
retrieving revision 1.1
retrieving revision 1.1.2.1
Merging differences between 1.1 and 1.1.2.1 into file1
$ cat file1
key $Revision$
. . .
</pre></div>

What is going on here is that revision 1.1 and 1.1.2.1
both expand as plain <code>Revision</code>, and therefore
merging the changes between them into the working
directory need not change anything. Therefore, there
is no conflict.

WARNING: In versions of CVS prior to 1.12.2, there was a
major problem with using &lsquo;<samp>-kk</samp>&rsquo; on merges. Namely, &lsquo;<samp>-kk</samp>&rsquo;
overrode any default keyword expansion mode set in the archive file in
the repository. This could, unfortunately for some users, cause data
corruption in binary files (with a default keyword expansion mode set
to &lsquo;<samp>-kb</samp>&rsquo;). Therefore, when a repository contained binary files,
conflicts had to be dealt with manually rather than using &lsquo;<samp>-kk</samp>&rsquo; in
a merge command.

In CVS version 1.12.2 and later, the keyword expansion mode
provided on the command line to any CVS command no longer
overrides the &lsquo;<samp>-kb</samp>&rsquo; keyword expansion mode setting for binary
files, though it will still override other default keyword expansion
modes. You can now safely merge using &lsquo;<samp>-kk</samp>&rsquo; to avoid spurious conflicts
on lines containing RCS keywords, even when your repository contains
binary files.

<hr>
<div class="header">

Next: <a href="#Adding-and-removing" accesskey="n" rel="next">Adding and removing</a>, Previous: <a href="#Branching-and-merging" accesskey="p" rel="prev">Branching and merging</a>, Up: <a href="#Top" accesskey="u" rel="up">Top</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h2 class="chapter">6 Recursive behavior</h2>

Almost all of the subcommands of CVS work
recursively when you specify a directory as an
argument. For instance, consider this directory
structure:

<div class="example">
<pre class="example"> <code>$HOME</code>
 |
 +--<tt>tc</tt>
 | |
 +--<tt>CVS</tt>
 | (internal CVS files)
 +--<tt>Makefile</tt>
 +--<tt>backend.c</tt>
 +--<tt>driver.c</tt>
 +--<tt>frontend.c</tt>
 +--<tt>parser.c</tt>
 +--<tt>man</tt>
 | |
 | +--<tt>CVS</tt>
 | | (internal CVS files)
 | +--<tt>tc.1</tt>
 |
 +--<tt>testing</tt>
 |
 +--<tt>CVS</tt>
 | (internal CVS files)
 +--<tt>testpgm.t</tt>
 +--<tt>test2.t</tt>
</pre></div>

If <samp>tc</samp> is the current working directory, the
following is true:

<ul>
<li> &lsquo;<samp>cvs update testing</samp>&rsquo; is equivalent to

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">cvs update testing/testpgm.t testing/test2.t
</pre></div>

</li><li> &lsquo;<samp>cvs update testing man</samp>&rsquo; updates all files in the
subdirectories

</li><li> &lsquo;<samp>cvs update .</samp>&rsquo; or just &lsquo;<samp>cvs update</samp>&rsquo; updates
all files in the <code>tc</code> directory
</li></ul>

If no arguments are given to <code>update</code> it will
update all files in the current working directory and
all its subdirectories. In other words, <samp>.</samp> is a
default argument to <code>update</code>. This is also true
for most of the CVS subcommands, not only the
<code>update</code> command.

The recursive behavior of the CVS subcommands can be
turned off with the &lsquo;<samp>-l</samp>&rsquo; option.
Conversely, the &lsquo;<samp>-R</samp>&rsquo; option can be used to force recursion if
&lsquo;<samp>-l</samp>&rsquo; is specified in <samp>~/.cvsrc</samp> (see <a href="#g_t_007e_002f_002ecvsrc">~/.cvsrc</a>).

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">$ cvs update -l # Don&rsquo;t update files in subdirectories
</pre></div>

<hr>
<div class="header">

Next: <a href="#History-browsing" accesskey="n" rel="next">History browsing</a>, Previous: <a href="#Recursive-behavior" accesskey="p" rel="prev">Recursive behavior</a>, Up: <a href="#Top" accesskey="u" rel="up">Top</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h2 class="chapter">7 Adding, removing, and renaming files and directories</h2>

In the course of a project, one will often add new
files. Likewise with removing or renaming, or with
directories. The general concept to keep in mind in
all these cases is that instead of making an
irreversible change you want CVS to record the
fact that a change has taken place, just as with
modifying an existing file. The exact mechanisms to do
this in CVS vary depending on the situation.

<table class="menu" border="0" cellspacing="0">
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#Adding-files" accesskey="1">Adding files</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">Adding files
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#Removing-files" accesskey="2">Removing files</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">Removing files
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#Removing-directories" accesskey="3">Removing directories</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">Removing directories
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#Moving-files" accesskey="4">Moving files</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">Moving and renaming files
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#Moving-directories" accesskey="5">Moving directories</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">Moving and renaming directories
</td></tr>
</table>

<hr>
<div class="header">

Next: <a href="#Removing-files" accesskey="n" rel="next">Removing files</a>, Up: <a href="#Adding-and-removing" accesskey="u" rel="up">Adding and removing</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h3 class="section">7.1 Adding files to a directory</h3>

To add a new file to a directory, follow these steps.

<ul>
<li> You must have a working copy of the directory.
See <a href="#Getting-the-source">Getting the source</a>.

</li><li> Create the new file inside your working copy of the directory.

</li><li> Use &lsquo;<samp>cvs add <var>filename</var></samp>&rsquo; to tell CVS that you
want to version control the file. If the file contains
binary data, specify &lsquo;<samp>-kb</samp>&rsquo; (see <a href="#Binary-files">Binary files</a>).

</li><li> Use &lsquo;<samp>cvs commit <var>filename</var></samp>&rsquo; to actually check
in the file into the repository. Other developers
cannot see the file until you perform this step.
</li></ul>

You can also use the <code>add</code> command to add a new
directory.

Unlike most other commands, the <code>add</code> command is
not recursive. You have to expcicitly name files and
directories that you wish to add to the repository.
However, each directory will need to be added
separately before you will be able to add new files
to those directories.

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">$ mkdir -p foo/bar
$ cp ~/myfile foo/bar/myfile
$ cvs add foo foo/bar
$ cvs add foo/bar/myfile
</pre></div>

<dl>
<dt id="index-cvs-add">Command: cvs add [<code>-k</code> kflag] [<code>-m</code> message] files &hellip;</dt>
<dd>
Schedule <var>files</var> to be added to the repository.
The files or directories specified with <code>add</code> must
already exist in the current directory. To add a whole
new directory hierarchy to the source repository (for
example, files received from a third-party vendor), use
the <code>import</code> command instead. See <a href="#import">import</a>.

The added files are not placed in the source repository
until you use <code>commit</code> to make the change
permanent. Doing an <code>add</code> on a file that was
removed with the <code>remove</code> command will undo the
effect of the <code>remove</code>, unless a <code>commit</code>
command intervened. See <a href="#Removing-files">Removing files</a>, for an
example.

The &lsquo;<samp>-k</samp>&rsquo; option specifies the default way that
this file will be checked out; for more information see
<a href="#Substitution-modes">Substitution modes</a>.

The &lsquo;<samp>-m</samp>&rsquo; option specifies a description for the
file. This description appears in the history log (if
it is enabled, see <a href="#history-file">history file</a>). It will also be
saved in the version history inside the repository when
the file is committed. The <code>log</code> command displays
this description. The description can be changed using
&lsquo;<samp>admin -t</samp>&rsquo;. See <a href="#admin">admin</a>. If you omit the
&lsquo;<samp>-m <var>description</var></samp>&rsquo; flag, an empty string will
be used. You will not be prompted for a description.
</dd></dl>

For example, the following commands add the file
<samp>backend.c</samp> to the repository:

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">$ cvs add backend.c
$ cvs commit -m &quot;Early version. Not yet compilable.&quot; backend.c
</pre></div>

When you add a file it is added only on the branch
which you are working on (see <a href="#Branching-and-merging">Branching and merging</a>). You can
later merge the additions to another branch if you want
(see <a href="#Merging-adds-and-removals">Merging adds and removals</a>).

<hr>
<div class="header">

Next: <a href="#Removing-directories" accesskey="n" rel="next">Removing directories</a>, Previous: <a href="#Adding-files" accesskey="p" rel="prev">Adding files</a>, Up: <a href="#Adding-and-removing" accesskey="u" rel="up">Adding and removing</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h3 class="section">7.2 Removing files</h3>

Directories change. New files are added, and old files
disappear. Still, you want to be able to retrieve an
exact copy of old releases.

Here is what you can do to remove a file,
but remain able to retrieve old revisions:

<ul>
<li> Make sure that you have not made any uncommitted
modifications to the file. See <a href="#Viewing-differences">Viewing differences</a>,
for one way to do that. You can also use the
<code>status</code> or <code>update</code> command. If you remove
the file without committing your changes, you will of
course not be able to retrieve the file as it was
immediately before you deleted it.

</li><li> Remove the file from your working copy of the directory.
You can for instance use <code>rm</code>.

</li><li> Use &lsquo;<samp>cvs remove <var>filename</var></samp>&rsquo; to tell CVS that
you really want to delete the file.

</li><li> Use &lsquo;<samp>cvs commit <var>filename</var></samp>&rsquo; to actually
perform the removal of the file from the repository.
</li></ul>

When you commit the removal of the file, CVS
records the fact that the file no longer exists. It is
possible for a file to exist on only some branches and
not on others, or to re-add another file with the same
name later. CVS will correctly create or not create
the file, based on the &lsquo;<samp>-r</samp>&rsquo; and &lsquo;<samp>-D</samp>&rsquo; options
specified to <code>checkout</code> or <code>update</code>.


<dl>
<dt id="index-cvs-remove">Command: cvs remove [options] files &hellip;</dt>
<dd>
Schedule file(s) to be removed from the repository
(files which have not already been removed from the
working directory are not processed). This command
does not actually remove the file from the repository
until you commit the removal. For a full list of
options, see <a href="#Invoking-CVS">Invoking CVS</a>.
</dd></dl>

Here is an example of removing several files:

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">$ cd test
$ rm *.c
$ cvs remove
cvs remove: Removing .
cvs remove: scheduling a.c for removal
cvs remove: scheduling b.c for removal
cvs remove: use 'cvs commit' to remove these files permanently
$ cvs ci -m &quot;Removed unneeded files&quot;
cvs commit: Examining .
cvs commit: Committing .
</pre></div>

As a convenience you can remove the file and <code>cvs
remove</code> it in one step, by specifying the &lsquo;<samp>-f</samp>&rsquo;
option. For example, the above example could also be
done like this:

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">$ cd test
$ cvs remove -f *.c
cvs remove: scheduling a.c for removal
cvs remove: scheduling b.c for removal
cvs remove: use 'cvs commit' to remove these files permanently
$ cvs ci -m &quot;Removed unneeded files&quot;
cvs commit: Examining .
cvs commit: Committing .
</pre></div>

If you execute <code>remove</code> for a file, and then
change your mind before you commit, you can undo the
<code>remove</code> with an <code>add</code> command.

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">$ ls
CVS ja.h oj.c
$ rm oj.c
$ cvs remove oj.c
cvs remove: scheduling oj.c for removal
cvs remove: use 'cvs commit' to remove this file permanently
$ cvs add oj.c
U oj.c
cvs add: oj.c, version 1.1.1.1, resurrected
</pre></div>

If you realise your mistake before you run the
<code>remove</code> command you can use <code>update</code> to
resurrect the file:

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">$ rm oj.c
$ cvs update oj.c
cvs update: warning: oj.c was lost
U oj.c
</pre></div>

When you remove a file it is removed only on the branch
which you are working on (see <a href="#Branching-and-merging">Branching and merging</a>). You can
later merge the removals to another branch if you want
(see <a href="#Merging-adds-and-removals">Merging adds and removals</a>).

<hr>
<div class="header">

Next: <a href="#Moving-files" accesskey="n" rel="next">Moving files</a>, Previous: <a href="#Removing-files" accesskey="p" rel="prev">Removing files</a>, Up: <a href="#Adding-and-removing" accesskey="u" rel="up">Adding and removing</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h3 class="section">7.3 Removing directories</h3>

In concept, removing directories is somewhat similar to
removing files&mdash;you want the directory to not exist in
your current working directories, but you also want to
be able to retrieve old releases in which the directory
existed.

The way that you remove a directory is to remove all
the files in it. You don&rsquo;t remove the directory
itself; there is no way to do that.
Instead you specify the &lsquo;<samp>-P</samp>&rsquo; option to
<code>cvs update</code> or <code>cvs checkout</code>,
which will cause CVS to remove empty
directories from working directories.
(Note that <code>cvs export</code> always removes empty directories.)
Probably the
best way to do this is to always specify &lsquo;<samp>-P</samp>&rsquo;; if
you want an empty directory then put a dummy file (for
example <samp>.keepme</samp>) in it to prevent &lsquo;<samp>-P</samp>&rsquo; from
removing it.

Note that &lsquo;<samp>-P</samp>&rsquo; is implied by the &lsquo;<samp>-r</samp>&rsquo; or &lsquo;<samp>-D</samp>&rsquo;
options of <code>checkout</code>. This way,
CVS will be able to correctly create the directory
or not depending on whether the particular version you
are checking out contains any files in that directory.

<hr>
<div class="header">

Next: <a href="#Moving-directories" accesskey="n" rel="next">Moving directories</a>, Previous: <a href="#Removing-directories" accesskey="p" rel="prev">Removing directories</a>, Up: <a href="#Adding-and-removing" accesskey="u" rel="up">Adding and removing</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h3 class="section">7.4 Moving and renaming files</h3>

Moving files to a different directory or renaming them
is not difficult, but some of the ways in which this
works may be non-obvious. (Moving or renaming a
directory is even harder. See <a href="#Moving-directories">Moving directories</a>.).

The examples below assume that the file <var>old</var> is renamed to
<var>new</var>.

<table class="menu" border="0" cellspacing="0">
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#Outside" accesskey="1">Outside</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">The normal way to Rename
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#Inside" accesskey="2">Inside</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">A tricky, alternative way
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#Rename-by-copying" accesskey="3">Rename by copying</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">Another tricky, alternative way
</td></tr>
</table>

<hr>
<div class="header">

Next: <a href="#Inside" accesskey="n" rel="next">Inside</a>, Up: <a href="#Moving-files" accesskey="u" rel="up">Moving files</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h4 class="subsection">7.4.1 The Normal way to Rename</h4>

The normal way to move a file is to copy <var>old</var> to
<var>new</var>, and then issue the normal CVS commands
to remove <var>old</var> from the repository, and add
<var>new</var> to it.

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">$ mv <var>old</var> <var>new</var>
$ cvs remove <var>old</var>
$ cvs add <var>new</var>
$ cvs commit -m &quot;Renamed <var>old</var> to <var>new</var>&quot; <var>old</var> <var>new</var>
</pre></div>

This is the simplest way to move a file, it is not
error-prone, and it preserves the history of what was
done. Note that to access the history of the file you
must specify the old or the new name, depending on what
portion of the history you are accessing. For example,
<code>cvs log <var>old</var></code> will give the log up until the
time of the rename.

When <var>new</var> is committed its revision numbers will
start again, usually at 1.1, so if that bothers you,
use the &lsquo;<samp>-r <var>tag</var></samp>&rsquo; option to commit. For more
information see <a href="#Assigning-revisions">Assigning revisions</a>.

<hr>
<div class="header">

Next: <a href="#Rename-by-copying" accesskey="n" rel="next">Rename by copying</a>, Previous: <a href="#Outside" accesskey="p" rel="prev">Outside</a>, Up: <a href="#Moving-files" accesskey="u" rel="up">Moving files</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h4 class="subsection">7.4.2 Moving the history file</h4>

This method is more dangerous, since it involves moving
files inside the repository. Read this entire section
before trying it out!

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">$ cd $CVSROOT/<var>dir</var>
$ mv <var>old</var>,v <var>new</var>,v
</pre></div>

Advantages:

<ul>
<li> The log of changes is maintained intact.

</li><li> The revision numbers are not affected.
</li></ul>

Disadvantages:

<ul>
<li> Old releases cannot easily be fetched from the
repository. (The file will show up as <var>new</var> even
in revisions from the time before it was renamed).

</li><li> There is no log information of when the file was renamed.

</li><li> Nasty things might happen if someone accesses the history file
while you are moving it. Make sure no one else runs any of the CVS
commands while you move it.
</li></ul>

<hr>
<div class="header">

Previous: <a href="#Inside" accesskey="p" rel="prev">Inside</a>, Up: <a href="#Moving-files" accesskey="u" rel="up">Moving files</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h4 class="subsection">7.4.3 Copying the history file</h4>

This way also involves direct modifications to the
repository. It is safe, but not without drawbacks.

<div class="example">
<pre class="example"># Copy the RCS file inside the repository
$ cd $CVSROOT/<var>dir</var>
$ cp <var>old</var>,v <var>new</var>,v
# Remove the old file
$ cd ~/<var>dir</var>
$ rm <var>old</var>
$ cvs remove <var>old</var>
$ cvs commit <var>old</var>
# Remove all tags from <var>new</var>
$ cvs update <var>new</var>
$ cvs log <var>new</var> # Remember the non-branch tag names
$ cvs tag -d <var>tag1</var> <var>new</var>
$ cvs tag -d <var>tag2</var> <var>new</var>
&hellip;
</pre></div>

By removing the tags you will be able to check out old
revisions.

Advantages:

<ul>
<li> Checking out old revisions works correctly, as long as
you use &lsquo;<samp>-r <var>tag</var></samp>&rsquo; and not &lsquo;<samp>-D <var>date</var></samp>&rsquo;
to retrieve the revisions.

</li><li> The log of changes is maintained intact.

</li><li> The revision numbers are not affected.
</li></ul>

Disadvantages:

<ul>
<li> You cannot easily see the history of the file across the rename.

</li></ul>

<hr>
<div class="header">

Previous: <a href="#Moving-files" accesskey="p" rel="prev">Moving files</a>, Up: <a href="#Adding-and-removing" accesskey="u" rel="up">Adding and removing</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h3 class="section">7.5 Moving and renaming directories</h3>

The normal way to rename or move a directory is to
rename or move each file within it as described in
<a href="#Outside">Outside</a>. Then check out with the &lsquo;<samp>-P</samp>&rsquo;
option, as described in <a href="#Removing-directories">Removing directories</a>.

If you really want to hack the repository to rename or
delete a directory in the repository, you can do it
like this:

<ol>
<li> Inform everyone who has a checked out copy of the directory that the
directory will be renamed. They should commit all their changes in all their
copies of the project containing the directory to be removed, and remove
all their working copies of said project, before you take the steps below.

</li><li> Rename the directory inside the repository.

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">$ cd $CVSROOT/<var>parent-dir</var>
$ mv <var>old-dir</var> <var>new-dir</var>
</pre></div>

</li><li> Fix the CVS administrative files, if necessary (for
instance if you renamed an entire module).

</li><li> Tell everyone that they can check out again and continue
working.

</li></ol>

If someone had a working copy the CVS commands will
cease to work for him, until he removes the directory
that disappeared inside the repository.

It is almost always better to move the files in the
directory instead of moving the directory. If you move the
directory you are unlikely to be able to retrieve old
releases correctly, since they probably depend on the
name of the directories.

<hr>
<div class="header">

Next: <a href="#Binary-files" accesskey="n" rel="next">Binary files</a>, Previous: <a href="#Adding-and-removing" accesskey="p" rel="prev">Adding and removing</a>, Up: <a href="#Top" accesskey="u" rel="up">Top</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h2 class="chapter">8 History browsing</h2>

Once you have used CVS to store a version control
history&mdash;what files have changed when, how, and by
whom, there are a variety of mechanisms for looking
through the history.

<table class="menu" border="0" cellspacing="0">
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#log-messages" accesskey="1">log messages</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">Log messages
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#history-database" accesskey="2">history database</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">The history database
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#user_002ddefined-logging" accesskey="3">user-defined logging</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">User-defined logging
</td></tr>
</table>

<hr>
<div class="header">

Next: <a href="#history-database" accesskey="n" rel="next">history database</a>, Up: <a href="#History-browsing" accesskey="u" rel="up">History browsing</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h3 class="section">8.1 Log messages</h3>

Whenever you commit a file you specify a log message.

To look through the log messages which have been
specified for every revision which has been committed,
use the <code>cvs log</code> command (see <a href="#log">log</a>).

<hr>
<div class="header">

Next: <a href="#user_002ddefined-logging" accesskey="n" rel="next">user-defined logging</a>, Previous: <a href="#log-messages" accesskey="p" rel="prev">log messages</a>, Up: <a href="#History-browsing" accesskey="u" rel="up">History browsing</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h3 class="section">8.2 The history database</h3>

You can use the history file (see <a href="#history-file">history file</a>) to
log various CVS actions. To retrieve the
information from the history file, use the <code>cvs
history</code> command (see <a href="#history">history</a>).

Note: you can control what is logged to this file by using the
&lsquo;<samp>LogHistory</samp>&rsquo; keyword in the <samp>CVSROOT/config</samp> file
(see <a href="#config">config</a>).

<hr>
<div class="header">

Previous: <a href="#history-database" accesskey="p" rel="prev">history database</a>, Up: <a href="#History-browsing" accesskey="u" rel="up">History browsing</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h3 class="section">8.3 User-defined logging</h3>

You can customise CVS to log various kinds of
actions, in whatever manner you choose. These
mechanisms operate by executing a script at various
times. The script might append a message to a file
listing the information and the programmer who created
it, or send mail to a group of developers, or, perhaps,
post a message to a particular newsgroup. To log
commits, use the <samp>loginfo</samp> file (see <a href="#loginfo">loginfo</a>), and
to log tagging operations, use the <samp>taginfo</samp> file
(see <a href="#taginfo">taginfo</a>).

To log commits, checkouts, exports, and tags,
respectively, you can also use the &lsquo;<samp>-i</samp>&rsquo;,
&lsquo;<samp>-o</samp>&rsquo;, &lsquo;<samp>-e</samp>&rsquo;, and &lsquo;<samp>-t</samp>&rsquo; options in the
modules file. For a more flexible way of giving
notifications to various users, which requires less in
the way of keeping centralised scripts up to date, use
the <code>cvs watch add</code> command (see <a href="#Getting-Notified">Getting Notified</a>); this command is useful even if you are not
using <code>cvs watch on</code>.

<hr>
<div class="header">

Next: <a href="#Multiple-developers" accesskey="n" rel="next">Multiple developers</a>, Previous: <a href="#History-browsing" accesskey="p" rel="prev">History browsing</a>, Up: <a href="#Top" accesskey="u" rel="up">Top</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h2 class="chapter">9 Handling binary files</h2>

The most common use for CVS is to store text
files. With text files, CVS can merge revisions,
display the differences between revisions in a
human-visible fashion, and other such operations.
However, if you are willing to give up a few of these
abilities, CVS can store binary files. For
example, one might store a web site in CVS
including both text files and binary images.

<table class="menu" border="0" cellspacing="0">
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#Binary-why" accesskey="1">Binary why</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">More details on issues with binary files
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#Binary-howto" accesskey="2">Binary howto</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">How to store them
</td></tr>
</table>

<hr>
<div class="header">

Next: <a href="#Binary-howto" accesskey="n" rel="next">Binary howto</a>, Up: <a href="#Binary-files" accesskey="u" rel="up">Binary files</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h3 class="section">9.1 The issues with binary files</h3>

While the need to manage binary files may seem obvious
if the files that you customarily work with are binary,
putting them into version control does present some
additional issues.

One basic function of version control is to show the
differences between two revisions. For example, if
someone else checked in a new version of a file, you
may wish to look at what they changed and determine
whether their changes are good. For text files,
CVS provides this functionality via the <code>cvs
diff</code> command. For binary files, it may be possible to
extract the two revisions and then compare them with a
tool external to CVS (for example, word processing
software often has such a feature). If there is no
such tool, one must track changes via other mechanisms,
such as urging people to write good log messages, and
hoping that the changes they actually made were the
changes that they intended to make.

Another ability of a version control system is the
ability to merge two revisions. For CVS this
happens in two contexts. The first is when users make
changes in separate working directories
(see <a href="#Multiple-developers">Multiple developers</a>). The second is when one
merges explicitly with the &lsquo;<samp>update -j</samp>&rsquo; command
(see <a href="#Branching-and-merging">Branching and merging</a>).

In the case of text
files, CVS can merge changes made independently,
and signal a conflict if the changes conflict. With
binary files, the best that CVS can do is present
the two different copies of the file, and leave it to
the user to resolve the conflict. The user may choose
one copy or the other, or may run an external merge
tool which knows about that particular file format, if
one exists.
Note that having the user merge relies primarily on the
user to not accidentally omit some changes, and thus is
potentially error prone.

If this process is thought to be undesirable, the best
choice may be to avoid merging. To avoid the merges
that result from separate working directories, see the
discussion of reserved checkouts (file locking) in
<a href="#Multiple-developers">Multiple developers</a>. To avoid the merges
resulting from branches, restrict use of branches.

<hr>
<div class="header">

Previous: <a href="#Binary-why" accesskey="p" rel="prev">Binary why</a>, Up: <a href="#Binary-files" accesskey="u" rel="up">Binary files</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h3 class="section">9.2 How to store binary files</h3>

There are two issues with using CVS to store
binary files. The first is that CVS by default
converts line endings between the canonical form in
which they are stored in the repository (linefeed
only), and the form appropriate to the operating system
in use on the client (for example, carriage return
followed by line feed for Windows NT).

The second is that a binary file might happen to
contain data which looks like a keyword (see <a href="#Keyword-substitution">Keyword substitution</a>), so keyword expansion must be turned
off.

The &lsquo;<samp>-kb</samp>&rsquo; option available with some CVS
commands insures that neither line ending conversion
nor keyword expansion will be done.

Here is an example of how you can create a new file
using the &lsquo;<samp>-kb</samp>&rsquo; flag:

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">$ echo '$Id$' &gt; kotest
$ cvs add -kb -m&quot;A test file&quot; kotest
$ cvs ci -m&quot;First checkin; contains a keyword&quot; kotest
</pre></div>

If a file accidentally gets added without &lsquo;<samp>-kb</samp>&rsquo;,
one can use the <code>cvs admin</code> command to recover.
For example:

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">$ echo '$Id$' &gt; kotest
$ cvs add -m&quot;A test file&quot; kotest
$ cvs ci -m&quot;First checkin; contains a keyword&quot; kotest
$ cvs admin -kb kotest
$ cvs update -A kotest
# For non-unix systems:
# Copy in a good copy of the file from outside CVS
$ cvs commit -m &quot;make it binary&quot; kotest
</pre></div>

When you check in the file <samp>kotest</samp> the file is
not preserved as a binary file, because you did not
check it in as a binary file. The <code>cvs
admin -kb</code> command sets the default keyword
substitution method for this file, but it does not
alter the working copy of the file that you have. If you need to
cope with line endings (that is, you are using
CVS on a non-unix system), then you need to
check in a new copy of the file, as shown by the
<code>cvs commit</code> command above.
On unix, the <code>cvs update -A</code> command suffices.
(Note that you can use <code>cvs log</code> to determine the default keyword
substitution method for a file and <code>cvs status</code> to determine
the keyword substitution method for a working copy.)

However, in using <code>cvs admin -k</code> to change the
keyword expansion, be aware that the keyword expansion
mode is not version controlled. This means that, for
example, that if you have a text file in old releases,
and a binary file with the same name in new releases,
CVS provides no way to check out the file in text
or binary mode depending on what version you are
checking out. There is no good workaround for this
problem.

You can also set a default for whether <code>cvs add</code>
and <code>cvs import</code> treat a file as binary based on
its name; for example you could say that files who
names end in &lsquo;<samp>.exe</samp>&rsquo; are binary. See <a href="#Wrappers">Wrappers</a>.
There is currently no way to have CVS detect
whether a file is binary based on its contents. The
main difficulty with designing such a feature is that
it is not clear how to distinguish between binary and
non-binary files, and the rules to apply would vary
considerably with the operating system.

<hr>
<div class="header">

Next: <a href="#Revision-management" accesskey="n" rel="next">Revision management</a>, Previous: <a href="#Binary-files" accesskey="p" rel="prev">Binary files</a>, Up: <a href="#Top" accesskey="u" rel="up">Top</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h2 class="chapter">10 Multiple developers</h2>

When more than one person works on a software project
things often get complicated. Often, two people try to
edit the same file simultaneously. One solution, known
as file locking or reserved checkouts, is
to allow only one person to edit each file at a time.
This is the only solution with some version control
systems, including RCS and SCCS. Currently
the usual way to get reserved checkouts with CVS
is the <code>cvs admin -l</code> command (see <a href="#admin-options">admin options</a>). This is not as nicely integrated into
CVS as the watch features, described below, but it
seems that most people with a need for reserved
checkouts find it adequate.

As of CVS version 1.12.10, another technique for getting most of the
effect of reserved checkouts is to enable advisory locks. To enable advisory
locks, have all developers put &quot;edit -c&quot;, &quot;commit -c&quot; in their
.cvsrc file, and turn on watches in the repository. This
prevents them from doing a <code>cvs edit</code> if anyone is
already editing the file. It also may
be possible to use plain watches together with suitable
procedures (not enforced by software), to avoid having
two people edit at the same time.

The default model with CVS is known as
unreserved checkouts. In this model, developers
can edit their own working copy of a file
simultaneously. The first person that commits his
changes has no automatic way of knowing that another
has started to edit it. Others will get an error
message when they try to commit the file. They must
then use CVS commands to bring their working copy
up to date with the repository revision. This process
is almost automatic.

CVS also supports mechanisms which facilitate
various kinds of communication, without actually
enforcing rules like reserved checkouts do.

The rest of this chapter describes how these various
models work, and some of the issues involved in
choosing between them.

<table class="menu" border="0" cellspacing="0">
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#File-status" accesskey="1">File status</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">A file can be in several states
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#Updating-a-file" accesskey="2">Updating a file</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">Bringing a file up-to-date
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#Conflicts-example" accesskey="3">Conflicts example</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">An informative example
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#Informing-others" accesskey="4">Informing others</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">To cooperate you must inform
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#Concurrency" accesskey="5">Concurrency</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">Simultaneous repository access
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#Watches" accesskey="6">Watches</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">Mechanisms to track who is editing files
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#Choosing-a-model" accesskey="7">Choosing a model</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">Reserved or unreserved checkouts?
</td></tr>
</table>

<hr>
<div class="header">

Next: <a href="#Updating-a-file" accesskey="n" rel="next">Updating a file</a>, Up: <a href="#Multiple-developers" accesskey="u" rel="up">Multiple developers</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h3 class="section">10.1 File status</h3>

Based on what operations you have performed on a
checked out file, and what operations others have
performed to that file in the repository, one can
classify a file in a number of states. The states, as
reported by the <code>status</code> command, are:

<dl compact="compact">
<dd>
</dd>
<dt>Up-to-date</dt>
<dd>The file is identical with the latest revision in the
repository for the branch in use.

</dd>
<dt>Locally Modified</dt>
<dd>
You have edited the file, and not yet committed your changes.

</dd>
<dt>Locally Added</dt>
<dd>
You have added the file with <code>add</code>, and not yet
committed your changes.

</dd>
<dt>Locally Removed</dt>
<dd>
You have removed the file with <code>remove</code>, and not yet
committed your changes.

</dd>
<dt>Needs Checkout</dt>
<dd>
Someone else has committed a newer revision to the
repository. The name is slightly misleading; you will
ordinarily use <code>update</code> rather than
<code>checkout</code> to get that newer revision.

</dd>
<dt>Needs Patch</dt>
<dd>
Like Needs Checkout, but the CVS server will send
a patch rather than the entire file. Sending a patch or
sending an entire file accomplishes the same thing.

</dd>
<dt>Needs Merge</dt>
<dd>
Someone else has committed a newer revision to the repository, and you
have also made modifications to the file.

</dd>
<dt>Unresolved Conflict</dt>
<dd>
A file with the same name as this new file has been added to the repository
from a second workspace. This file will need to be moved out of the way
to allow an <code>update</code> to complete.

</dd>
<dt>File had conflicts on merge</dt>
<dd>
This is like Locally Modified, except that a previous
<code>update</code> command gave a conflict. If you have not
already done so, you need to
resolve the conflict as described in <a href="#Conflicts-example">Conflicts example</a>.

</dd>
<dt>Unknown</dt>
<dd>
CVS doesn&rsquo;t know anything about this file. For
example, you have created a new file and have not run
<code>add</code>.

</dd>
</dl>

To help clarify the file status, <code>status</code> also
reports the <code>Working revision</code> which is the
revision that the file in the working directory derives
from, and the <code>Repository revision</code> which is the
latest revision in the repository for the branch in
use.
The &lsquo;<samp>Commit Identifier</samp>&rsquo; reflects the unique commitid
of the <code>commit</code>.

The options to <code>status</code> are listed in
<a href="#Invoking-CVS">Invoking CVS</a>. For information on its <code>Sticky tag</code>
and <code>Sticky date</code> output, see <a href="#Sticky-tags">Sticky tags</a>.
For information on its <code>Sticky options</code> output,
see the &lsquo;<samp>-k</samp>&rsquo; option in <a href="#update-options">update options</a>.

You can think of the <code>status</code> and <code>update</code>
commands as somewhat complementary. You use
<code>update</code> to bring your files up to date, and you
can use <code>status</code> to give you some idea of what an
<code>update</code> would do (of course, the state of the
repository might change before you actually run
<code>update</code>). In fact, if you want a command to
display file status in a more brief format than is
displayed by the <code>status</code> command, you can invoke


<div class="example">
<pre class="example">$ cvs -n -q update
</pre></div>

The &lsquo;<samp>-n</samp>&rsquo; option means to not actually do the
update, but merely to display statuses; the &lsquo;<samp>-q</samp>&rsquo;
option avoids printing the name of each directory. For
more information on the <code>update</code> command, and
these options, see <a href="#Invoking-CVS">Invoking CVS</a>.

<hr>
<div class="header">

Next: <a href="#Conflicts-example" accesskey="n" rel="next">Conflicts example</a>, Previous: <a href="#File-status" accesskey="p" rel="prev">File status</a>, Up: <a href="#Multiple-developers" accesskey="u" rel="up">Multiple developers</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h3 class="section">10.2 Bringing a file up to date</h3>

When you want to update or merge a file, use the <code>cvs update -d</code>
command. For files that are not up to date this is roughly equivalent
to a <code>checkout</code> command: the newest revision of the file is
extracted from the repository and put in your working directory. The
<code>-d</code> option, not necessary with <code>checkout</code>, tells CVS
that you wish it to create directories added by other developers.

Your modifications to a file are never lost when you
use <code>update</code>. If no newer revision exists,
running <code>update</code> has no effect. If you have
edited the file, and a newer revision is available,
CVS will merge all changes into your working copy.

For instance, imagine that you checked out revision 1.4 and started
editing it. In the meantime someone else committed revision 1.5, and
shortly after that revision 1.6. If you run <code>update</code> on the file
now, CVS will incorporate all changes between revision 1.4 and 1.6 into
your file.


If any of the changes between 1.4 and 1.6 were made too
close to any of the changes you have made, an
overlap occurs. In such cases a warning is
printed, and the resulting file includes both
versions of the lines that overlap, delimited by
special markers.
See <a href="#update">update</a>, for a complete description of the
<code>update</code> command.

<hr>
<div class="header">

Next: <a href="#Informing-others" accesskey="n" rel="next">Informing others</a>, Previous: <a href="#Updating-a-file" accesskey="p" rel="prev">Updating a file</a>, Up: <a href="#Multiple-developers" accesskey="u" rel="up">Multiple developers</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h3 class="section">10.3 Conflicts example</h3>

Suppose revision 1.4 of <samp>driver.c</samp> contains this:

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">#include &lt;stdio.h&gt;

void main()
{
 parse();
 if (nerr == 0)
 gencode();
 else
 fprintf(stderr, &quot;No code generated.\n&quot;);
 exit(nerr == 0 ? 0 : 1);
}
</pre></div>

Revision 1.6 of <samp>driver.c</samp> contains this:

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">#include &lt;stdio.h&gt;

int main(int argc,
 char **argv)
{
 parse();
 if (argc != 1)
 {
 fprintf(stderr, &quot;tc: No args expected.\n&quot;);
 exit(1);
 }
 if (nerr == 0)
 gencode();
 else
 fprintf(stderr, &quot;No code generated.\n&quot;);
 exit(!!nerr);
}
</pre></div>

Your working copy of <samp>driver.c</samp>, based on revision
1.4, contains this before you run &lsquo;<samp>cvs update</samp>&rsquo;:

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">#include &lt;stdlib.h&gt;
#include &lt;stdio.h&gt;

void main()
{
 init_scanner();
 parse();
 if (nerr == 0)
 gencode();
 else
 fprintf(stderr, &quot;No code generated.\n&quot;);
 exit(nerr == 0 ? EXIT_SUCCESS : EXIT_FAILURE);
}
</pre></div>

You run &lsquo;<samp>cvs update</samp>&rsquo;:

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">$ cvs update driver.c
RCS file: /usr/local/cvsroot/yoyodyne/tc/driver.c,v
retrieving revision 1.4
retrieving revision 1.6
Merging differences between 1.4 and 1.6 into driver.c
rcsmerge warning: overlaps during merge
cvs update: conflicts found in driver.c
C driver.c
</pre></div>

CVS tells you that there were some conflicts.
Your original working file is saved unmodified in
<samp>.#driver.c.1.4</samp>. The new version of
<samp>driver.c</samp> contains this:

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">#include &lt;stdlib.h&gt;
#include &lt;stdio.h&gt;

int main(int argc,
 char **argv)
{
 init_scanner();
 parse();
 if (argc != 1)
 {
 fprintf(stderr, &quot;tc: No args expected.\n&quot;);
 exit(1);
 }
 if (nerr == 0)
 gencode();
 else
 fprintf(stderr, &quot;No code generated.\n&quot;);
&lt;&lt;&lt;&lt;&lt;&lt;&lt; driver.c
 exit(nerr == 0 ? EXIT_SUCCESS : EXIT_FAILURE);
=======
 exit(!!nerr);
&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt; 1.6
}
</pre></div>

Note how all non-overlapping modifications are incorporated in your working
copy, and that the overlapping section is clearly marked with
&lsquo;<samp>&lt;&lt;&lt;&lt;&lt;&lt;&lt;</samp>&rsquo;, &lsquo;<samp>=======</samp>&rsquo; and &lsquo;<samp>&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;</samp>&rsquo;.



You resolve the conflict by editing the file, removing the markers and
the erroneous line. Suppose you end up with this file:
<div class="example">
<pre class="example">#include &lt;stdlib.h&gt;
#include &lt;stdio.h&gt;

int main(int argc,
 char **argv)
{
 init_scanner();
 parse();
 if (argc != 1)
 {
 fprintf(stderr, &quot;tc: No args expected.\n&quot;);
 exit(1);
 }
 if (nerr == 0)
 gencode();
 else
 fprintf(stderr, &quot;No code generated.\n&quot;);
 exit(nerr == 0 ? EXIT_SUCCESS : EXIT_FAILURE);
}
</pre></div>

You can now go ahead and commit this as revision 1.7.

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">$ cvs commit -m &quot;Initialise scanner. Use symbolic exit values.&quot; driver.c
Checking in driver.c;
/usr/local/cvsroot/yoyodyne/tc/driver.c,v &lt;-- driver.c
new revision: 1.7; previous revision: 1.6
done
</pre></div>

For your protection, CVS will refuse to check in a
file if a conflict occurred and you have not resolved
the conflict. Currently to resolve a conflict, you
must change the timestamp on the file. In previous
versions of CVS, you also needed to
insure that the file contains no conflict markers.
Because
your file may legitimately contain conflict markers (that
is, occurrences of &lsquo;<samp>&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt; </samp>&rsquo; at the start of a
line that don&rsquo;t mark a conflict), the current
version of CVS will print a warning and proceed to
check in the file.


If you use release 1.04 or later of pcl-cvs (a GNU
Emacs front-end for CVS) you can use an Emacs
package called emerge to help you resolve conflicts.
See the documentation for pcl-cvs.

<hr>
<div class="header">

Next: <a href="#Concurrency" accesskey="n" rel="next">Concurrency</a>, Previous: <a href="#Conflicts-example" accesskey="p" rel="prev">Conflicts example</a>, Up: <a href="#Multiple-developers" accesskey="u" rel="up">Multiple developers</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h3 class="section">10.4 Informing others about commits</h3>

It is often useful to inform others when you commit a
new revision of a file. The &lsquo;<samp>-i</samp>&rsquo; option of the
<samp>modules</samp> file, or the <samp>loginfo</samp> file, can be
used to automate this process. See <a href="#modules">modules</a>.
See <a href="#loginfo">loginfo</a>. You can use these features of CVS
to, for instance, instruct CVS to mail a
message to all developers, or post a message to a local
newsgroup.

<hr>
<div class="header">

Next: <a href="#Watches" accesskey="n" rel="next">Watches</a>, Previous: <a href="#Informing-others" accesskey="p" rel="prev">Informing others</a>, Up: <a href="#Multiple-developers" accesskey="u" rel="up">Multiple developers</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h3 class="section">10.5 Several developers simultaneously attempting to run CVS</h3>

If several developers try to run CVS at the same
time, one may get the following message:

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">[11:43:23] waiting for bach's lock in /usr/local/cvsroot/foo
</pre></div>

CVS will try again every 30 seconds, and either
continue with the operation or print the message again,
if it still needs to wait. If a lock seems to stick
around for an undue amount of time, find the person
holding the lock and ask them about the cvs command
they are running. If they aren&rsquo;t running a cvs
command, look in the repository directory mentioned in
the message and remove files which they own whose names
start with <samp>#cvs.rfl</samp>,
<samp>#cvs.wfl</samp>, or <samp>#cvs.lock</samp>.

Note that these locks are to protect CVS&rsquo;s
internal data structures and have no relationship to
the word lock in the sense used by
RCS&mdash;which refers to reserved checkouts
(see <a href="#Multiple-developers">Multiple developers</a>).

Any number of people can be reading from a given
repository at a time; only when someone is writing do
the locks prevent other people from reading or writing.



One might hope for the following property:

<blockquote>
If someone commits some changes in one cvs command,
then an update by someone else will either get all the
changes, or none of them.
</blockquote>

but CVS does not have this property. For
example, given the files

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">a/one.c
a/two.c
b/three.c
b/four.c
</pre></div>

if someone runs

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">cvs ci a/two.c b/three.c
</pre></div>

and someone else runs <code>cvs update</code> at the same
time, the person running <code>update</code> might get only
the change to <samp>b/three.c</samp> and not the change to
<samp>a/two.c</samp>.

<hr>
<div class="header">

Next: <a href="#Choosing-a-model" accesskey="n" rel="next">Choosing a model</a>, Previous: <a href="#Concurrency" accesskey="p" rel="prev">Concurrency</a>, Up: <a href="#Multiple-developers" accesskey="u" rel="up">Multiple developers</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h3 class="section">10.6 Mechanisms to track who is editing files</h3>

For many groups, use of CVS in its default mode is
perfectly satisfactory. Users may sometimes go to
check in a modification only to find that another
modification has intervened, but they deal with it and
proceed with their check in. Other groups prefer to be
able to know who is editing what files, so that if two
people try to edit the same file they can choose to
talk about who is doing what when rather than be
surprised at check in time. The features in this
section allow such coordination, while retaining the
ability of two developers to edit the same file at the
same time.

For maximum benefit developers should use <code>cvs
edit</code> (not <code>chmod</code>) to make files read-write to
edit them, and <code>cvs release</code> (not <code>rm</code>) to
discard a working directory which is no longer in use,
but CVS is not able to enforce this behavior.

If a development team wants stronger enforcement of
watches and all team members are using a CVS client version 1.12.10 or
greater to access a CVS server version 1.12.10 or greater, they can
enable advisory locks. To enable advisory locks, have all developers
put &quot;edit -c&quot; and &quot;commit -c&quot; into all .cvsrc files,
and make files default to read only by turning on watches
or putting &quot;cvs -r&quot; into all .cvsrc files.
This prevents multiple people from editing a file at
the same time (unless explicitly overriden with &lsquo;<samp>-f</samp>&rsquo;).

<table class="menu" border="0" cellspacing="0">
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#Setting-a-watch" accesskey="1">Setting a watch</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">Telling CVS to watch certain files
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#Getting-Notified" accesskey="2">Getting Notified</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">Telling CVS to notify you
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#Editing-files" accesskey="3">Editing files</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">How to edit a file which is being watched
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#Watch-information" accesskey="4">Watch information</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">Information about who is watching and editing
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#Watches-Compatibility" accesskey="5">Watches Compatibility</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">Watches interact poorly with CVS 1.6 or earlier
</td></tr>
</table>

<hr>
<div class="header">

Next: <a href="#Getting-Notified" accesskey="n" rel="next">Getting Notified</a>, Up: <a href="#Watches" accesskey="u" rel="up">Watches</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h4 class="subsection">10.6.1 Telling CVS to watch certain files</h4>

To enable the watch features, you first specify that
certain files are to be watched.


<dl>
<dt id="index-cvs-watch-on">Command: cvs watch on [<code>-lR</code>] [<var>files</var>]&hellip;</dt>
<dd>

Specify that developers should run <code>cvs edit</code>
before editing <var>files</var>. CVS will create working
copies of <var>files</var> read-only, to remind developers
to run the <code>cvs edit</code> command before working on
them.

If <var>files</var> includes the name of a directory, CVS
arranges to watch all files added to the corresponding
repository directory, and sets a default for files
added in the future; this allows the user to set
notification policies on a per-directory basis. The
contents of the directory are processed recursively,
unless the <code>-l</code> option is given.
The <code>-R</code> option can be used to force recursion if the <code>-l</code>
option is set in <samp>~/.cvsrc</samp> (see <a href="#g_t_007e_002f_002ecvsrc">~/.cvsrc</a>).

If <var>files</var> is omitted, it defaults to the current directory.


</dd></dl>

<dl>
<dt id="index-cvs-watch-off">Command: cvs watch off [<code>-lR</code>] [<var>files</var>]&hellip;</dt>
<dd>
Do not create <var>files</var> read-only on checkout; thus,
developers will not be reminded to use <code>cvs edit</code>
and <code>cvs unedit</code>.

The <var>files</var> and options are processed as for <code>cvs
watch on</code>.

</dd></dl>

<hr>
<div class="header">

Next: <a href="#Editing-files" accesskey="n" rel="next">Editing files</a>, Previous: <a href="#Setting-a-watch" accesskey="p" rel="prev">Setting a watch</a>, Up: <a href="#Watches" accesskey="u" rel="up">Watches</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h4 class="subsection">10.6.2 Telling CVS to notify you</h4>

You can tell CVS that you want to receive
notifications about various actions taken on a file.
You can do this without using <code>cvs watch on</code> for
the file, but generally you will want to use <code>cvs
watch on</code>, to remind developers to use the <code>cvs edit</code>
command.


<dl>
<dt id="index-cvs-watch-add">Command: cvs watch add [<code>-lR</code>] [<code>-a</code> <var>action</var>]&hellip; [<var>files</var>]&hellip;</dt>
<dd>
Add the current user to the list of people to receive notification of
work done on <var>files</var>.

The <code>-a</code> option specifies what kinds of events CVS should notify
the user about. <var>action</var> is one of the following:

<dl compact="compact">
<dt><code>edit</code></dt>
<dd>Another user has applied the <code>cvs edit</code> command (described
below) to a watched file.

</dd>
<dt><code>commit</code></dt>
<dd>Another user has committed changes to one of the named <var>files</var>.

</dd>
<dt><code>unedit</code></dt>
<dd>Another user has abandoned editing a file (other than by committing changes).
They can do this in several ways, by:

<ul>
<li> applying the <code>cvs unedit</code> command (described below) to the file

</li><li> applying the <code>cvs release</code> command (see <a href="#release">release</a>) to the file&rsquo;s parent directory
(or recursively to a directory more than one level up)

</li><li> deleting the file and allowing <code>cvs update</code> to recreate it

</li></ul>

</dd>
<dt><code>all</code></dt>
<dd>All of the above.

</dd>
<dt><code>none</code></dt>
<dd>None of the above. (This is useful with <code>cvs edit</code>,
described below.)

</dd>
</dl>

The <code>-a</code> option may appear more than once, or not at all. If
omitted, the action defaults to <code>all</code>.

The <var>files</var> and options are processed as for
<code>cvs watch on</code>.

</dd></dl>

<dl>
<dt id="index-cvs-watch-remove">Command: cvs watch remove [<code>-lR</code>] [<code>-a</code> <var>action</var>]&hellip; [<var>files</var>]&hellip;</dt>
<dd>
Remove a notification request established using <code>cvs watch add</code>;
the arguments are the same. If the <code>-a</code> option is present, only
watches for the specified actions are removed.

</dd></dl>

When the conditions exist for notification, CVS
calls the <samp>notify</samp> administrative file. Edit
<samp>notify</samp> as one edits the other administrative
files (see <a href="#Intro-administrative-files">Intro administrative files</a>). This
file follows the usual conventions for administrative
files (see <a href="#syntax">syntax</a>), where each line is a regular
expression followed by a command to execute. The
command should contain a single occurrence of &lsquo;<samp>%s</samp>&rsquo;
which will be replaced by the user to notify; the rest
of the information regarding the notification will be
supplied to the command on standard input. The
standard thing to put in the <code>notify</code> file is the
single line:

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">ALL mail %s -s &quot;CVS notification&quot;
</pre></div>

This causes users to be notified by electronic mail.


Note that if you set this up in the straightforward
way, users receive notifications on the server machine.
One could of course write a <samp>notify</samp> script which
directed notifications elsewhere, but to make this
easy, CVS allows you to associate a notification
address for each user. To do so create a file
<samp>users</samp> in <samp>CVSROOT</samp> with a line for each
user in the format <var>user</var>:<var>value</var>. Then
instead of passing the name of the user to be notified
to <samp>notify</samp>, CVS will pass the <var>value</var>
(normally an email address on some other machine).

CVS does not notify you for your own changes.
Currently this check is done based on whether the user
name of the person taking the action which triggers
notification matches the user name of the person
getting notification. In fact, in general, the watches
features only track one edit by each user. It probably
would be more useful if watches tracked each working
directory separately, so this behavior might be worth
changing.

<hr>
<div class="header">

Next: <a href="#Watch-information" accesskey="n" rel="next">Watch information</a>, Previous: <a href="#Getting-Notified" accesskey="p" rel="prev">Getting Notified</a>, Up: <a href="#Watches" accesskey="u" rel="up">Watches</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h4 class="subsection">10.6.3 How to edit a file which is being watched</h4>

Since a file which is being watched is checked out
read-only, you cannot simply edit it. To make it
read-write, and inform others that you are planning to
edit it, use the <code>cvs edit</code> command. Some systems
call this a checkout, but CVS uses that term
for obtaining a copy of the sources (see <a href="#Getting-the-source">Getting the source</a>), an operation which those systems call a
get or a fetch.


<dl>
<dt id="index-cvs-edit">Command: cvs edit [<code>-lR</code>] [<code>-a</code> <var>action</var>]&hellip; [<var>files</var>]&hellip;</dt>
<dd>
Prepare to edit the working files <var>files</var>. CVS makes the
<var>files</var> read-write, and notifies users who have requested
<code>edit</code> notification for any of <var>files</var>.

The <code>cvs edit</code> command accepts the same options as the
<code>cvs watch add</code> command, and establishes a temporary watch for the
user on <var>files</var>; CVS will remove the watch when <var>files</var> are
<code>unedit</code>ed or <code>commit</code>ted. If the user does not wish to
receive notifications, she should specify <code>-a none</code>.

The <var>files</var> and the options are processed as for the <code>cvs
watch</code> commands.

There are two additional options that <code>cvs edit</code> understands as of
CVS client and server versions 1.12.10 but <code>cvs watch</code> does not.
The first is <code>-c</code>, which causes <code>cvs edit</code> to fail if anyone else
is editing the file. This is probably only useful when &lsquo;<samp>edit -c</samp>&rsquo; and
&lsquo;<samp>commit -c</samp>&rsquo; are specified in all developers&rsquo; <samp>.cvsrc</samp> files. This
behavior may be overriden this via the <code>-f</code> option, which overrides
<code>-c</code> and allows multiple edits to succeed.

</dd></dl>

Normally when you are done with a set of changes, you
use the <code>cvs commit</code> command, which checks in your
changes and returns the watched files to their usual
read-only state. But if you instead decide to abandon
your changes, or not to make any changes, you can use
the <code>cvs unedit</code> command.




<dl>
<dt id="index-cvs-unedit">Command: cvs unedit [<code>-lR</code>] [<var>files</var>]&hellip;</dt>
<dd>
Abandon work on the working files <var>files</var>, and revert them to the
repository versions on which they are based. CVS makes those
<var>files</var> read-only for which users have requested notification using
<code>cvs watch on</code>. CVS notifies users who have requested <code>unedit</code>
notification for any of <var>files</var>.

The <var>files</var> and options are processed as for the
<code>cvs watch</code> commands.

If watches are not in use, the <code>unedit</code> command
probably does not work, and the way to revert to the
repository version is with the command <code>cvs update -C file</code>
(see <a href="#update">update</a>).
The meaning is
not precisely the same; the latter may also
bring in some changes which have been made in the
repository since the last time you updated.
</dd></dl>

When using client/server CVS, you can use the
<code>cvs edit</code> and <code>cvs unedit</code> commands even if
CVS is unable to successfully communicate with the
server; the notifications will be sent upon the next
successful CVS command.

<hr>
<div class="header">

Next: <a href="#Watches-Compatibility" accesskey="n" rel="next">Watches Compatibility</a>, Previous: <a href="#Editing-files" accesskey="p" rel="prev">Editing files</a>, Up: <a href="#Watches" accesskey="u" rel="up">Watches</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h4 class="subsection">10.6.4 Information about who is watching and editing</h4>

<dl>
<dt id="index-cvs-watchers">Command: cvs watchers [<code>-lR</code>] [<var>files</var>]&hellip;</dt>
<dd>
List the users currently watching changes to <var>files</var>. The report
includes the files being watched, and the mail address of each watcher.

The <var>files</var> and options are processed as for the
<code>cvs watch</code> commands.

</dd></dl>

<dl>
<dt id="index-cvs-editors">Command: cvs editors [<code>-lR</code>] [<var>files</var>]&hellip;</dt>
<dd>
List the users currently working on <var>files</var>. The report
includes the mail address of each user, the time when the user began
working with the file, and the host and path of the working directory
containing the file.

The <var>files</var> and options are processed as for the
<code>cvs watch</code> commands.

</dd></dl>

<hr>
<div class="header">

Previous: <a href="#Watch-information" accesskey="p" rel="prev">Watch information</a>, Up: <a href="#Watches" accesskey="u" rel="up">Watches</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h4 class="subsection">10.6.5 Using watches with old versions of CVS</h4>

If you use the watch features on a repository, it
creates <samp>CVS</samp> directories in the repository and
stores the information about watches in that directory.
If you attempt to use CVS 1.6 or earlier with the
repository, you get an error message such as the
following (all on one line):

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">cvs update: cannot open CVS/Entries for reading:
No such file or directory
</pre></div>

and your operation will likely be aborted. To use the
watch features, you must upgrade all copies of CVS
which use that repository in local or server mode. If
you cannot upgrade, use the <code>watch off</code> and
<code>watch remove</code> commands to remove all watches, and
that will restore the repository to a state which
CVS 1.6 can cope with.

<hr>
<div class="header">

Previous: <a href="#Watches" accesskey="p" rel="prev">Watches</a>, Up: <a href="#Multiple-developers" accesskey="u" rel="up">Multiple developers</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h3 class="section">10.7 Choosing between reserved or unreserved checkouts</h3>

Reserved and unreserved checkouts each have pros and
cons. Let it be said that a lot of this is a matter of
opinion or what works given different groups&rsquo; working
styles, but here is a brief description of some of the
issues. There are many ways to organise a team of
developers. CVS does not try to enforce a certain
organization. It is a tool that can be used in several
ways.

Reserved checkouts can be very counter-productive. If
two persons want to edit different parts of a file,
there may be no reason to prevent either of them from
doing so. Also, it is common for someone to take out a
lock on a file, because they are planning to edit it,
but then forget to release the lock.

People, especially people who are familiar with
reserved checkouts, often wonder how often conflicts
occur if unreserved checkouts are used, and how
difficult they are to resolve. The experience with
many groups is that they occur rarely and usually are
relatively straightforward to resolve.

The rarity of serious conflicts may be surprising, until one realises
that they occur only when two developers disagree on the proper design
for a given section of code; such a disagreement suggests that the
team has not been communicating properly in the first place. In order
to collaborate under any source management regimen, developers
must agree on the general design of the system; given this agreement,
overlapping changes are usually straightforward to merge.

In some cases unreserved checkouts are clearly
inappropriate. If no merge tool exists for the kind of
file you are managing (for example word processor files
or files edited by Computer Aided Design programs), and
it is not desirable to change to a program which uses a
mergeable data format, then resolving conflicts is
going to be unpleasant enough that you generally will
be better off to simply avoid the conflicts instead, by
using reserved checkouts.

The watches features described above in <a href="#Watches">Watches</a>
can be considered to be an intermediate model between
reserved checkouts and unreserved checkouts. When you
go to edit a file, it is possible to find out who else
is editing it. And rather than having the system
simply forbid both people editing the file, it can tell
you what the situation is and let you figure out
whether it is a problem in that particular case or not.
Therefore, for some groups watches can be
considered the best of both the reserved checkout and unreserved
checkout worlds.

As of CVS client and server versions 1.12.10, you may also enable
advisory locks by putting &lsquo;<samp>edit -c</samp>&rsquo; and &lsquo;<samp>commit -c</samp>&rsquo; in all
developers&rsquo; <samp>.cvsrc</samp> files. After this is done, <code>cvs edit</code>
will fail if there are any other editors, and <code>cvs commit</code> will
fail if the committer has not registered to edit the file via <code>cvs edit</code>.
This is most effective in conjunction with files checked out read-only by
default, which may be enabled by turning on watches in the repository or by
putting &lsquo;<samp>cvs -r</samp>&rsquo; in all <samp>.cvsrc</samp> files.

<hr>
<div class="header">

Next: <a href="#Keyword-substitution" accesskey="n" rel="next">Keyword substitution</a>, Previous: <a href="#Multiple-developers" accesskey="p" rel="prev">Multiple developers</a>, Up: <a href="#Top" accesskey="u" rel="up">Top</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h2 class="chapter">11 Revision management</h2>

If you have read this far, you probably have a pretty
good grasp on what CVS can do for you. This
chapter talks a little about things that you still have
to decide.

If you are doing development on your own using CVS
you could probably skip this chapter. The questions
this chapter takes up become more important when more
than one person is working in a repository.

<table class="menu" border="0" cellspacing="0">
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#When-to-commit" accesskey="1">When to commit</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">Some discussion on the subject
</td></tr>
</table>

<hr>
<div class="header">

Up: <a href="#Revision-management" accesskey="u" rel="up">Revision management</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h3 class="section">11.1 When to commit?</h3>

Your group should decide which policy to use regarding
commits. Several policies are possible, and as your
experience with CVS grows you will probably find
out what works for you.

If you commit files too quickly you might commit files
that do not even compile. If your partner updates his
working sources to include your buggy file, he will be
unable to compile the code. On the other hand, other
persons will not be able to benefit from the
improvements you make to the code if you commit very
seldom, and conflicts will probably be more common.

It is common to only commit files after making sure
that they can be compiled. Some sites require that the
files pass a test suite. Policies like this can be
enforced using the commitinfo file
(see <a href="#commitinfo">commitinfo</a>), but you should think twice before
you enforce such a convention. By making the
development environment too controlled it might become
too regimented and thus counter-productive to the real
goal, which is to get software written.

<hr>
<div class="header">

Next: <a href="#Tracking-sources" accesskey="n" rel="next">Tracking sources</a>, Previous: <a href="#Revision-management" accesskey="p" rel="prev">Revision management</a>, Up: <a href="#Top" accesskey="u" rel="up">Top</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h2 class="chapter">12 Keyword substitution</h2>

As long as you edit source files inside a working
directory you can always find out the state of
your files via &lsquo;<samp>cvs status</samp>&rsquo; and &lsquo;<samp>cvs log</samp>&rsquo;.
But as soon as you export the files from your
development environment it becomes harder to identify
which revisions they are.

CVS can use a mechanism known as keyword
substitution (or keyword expansion) to help
identifying the files. Embedded strings of the form
<code>$<var>keyword</var>$</code> and
<code>$<var>keyword</var>:&hellip;$</code> in a file are replaced
with strings of the form
<code>$<var>keyword</var>:<var>value</var>$</code> whenever you obtain
a new revision of the file.

<table class="menu" border="0" cellspacing="0">
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#Keyword-list" accesskey="1">Keyword list</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">Keywords
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#Using-keywords" accesskey="2">Using keywords</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">Using keywords
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#Avoiding-substitution" accesskey="3">Avoiding substitution</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">Avoiding substitution
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#Substitution-modes" accesskey="4">Substitution modes</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">Substitution modes
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#Configuring-keyword-expansion" accesskey="5">Configuring keyword expansion</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">Configuring keyword expansion
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#Log-keyword" accesskey="6">Log keyword</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">Problems with the $Log$ keyword.
</td></tr>
</table>

<hr>
<div class="header">

Next: <a href="#Using-keywords" accesskey="n" rel="next">Using keywords</a>, Up: <a href="#Keyword-substitution" accesskey="u" rel="up">Keyword substitution</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h3 class="section">12.1 Keyword List</h3>

This is a list of the keywords:

<dl compact="compact">
<dd>
</dd>
<dt><code>$Author$</code></dt>
<dd>The login name of the user who checked in the revision.


</dd>
<dt><code>$CVSHeader$</code></dt>
<dd>A standard header (similar to $Header$, but with
the CVS root stripped off). It contains the relative
pathname of the RCS file to the CVS root, the
revision number, the date (UTC), the author, the state,
and the locker (if locked). Files will normally never
be locked when you use CVS.

Note that this keyword has only been recently
introduced to CVS and may cause problems with
existing installations if $CVSHeader$ is already
in the files for a different purpose. This keyword may
be excluded using the <code>KeywordExpand=eCVSHeader</code>
in the <samp>CVSROOT/config</samp> file. 
See <a href="#Configuring-keyword-expansion">Configuring keyword expansion</a> for more details.


</dd>
<dt><code>$Date$</code></dt>
<dd>The date and time (UTC) the revision was checked in.


</dd>
<dt><code>$Mdocdate$</code></dt>
<dd>The date (UTC) the revision was checked in, in a format suitable
for the Berkeley mdoc macro processing.

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">$Mdocdate: January 30 2021 $
</pre></div>

</dd>
<dt><code>$Header$</code></dt>
<dd>A standard header containing the full pathname of the
RCS file, the revision number, the date (UTC), the
author, the state, and the locker (if locked). Files
will normally never be locked when you use CVS.


</dd>
<dt><code>$Id$</code></dt>
<dd>Same as <code>$Header$</code>, except that the RCS
filename is without a path.


</dd>
<dt><code>$Name$</code></dt>
<dd>Tag name used to check out this file. The keyword is
expanded only if one checks out with an explicit tag
name. For example, when running the command <code>cvs
co -r first</code>, the keyword expands to &lsquo;<samp>Name: first</samp>&rsquo;.


</dd>
<dt><code>$Locker$</code></dt>
<dd>The login name of the user who locked the revision
(empty if not locked, which is the normal case unless
<code>cvs admin -l</code> is in use).





</dd>
<dt><code>$Log$</code></dt>
<dd>The log message supplied during commit, preceded by a
header containing the RCS filename, the revision
number, the author, and the date (UTC). Existing log
messages are not replaced. Instead, the new log
message is inserted after <code>$Log:&hellip;$</code>.
By default, each new line is prefixed with the same string which
precedes the <code>$Log$</code> keyword, unless it exceeds the
<code>MaxCommentLeaderLength</code> set in <samp>CVSROOT/config</samp>.

For example, if the file contains:

<div class="example">
<pre class="example"> /* Here is what people have been up to:
 *
 * $Log: frob.c,v $
 * Revision 1.1 1997/01/03 14:23:51 joe
 * Add the superfrobnicate option
 *
 */
</pre></div>

then additional lines which are added when expanding
the <code>$Log$</code> keyword will be preceded by &lsquo;<samp> * </samp>&rsquo;.
Unlike previous versions of CVS and RCS, the
comment leader from the RCS file is not used.
The <code>$Log$</code> keyword is useful for
accumulating a complete change log in a source file,
but for several reasons it can be problematic.

If the prefix of the <code>$Log$</code> keyword turns out to be
longer than the <samp>CVSROOT/config</samp> setting <code>MaxCommentLeaderLength</code>,
CVS will skip expansion of this
keyword unless <code>UseArchiveCommentLeader</code> is also set in
<samp>CVSROOT/config</samp> and a &lsquo;<samp>comment leader</samp>&rsquo; is set in the RCS archive
file, in which case the comment leader will be used instead. For more on
setting the comment leader in the RCS archive file, See <a href="#admin">admin</a>. For more
on configuring the default <code>$Log$</code> substitution
behavior, See <a href="#config">config</a>.

See <a href="#Log-keyword">Log keyword</a>.


</dd>
<dt><code>$RCSfile$</code></dt>
<dd>The name of the RCS file without a path.


</dd>
<dt><code>$Revision$</code></dt>
<dd>The revision number assigned to the revision.


</dd>
<dt><code>$Source$</code></dt>
<dd>The full pathname of the RCS file.


</dd>
<dt><code>$State$</code></dt>
<dd>The state assigned to the revision. States can be
assigned with <code>cvs admin -s</code>&mdash;see <a href="#admin-options">admin options</a>.


</dd>
<dt><code>Local keyword</code></dt>
<dd>The <code>LocalKeyword</code> option in the <samp>CVSROOT/config</samp> file
may be used to specify a local keyword which is to be
used as an alias for one of the keywords: $Id$,
$Header$, or $CVSHeader$. For
example, if the <samp>CVSROOT/config</samp> file contains
a line with <code>LocalKeyword=MYBSD=CVSHeader</code>, then a
file with the local keyword $MYBSD$ will be
expanded as if it were a $CVSHeader$ keyword. If
the src/frob.c file contained this keyword, it might
look something like this:

<div class="example">
<pre class="example"> /*
 * $MYBSD: src/frob.c,v 1.1 2003/05/04 09:27:45 john Exp $ 
 */
</pre></div>

Many repositories make use of a such a &ldquo;local
keyword&rdquo; feature. An old patch to CVS provided
the <code>LocalKeyword</code> feature using a <code>tag=</code>
option and called this the &ldquo;custom tag&rdquo; or &ldquo;local
tag&rdquo; feature. It was used in conjunction with the
what they called the <code>tagexpand=</code> option. In
CVS this other option is known as the
<code>KeywordExpand</code> option. 
See <a href="#Configuring-keyword-expansion">Configuring keyword expansion</a> for more
details.

Examples from popular projects include:
$FreeBSD$, $NetBSD$,
$OpenBSD$, $XFree86$,
$Xorg$.

The advantage of this is that you can include your
local version information in a file using this local
keyword without disrupting the upstream version
information (which may be a different local keyword or
a standard keyword). Allowing bug reports and the like
to more properly identify the source of the original
bug to the third-party and reducing the number of
conflicts that arise during an import of a new version.

All keyword expansion except the local keyword may be
disabled using the <code>KeywordExpand</code> option in
the <samp>CVSROOT/config</samp> file&mdash;see 
<a href="#Configuring-keyword-expansion">Configuring keyword expansion</a> for more details.

</dd>
</dl>

<hr>
<div class="header">

Next: <a href="#Avoiding-substitution" accesskey="n" rel="next">Avoiding substitution</a>, Previous: <a href="#Keyword-list" accesskey="p" rel="prev">Keyword list</a>, Up: <a href="#Keyword-substitution" accesskey="u" rel="up">Keyword substitution</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h3 class="section">12.2 Using keywords</h3>

To include a keyword string you simply include the
relevant text string, such as <code>$Id$</code>, inside the
file, and commit the file. CVS will automatically (Or,
more accurately, as part of the update run that
automatically happens after a commit.)
expand the string as part of the commit operation.

It is common to embed the <code>$Id$</code> string in
the source files so that it gets passed through to
generated files. For example, if you are managing
computer program source code, you might include a
variable which is initialised to contain that string.
Or some C compilers may provide a <code>#pragma ident</code>
directive. Or a document management system might
provide a way to pass a string through to generated
files.

The <code>ident</code> command (which is part of the RCS
package) can be used to extract keywords and their
values from a file. This can be handy for text files,
but it is even more useful for extracting keywords from
binary files.

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">$ ident samp.c
samp.c:
 $Id: samp.c,v 1.5 1993/10/19 14:57:32 ceder Exp $
$ gcc samp.c
$ ident a.out
a.out:
 $Id: samp.c,v 1.5 1993/10/19 14:57:32 ceder Exp $
</pre></div>

SCCS is another popular revision control system.
It has a command, <code>what</code>, which is very similar to
<code>ident</code> and used for the same purpose. Many sites
without RCS have SCCS. Since <code>what</code>
looks for the character sequence <code>@(#)</code> it is
easy to include keywords that are detected by either
command. Simply prefix the keyword with the
magic SCCS phrase, like this:

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">static char *id=&quot;@(#) $Id: ab.c,v 1.5 1993/10/19 14:57:32 ceder Exp $&quot;;
</pre></div>

<hr>
<div class="header">

Next: <a href="#Substitution-modes" accesskey="n" rel="next">Substitution modes</a>, Previous: <a href="#Using-keywords" accesskey="p" rel="prev">Using keywords</a>, Up: <a href="#Keyword-substitution" accesskey="u" rel="up">Keyword substitution</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h3 class="section">12.3 Avoiding substitution</h3>

Keyword substitution has its disadvantages. Sometimes
you might want the literal text string
&lsquo;<samp>$Author$</samp>&rsquo; to appear inside a file without
CVS interpreting it as a keyword and expanding it
into something like &lsquo;<samp>$Author: ceder $</samp>&rsquo;.

There is unfortunately no way to selectively turn off
keyword substitution. You can use &lsquo;<samp>-ko</samp>&rsquo;
(see <a href="#Substitution-modes">Substitution modes</a>) to turn off keyword
substitution entirely.

In many cases you can avoid using keywords in
the source, even though they appear in the final
product. For example, the source for this manual
contains &lsquo;<samp>$@asis{}Author$</samp>&rsquo; whenever the text
&lsquo;<samp>$Author$</samp>&rsquo; should appear. In <code>nroff</code>
and <code>troff</code> you can embed the null-character
<code>\&amp;</code> inside the keyword for a similar effect.

It is also possible to specify an explicit list of
keywords to include or exclude using the
<code>KeywordExpand</code> option in the
<samp>CVSROOT/config</samp> file&ndash;see <a href="#Configuring-keyword-expansion">Configuring keyword expansion</a>
for more details. This feature is intended primarily
for use with the <code>LocalKeyword</code> option&ndash;see
<a href="#Keyword-list">Keyword list</a>.

<hr>
<div class="header">

Next: <a href="#Configuring-keyword-expansion" accesskey="n" rel="next">Configuring keyword expansion</a>, Previous: <a href="#Avoiding-substitution" accesskey="p" rel="prev">Avoiding substitution</a>, Up: <a href="#Keyword-substitution" accesskey="u" rel="up">Keyword substitution</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h3 class="section">12.4 Substitution modes</h3>

Each file has a stored default substitution mode, and
each working directory copy of a file also has a
substitution mode. The former is set by the &lsquo;<samp>-k</samp>&rsquo;
option to <code>cvs add</code> and <code>cvs admin</code>; the
latter is set by the &lsquo;<samp>-k</samp>&rsquo; or &lsquo;<samp>-A</samp>&rsquo; options to <code>cvs
checkout</code> or <code>cvs update</code>.
<code>cvs diff</code> and <code>cvs rdiff</code> also
have &lsquo;<samp>-k</samp>&rsquo; options.
For some examples,
see <a href="#Binary-files">Binary files</a>, and <a href="#Merging-and-keywords">Merging and keywords</a>.

The modes available are:

<dl compact="compact">
<dt>&lsquo;<samp>-kkv</samp>&rsquo;</dt>
<dd>Generate keyword strings using the default form, e.g.
<code>$Revision: 5.7 $</code> for the <code>Revision</code>
keyword.

</dd>
<dt>&lsquo;<samp>-kkvl</samp>&rsquo;</dt>
<dd>Like &lsquo;<samp>-kkv</samp>&rsquo;, except that a locker&rsquo;s name is always
inserted if the given revision is currently locked.
The locker&rsquo;s name is only relevant if <code>cvs admin
-l</code> is in use.

</dd>
<dt>&lsquo;<samp>-kk</samp>&rsquo;</dt>
<dd>Generate only keyword names in keyword strings; omit
their values. For example, for the <code>Revision</code>
keyword, generate the string <code>$Revision$</code>
instead of <code>$Revision: 5.7 $</code>. This option
is useful to ignore differences due to keyword
substitution when comparing different revisions of a
file (see <a href="#Merging-and-keywords">Merging and keywords</a>).

</dd>
<dt>&lsquo;<samp>-ko</samp>&rsquo;</dt>
<dd>Generate the old keyword string, present in the working
file just before it was checked in. For example, for
the <code>Revision</code> keyword, generate the string
<code>$Revision: 1.1 $</code> instead of
<code>$Revision: 5.7 $</code> if that is how the
string appeared when the file was checked in.

</dd>
<dt>&lsquo;<samp>-kb</samp>&rsquo;</dt>
<dd>Like &lsquo;<samp>-ko</samp>&rsquo;, but also inhibit conversion of line
endings between the canonical form in which they are
stored in the repository (linefeed only), and the form
appropriate to the operating system in use on the
client. For systems, like unix, which use linefeed
only to terminate lines, this is very similar to
&lsquo;<samp>-ko</samp>&rsquo;. For more information on binary files, see
<a href="#Binary-files">Binary files</a>. In CVS version 1.12.2 and later
&lsquo;<samp>-kb</samp>&rsquo;, as set by <code>cvs add</code>, <code>cvs admin</code>, or
<code>cvs import</code> may not be overridden by a &lsquo;<samp>-k</samp>&rsquo; option
specified on the command line.

</dd>
<dt>&lsquo;<samp>-kv</samp>&rsquo;</dt>
<dd>Generate only keyword values for keyword strings. For
example, for the <code>Revision</code> keyword, generate the string
<code>5.7</code> instead of <code>$Revision: 5.7 $</code>.
This can help generate files in programming languages
where it is hard to strip keyword delimiters like
<code>$Revision: $</code> from a string. However,
further keyword substitution cannot be performed once
the keyword names are removed, so this option should be
used with care.

One often would like to use &lsquo;<samp>-kv</samp>&rsquo; with <code>cvs
export</code>&mdash;see <a href="#export">export</a>. But be aware that doesn&rsquo;t
handle an export containing binary files correctly.

</dd>
</dl>

<hr>
<div class="header">

Next: <a href="#Log-keyword" accesskey="n" rel="next">Log keyword</a>, Previous: <a href="#Substitution-modes" accesskey="p" rel="prev">Substitution modes</a>, Up: <a href="#Keyword-substitution" accesskey="u" rel="up">Keyword substitution</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h3 class="section">12.5 Configuring Keyword Expansion</h3>

In a repository that includes third-party software on
vendor branches, it is sometimes helpful to configure
CVS to use a local keyword instead of the standard
$Id$ or $Header$ keywords. Examples from
real projects include $Xorg$, $XFree86$,
$FreeBSD$, $NetBSD$,
$OpenBSD$, and even $dotat$.
The advantage of this is that
you can include your local version information in a
file using this local keyword (sometimes called a
&ldquo;custom tag&rdquo; or a &ldquo;local tag&rdquo;) without disrupting
the upstream version information (which may be a
different local keyword or a standard keyword). In
these cases, it is typically desirable to disable the
expansion of all keywords except the configured local
keyword.

The <code>KeywordExpand</code> option in the
<samp>CVSROOT/config</samp> file is intended to allow for the
either the explicit exclusion of a keyword or list of
keywords, or for the explicit inclusion of a keyword or
a list of keywords. This list may include the
<code>LocalKeyword</code> that has been configured.

The <code>KeywordExpand</code> option is followed by
<code>=</code> and the next character may either be <code>i</code>
to start an inclusion list or <code>e</code> to start an
exclusion list. If the following lines were added to
the <samp>CVSROOT/config</samp> file:

<div class="example">
<pre class="example"> # Add a &quot;MyBSD&quot; keyword and restrict keyword
 # expansion
 LocalKeyword=MyBSD=CVSHeader
 KeywordExpand=iMyBSD
</pre></div>

then only the $MyBSD$ keyword would be expanded.
A list may be used. The this example:

<div class="example">
<pre class="example"> # Add a &quot;MyBSD&quot; keyword and restrict keyword expansion
 # to the MyBSD, Name, Date and Mdocdate keywords.
 LocalKeyword=MyBSD=CVSHeader
 KeywordExpand=iMyBSD,Name,Date,Mdocdate
</pre></div>

would allow $MyBSD$, $Name$,
$Mdocdate and
$Date$ to be expanded.

It is also possible to configure an exclusion list
using the following:

<div class="example">
<pre class="example"> # Do not expand the non-RCS keyword CVSHeader
 KeywordExpand=eCVSHeader
</pre></div>

This allows CVS to ignore the recently introduced
$CVSHeader$ keyword and retain all of the
others. The exclusion entry could also contain the
standard RCS keyword list, but this could be confusing
to users that expect RCS keywords to be expanded, so
care should be taken to properly set user expectations
for a repository that is configured in that manner.

If there is a desire to not have any RCS keywords
expanded and not use the <code>-ko</code> flags everywhere,
an administrator may disable all keyword expansion
using the <samp>CVSROOT/config</samp> line:

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">	# Do not expand any RCS keywords
	KeywordExpand=i
</pre></div>

this could be confusing to users that expect RCS
keywords like $Id$ to be expanded properly,
so care should be taken to properly set user
expectations for a repository so configured.

It should be noted that a patch to provide both the
<code>KeywordExpand</code> and <code>LocalKeyword</code> features
has been around a long time. However, that patch
implemented these features using <code>tag=</code> and
<code>tagexpand=</code> keywords and those keywords are NOT
recognised.

<hr>
<div class="header">

Previous: <a href="#Configuring-keyword-expansion" accesskey="p" rel="prev">Configuring keyword expansion</a>, Up: <a href="#Keyword-substitution" accesskey="u" rel="up">Keyword substitution</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h3 class="section">12.6 Problems with the $Log$ keyword.</h3>

The <code>$Log$</code> keyword is somewhat
controversial. As long as you are working on your
development system the information is easily accessible
even if you do not use the <code>$Log$</code>
keyword&mdash;just do a <code>cvs log</code>. Once you export
the file the history information might be useless
anyhow.

A more serious concern is that CVS is not good at
handling <code>$Log$</code> entries when a branch is
merged onto the main trunk. Conflicts often result
from the merging operation.

People also tend to &quot;fix&quot; the log entries in the file
(correcting spelling mistakes and maybe even factual
errors). If that is done the information from
<code>cvs log</code> will not be consistent with the
information inside the file. This may or may not be a
problem in real life.

It has been suggested that the <code>$Log$</code>
keyword should be inserted last in the file, and
not in the files header, if it is to be used at all.
That way the long list of change messages will not
interfere with everyday source file browsing.

<hr>
<div class="header">

Next: <a href="#Builds" accesskey="n" rel="next">Builds</a>, Previous: <a href="#Keyword-substitution" accesskey="p" rel="prev">Keyword substitution</a>, Up: <a href="#Top" accesskey="u" rel="up">Top</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h2 class="chapter">13 Tracking third-party sources</h2>

If you modify a program to better fit your site, you
probably want to include your modifications when the next
release of the program arrives. CVS can help you with
this task.




In the terminology used in CVS, the supplier of the
program is called a vendor. The unmodified
distribution from the vendor is checked in on its own
branch, the vendor branch. CVS reserves branch
1.1.1 for this use.

When you modify the source and commit it, your revision
will end up on the main trunk. When a new release is
made by the vendor, you commit it on the vendor branch
and copy the modifications onto the main trunk.

Use the <code>import</code> command to create and update
the vendor branch. When you import a new file,
(usually) the vendor branch is made the &lsquo;head&rsquo; revision, so
anyone that checks out a copy of the file gets that
revision. When a local modification is committed it is
placed on the main trunk, and made the &lsquo;head&rsquo;
revision.

<table class="menu" border="0" cellspacing="0">
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#First-import" accesskey="1">First import</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">Importing for the first time
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#Update-imports" accesskey="2">Update imports</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">Updating with the import command
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#Reverting-local-changes" accesskey="3">Reverting local changes</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">Reverting to the latest vendor release
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#Binary-files-in-imports" accesskey="4">Binary files in imports</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">Binary files require special handling
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#Keywords-in-imports" accesskey="5">Keywords in imports</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">Keyword substitution might be undesirable
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#Multiple-vendor-branches" accesskey="6">Multiple vendor branches</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">What if you get sources from several places?
</td></tr>
</table>

<hr>
<div class="header">

Next: <a href="#Update-imports" accesskey="n" rel="next">Update imports</a>, Up: <a href="#Tracking-sources" accesskey="u" rel="up">Tracking sources</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h3 class="section">13.1 Importing for the first time</h3>

Use the <code>import</code> command to check in the sources
for the first time. When you use the <code>import</code>
command to track third-party sources, the vendor
tag and release tags are useful. The
vendor tag is a symbolic name for the branch
(which is always 1.1.1, unless you use the &lsquo;<samp>-b
<var>branch</var></samp>&rsquo; flag&mdash;see <a href="#Multiple-vendor-branches">Multiple vendor branches</a>.). The
release tags are symbolic names for a particular
release, such as &lsquo;<samp>FSF_0_04</samp>&rsquo;.

Note that <code>import</code> 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 <a href="#Getting-the-source">Getting the source</a>).


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

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">$ cd wdiff-0.04
$ cvs import -m &quot;Import of FSF v. 0.04&quot; fsf/wdiff FSF_DIST WDIFF_0_04
</pre></div>

The vendor tag is named &lsquo;<samp>FSF_DIST</samp>&rsquo; in the above
example, and the only release tag assigned is
&lsquo;<samp>WDIFF_0_04</samp>&rsquo;.

<hr>
<div class="header">

Next: <a href="#Reverting-local-changes" accesskey="n" rel="next">Reverting local changes</a>, Previous: <a href="#First-import" accesskey="p" rel="prev">First import</a>, Up: <a href="#Tracking-sources" accesskey="u" rel="up">Tracking sources</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h3 class="section">13.2 Updating with the import command</h3>

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

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">$ tar xfz wdiff-0.05.tar.gz
$ cd wdiff-0.05
$ cvs import -m &quot;Import of FSF v. 0.05&quot; fsf/wdiff FSF_DIST WDIFF_0_05
</pre></div>

WARNING: If you use a release tag that already exists in one of the
repository archives, files removed by an import may not be detected.

For files that have not been modified locally, the newly created
revision becomes the head revision. If you have made local
changes, <code>import</code> will warn you that you must merge the changes
into the main trunk, and tell you to use &lsquo;<samp>checkout -j</samp>&rsquo; to do so:

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">$ cvs checkout -jFSF_DIST:yesterday -jFSF_DIST wdiff
</pre></div>

The above command will check out the latest revision of
&lsquo;<samp>wdiff</samp>&rsquo;, merging the changes made on the vendor branch &lsquo;<samp>FSF_DIST</samp>&rsquo;
since yesterday into the working copy. If any conflicts arise during
the merge they should be resolved in the normal way (see <a href="#Conflicts-example">Conflicts example</a>). Then, the modified files may be committed.

However, it is much better to use the two release tags rather than using
a date on the branch as suggested above:

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">$ cvs checkout -jWDIFF_0_04 -jWDIFF_0_05 wdiff
</pre></div>

The reason this is better is that
using a date, as suggested above, assumes that you do
not import more than one release of a product per day.
More importantly, using the release tags allows CVS to detect files
that were removed between the two vendor releases and mark them for
removal. Since <code>import</code> has no way to detect removed files, you
should do a merge like this even if <code>import</code> doesn&rsquo;t tell you to.

<hr>
<div class="header">

Next: <a href="#Binary-files-in-imports" accesskey="n" rel="next">Binary files in imports</a>, Previous: <a href="#Update-imports" accesskey="p" rel="prev">Update imports</a>, Up: <a href="#Tracking-sources" accesskey="u" rel="up">Tracking sources</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h3 class="section">13.3 Reverting to the latest vendor release</h3>

You can also revert local changes completely and return
to the latest vendor release by changing the &lsquo;head&rsquo;
revision back to the vendor branch on all files. This
does, however, produce weird results if you should ever
edit this file again, for anyone looking at the output
from the <code>log</code> command or CVSweb. To fix this,
first commit a revision of the file which equals the
vendor branch, then use <code>admin</code> &lsquo;<samp>-b</samp>&rsquo;. For
example, if you have a checked-out copy of the sources
in <samp>~/work.d/wdiff</samp>, and you want to revert to the
vendor&rsquo;s version for all the files in that directory,
you would type:

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">$ cd ~/work.d/wdiff
$ cvs admin -bFSF_DIST .
</pre></div>

You must specify the &lsquo;<samp>-bFSF_DIST</samp>&rsquo; without any space
after the &lsquo;<samp>-b</samp>&rsquo;. See <a href="#admin-options">admin options</a>.

<hr>
<div class="header">

Next: <a href="#Keywords-in-imports" accesskey="n" rel="next">Keywords in imports</a>, Previous: <a href="#Reverting-local-changes" accesskey="p" rel="prev">Reverting local changes</a>, Up: <a href="#Tracking-sources" accesskey="u" rel="up">Tracking sources</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h3 class="section">13.4 How to handle binary files with cvs import</h3>

Use the &lsquo;<samp>-k</samp>&rsquo; wrapper option to tell import which
files are binary. See <a href="#Wrappers">Wrappers</a>.

<hr>
<div class="header">

Next: <a href="#Multiple-vendor-branches" accesskey="n" rel="next">Multiple vendor branches</a>, Previous: <a href="#Binary-files-in-imports" accesskey="p" rel="prev">Binary files in imports</a>, Up: <a href="#Tracking-sources" accesskey="u" rel="up">Tracking sources</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h3 class="section">13.5 How to handle keyword substitution with cvs import</h3>

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

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

<hr>
<div class="header">

Previous: <a href="#Keywords-in-imports" accesskey="p" rel="prev">Keywords in imports</a>, Up: <a href="#Tracking-sources" accesskey="u" rel="up">Tracking sources</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h3 class="section">13.6 Multiple vendor branches</h3>

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

For handling situations in which there may be more than
one vendor, you may specify the &lsquo;<samp>-b</samp>&rsquo; option to
<code>cvs import</code>. It takes as an argument the vendor
branch to import to. The default is &lsquo;<samp>-b 1.1.1</samp>&rsquo;.

Vendor branches can only be in the format 1.1.x where
&lsquo;<samp>x</samp>&rsquo; is an uneven number, because branch
tags use even numbers.

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

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">$ cvs import dir RED RED_1-0
$ cvs import -b 1.1.3 dir BLUE BLUE_1-5
</pre></div>

Note that if your vendor tag does not match your
&lsquo;<samp>-b</samp>&rsquo; option, CVS will not detect this case! For
example,

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">$ cvs import -b 1.1.3 dir RED RED_1-0
</pre></div>

Be careful; this kind of mismatch is sure to sow
confusion or worse. I can&rsquo;t think of a useful purpose
for the ability to specify a mismatch here, but if you
discover such a use, don&rsquo;t. CVS is likely to make this
an error in some future release.

<hr>
<div class="header">

Next: <a href="#Special-Files" accesskey="n" rel="next">Special Files</a>, Previous: <a href="#Tracking-sources" accesskey="p" rel="prev">Tracking sources</a>, Up: <a href="#Top" accesskey="u" rel="up">Top</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h2 class="chapter">14 How your build system interacts with CVS</h2>

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

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


One common need is to record which versions of which
source files went into a particular build. This kind
of functionality is sometimes called bill of
materials or something similar. The best way to do
this with CVS is to use the <code>tag</code> command to
record which versions went into a given build
(see <a href="#Tags">Tags</a>).

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

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

<hr>
<div class="header">

Next: <a href="#CVS-commands" accesskey="n" rel="next">CVS commands</a>, Previous: <a href="#Builds" accesskey="p" rel="prev">Builds</a>, Up: <a href="#Top" accesskey="u" rel="up">Top</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h2 class="chapter">15 Special Files</h2>

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

<hr>
<div class="header">

Next: <a href="#Invoking-CVS" accesskey="n" rel="next">Invoking CVS</a>, Previous: <a href="#Special-Files" accesskey="p" rel="prev">Special Files</a>, Up: <a href="#Top" accesskey="u" rel="up">Top</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h2 class="appendix">Appendix A Guide to CVS commands</h2>

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 <a href="#Invoking-CVS">Invoking CVS</a>,
and for an alphabetical list of all CVS commands,
see <a href="#CVS-command-list">CVS command list</a>).

<table class="menu" border="0" cellspacing="0">
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#Structure" accesskey="1">Structure</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">Overall structure of CVS commands
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#Exit-status" accesskey="2">Exit status</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">Indicating CVS&rsquo;s success or failure
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#g_t_007e_002f_002ecvsrc" accesskey="3">~/.cvsrc</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">Default options with the ~/.cvsrc file
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#Global-options" accesskey="4">Global options</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">Options you give to the left of cvs_command
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#Common-options" accesskey="5">Common options</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">Options you give to the right of cvs_command
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#Date-input-formats" accesskey="6">Date input formats</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">Acceptable formats for date specifications
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#admin" accesskey="7">admin</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">Administration front-end for RCS
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#annotate" accesskey="8">annotate</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">What revision modified each line of a file?
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#checkout" accesskey="9">checkout</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">Checkout sources for editing
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#commit">commit</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">Check files into the repository
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#diff">diff</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">Show differences between revisions
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#export">export</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">Export sources from CVS, similar to checkout
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#history">history</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">Show repository access history
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#import">import</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">Import sources into CVS, using vendor branches
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#log">log</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">Print out history information for files
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#ls-_0026-rls">ls &amp; rls</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">List files in the repository
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#rdiff">rdiff</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">Create &rsquo;patch&rsquo; format diffs between revisions
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#release">release</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">Indicate that a directory is no longer in use
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#server-_0026-pserver">server &amp; pserver</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">Act as a server for a client on stdin/stdout
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#suck">suck</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">Download RCS ,v file raw
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#update">update</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">Bring work tree in sync with repository
</td></tr>
</table>

<hr>
<div class="header">

Next: <a href="#Exit-status" accesskey="n" rel="next">Exit status</a>, Up: <a href="#CVS-commands" accesskey="u" rel="up">CVS commands</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h3 class="appendixsec">A.1 Overall structure of CVS commands</h3>

The overall format of all CVS commands is:

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">cvs [ cvs_options ] cvs_command [ command_options ] [ command_args ]
</pre></div>

<dl compact="compact">
<dt><code>cvs</code></dt>
<dd>The name of the CVS program.

</dd>
<dt><code>cvs_options</code></dt>
<dd>Some options that affect all sub-commands of CVS. These are
described below.

</dd>
<dt><code>cvs_command</code></dt>
<dd>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 &lsquo;<samp>cvs_command</samp>&rsquo;: &lsquo;<samp>cvs -H</samp>&rsquo; elicits a
list of available commands, and &lsquo;<samp>cvs -v</samp>&rsquo; displays version
information on CVS itself.

</dd>
<dt><code>command_options</code></dt>
<dd>Options that are specific for the command.

</dd>
<dt><code>command_args</code></dt>
<dd>Arguments to the commands.
</dd>
</dl>

There is unfortunately some confusion between
<code>cvs_options</code> and <code>command_options</code>.
When given as a <code>cvs_option</code>, some options only
affect some of the commands. When given as a
<code>command_option</code> 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.

<hr>
<div class="header">

Next: <a href="#g_t_007e_002f_002ecvsrc" accesskey="n" rel="next">~/.cvsrc</a>, Previous: <a href="#Structure" accesskey="p" rel="prev">Structure</a>, Up: <a href="#CVS-commands" accesskey="u" rel="up">CVS commands</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h3 class="appendixsec">A.2 CVS&rsquo;s exit status</h3>

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 &lsquo;<samp>$?</samp>&rsquo; 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 <code>cvs diff</code> 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
<code>cvs diff</code> will be changed to behave like the
other CVS commands.

<hr>
<div class="header">

Next: <a href="#Global-options" accesskey="n" rel="next">Global options</a>, Previous: <a href="#Exit-status" accesskey="p" rel="prev">Exit status</a>, Up: <a href="#CVS-commands" accesskey="u" rel="up">CVS commands</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h3 class="appendixsec">A.3 Default options and the ~/.cvsrc file</h3>

There are some <code>command_options</code> 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
<samp>.cvsrc</samp> support, actually) is that many people find the
default output of the &lsquo;<samp>diff</samp>&rsquo; command to be very
hard to read, and that either context diffs or unidiffs
are much easier to understand.

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

The format of the <samp>~/.cvsrc</samp> file is simple. The
file is searched for a line that begins with the same
name as the <code>cvs_command</code> 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., <code>checkout</code> and
<code>co</code>), 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&rsquo;s
<samp>~/.cvsrc</samp> file:

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">log -N
diff -uN
rdiff -u
update -Pd
checkout -P
release -d
</pre></div>

the command &lsquo;<samp>cvs checkout foo</samp>&rsquo; would have the
&lsquo;<samp>-P</samp>&rsquo; option added to the arguments, as well as
&lsquo;<samp>cvs co foo</samp>&rsquo;.

With the example file above, the output from &lsquo;<samp>cvs
diff foobar</samp>&rsquo; will be in unidiff format. &lsquo;<samp>cvs diff
-c foobar</samp>&rsquo; will provide context diffs, as usual.
Getting &quot;old&quot; format diffs would be slightly more
complicated, because <code>diff</code> doesn&rsquo;t have an option
to specify use of the &quot;old&quot; format, so you would need
&lsquo;<samp>cvs -f diff foobar</samp>&rsquo;.

In place of the command name you can use <code>cvs</code> to
specify global options (see <a href="#Global-options">Global options</a>). For
example the following line in <samp>.cvsrc</samp>

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">cvs -z6
</pre></div>

causes CVS to use compression level 6.

<hr>
<div class="header">

Next: <a href="#Common-options" accesskey="n" rel="next">Common options</a>, Previous: <a href="#g_t_007e_002f_002ecvsrc" accesskey="p" rel="prev">~/.cvsrc</a>, Up: <a href="#CVS-commands" accesskey="u" rel="up">CVS commands</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h3 class="appendixsec">A.4 Global options</h3>

The available &lsquo;<samp>cvs_options</samp>&rsquo; (that are given to the
left of &lsquo;<samp>cvs_command</samp>&rsquo;) are:

<dl compact="compact">
<dt><code>--allow-root=<var>rootdir</var></code></dt>
<dd>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
<a href="#Password-authentication-server">Password authentication server</a> &amp; <a href="#Write-proxies">Write proxies</a>.



</dd>
<dt><code>-a</code></dt>
<dd>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 <a href="#GSSAPI-authenticated">GSSAPI authenticated</a>).
Authentication prevents certain sorts of attacks
involving hijacking the active TCP connection.
Enabling authentication does not enable encryption.



</dd>
<dt><code>-b <var>bindir</var></code></dt>
<dd>In CVS 1.9.18 and older, this specified that
RCS programs are in the <var>bindir</var> directory.
Current versions of CVS do not run RCS
programs; for compatibility this option is accepted,
but it does nothing.






</dd>
<dt><code>-T <var>tempdir</var></code></dt>
<dd>Use <var>tempdir</var> 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:

<ul>
<li> The argument to the global &lsquo;<samp>-T</samp>&rsquo; option.

</li><li> The value set for <code>TmpDir</code> in the config file (server only -
see <a href="#config">config</a>).

</li><li> The contents of the <code>$TMPDIR</code> environment variable (<code>%TMPDIR%</code> on
Windows - see <a href="#Environment-variables">Environment variables</a>).

</li><li> /tmp

</li></ul>

Temporary directories should always be specified as an absolute pathname.
When running a CVS client, &lsquo;<samp>-T</samp>&rsquo; affects only the local process;
specifying &lsquo;<samp>-T</samp>&rsquo; for the client has no effect on the server and
vice versa.



</dd>
<dt><code>-d <var>cvs_root_directory</var></code></dt>
<dd>Use <var>cvs_root_directory</var> as the root directory
pathname of the repository. Overrides the setting of
the <code>$CVSROOT</code> environment variable. See <a href="#Repository">Repository</a>.



</dd>
<dt><code>-e <var>editor</var></code></dt>
<dd>Use <var>editor</var> to enter revision log information. Overrides the
setting of the <code>$CVSEDITOR</code> and <code>$EDITOR</code>
environment variables. For more information, see
<a href="#Committing-your-changes">Committing your changes</a>.

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

</dd>
<dt><code>-g</code></dt>
<dd>Forges group-writable permissions on files in the working copy.
This option is typically used when you have multiple users sharing
a single checked out source tree, allowing them to operate their
shells with a less dangerous umask at the expense of CVS security.
To use this feature, create a directory to hold the checked-out
source tree, set it to a private group, and set up the directory
such that files created under it inherit the gid of the directory.
On BSD systems, this occurs automatically. On SYSV systems and
GNU/Linux, the sgid bit must be set on the directory for this.
The users who are to share the checked out tree must be placed in
that group which owns the directory.

Note that the sharing of a single checked-out source tree is very
different from giving several users access to a common CVS repository.
Access to a common CVS repository already maintains shared group-write
permissions and does not require this option.

Due to the security implications, setting this option globally in
your <samp>.cvsrc</samp> file is strongly discouraged; if you must, ensure
all source checkouts are &quot;firewalled&quot; within a private group or a
private mode 0700 directory.

This option is a MidnightBSD extension merged into Debian and MirBSD CVS.

</dd>
<dt><code>-H</code></dt>
<dt><code>--help</code></dt>
<dd>Display usage information about the specified &lsquo;<samp>cvs_command</samp>&rsquo;
(but do not actually execute the command). If you don&rsquo;t specify
a command name, &lsquo;<samp>cvs -H</samp>&rsquo; displays overall help for
CVS, including a list of other help options.


</dd>
<dt><code>-R</code></dt>
<dd>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 <code>CVSREADONLYFS</code> environment
variable is set. Using &lsquo;<samp>-R</samp>&rsquo; can also considerably
speed up checkouts over NFS.


</dd>
<dt><code>-n</code></dt>
<dd>Do not change any files. Attempt to execute the
&lsquo;<samp>cvs_command</samp>&rsquo;, 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 &lsquo;<samp>-n</samp>&rsquo;. 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.

</dd>
<dt><code>-Q</code></dt>
<dd>Cause the command to be really quiet; the command will only
generate output for serious problems.

</dd>
<dt><code>-q</code></dt>
<dd>Cause the command to be somewhat quiet; informational messages,
such as reports of recursion through subdirectories, are
suppressed.


</dd>
<dt><code>-r</code></dt>
<dd>Make new working files read-only. Same effect
as if the <code>$CVSREAD</code> environment variable is set
(see <a href="#Environment-variables">Environment variables</a>). The default is to
make working files writable, unless watches are on
(see <a href="#Watches">Watches</a>).

</dd>
<dt><code>-s <var>variable</var>=<var>value</var></code></dt>
<dd>Set a user variable (see <a href="#Variables">Variables</a>).


</dd>
<dt><code>-t</code></dt>
<dd>Trace program execution; display messages showing the steps of
CVS activity. Particularly useful with &lsquo;<samp>-n</samp>&rsquo; to explore the
potential impact of an unfamiliar command.

</dd>
<dt><code>-v</code></dt>
<dt><code>--version</code></dt>
<dd>Display version and copyright information for CVS.



</dd>
<dt><code>-w</code></dt>
<dd>Make new working files read-write. Overrides the
setting of the <code>$CVSREAD</code> environment variable.
Files are created read-write by default, unless <code>$CVSREAD</code> is
set or &lsquo;<samp>-r</samp>&rsquo; is given.

</dd>
<dt><code>-x</code></dt>
<dd>
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 <a href="#GSSAPI-authenticated">GSSAPI authenticated</a>) or a
Kerberos connection (see <a href="#Kerberos-authenticated">Kerberos authenticated</a>).
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, <samp>--enable-encryption</samp>,
when you build CVS.

</dd>
<dt><code>-z <var>level</var></code></dt>
<dd>

Request compression <var>level</var> for network traffic.
CVS interprets <var>level</var> identically to the <code>gzip</code> 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.
</dd>
</dl>

<hr>
<div class="header">

Next: <a href="#Date-input-formats" accesskey="n" rel="next">Date input formats</a>, Previous: <a href="#Global-options" accesskey="p" rel="prev">Global options</a>, Up: <a href="#CVS-commands" accesskey="u" rel="up">CVS commands</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h3 class="appendixsec">A.5 Common command options</h3>

This section describes the &lsquo;<samp>command_options</samp>&rsquo; that
are available across several CVS commands. These
options are always given to the right of
&lsquo;<samp>cvs_command</samp>&rsquo;. 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 &lsquo;<samp>history</samp>&rsquo; command is an exception; it supports
many options that conflict even with these standard options.

<dl compact="compact">
<dd>


</dd>
<dt><code>-D <var>date_spec</var></code></dt>
<dd>Use the most recent revision no later than <var>date_spec</var>.
<var>date_spec</var> 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 &lsquo;<samp>-D</samp>&rsquo;, 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 <a href="#Sticky-tags">Sticky tags</a>).

&lsquo;<samp>-D</samp>&rsquo; is available with the <code>annotate</code>, <code>checkout</code>,
<code>diff</code>, <code>export</code>, <code>history</code>, <code>ls</code>,
<code>rdiff</code>, <code>rls</code>, <code>rtag</code>, <code>tag</code>, and <code>update</code> commands.
(The <code>history</code> command uses this option in a
slightly different way; see <a href="#history-options">history options</a>).

For a complete description of the date formats accepted by CVS,
see <a href="#Date-input-formats">Date input formats</a>.

Remember to quote the argument to the &lsquo;<samp>-D</samp>&rsquo;
flag so that your shell doesn&rsquo;t interpret spaces as
argument separators. A command using the &lsquo;<samp>-D</samp>&rsquo;
flag can look like this:

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">$ cvs diff -D &quot;1 hour ago&quot; cvs.texinfo
</pre></div>

</dd>
<dt><code>-f</code></dt>
<dd>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 &lsquo;<samp>-f</samp>&rsquo; 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 &lsquo;<samp>-f</samp>&rsquo;, 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.

&lsquo;<samp>-f</samp>&rsquo; is available with these commands:
<code>annotate</code>, <code>checkout</code>, <code>export</code>,
<code>rdiff</code>, <code>rtag</code>, and <code>update</code>.

WARNING: The <code>commit</code> and <code>remove</code>
commands also have a
&lsquo;<samp>-f</samp>&rsquo; option, but it has a different behavior for
those commands. See <a href="#commit-options">commit options</a>, and
<a href="#Removing-files">Removing files</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>-k <var>kflag</var></code></dt>
<dd>Override the default processing of RCS keywords other than
&lsquo;<samp>-kb</samp>&rsquo;. See <a href="#Keyword-substitution">Keyword substitution</a>, for the meaning of
<var>kflag</var>. Used with the <code>checkout</code> and <code>update</code>
commands, your <var>kflag</var> specification is
sticky; that is, when you use this option
with a <code>checkout</code> or <code>update</code> command,
CVS associates your selected <var>kflag</var> with any files
it operates on, and continues to use that <var>kflag</var> with future
commands on the same files until you specify otherwise.

The &lsquo;<samp>-k</samp>&rsquo; option is available with the <code>add</code>,
<code>checkout</code>, <code>diff</code>, <code>export</code>, <code>import</code>,
<code>rdiff</code>, and <code>update</code> commands.

WARNING: Prior to CVS version 1.12.2, the &lsquo;<samp>-k</samp>&rsquo; flag
overrode the &lsquo;<samp>-kb</samp>&rsquo; indication for a binary file. This could
sometimes corrupt binary files. See <a href="#Merging-and-keywords">Merging and keywords</a>, for
more.

</dd>
<dt><code>-l</code></dt>
<dd>Local; run only in current working directory, rather than
recursing through subdirectories.

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



</dd>
<dt><code>-m <var>message</var></code></dt>
<dd>Use <var>message</var> as log information, instead of
invoking an editor.

Available with the following commands: <code>add</code>,
<code>commit</code> and <code>import</code>.

</dd>
<dt><code>-n</code></dt>
<dd>Do not run any tag program. (A program can be
specified to run in the modules
database (see <a href="#modules">modules</a>); this option bypasses it).

Note: this is not the same as the &lsquo;<samp>cvs -n</samp>&rsquo;
program option, which you can specify to the left of a cvs command!

Available with the <code>checkout</code>, <code>commit</code>, <code>export</code>,
and <code>rtag</code> commands.

</dd>
<dt><code>-P</code></dt>
<dd>Prune empty directories. See <a href="#Removing-directories">Removing directories</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>-p</code></dt>
<dd>Pipe the files retrieved from the repository to standard output,
rather than writing them in the current directory. Available
with the <code>checkout</code> and <code>update</code> commands.

</dd>
<dt><code>-R</code></dt>
<dd>Process directories recursively. This is the default for all CVS
commands, with the exception of <code>ls</code> &amp; <code>rls</code>.

Available with the following commands: <code>annotate</code>, <code>checkout</code>,
<code>commit</code>, <code>diff</code>, <code>edit</code>, <code>editors</code>, <code>export</code>,
<code>ls</code>, <code>rdiff</code>, <code>remove</code>, <code>rls</code>, <code>rtag</code>,
<code>status</code>, <code>tag</code>, <code>unedit</code>, <code>update</code>, <code>watch</code>,
and <code>watchers</code>.

</dd>
<dt><code>-r <var>tag</var></code></dt>
<dt><code>-r <var>tag</var>[:<var>date</var>]</code></dt>
<dd>


Use the revision specified by the <var>tag</var> argument (and the <var>date</var>
argument for the commands which accept it) instead of the
default head revision. As well as arbitrary tags defined
with the <code>tag</code> or <code>rtag</code> command, two special tags are
always available: &lsquo;<samp>HEAD</samp>&rsquo; refers to the most recent version
available in the repository (also known as the tip of the &lsquo;<samp>MAIN</samp>&rsquo;
branch, also known as trunk; the name of a branch refers to its tip;
this version of CVS introduces &lsquo;<samp>.bhead</samp>&rsquo;, but only for the
DIFF command, for the same), and &lsquo;<samp>BASE</samp>&rsquo; refers to the
revision you last checked out into the current working directory.

The tag specification is sticky when you use this
with <code>checkout</code> or <code>update</code> 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 <a href="#Sticky-tags">Sticky tags</a>).

The tag can be either a symbolic or numeric tag, as
described in <a href="#Tags">Tags</a>, or the name of a branch, as
described in <a href="#Branching-and-merging">Branching and merging</a>.
When <var>tag</var> is the name of a
branch, some commands accept the optional <var>date</var> 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.

As a Debian and MirBSD CVS extension, specifying &lsquo;<samp>BASE</samp>&rsquo; as the
<var>date</var> portion of the argument yields the base revision of the
branch specified by the <var>tag</var> portion of the argument, i.e. the revision
on the parent branch the <var>tag</var> branch split off, or, where both
branches were the same.
This option has not received very much testing, beware!

Specifying the &lsquo;<samp>-q</samp>&rsquo; global option along with the
&lsquo;<samp>-r</samp>&rsquo; 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 &lsquo;<samp>cvs -r</samp>&rsquo; option,
which you can specify to the left of a CVS command!

&lsquo;<samp>-r <var>tag</var></samp>&rsquo; is available with the <code>commit</code> and <code>history</code>
commands.

&lsquo;<samp>-r <var>tag</var>[:<var>date</var>]</samp>&rsquo; is available with the <code>annotate</code>,
<code>checkout</code>, <code>diff</code>, <code>export</code>, <code>rdiff</code>, <code>rtag</code>,
and <code>update</code> commands.

</dd>
<dt><code>-W</code></dt>
<dd>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 <samp>.cvswrappers</samp> file.
Available with the following commands: <code>import</code>,
and <code>update</code>.

</dd>
</dl>

<hr>
<div class="header">

Next: <a href="#admin" accesskey="n" rel="next">admin</a>, Previous: <a href="#Common-options" accesskey="p" rel="prev">Common options</a>, Up: <a href="#CVS-commands" accesskey="u" rel="up">CVS commands</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h3 class="appendixsec">A.6 Date input formats</h3>

First, a quote:

<blockquote>
Our units of temporal measurement, from seconds on up to months, are so
complicated, asymmetrical and disjunctive so as to make coherent mental
reckoning in time all but impossible. Indeed, had some tyrannical god
contrived to enslave our minds to time, to make it all but impossible
for us to escape subjection to sodden routines and unpleasant surprises,
he could hardly have done better than handing down our present system.
It is like a set of trapezoidal building blocks, with no vertical or
horizontal surfaces, like a language in which the simplest thought
demands ornate constructions, useless particles and lengthy
circumlocutions. Unlike the more successful patterns of language and
science, which enable us to face experience boldly or at least
level-headedly, our system of temporal calculation silently and
persistently encourages our terror of time.

&hellip; It is as though architects had to measure length in feet, width
in meters and height in ells; as though basic instruction manuals
demanded a knowledge of five different languages. It is no wonder then
that we often look into our own immediate past or future, last Tuesday
or a week from Sunday, with feelings of helpless confusion. &hellip;

&mdash; Robert Grudin, <cite>Time and the Art of Living</cite>.
</blockquote>

This section describes the textual date representations that GNU
programs accept. These are the strings you, as a user, can supply as
arguments to the various programs. The C interface (via the
<code>get_date</code> function) is not described here.

<table class="menu" border="0" cellspacing="0">
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#General-date-syntax" accesskey="1">General date syntax</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">Common rules.
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#Calendar-date-items" accesskey="2">Calendar date items</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">19 Dec 1994.
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#Time-of-day-items" accesskey="3">Time of day items</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">9:20pm.
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#Time-zone-items" accesskey="4">Time zone items</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">EST, PDT, GMT.
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#Day-of-week-items" accesskey="5">Day of week items</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">Monday and others.
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#Relative-items-in-date-strings" accesskey="6">Relative items in date strings</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">next tuesday, 2 years ago.
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#Pure-numbers-in-date-strings" accesskey="7">Pure numbers in date strings</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">19931219, 1440.
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#Seconds-since-the-Epoch" accesskey="8">Seconds since the Epoch</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">@1101064456
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#Authors-of-get_005fdate" accesskey="9">Authors of get_date</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">Bellovin, Eggert, Salz, Berets, et al.
</td></tr>
</table>

<hr>
<div class="header">

Next: <a href="#Calendar-date-items" accesskey="n" rel="next">Calendar date items</a>, Up: <a href="#Date-input-formats" accesskey="u" rel="up">Date input formats</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h4 class="appendixsubsec">A.6.1 General date syntax</h4>

A date is a string, possibly empty, containing many items
separated by whitespace. The whitespace may be omitted when no
ambiguity arises. The empty string means the beginning of today (i.e.,
midnight). Order of the items is immaterial. A date string may contain
many flavors of items:

<ul>
<li> calendar date items
</li><li> time of day items
</li><li> time zone items
</li><li> day of the week items
</li><li> relative items
</li><li> pure numbers.
</li></ul>

We describe each of these item types in turn, below.






A few ordinal numbers may be written out in words in some contexts. This is
most useful for specifying day of the week items or relative items (see
below). Among the most commonly used ordinal numbers, the word
&lsquo;<samp>last</samp>&rsquo; stands for -1, &lsquo;<samp>this</samp>&rsquo; stands for 0, and
&lsquo;<samp>first</samp>&rsquo; and &lsquo;<samp>next</samp>&rsquo; both stand for 1. Because the word
&lsquo;<samp>second</samp>&rsquo; stands for the unit of time there is no way to write the
ordinal number 2, but for convenience &lsquo;<samp>third</samp>&rsquo; stands for 3,
&lsquo;<samp>fourth</samp>&rsquo; for 4, &lsquo;<samp>fifth</samp>&rsquo; for 5,
&lsquo;<samp>sixth</samp>&rsquo; for 6, &lsquo;<samp>seventh</samp>&rsquo; for 7, &lsquo;<samp>eighth</samp>&rsquo; for 8,
&lsquo;<samp>ninth</samp>&rsquo; for 9, &lsquo;<samp>tenth</samp>&rsquo; for 10, &lsquo;<samp>eleventh</samp>&rsquo; for 11 and
&lsquo;<samp>twelfth</samp>&rsquo; for 12.


When a month is written this way, it is still considered to be written
numerically, instead of being &ldquo;spelled in full&rdquo;; this changes the
allowed strings.


In the current implementation, only English is supported for words and
abbreviations like &lsquo;<samp>AM</samp>&rsquo;, &lsquo;<samp>DST</samp>&rsquo;, &lsquo;<samp>EST</samp>&rsquo;, &lsquo;<samp>first</samp>&rsquo;,
&lsquo;<samp>January</samp>&rsquo;, &lsquo;<samp>Sunday</samp>&rsquo;, &lsquo;<samp>tomorrow</samp>&rsquo;, and &lsquo;<samp>year</samp>&rsquo;.



The output of <code>date</code> is not always acceptable as a date string,
not only because of the language problem, but also because there is no
standard meaning for time zone items like &lsquo;<samp>IST</samp>&rsquo;. When using
<code>date</code> to generate a date string intended to be parsed later,
specify a date format that is independent of language and that does not
use time zone items other than &lsquo;<samp>UTC</samp>&rsquo; and &lsquo;<samp>Z</samp>&rsquo;. Here are some
ways to do this:

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">$ LC_ALL=C TZ=UTC0 date
Fri Dec 15 19:48:05 UTC 2000
$ TZ=UTC0 date +&quot;%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%SZ&quot;
2000-12-15 19:48:05Z
$ date --iso-8601=seconds # a GNU extension
2000-12-15T11:48:05-0800
$ date --iso-8601=ns # a GNU extension
2004-02-29T16:21:42,692722128-0800
$ date --iso-8601=ns | tr T ' ' # --iso-8601 is a GNU extension.
2004-02-29 16:21:42,692722128-0800
$ date --rfc-2822 # a GNU extension
Fri, 15 Dec 2000 11:48:05 -0800
$ date +&quot;%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S %z&quot; # %z is a GNU extension.
2000-12-15 11:48:05 -0800
$ date +'@%s' # %s is a MirBSD extension.
@1101064210
$ date +'@%s.%N' # %s and %N are GNU extensions.
@1078100502.692722128
</pre></div>

Alphabetic case is completely ignored in dates. Comments may be introduced
between round parentheses, as long as included parentheses are properly
nested. Hyphens not followed by a digit are currently ignored. Leading
zeros on numbers are ignored.

<hr>
<div class="header">

Next: <a href="#Time-of-day-items" accesskey="n" rel="next">Time of day items</a>, Previous: <a href="#General-date-syntax" accesskey="p" rel="prev">General date syntax</a>, Up: <a href="#Date-input-formats" accesskey="u" rel="up">Date input formats</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h4 class="appendixsubsec">A.6.2 Calendar date items</h4>

A calendar date item specifies a day of the year. It is
specified differently, depending on whether the month is specified
numerically or literally. All these strings specify the same calendar date:

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">1972-09-24 # ISO 8601.
72-9-24 # Assume 19xx for 69 through 99,
 # 20xx for 00 through 68.
72-09-24 # Leading zeros are ignored.
9/24/72 # Common U.S. writing.
24 September 1972
24 Sept 72 # September has a special abbreviation.
24 Sep 72 # Three-letter abbreviations always allowed.
Sep 24, 1972
24-sep-72
24sep72
</pre></div>

The year can also be omitted. In this case, the last specified year is
used, or the current year if none. For example:

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">9/24
sep 24
</pre></div>

Here are the rules.



For numeric months, the ISO 8601 format
&lsquo;<samp><var>year</var>-<var>month</var>-<var>day</var></samp>&rsquo; is allowed, where <var>year</var> is
any positive number, <var>month</var> is a number between 01 and 12, and
<var>day</var> is a number between 01 and 31. A leading zero must be present
if a number is less than ten. If <var>year</var> is 68 or smaller, then 2000
is added to it; otherwise, if <var>year</var> is less than 100,
then 1900 is added to it. The construct
&lsquo;<samp><var>month</var>/<var>day</var>/<var>year</var></samp>&rsquo;, popular in the United States,
is accepted. Also &lsquo;<samp><var>month</var>/<var>day</var></samp>&rsquo;, omitting the year.



Literal months may be spelled out in full: &lsquo;<samp>January</samp>&rsquo;,
&lsquo;<samp>February</samp>&rsquo;, &lsquo;<samp>March</samp>&rsquo;, &lsquo;<samp>April</samp>&rsquo;, &lsquo;<samp>May</samp>&rsquo;, &lsquo;<samp>June</samp>&rsquo;,
&lsquo;<samp>July</samp>&rsquo;, &lsquo;<samp>August</samp>&rsquo;, &lsquo;<samp>September</samp>&rsquo;, &lsquo;<samp>October</samp>&rsquo;,
&lsquo;<samp>November</samp>&rsquo; or &lsquo;<samp>December</samp>&rsquo;. Literal months may be abbreviated
to their first three letters, possibly followed by an abbreviating dot.
It is also permitted to write &lsquo;<samp>Sept</samp>&rsquo; instead of &lsquo;<samp>September</samp>&rsquo;.

When months are written literally, the calendar date may be given as any
of the following:

<div class="example">
<pre class="example"><var>day</var> <var>month</var> <var>year</var>
<var>day</var> <var>month</var>
<var>month</var> <var>day</var> <var>year</var>
<var>day</var>-<var>month</var>-<var>year</var>
</pre></div>

Or, omitting the year:

<div class="example">
<pre class="example"><var>month</var> <var>day</var>
</pre></div>

<hr>
<div class="header">

Next: <a href="#Time-zone-items" accesskey="n" rel="next">Time zone items</a>, Previous: <a href="#Calendar-date-items" accesskey="p" rel="prev">Calendar date items</a>, Up: <a href="#Date-input-formats" accesskey="u" rel="up">Date input formats</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h4 class="appendixsubsec">A.6.3 Time of day items</h4>

A time of day item in date strings specifies the time on a given
day. Here are some examples, all of which represent the same time:

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">20:02:00.000000
20:02
8:02pm
20:02-0500 # In EST (U.S. Eastern Standard Time).
</pre></div>

More generally, the time of day may be given as
&lsquo;<samp><var>hour</var>:<var>minute</var>:<var>second</var></samp>&rsquo;, where <var>hour</var> is
a number between 0 and 23, <var>minute</var> is a number between 0 and
59, and <var>second</var> is a number between 0 and 59, with an optional
fraction separated by &lsquo;<samp>.</samp>&rsquo; or &lsquo;<samp>,</samp>&rsquo; consisting of digits.
Alternatively, &lsquo;<samp>:<var>second</var></samp>&rsquo; can be omitted, in which case
it is taken to be zero.





If the time is followed by &lsquo;<samp>am</samp>&rsquo; or &lsquo;<samp>pm</samp>&rsquo; (or &lsquo;<samp>a.m.</samp>&rsquo;
or &lsquo;<samp>p.m.</samp>&rsquo;), <var>hour</var> is restricted to run from 1 to 12, and
&lsquo;<samp>:<var>minute</var></samp>&rsquo; may be omitted (taken to be zero). &lsquo;<samp>am</samp>&rsquo;
indicates the first half of the day, &lsquo;<samp>pm</samp>&rsquo; indicates the second
half of the day. In this notation, 12 is the predecessor of 1:
midnight is &lsquo;<samp>12am</samp>&rsquo; while noon is &lsquo;<samp>12pm</samp>&rsquo;.
(This is the zero-oriented interpretation of &lsquo;<samp>12am</samp>&rsquo; and &lsquo;<samp>12pm</samp>&rsquo;,
as opposed to the old tradition derived from Latin
which uses &lsquo;<samp>12m</samp>&rsquo; for noon and &lsquo;<samp>12pm</samp>&rsquo; for midnight.)



The time may alternatively be followed by a time zone correction,
expressed as &lsquo;<samp><var>s</var><var>hh</var><var>mm</var></samp>&rsquo;, where <var>s</var> is &lsquo;<samp>+</samp>&rsquo;
or &lsquo;<samp>-</samp>&rsquo;, <var>hh</var> is a number of zone hours and <var>mm</var> is a number
of zone minutes. You can also separate <var>hh</var> from <var>mm</var> with a colon.
When a time zone correction is given this way, it
forces interpretation of the time relative to
Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), overriding any previous
specification for the time zone or the local time zone. For example,
&lsquo;<samp>+0530</samp>&rsquo; and &lsquo;<samp>+05:30</samp>&rsquo; both stand for the time zone 5.5 hours
ahead of UTC (e.g., India). The <var>minute</var>
part of the time of day may not be elided when a time zone correction
is used. This is the best way to specify a time zone correction by
fractional parts of an hour.

Either &lsquo;<samp>am</samp>&rsquo;/&lsquo;<samp>pm</samp>&rsquo; or a time zone correction may be specified,
but not both.

<hr>
<div class="header">

Next: <a href="#Day-of-week-items" accesskey="n" rel="next">Day of week items</a>, Previous: <a href="#Time-of-day-items" accesskey="p" rel="prev">Time of day items</a>, Up: <a href="#Date-input-formats" accesskey="u" rel="up">Date input formats</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h4 class="appendixsubsec">A.6.4 Time zone items</h4>

A time zone item specifies an international time zone, indicated
by a small set of letters, e.g., &lsquo;<samp>UTC</samp>&rsquo; or &lsquo;<samp>Z</samp>&rsquo;
for Coordinated Universal
Time. Any included periods are ignored. By following a
non-daylight-saving time zone by the string &lsquo;<samp>DST</samp>&rsquo; in a separate
word (that is, separated by some white space), the corresponding
daylight saving time zone may be specified.
Alternatively, a non-daylight-saving time zone can be followed by a
time zone correction, to add the two values. This is normally done
only for &lsquo;<samp>UTC</samp>&rsquo;; for example, &lsquo;<samp>UTC+05:30</samp>&rsquo; is equivalent to
&lsquo;<samp>+05:30</samp>&rsquo;.

Time zone items other than &lsquo;<samp>UTC</samp>&rsquo; and &lsquo;<samp>Z</samp>&rsquo;
are obsolescent and are not recommended, because they
are ambiguous; for example, &lsquo;<samp>EST</samp>&rsquo; has a different meaning in
Australia than in the United States. Instead, it&rsquo;s better to use
unambiguous numeric time zone corrections like &lsquo;<samp>-0500</samp>&rsquo;, as
described in the previous section.

If neither a time zone item nor a time zone correction is supplied,
time stamps are interpreted using the rules of the default time zone.

<hr>
<div class="header">

Next: <a href="#Relative-items-in-date-strings" accesskey="n" rel="next">Relative items in date strings</a>, Previous: <a href="#Time-zone-items" accesskey="p" rel="prev">Time zone items</a>, Up: <a href="#Date-input-formats" accesskey="u" rel="up">Date input formats</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h4 class="appendixsubsec">A.6.5 Day of week items</h4>

The explicit mention of a day of the week will forward the date
(only if necessary) to reach that day of the week in the future.

Days of the week may be spelled out in full: &lsquo;<samp>Sunday</samp>&rsquo;,
&lsquo;<samp>Monday</samp>&rsquo;, &lsquo;<samp>Tuesday</samp>&rsquo;, &lsquo;<samp>Wednesday</samp>&rsquo;, &lsquo;<samp>Thursday</samp>&rsquo;,
&lsquo;<samp>Friday</samp>&rsquo; or &lsquo;<samp>Saturday</samp>&rsquo;. Days may be abbreviated to their
first three letters, optionally followed by a period. The special
abbreviations &lsquo;<samp>Tues</samp>&rsquo; for &lsquo;<samp>Tuesday</samp>&rsquo;, &lsquo;<samp>Wednes</samp>&rsquo; for
&lsquo;<samp>Wednesday</samp>&rsquo; and &lsquo;<samp>Thur</samp>&rsquo; or &lsquo;<samp>Thurs</samp>&rsquo; for &lsquo;<samp>Thursday</samp>&rsquo; are
also allowed.



A number may precede a day of the week item to move forward
supplementary weeks. It is best used in expression like &lsquo;<samp>third
monday</samp>&rsquo;. In this context, &lsquo;<samp>last <var>day</var></samp>&rsquo; or &lsquo;<samp>next
<var>day</var></samp>&rsquo; is also acceptable; they move one week before or after
the day that <var>day</var> by itself would represent.

A comma following a day of the week item is ignored.

<hr>
<div class="header">

Next: <a href="#Pure-numbers-in-date-strings" accesskey="n" rel="next">Pure numbers in date strings</a>, Previous: <a href="#Day-of-week-items" accesskey="p" rel="prev">Day of week items</a>, Up: <a href="#Date-input-formats" accesskey="u" rel="up">Date input formats</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h4 class="appendixsubsec">A.6.6 Relative items in date strings</h4>

Relative items adjust a date (or the current date if none) forward
or backward. The effects of relative items accumulate. Here are some
examples:

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">1 year
1 year ago
3 years
2 days
</pre></div>

The unit of time displacement may be selected by the string &lsquo;<samp>year</samp>&rsquo;
or &lsquo;<samp>month</samp>&rsquo; for moving by whole years or months. These are fuzzy
units, as years and months are not all of equal duration. More precise
units are &lsquo;<samp>fortnight</samp>&rsquo; which is worth 14 days, &lsquo;<samp>week</samp>&rsquo; worth 7
days, &lsquo;<samp>day</samp>&rsquo; worth 24 hours, &lsquo;<samp>hour</samp>&rsquo; worth 60 minutes,
&lsquo;<samp>minute</samp>&rsquo; or &lsquo;<samp>min</samp>&rsquo; worth 60 seconds, and &lsquo;<samp>second</samp>&rsquo; or
&lsquo;<samp>sec</samp>&rsquo; worth one second. An &lsquo;<samp>s</samp>&rsquo; suffix on these units is
accepted and ignored.


The unit of time may be preceded by a multiplier, given as an optionally
signed number. Unsigned numbers are taken as positively signed. No
number at all implies 1 for a multiplier. Following a relative item by
the string &lsquo;<samp>ago</samp>&rsquo; is equivalent to preceding the unit by a
multiplier with value -1.




The string &lsquo;<samp>tomorrow</samp>&rsquo; is worth one day in the future (equivalent
to &lsquo;<samp>day</samp>&rsquo;), the string &lsquo;<samp>yesterday</samp>&rsquo; is worth
one day in the past (equivalent to &lsquo;<samp>day ago</samp>&rsquo;).




The strings &lsquo;<samp>now</samp>&rsquo; or &lsquo;<samp>today</samp>&rsquo; are relative items corresponding
to zero-valued time displacement, these strings come from the fact
a zero-valued time displacement represents the current time when not
otherwise changed by previous items. They may be used to stress other
items, like in &lsquo;<samp>12:00 today</samp>&rsquo;. The string &lsquo;<samp>this</samp>&rsquo; also has
the meaning of a zero-valued time displacement, but is preferred in
date strings like &lsquo;<samp>this thursday</samp>&rsquo;.

When a relative item causes the resulting date to cross a boundary
where the clocks were adjusted, typically for daylight-saving time,
the resulting date and time are adjusted accordingly.

The fuzz in units can cause problems with relative items. For
example, &lsquo;<samp>2003-07-31 -1 month</samp>&rsquo; might evaluate to 2003-07-01,
because 2003-06-31 is an invalid date. To determine the previous
month more reliably, you can ask for the month before the 15th of the
current month. For example:

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">$ date -R
Thu, 31 Jul 2003 13:02:39 -0700
$ date --date=&quot;-1 month&quot; +'Last month was %B?'
Last month was July?
$ date --date=&quot;$(date +%Y-%m-15) -1 month&quot; +'Last month was %B!'
Last month was June!
</pre></div>

Also, take care when manipulating dates around clock changes such as
daylight saving leaps. In a few cases these have added or subtracted
as much as 24 hours from the clock, so it is often wise to adopt
universal time by setting the <code>TZ</code> environment variable to
&lsquo;<samp>UTC0</samp>&rsquo; before embarking on calendrical calculations.

<hr>
<div class="header">

Next: <a href="#Seconds-since-the-Epoch" accesskey="n" rel="next">Seconds since the Epoch</a>, Previous: <a href="#Relative-items-in-date-strings" accesskey="p" rel="prev">Relative items in date strings</a>, Up: <a href="#Date-input-formats" accesskey="u" rel="up">Date input formats</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h4 class="appendixsubsec">A.6.7 Pure numbers in date strings</h4>

The precise interpretation of a pure decimal number depends
on the context in the date string.

If the decimal number is of the form <var>yyyy</var><var>mm</var><var>dd</var> and no
other calendar date item (see <a href="#Calendar-date-items">Calendar date items</a>) appears before it
in the date string, then <var>yyyy</var> is read as the year, <var>mm</var> as the
month number and <var>dd</var> as the day of the month, for the specified
calendar date.

If the decimal number is of the form <var>hh</var><var>mm</var> and no other time
of day item appears before it in the date string, then <var>hh</var> is read
as the hour of the day and <var>mm</var> as the minute of the hour, for the
specified time of day. <var>mm</var> can also be omitted.

If both a calendar date and a time of day appear to the left of a number
in the date string, but no relative item, then the number overrides the
year.

<hr>
<div class="header">

Next: <a href="#Authors-of-get_005fdate" accesskey="n" rel="next">Authors of get_date</a>, Previous: <a href="#Pure-numbers-in-date-strings" accesskey="p" rel="prev">Pure numbers in date strings</a>, Up: <a href="#Date-input-formats" accesskey="u" rel="up">Date input formats</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h4 class="appendixsubsec">A.6.8 Seconds since the Epoch</h4>

If you give a string consisting of &lsquo;<samp>@</samp>&rsquo; followed by a decimal
number, it is parsed as an internal time stamp, UTC for
<acronym>POSIX</acronym> compliant systems, TAI for systems which keep
time correctly, and directly mapped to a kernel time. The implementation
handles an optional fraction separated by &lsquo;<samp>.</samp>&rsquo; or &lsquo;<samp>,</samp>&rsquo; and
truncates to a supported internal precision, rounding towards the
negative infinity. Since the kernel time stamp represents complete
date and time information, it cannot be combined with any other
format given.



Although the date syntax here can represent any possible time since the
year zero, computer integers often cannot represent such a wide range of
time. On <acronym>POSIX</acronym> systems, the clock starts at 1970-01-01 00:00:00
UTC: <acronym>POSIX</acronym> does not require support for times before the
<acronym>POSIX</acronym> Epoch and times far in the future. <acronym>GNU</acronym> and
traditional Unix systems have 32-bit signed <code>time_t</code> and can represent
times from 1901-12-13 20:45:52 through 2038-01-19 03:14:07 UTC, such
that &lsquo;<samp>@0</samp>&rsquo; represents the epoch, &lsquo;<samp>@1</samp>&rsquo; represents 1970-01-01
00:00:01 UTC, and so forth, whereas &lsquo;<samp>@-1</samp>&rsquo;, not mandated by
<acronym>POSIX</acronym>, represents 1969-12-31 23:59:59 UTC. Systems with
64-bit signed <code>time_t</code> can represent all the times in the known
lifetime of the universe. Modern <acronym>UNIX</acronym> systems also can give
precise timecounters in the nanosecond or even attosecond range with
a resolution often only a small multiply, like 10000, of the CPU
frequency (on fast machines).

<acronym>POSIX</acronym> conformant systems do not count leap seconds, and their
kernel time is a seconds-since-epoch representation of UTC (which
is a calendar time); the MirOS family of operating systems keeps time
as seconds since the epoch, TAI, correctly counting leap seconds
and providing conversion functions. Most MirBSD ports have already
switched to a 64-bit signed <code>time_t</code>, some are using a
DJB-compatible <code>tai_t</code> internally. The rest of this
document has not been throughoutly checked for UTC vs TAI
correctness. For <acronym>POSIX</acronym>ly broken systems, &lsquo;<samp>@915148799</samp>&rsquo;
represents 1998-12-31 23:59:59 UTC, &lsquo;<samp>@915148800</samp>&rsquo; represents
1999-01-01 00:00:00 UTC, and there is no way to represent the
intervening leap second 1998-12-31 23:59:60 UTC. Also, calculation
of time deltas is wrong, such as the age of the MirBSD founder is already
off by more than 10 seconds in 2000.

<hr>
<div class="header">

Previous: <a href="#Seconds-since-the-Epoch" accesskey="p" rel="prev">Seconds since the Epoch</a>, Up: <a href="#Date-input-formats" accesskey="u" rel="up">Date input formats</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h4 class="appendixsubsec">A.6.9 Authors of <code>get_date</code></h4>

<code>get_date</code> was originally implemented by Steven M. Bellovin
(<a href="mailto:smb@research.att.com">smb@research.att.com</a>) while at the University of North Carolina
at Chapel Hill. The code was later tweaked by a couple of people on
Usenet, then completely overhauled by Rich $alz (<a href="mailto:rsalz@bbn.com">rsalz@bbn.com</a>)
and Jim Berets (<a href="mailto:jberets@bbn.com">jberets@bbn.com</a>) in August, 1990. Various
revisions for the GNU system were made by David MacKenzie, Jim Meyering,
Paul Eggert and others.



This chapter was originally produced by Fran&ccedil;ois Pinard
(<a href="mailto:pinard@iro.umontreal.ca">pinard@iro.umontreal.ca</a>) from the <samp>getdate.y</samp> source code,
and then edited by K. Berry (<a href="mailto:kb@cs.umb.edu">kb@cs.umb.edu</a>).

The version of this chapter you are reading comes with MirBSD GNU
CVS 1.12 (also in Debian); it is based upon an older version of
the GNU coreutils manual which is not yet GFDL-licenced.
Appropriate changes for the in-tree <code>get_date</code> version of CVS
have been applied.
The MirBSD version is maintained by mirabilos <a href="mailto:m@mirbsd.org">m@mirbsd.org</a>.

<hr>
<div class="header">

Next: <a href="#annotate" accesskey="n" rel="next">annotate</a>, Previous: <a href="#Date-input-formats" accesskey="p" rel="prev">Date input formats</a>, Up: <a href="#CVS-commands" accesskey="u" rel="up">CVS commands</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h3 class="appendixsec">A.7 admin&mdash;Administration front-end for RCS</h3>

<ul>
<li> Requires: repository, working directory.
</li><li> Changes: repository.
</li><li> Synonym: rcs
</li></ul>

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 <code>cvsadmin</code>,
only members of that group can run <code>cvs admin</code>
commands, except for those specified using the
<code>UserAdminOptions</code> configuration option in the
<samp>CVSROOT/config</samp> file. Options specified using
<code>UserAdminOptions</code> can be run by any user. See
<a href="#config">config</a> for more on <code>UserAdminOptions</code>.

The <code>cvsadmin</code> group should exist on the server,
or any system running the non-client/server CVS.
To disallow <code>cvs admin</code> for all users, create a
group with no users in it. On NT, the <code>cvsadmin</code>
feature does not exist and all users
can run <code>cvs admin</code>.

<table class="menu" border="0" cellspacing="0">
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#admin-options" accesskey="1">admin options</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">admin options
</td></tr>
</table>

<hr>
<div class="header">

Up: <a href="#admin" accesskey="u" rel="up">admin</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h4 class="appendixsubsec">A.7.1 admin options</h4>

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!

<dl compact="compact">
<dt><code>-A<var>oldfile</var></code></dt>
<dd>Might not work together with CVS. Append the
access list of <var>oldfile</var> to the access list of the
RCS file.

</dd>
<dt><code>-a<var>logins</var></code></dt>
<dd>Might not work together with CVS. Append the
login names appearing in the comma-separated list
<var>logins</var> to the access list of the RCS file.

</dd>
<dt><code>-b[<var>rev</var>]</code></dt>
<dd>Set the default branch to <var>rev</var>. In CVS, you
normally do not manipulate default branches; sticky
tags (see <a href="#Sticky-tags">Sticky tags</a>) are a better way to decide
which branch you want to work on. There is one reason
to run <code>cvs admin -b</code>: to revert to the vendor&rsquo;s
version when using vendor branches (see <a href="#Reverting-local-changes">Reverting local changes</a>).
There can be no space between &lsquo;<samp>-b</samp>&rsquo; and its argument.


</dd>
<dt><code>-c<var>string</var></code></dt>
<dd>Sets the comment leader to <var>string</var>. 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 <a href="#Keyword-substitution">Keyword substitution</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>-e[<var>logins</var>]</code></dt>
<dd>Might not work together with CVS. Erase the login
names appearing in the comma-separated list
<var>logins</var> from the access list of the RCS file. If
<var>logins</var> is omitted, erase the entire access list.
There can be no space between &lsquo;<samp>-e</samp>&rsquo; and its argument.

</dd>
<dt><code>-I</code></dt>
<dd>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.

</dd>
<dt><code>-i</code></dt>
<dd>Useless with CVS. This creates and initialises a
new RCS file, without depositing a revision. With
CVS, add files with the <code>cvs add</code> command
(see <a href="#Adding-files">Adding files</a>).

</dd>
<dt><code>-k<var>subst</var></code></dt>
<dd>Set the default keyword
substitution to <var>subst</var>. See <a href="#Keyword-substitution">Keyword substitution</a>. Giving an explicit &lsquo;<samp>-k</samp>&rsquo; option to
<code>cvs update</code>, <code>cvs export</code>, or <code>cvs
checkout</code> overrides this default.

</dd>
<dt><code>-l[<var>rev</var>]</code></dt>
<dd>Lock the revision with number <var>rev</var>. If a branch
is given, lock the latest revision on that branch. If
<var>rev</var> is omitted, lock the latest revision on the
default branch. There can be no space between
&lsquo;<samp>-l</samp>&rsquo; and its argument.

This can be used in conjunction with the
<samp>rcslock.pl</samp> script in the <samp>contrib</samp>
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 <samp>README</samp> 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).

</dd>
<dt><code>-L</code></dt>
<dd>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 &lsquo;<samp>-l</samp>&rsquo; option above.






</dd>
<dt><code>-m<var>rev</var>:<var>msg</var></code></dt>
<dd>Replace the log message of revision <var>rev</var> with
<var>msg</var>.

</dd>
<dt><code>-N<var>name</var>[:[<var>rev</var>]]</code></dt>
<dd>Act like &lsquo;<samp>-n</samp>&rsquo;, except override any previous
assignment of <var>name</var>. For use with magic branches,
see <a href="#Magic-branch-numbers">Magic branch numbers</a>.

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




</dd>
<dt><code>-o<var>range</var></code></dt>
<dd>Deletes (outdates) the revisions given by
<var>range</var>.

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
<var>rev1</var>:<var>rev2</var> syntax is confusing).

If you are short on disc this option might help you.
But think twice before using it&mdash;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 <var>range</var> in one of the following ways:

<dl compact="compact">
<dt><code><var>rev1</var>::<var>rev2</var></code></dt>
<dd>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 &lsquo;<samp>-o 1.3::1.5</samp>&rsquo; 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:
&lsquo;<samp>-o 1.3::1.4</samp>&rsquo; and &lsquo;<samp>-o 1.3::1.3</samp>&rsquo; have no
effect, because there are no intermediate revisions to
remove.

</dd>
<dt><code>::<var>rev</var></code></dt>
<dd>Collapse revisions between the beginning of the branch
containing <var>rev</var> and <var>rev</var> itself. The
branchpoint and <var>rev</var> are left intact. For
example, &lsquo;<samp>-o ::1.3.2.6</samp>&rsquo; 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.

</dd>
<dt><code><var>rev</var>::</code></dt>
<dd>Collapse revisions between <var>rev</var> and the end of the
branch containing <var>rev</var>. Revision <var>rev</var> is
left intact but the head revision is deleted.

</dd>
<dt><code><var>rev</var></code></dt>
<dd>Delete the revision <var>rev</var>. For example, &lsquo;<samp>-o
1.3</samp>&rsquo; is equivalent to &lsquo;<samp>-o 1.2::1.4</samp>&rsquo;.

</dd>
<dt><code><var>rev1</var>:<var>rev2</var></code></dt>
<dd>Delete the revisions from <var>rev1</var> to <var>rev2</var>,
inclusive, on the same branch. One will not be able to
retrieve <var>rev1</var> or <var>rev2</var> or any of the
revisions in between. For example, the command
&lsquo;<samp>cvs admin -oR_1_01:R_1_02 .</samp>&rsquo; 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 <var>rev1</var>::<var>rev2</var> instead.

</dd>
<dt><code>:<var>rev</var></code></dt>
<dd>Delete revisions from the beginning of the
branch containing <var>rev</var> up to and including
<var>rev</var>.

</dd>
<dt><code><var>rev</var>:</code></dt>
<dd>Delete revisions from revision <var>rev</var>, including
<var>rev</var> itself, to the end of the branch containing
<var>rev</var>.
</dd>
</dl>

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 &lsquo;<samp>::</samp>&rsquo; 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 <code>cvs tag -d</code>, then run
<code>cvs admin -o</code>. If one specifies the
non-&lsquo;<samp>::</samp>&rsquo; 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&rsquo;t very useful, in the future it may
change to be like the &lsquo;<samp>::</samp>&rsquo; case.

Due to the way CVS handles branches <var>rev</var>
cannot be specified symbolically if it is a branch.
See <a href="#Magic-branch-numbers">Magic branch numbers</a>, 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 <a href="#Merging-two-revisions">Merging two revisions</a>).

</dd>
<dt><code>-q</code></dt>
<dd>Run quietly; do not print diagnostics.

</dd>
<dt><code>-s<var>state</var>[:<var>rev</var>]</code></dt>
<dd>Useful with CVS. Set the state attribute of the
revision <var>rev</var> to <var>state</var>. If <var>rev</var> is a
branch number, assume the latest revision on that
branch. If <var>rev</var> is omitted, assume the latest
revision on the default branch. Any identifier is
acceptable for <var>state</var>. A useful set of states is
&lsquo;<samp>Exp</samp>&rsquo; (for experimental), &lsquo;<samp>Stab</samp>&rsquo; (for
stable), and &lsquo;<samp>Rel</samp>&rsquo; (for released). By default,
the state of a new revision is set to &lsquo;<samp>Exp</samp>&rsquo; when
it is created. The state is visible in the output from
<var>cvs log</var> (see <a href="#log">log</a>), and in the
&lsquo;<samp>$Log$</samp>&rsquo; and &lsquo;<samp>$State$</samp>&rsquo; keywords
(see <a href="#Keyword-substitution">Keyword substitution</a>). Note that CVS
uses the <code>dead</code> state for its own purposes (see <a href="#Attic">Attic</a>); to
take a file to or from the <code>dead</code> state use
commands like <code>cvs remove</code> and <code>cvs add</code>
(see <a href="#Adding-and-removing">Adding and removing</a>), not <code>cvs admin -s</code>.

</dd>
<dt><code>-t[<var>file</var>]</code></dt>
<dd>Useful with CVS. Write descriptive text from the
contents of the named <var>file</var> into the RCS file,
deleting the existing text. The <var>file</var> pathname
may not begin with &lsquo;<samp>-</samp>&rsquo;. The descriptive text can be seen in the
output from &lsquo;<samp>cvs log</samp>&rsquo; (see <a href="#log">log</a>).
There can be no space between &lsquo;<samp>-t</samp>&rsquo; and its argument.

If <var>file</var> is omitted,
obtain the text from standard input, terminated by
end-of-file or by a line containing &lsquo;<samp>.</samp>&rsquo; by itself.
Prompt for the text if interaction is possible; see
&lsquo;<samp>-I</samp>&rsquo;.

</dd>
<dt><code>-t-<var>string</var></code></dt>
<dd>Similar to &lsquo;<samp>-t<var>file</var></samp>&rsquo;. Write descriptive text
from the <var>string</var> into the RCS file, deleting
the existing text.
There can be no space between &lsquo;<samp>-t</samp>&rsquo; and its argument.

</dd>
<dt><code>-U</code></dt>
<dd>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 &lsquo;<samp>-l</samp>&rsquo; option
above.

</dd>
<dt><code>-u[<var>rev</var>]</code></dt>
<dd>See the option &lsquo;<samp>-l</samp>&rsquo; above, for a discussion of
using this option with CVS. Unlock the revision
with number <var>rev</var>. If a branch is given, unlock
the latest revision on that branch. If <var>rev</var> 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 <code>commit</code>
notification (see <a href="#Getting-Notified">Getting Notified</a>).
There can be no space between &lsquo;<samp>-u</samp>&rsquo; and its argument.

</dd>
<dt><code>-V<var>n</var></code></dt>
<dd>In previous versions of CVS, this option meant to
write an RCS file which would be acceptable to
RCS version <var>n</var>, but it is now obsolete and
specifying it will produce an error.

</dd>
<dt><code>-x<var>suffixes</var></code></dt>
<dd>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 &lsquo;<samp>,v</samp>&rsquo;, so
this option has never done anything useful.

</dd>
</dl>

<hr>
<div class="header">

Next: <a href="#checkout" accesskey="n" rel="next">checkout</a>, Previous: <a href="#admin" accesskey="p" rel="prev">admin</a>, Up: <a href="#CVS-commands" accesskey="u" rel="up">CVS commands</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h3 class="appendixsec">A.8 annotate&mdash;What revision modified each line of a file?</h3>

<ul>
<li> Synopsis:
annotate [options] files&hellip;

rannotate [options] files&hellip;
</li><li> Requires: repository.
</li><li> Changes: nothing.
</li></ul>

For each file in <var>files</var>, print the head revision
of the trunk, together with information on the last
modification for each line. If backwards annotation
is requested, show the first modification after the
specified revision. (Backwards annotation currently
appears to be broken.)

<table class="menu" border="0" cellspacing="0">
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#annotate-options" accesskey="1">annotate options</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">annotate options
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#annotate-example" accesskey="2">annotate example</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">annotate example
</td></tr>
</table>

<hr>
<div class="header">

Next: <a href="#annotate-example" accesskey="n" rel="next">annotate example</a>, Up: <a href="#annotate" accesskey="u" rel="up">annotate</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h4 class="appendixsubsec">A.8.1 annotate options</h4>

These standard options are supported by <code>annotate</code>
(see <a href="#Common-options">Common options</a>, for a complete description of
them):

<dl compact="compact">
<dt><code>-b</code></dt>
<dd>Backwards, show when a line was removed.
Currently appears to be broken.

</dd>
<dt><code>-l</code></dt>
<dd>Local directory only, no recursion.

</dd>
<dt><code>-R</code></dt>
<dd>Process directories recursively.

</dd>
<dt><code>-f</code></dt>
<dd>Use head revision if tag/date not found.

</dd>
<dt><code>-F</code></dt>
<dd>Annotate binary files.

</dd>
<dt><code>-r <var>tag</var>[:<var>date</var>]</code></dt>
<dd>Annotate file as of specified revision/tag or, when <var>date</var> is specified
and <var>tag</var> is a branch tag, the version from the branch <var>tag</var> as it
existed on <var>date</var>. See <a href="#Common-options">Common options</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>-D <var>date</var></code></dt>
<dd>Annotate file as of specified date.
</dd>
</dl>

<hr>
<div class="header">

Previous: <a href="#annotate-options" accesskey="p" rel="prev">annotate options</a>, Up: <a href="#annotate" accesskey="u" rel="up">annotate</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h4 class="appendixsubsec">A.8.2 annotate example</h4>

For example:

<div class="example">
<pre class="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
</pre></div>

The file <samp>ssfile</samp> currently contains two lines.
The <code>ssfile line 1</code> line was checked in by
<code>mary</code> on March 27. Then, on March 28, <code>joe</code>
added a line <code>ssfile line 2</code>, without modifying
the <code>ssfile line 1</code> line. This report doesn&rsquo;t
tell you anything about lines which have been deleted
or replaced; you need to use <code>cvs diff</code> for that
(see <a href="#diff">diff</a>).

The options to <code>cvs annotate</code> are listed in
<a href="#Invoking-CVS">Invoking CVS</a>, and can be used to select the files
and revisions to annotate. The options are described
in more detail there and in <a href="#Common-options">Common options</a>.

<hr>
<div class="header">

Next: <a href="#commit" accesskey="n" rel="next">commit</a>, Previous: <a href="#annotate" accesskey="p" rel="prev">annotate</a>, Up: <a href="#CVS-commands" accesskey="u" rel="up">CVS commands</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h3 class="appendixsec">A.9 checkout&mdash;Check out sources for editing</h3>

<ul>
<li> Synopsis: checkout [options] modules&hellip;
</li><li> Requires: repository.
</li><li> Changes: working directory.
</li><li> Synonyms: co, get
</li></ul>

Create or update a working directory containing copies of the
source files specified by <var>modules</var>. You must execute
<code>checkout</code> before using most of the other CVS
commands, since most of them operate on your working
directory.

The <var>modules</var> 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 &lsquo;<samp>modules</samp>&rsquo; file.
See <a href="#modules">modules</a>.

Depending on the modules you specify, <code>checkout</code> 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 <code>checkout</code> is used to create
directories. The top-level directory created is always
added to the directory where <code>checkout</code> 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
<code>checkout</code> will show the relative path leading to
each file as it is extracted into your private work
area (unless you specify the &lsquo;<samp>-Q</samp>&rsquo; global option).

The files created by <code>checkout</code> are created
read-write, unless the &lsquo;<samp>-r</samp>&rsquo; option to CVS
(see <a href="#Global-options">Global options</a>) is specified, the
<code>CVSREAD</code> environment variable is specified
(see <a href="#Environment-variables">Environment variables</a>), or a watch is in
effect for that file (see <a href="#Watches">Watches</a>).

Note that running <code>checkout</code> on a directory that was already
built by a prior <code>checkout</code> is also permitted.
This is similar to specifying the &lsquo;<samp>-d</samp>&rsquo; option
to the <code>update</code> command in the sense that new
directories that have been created in the repository
will appear in your work area.
However, <code>checkout</code> takes a module name whereas
<code>update</code> takes a directory name. Also
to use <code>checkout</code> this way it must be run from the
top level directory (where you originally ran
<code>checkout</code> from), so before you run
<code>checkout</code> to update an existing directory, don&rsquo;t
forget to change your directory to the top level
directory.

For the output produced by the <code>checkout</code> command
see <a href="#update-output">update output</a>.

<table class="menu" border="0" cellspacing="0">
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#checkout-options" accesskey="1">checkout options</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">checkout options
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#checkout-examples" accesskey="2">checkout examples</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">checkout examples
</td></tr>
</table>

<hr>
<div class="header">

Next: <a href="#checkout-examples" accesskey="n" rel="next">checkout examples</a>, Up: <a href="#checkout" accesskey="u" rel="up">checkout</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h4 class="appendixsubsec">A.9.1 checkout options</h4>

These standard options are supported by <code>checkout</code>
(see <a href="#Common-options">Common options</a>, for a complete description of
them):

<dl compact="compact">
<dt><code>-D <var>date</var></code></dt>
<dd>Use the most recent revision no later than <var>date</var>.
This option is sticky, and implies &lsquo;<samp>-P</samp>&rsquo;. See
<a href="#Sticky-tags">Sticky tags</a>, for more information on sticky tags/dates.

</dd>
<dt><code>-f</code></dt>
<dd>Only useful with the &lsquo;<samp>-D</samp>&rsquo; or &lsquo;<samp>-r</samp>&rsquo; flags. If no matching revision is
found, retrieve the most recent revision (instead of ignoring the file).

</dd>
<dt><code>-k <var>kflag</var></code></dt>
<dd>Process keywords according to <var>kflag</var>. See
<a href="#Keyword-substitution">Keyword substitution</a>.
This option is sticky; future updates of
this file in this working directory will use the same
<var>kflag</var>. The <code>status</code> command can be viewed
to see the sticky options. See <a href="#Invoking-CVS">Invoking CVS</a>, for
more information on the <code>status</code> command.

</dd>
<dt><code>-l</code></dt>
<dd>Local; run only in current working directory.

</dd>
<dt><code>-n</code></dt>
<dd>Do not run any checkout program (as specified
with the &lsquo;<samp>-o</samp>&rsquo; option in the modules file;
see <a href="#modules">modules</a>).

</dd>
<dt><code>-P</code></dt>
<dd>Prune empty directories. See <a href="#Moving-directories">Moving directories</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>-p</code></dt>
<dd>Pipe files to the standard output.

</dd>
<dt><code>-R</code></dt>
<dd>Checkout directories recursively. This option is on by default.

</dd>
<dt><code>-r <var>tag</var>[:<var>date</var>]</code></dt>
<dd>Checkout the revision specified by <var>tag</var> or, when <var>date</var> is specified
and <var>tag</var> is a branch tag, the version from the branch <var>tag</var> as it
existed on <var>date</var>. This option is sticky, and implies &lsquo;<samp>-P</samp>&rsquo;.
See <a href="#Sticky-tags">Sticky tags</a>, for more information on sticky tags/dates. Also,
see <a href="#Common-options">Common options</a>.
</dd>
</dl>

In addition to those, you can use these special command
options with <code>checkout</code>:

<dl compact="compact">
<dt><code>-A</code></dt>
<dd>Reset any sticky tags, dates, or &lsquo;<samp>-k</samp>&rsquo; options.
See <a href="#Sticky-tags">Sticky tags</a>, for more information on sticky tags/dates.

</dd>
<dt><code>-c</code></dt>
<dd>Copy the module file, sorted, to the standard output,
instead of creating or modifying any files or
directories in your working directory.

</dd>
<dt><code>-d <var>dir</var></code></dt>
<dd>Create a directory called <var>dir</var> for the working
files, instead of using the module name. In general,
using this flag is equivalent to using &lsquo;<samp>mkdir
<var>dir</var>; cd <var>dir</var></samp>&rsquo; followed by the checkout
command without the &lsquo;<samp>-d</samp>&rsquo; 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&rsquo;t contain empty
intermediate directories. In this case only,
CVS tries to &ldquo;shorten&rdquo; pathnames to avoid those empty
directories.

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

Using the &lsquo;<samp>-N</samp>&rsquo; flag will defeat this behavior.
Given the same module definitions above, &lsquo;<samp>cvs co
-N -d dir foo</samp>&rsquo; will create directories &lsquo;<samp>dir/foo</samp>&rsquo;
and place &lsquo;<samp>bar.c</samp>&rsquo; inside, while &lsquo;<samp>cvs co -N -d
dir bar/baz</samp>&rsquo; will create directories &lsquo;<samp>dir/bar/baz</samp>&rsquo;
and place &lsquo;<samp>quux.c</samp>&rsquo; inside.

</dd>
<dt><code>-j <var>tag</var></code></dt>
<dd>With two &lsquo;<samp>-j</samp>&rsquo; options, merge changes from the
revision specified with the first &lsquo;<samp>-j</samp>&rsquo; option to
the revision specified with the second &lsquo;<samp>j</samp>&rsquo; option,
into the working directory.

With one &lsquo;<samp>-j</samp>&rsquo; option, merge changes from the
ancestor revision to the revision specified with the
&lsquo;<samp>-j</samp>&rsquo; 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 &lsquo;<samp>-j</samp>&rsquo; 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:
&lsquo;<samp>-j<var>Symbolic_Tag</var>:<var>Date_Specifier</var></samp>&rsquo;.

See <a href="#Branching-and-merging">Branching and merging</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>-N</code></dt>
<dd>Only useful together with &lsquo;<samp>-d <var>dir</var></samp>&rsquo;. With
this option, CVS will not &ldquo;shorten&rdquo; module paths
in your working directory when you check out a single
module. See the &lsquo;<samp>-d</samp>&rsquo; flag for examples and a
discussion.

</dd>
<dt><code>-s</code></dt>
<dd>Like &lsquo;<samp>-c</samp>&rsquo;, but include the status of all modules,
and sort it by the status string. See <a href="#modules">modules</a>, for
info about the &lsquo;<samp>-s</samp>&rsquo; option that is used inside the
modules file to set the module status.
</dd>
</dl>

<hr>
<div class="header">

Previous: <a href="#checkout-options" accesskey="p" rel="prev">checkout options</a>, Up: <a href="#checkout" accesskey="u" rel="up">checkout</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h4 class="appendixsubsec">A.9.2 checkout examples</h4>

Get a copy of the module &lsquo;<samp>tc</samp>&rsquo;:

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">$ cvs checkout tc
</pre></div>

Get a copy of the module &lsquo;<samp>tc</samp>&rsquo; as it looked one day
ago:

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">$ cvs checkout -D yesterday tc
</pre></div>

<hr>
<div class="header">

Next: <a href="#diff" accesskey="n" rel="next">diff</a>, Previous: <a href="#checkout" accesskey="p" rel="prev">checkout</a>, Up: <a href="#CVS-commands" accesskey="u" rel="up">CVS commands</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h3 class="appendixsec">A.10 commit&mdash;Check files into the repository</h3>

<ul>
<li> Synopsis: commit [-lnRf] [-m &rsquo;log_message&rsquo; | -F file] [-r revision] [files&hellip;]
</li><li> Requires: working directory, repository.
</li><li> Changes: repository.
</li><li> Synonym: ci
</li></ul>

Use <code>commit</code> when you want to incorporate changes
from your working source files into the source
repository.

If you don&rsquo;t specify particular files to commit, all of
the files in your working current directory are
examined. <code>commit</code> is careful to change in the
repository only those files that you have really
changed. By default (or if you explicitly specify the
&lsquo;<samp>-R</samp>&rsquo; option), files in subdirectories are also
examined and committed if they have changed; you can
use the &lsquo;<samp>-l</samp>&rsquo; option to limit <code>commit</code> to the
current directory only.

<code>commit</code> 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 <code>update</code> (see <a href="#update">update</a>).
<code>commit</code> does not call the <code>update</code> 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 <a href="#modules">modules</a>, and see <a href="#loginfo">loginfo</a>)
and placed in the RCS file inside the
repository. This log message can be retrieved with the
<code>log</code> command; see <a href="#log">log</a>. You can specify the
log message on the command line with the &lsquo;<samp>-m
<var>message</var></samp>&rsquo; option, and thus avoid the editor invocation,
or use the &lsquo;<samp>-F <var>file</var></samp>&rsquo; option to specify
that the argument file contains the log message.

At <code>commit</code>, a unique commitid is placed in the RCS
file inside the repository. All files committed at once
get the same commitid, a string consisting only of hexadecimal
digits (usually 16 in GNU CVS, 19 in Debian and MirBSD CVS).
FSF GNU CVS 1.11 and OpenBSD OpenCVS do not support commitids yet.
The commitid can be retrieved with
the <code>log</code> and <code>status</code> command; see <a href="#log">log</a> and
<a href="#File-status">File status</a>.

<table class="menu" border="0" cellspacing="0">
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#commit-options" accesskey="1">commit options</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">commit options
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#commit-examples" accesskey="2">commit examples</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">commit examples
</td></tr>
</table>

<hr>
<div class="header">

Next: <a href="#commit-examples" accesskey="n" rel="next">commit examples</a>, Up: <a href="#commit" accesskey="u" rel="up">commit</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h4 class="appendixsubsec">A.10.1 commit options</h4>

These standard options are supported by <code>commit</code>
(see <a href="#Common-options">Common options</a>, for a complete description of
them):

<dl compact="compact">
<dt><code>-l</code></dt>
<dd>Local; run only in current working directory.

</dd>
<dt><code>-R</code></dt>
<dd>Commit directories recursively. This is on by default.

</dd>
<dt><code>-r <var>revision</var></code></dt>
<dd>Commit to <var>revision</var>. <var>revision</var> must be
either a branch, or a revision on the main trunk that
is higher than any existing revision number
(see <a href="#Assigning-revisions">Assigning revisions</a>). You
cannot commit to a specific revision on a branch.
</dd>
</dl>

<code>commit</code> also supports these options:

<dl compact="compact">
<dt><code>-c</code></dt>
<dd>Refuse to commit files unless the user has registered a valid edit on the
file via <code>cvs edit</code>. This is most useful when &lsquo;<samp>commit -c</samp>&rsquo;
and &lsquo;<samp>edit -c</samp>&rsquo; have been placed in all <samp>.cvsrc</samp> files.
A commit can be forced anyways by either regestering an edit retroactively
via <code>cvs edit</code> (no changes to the file will be lost) or using the
<code>-f</code> option to commit. Support for <code>commit -c</code> requires both
client and a server versions 1.12.10 or greater.

</dd>
<dt><code>-F <var>file</var></code></dt>
<dd>Read the log message from <var>file</var>, instead
of invoking an editor.

</dd>
<dt><code>-f</code></dt>
<dd>Note that this is not the standard behavior of
the &lsquo;<samp>-f</samp>&rsquo; option as defined in <a href="#Common-options">Common options</a>.

Force CVS to commit a new revision even if you haven&rsquo;t
made any changes to the file. As of CVS version 1.12.10,
it also causes the <code>-c</code> option to be ignored. If the current revision
of <var>file</var> is 1.7, then the following two commands
are equivalent:

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">$ cvs commit -f <var>file</var>
$ cvs commit -r 1.8 <var>file</var>
</pre></div>

The &lsquo;<samp>-f</samp>&rsquo; option disables recursion (i.e., it
implies &lsquo;<samp>-l</samp>&rsquo;). To force CVS to commit a new
revision for all files in all subdirectories, you must
use &lsquo;<samp>-f -R</samp>&rsquo;.

</dd>
<dt><code>-m <var>message</var></code></dt>
<dd>Use <var>message</var> as the log message, instead of
invoking an editor.
</dd>
</dl>

<hr>
<div class="header">

Previous: <a href="#commit-options" accesskey="p" rel="prev">commit options</a>, Up: <a href="#commit" accesskey="u" rel="up">commit</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h4 class="appendixsubsec">A.10.2 commit examples</h4>

<h4 class="appendixsubsubsec">A.10.2.1 Committing to a branch</h4>

You can commit to a branch revision (one that has an
even number of dots) with the &lsquo;<samp>-r</samp>&rsquo; option. To
create a branch revision, use the &lsquo;<samp>-b</samp>&rsquo; option
of the <code>rtag</code> or <code>tag</code> commands
(see <a href="#Branching-and-merging">Branching and merging</a>). Then, either <code>checkout</code> or
<code>update</code> can be used to base your sources on the
newly created branch. From that point on, all
<code>commit</code> 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:

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">$ 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
</pre></div>

This works automatically since the &lsquo;<samp>-r</samp>&rsquo; option is
sticky.

<h4 class="appendixsubsubsec">A.10.2.2 Creating the branch after editing</h4>

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 utilise the full
benefit of CVS conflict resolution. The scenario might
look like:

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">[[ hacked sources are present ]]
$ cvs tag -b EXPR1
$ cvs update -r EXPR1
$ cvs commit
</pre></div>

The <code>update</code> command will make the &lsquo;<samp>-r
EXPR1</samp>&rsquo; option sticky on all files. Note that your
changes to the files will never be removed by the
<code>update</code> command. The <code>commit</code> will
automatically commit to the correct branch, because the
&lsquo;<samp>-r</samp>&rsquo; is sticky. You could also do like this:

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">[[ hacked sources are present ]]
$ cvs tag -b EXPR1
$ cvs commit -r EXPR1
</pre></div>

but then, only those files that were changed by you
will have the &lsquo;<samp>-r EXPR1</samp>&rsquo; sticky flag. If you hack
away, and commit without specifying the &lsquo;<samp>-r EXPR1</samp>&rsquo;
flag, some files may accidentally end up on the main
trunk.

To work with you on the experimental change, others
would simply do

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">$ cvs checkout -r EXPR1 whatever_module
</pre></div>

<hr>
<div class="header">

Next: <a href="#export" accesskey="n" rel="next">export</a>, Previous: <a href="#commit" accesskey="p" rel="prev">commit</a>, Up: <a href="#CVS-commands" accesskey="u" rel="up">CVS commands</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h3 class="appendixsec">A.11 diff&mdash;Show differences between revisions</h3>

<ul>
<li> Synopsis: diff [-lR] [-k kflag] [format_options] [(-r rev1[:date1] | -D date1) [-r rev2[:date2] | -D date2]] [files&hellip;]
</li><li> Requires: working directory, repository.
</li><li> Changes: nothing.
</li></ul>

The <code>diff</code> 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 <a href="#Exit-status">Exit status</a>.

<table class="menu" border="0" cellspacing="0">
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#diff-options" accesskey="1">diff options</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">diff options
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#diff-examples" accesskey="2">diff examples</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">diff examples
</td></tr>
</table>

<hr>
<div class="header">

Next: <a href="#diff-examples" accesskey="n" rel="next">diff examples</a>, Up: <a href="#diff" accesskey="u" rel="up">diff</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h4 class="appendixsubsec">A.11.1 diff options</h4>

These standard options are supported by <code>diff</code>
(see <a href="#Common-options">Common options</a>, for a complete description of
them):

<dl compact="compact">
<dt><code>-D <var>date</var></code></dt>
<dd>Use the most recent revision no later than <var>date</var>.
See &lsquo;<samp>-r</samp>&rsquo; for how this affects the comparison.

</dd>
<dt><code>-k <var>kflag</var></code></dt>
<dd>Process keywords according to <var>kflag</var>. See
<a href="#Keyword-substitution">Keyword substitution</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>-l</code></dt>
<dd>Local; run only in current working directory.

</dd>
<dt><code>-R</code></dt>
<dd>Examine directories recursively. This option is on by
default.

</dd>
<dt><code>-r <var>tag</var>[:<var>date</var>]</code></dt>
<dd>Compare with revision specified by <var>tag</var> or, when <var>date</var> is specified
and <var>tag</var> is a branch tag, the version from the branch <var>tag</var> as it
existed on <var>date</var>. Zero, one or two
&lsquo;<samp>-r</samp>&rsquo; options can be present. With no &lsquo;<samp>-r</samp>&rsquo;
option, the working file will be compared with the
revision it was based on. With one &lsquo;<samp>-r</samp>&rsquo;, that
revision will be compared to your current working file.
With two &lsquo;<samp>-r</samp>&rsquo; options those two revisions will be
compared (and your working file will not affect the
outcome in any way).

One or both &lsquo;<samp>-r</samp>&rsquo; options can be replaced by a
&lsquo;<samp>-D <var>date</var></samp>&rsquo; option, described above.
</dd>
</dl>

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 &lsquo;<samp>-</samp>&rsquo;, and the other of which is a long name preceded by
&lsquo;<samp>--</samp>&rsquo;.

<dl compact="compact">
<dt>&lsquo;<samp>-<var>lines</var></samp>&rsquo;</dt>
<dd>Show <var>lines</var> (an integer) lines of context. This option does not
specify an output format by itself; it has no effect unless it is
combined with &lsquo;<samp>-c</samp>&rsquo; or &lsquo;<samp>-u</samp>&rsquo;. This option is obsolete. For proper
operation, <code>patch</code> typically needs at least two lines of context.

</dd>
<dt>&lsquo;<samp>-a</samp>&rsquo;</dt>
<dd>Treat all files as text and compare them line-by-line, even if they
do not seem to be text.

</dd>
<dt>&lsquo;<samp>-b</samp>&rsquo;</dt>
<dd>Ignore trailing white space and consider all other sequences of one or
more white space characters to be equivalent.

</dd>
<dt>&lsquo;<samp>-B</samp>&rsquo;</dt>
<dd>Ignore changes that just insert or delete blank lines.

</dd>
<dt>&lsquo;<samp>--binary</samp>&rsquo;</dt>
<dd>Read and write data in binary mode.

</dd>
<dt>&lsquo;<samp>--brief</samp>&rsquo;</dt>
<dd>Report only whether the files differ, not the details of the
differences.

</dd>
<dt>&lsquo;<samp>-c</samp>&rsquo;</dt>
<dd>Use the context output format.

</dd>
<dt>&lsquo;<samp>-C <var>lines</var></samp>&rsquo;</dt>
<dt>&lsquo;<samp>--context[=<var>lines</var>]</samp>&rsquo;</dt>
<dd>Use the context output format, showing <var>lines</var> (an integer) lines of
context, or three if <var>lines</var> is not given.
For proper operation, <code>patch</code> typically needs at least two lines of
context.

</dd>
<dt>&lsquo;<samp>--changed-group-format=<var>format</var></samp>&rsquo;</dt>
<dd>Use <var>format</var> to output a line group containing differing lines from
both files in if-then-else format. See <a href="#Line-group-formats">Line group formats</a>.

</dd>
<dt>&lsquo;<samp>-d</samp>&rsquo;</dt>
<dd>Change the algorithm to perhaps find a smaller set of changes. This makes
<code>diff</code> slower (sometimes much slower).

</dd>
<dt>&lsquo;<samp>-e</samp>&rsquo;</dt>
<dt>&lsquo;<samp>--ed</samp>&rsquo;</dt>
<dd>Make output that is a valid <code>ed</code> script.

</dd>
<dt>&lsquo;<samp>--expand-tabs</samp>&rsquo;</dt>
<dd>Expand tabs to spaces in the output, to preserve the alignment of tabs
in the input files.

</dd>
<dt>&lsquo;<samp>-f</samp>&rsquo;</dt>
<dd>Make output that looks vaguely like an <code>ed</code> script but has changes
in the order they appear in the file.

</dd>
<dt>&lsquo;<samp>-F <var>regexp</var></samp>&rsquo;</dt>
<dd>In context and unified format, for each hunk of differences, show some
of the last preceding line that matches <var>regexp</var>.

</dd>
<dt>&lsquo;<samp>--forward-ed</samp>&rsquo;</dt>
<dd>Make output that looks vaguely like an <code>ed</code> script but has changes
in the order they appear in the file.

</dd>
<dt>&lsquo;<samp>-H</samp>&rsquo;</dt>
<dd>Use heuristics to speed handling of large files that have numerous
scattered small changes.

</dd>
<dt>&lsquo;<samp>--horizon-lines=<var>lines</var></samp>&rsquo;</dt>
<dd>Do not discard the last <var>lines</var> lines of the common prefix
and the first <var>lines</var> lines of the common suffix.

</dd>
<dt>&lsquo;<samp>-i</samp>&rsquo;</dt>
<dd>Ignore changes in case; consider upper- and lower-case letters
equivalent.

</dd>
<dt>&lsquo;<samp>-I <var>regexp</var></samp>&rsquo;</dt>
<dd>Ignore changes that just insert or delete lines that match <var>regexp</var>.

</dd>
<dt>&lsquo;<samp>--ifdef=<var>name</var></samp>&rsquo;</dt>
<dd>Make merged if-then-else output using <var>name</var>.

</dd>
<dt>&lsquo;<samp>--ignore-all-space</samp>&rsquo;</dt>
<dd>Ignore white space when comparing lines.

</dd>
<dt>&lsquo;<samp>--ignore-blank-lines</samp>&rsquo;</dt>
<dd>Ignore changes that just insert or delete blank lines.

</dd>
<dt>&lsquo;<samp>--ignore-case</samp>&rsquo;</dt>
<dd>Ignore changes in case; consider upper- and lower-case to be the same.

</dd>
<dt>&lsquo;<samp>--ignore-matching-lines=<var>regexp</var></samp>&rsquo;</dt>
<dd>Ignore changes that just insert or delete lines that match <var>regexp</var>.

</dd>
<dt>&lsquo;<samp>--ignore-space-change</samp>&rsquo;</dt>
<dd>Ignore trailing white space and consider all other sequences of one or
more white space characters to be equivalent.

</dd>
<dt>&lsquo;<samp>--initial-tab</samp>&rsquo;</dt>
<dd>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.

</dd>
<dt>&lsquo;<samp>-L <var>label</var></samp>&rsquo;</dt>
<dd>Use <var>label</var> instead of the file name in the context format
and unified format headers.

</dd>
<dt>&lsquo;<samp>--label=<var>label</var></samp>&rsquo;</dt>
<dd>Use <var>label</var> instead of the file name in the context format
and unified format headers.

</dd>
<dt>&lsquo;<samp>--left-column</samp>&rsquo;</dt>
<dd>Print only the left column of two common lines in side by side format.

</dd>
<dt>&lsquo;<samp>--line-format=<var>format</var></samp>&rsquo;</dt>
<dd>Use <var>format</var> to output all input lines in if-then-else format.
See <a href="#Line-formats">Line formats</a>.

</dd>
<dt>&lsquo;<samp>--minimal</samp>&rsquo;</dt>
<dd>Change the algorithm to perhaps find a smaller set of changes. This
makes <code>diff</code> slower (sometimes much slower).

</dd>
<dt>&lsquo;<samp>-n</samp>&rsquo;</dt>
<dd>Output RCS-format diffs; like &lsquo;<samp>-f</samp>&rsquo; except that each command
specifies the number of lines affected.

</dd>
<dt>&lsquo;<samp>-N</samp>&rsquo;</dt>
<dt>&lsquo;<samp>--new-file</samp>&rsquo;</dt>
<dd>In directory comparison, if a file is found in only one directory,
treat it as present but empty in the other directory.

</dd>
<dt>&lsquo;<samp>--new-group-format=<var>format</var></samp>&rsquo;</dt>
<dd>Use <var>format</var> to output a group of lines taken from just the second
file in if-then-else format. See <a href="#Line-group-formats">Line group formats</a>.

</dd>
<dt>&lsquo;<samp>--new-line-format=<var>format</var></samp>&rsquo;</dt>
<dd>Use <var>format</var> to output a line taken from just the second file in
if-then-else format. See <a href="#Line-formats">Line formats</a>.

</dd>
<dt>&lsquo;<samp>--old-group-format=<var>format</var></samp>&rsquo;</dt>
<dd>Use <var>format</var> to output a group of lines taken from just the first
file in if-then-else format. See <a href="#Line-group-formats">Line group formats</a>.

</dd>
<dt>&lsquo;<samp>--old-line-format=<var>format</var></samp>&rsquo;</dt>
<dd>Use <var>format</var> to output a line taken from just the first file in
if-then-else format. See <a href="#Line-formats">Line formats</a>.

</dd>
<dt>&lsquo;<samp>-p</samp>&rsquo;</dt>
<dd>Show which C function each change is in.

</dd>
<dt>&lsquo;<samp>--rcs</samp>&rsquo;</dt>
<dd>Output RCS-format diffs; like &lsquo;<samp>-f</samp>&rsquo; except that each command
specifies the number of lines affected.

</dd>
<dt>&lsquo;<samp>--report-identical-files</samp>&rsquo;</dt>
<dt>&lsquo;<samp>-s</samp>&rsquo;</dt>
<dd>Report when two files are the same.

</dd>
<dt>&lsquo;<samp>--show-c-function</samp>&rsquo;</dt>
<dd>Show which C function each change is in.

</dd>
<dt>&lsquo;<samp>--show-function-line=<var>regexp</var></samp>&rsquo;</dt>
<dd>In context and unified format, for each hunk of differences, show some
of the last preceding line that matches <var>regexp</var>.

</dd>
<dt>&lsquo;<samp>--side-by-side</samp>&rsquo;</dt>
<dd>Use the side by side output format.

</dd>
<dt>&lsquo;<samp>--speed-large-files</samp>&rsquo;</dt>
<dd>Use heuristics to speed handling of large files that have numerous
scattered small changes.

</dd>
<dt>&lsquo;<samp>--suppress-common-lines</samp>&rsquo;</dt>
<dd>Do not print common lines in side by side format.

</dd>
<dt>&lsquo;<samp>-t</samp>&rsquo;</dt>
<dd>Expand tabs to spaces in the output, to preserve the alignment of tabs
in the input files.

</dd>
<dt>&lsquo;<samp>-T</samp>&rsquo;</dt>
<dd>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.

</dd>
<dt>&lsquo;<samp>--text</samp>&rsquo;</dt>
<dd>Treat all files as text and compare them line-by-line, even if they
do not appear to be text.

</dd>
<dt>&lsquo;<samp>-u</samp>&rsquo;</dt>
<dd>Use the unified output format.

</dd>
<dt>&lsquo;<samp>--unchanged-group-format=<var>format</var></samp>&rsquo;</dt>
<dd>Use <var>format</var> to output a group of common lines taken from both files
in if-then-else format. See <a href="#Line-group-formats">Line group formats</a>.

</dd>
<dt>&lsquo;<samp>--unchanged-line-format=<var>format</var></samp>&rsquo;</dt>
<dd>Use <var>format</var> to output a line common to both files in if-then-else
format. See <a href="#Line-formats">Line formats</a>.

</dd>
<dt>&lsquo;<samp>-U <var>lines</var></samp>&rsquo;</dt>
<dt>&lsquo;<samp>--unified[=<var>lines</var>]</samp>&rsquo;</dt>
<dd>Use the unified output format, showing <var>lines</var> (an integer) lines of
context, or three if <var>lines</var> is not given.
For proper operation, <code>patch</code> typically needs at least two lines of
context.

</dd>
<dt>&lsquo;<samp>-w</samp>&rsquo;</dt>
<dd>Ignore white space when comparing lines.

</dd>
<dt>&lsquo;<samp>-W <var>columns</var></samp>&rsquo;</dt>
<dt>&lsquo;<samp>--width=<var>columns</var></samp>&rsquo;</dt>
<dd>Use an output width of <var>columns</var> in side by side format.

</dd>
<dt>&lsquo;<samp>-y</samp>&rsquo;</dt>
<dd>Use the side by side output format.
</dd>
</dl>

<table class="menu" border="0" cellspacing="0">
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#Line-group-formats" accesskey="1">Line group formats</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">Line group formats
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#Line-formats" accesskey="2">Line formats</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">Line formats
</td></tr>
</table>

<hr>
<div class="header">

Next: <a href="#Line-formats" accesskey="n" rel="next">Line formats</a>, Up: <a href="#diff-options" accesskey="u" rel="up">diff options</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h4 class="appendixsubsubsec">A.11.1.1 Line group formats</h4>

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 <samp>myfile</samp>
with the original version from the repository,
and outputs a merged file in which old regions are
surrounded by &lsquo;<samp>\begin{em}</samp>&rsquo;-&lsquo;<samp>\end{em}</samp>&rsquo; lines, and new
regions are surrounded by &lsquo;<samp>\begin{bf}</samp>&rsquo;-&lsquo;<samp>\end{bf}</samp>&rsquo; lines.

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">cvs diff \
 --old-group-format='\begin{em}
%&lt;\end{em}
' \
 --new-group-format='\begin{bf}
%&gt;\end{bf}
' \
 myfile
</pre></div>

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.

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">cvs diff \
 --old-group-format='\begin{em}
%&lt;\end{em}
' \
 --new-group-format='\begin{bf}
%&gt;\end{bf}
' \
 --unchanged-group-format='%=' \
 --changed-group-format='\begin{em}
%&lt;\end{em}
\begin{bf}
%&gt;\end{bf}
' \
 myfile
</pre></div>

Here is a more advanced example, which outputs a diff listing with
headers containing line numbers in a &ldquo;plain English&rdquo; style.

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">cvs diff \
 --unchanged-group-format='' \
 --old-group-format='-------- %dn line%(n=1?:s) deleted at %df:
%&lt;' \
 --new-group-format='-------- %dN line%(N=1?:s) added after %de:
%&gt;' \
 --changed-group-format='-------- %dn line%(n=1?:s) changed at %df:
%&lt;-------- to:
%&gt;' \
 myfile
</pre></div>

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 <var>format</var>, because it
typically contains shell metacharacters.

<dl compact="compact">
<dt>&lsquo;<samp>--old-group-format=<var>format</var></samp>&rsquo;</dt>
<dd>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.

</dd>
<dt>&lsquo;<samp>--new-group-format=<var>format</var></samp>&rsquo;</dt>
<dd>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.

</dd>
<dt>&lsquo;<samp>--changed-group-format=<var>format</var></samp>&rsquo;</dt>
<dd>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.

</dd>
<dt>&lsquo;<samp>--unchanged-group-format=<var>format</var></samp>&rsquo;</dt>
<dd>These line groups contain lines common to both files. The default
unchanged group format is a format that outputs the line group as-is.
</dd>
</dl>

In a line group format, ordinary characters represent themselves;
conversion specifications start with &lsquo;<samp>%</samp>&rsquo; and have one of the
following forms.

<dl compact="compact">
<dt>&lsquo;<samp>%&lt;</samp>&rsquo;</dt>
<dd>stands for the lines from the first file, including the trailing newline.
Each line is formatted according to the old line format (see <a href="#Line-formats">Line formats</a>).

</dd>
<dt>&lsquo;<samp>%&gt;</samp>&rsquo;</dt>
<dd>stands for the lines from the second file, including the trailing newline.
Each line is formatted according to the new line format.

</dd>
<dt>&lsquo;<samp>%=</samp>&rsquo;</dt>
<dd>stands for the lines common to both files, including the trailing newline.
Each line is formatted according to the unchanged line format.

</dd>
<dt>&lsquo;<samp>%%</samp>&rsquo;</dt>
<dd>stands for &lsquo;<samp>%</samp>&rsquo;.

</dd>
<dt>&lsquo;<samp>%c'<var>C</var>'</samp>&rsquo;</dt>
<dd>where <var>C</var> is a single character, stands for <var>C</var>.
<var>C</var> may not be a backslash or an apostrophe.
For example, &lsquo;<samp>%c':'</samp>&rsquo; stands for a colon, even inside
the then-part of an if-then-else format, which a colon would
normally terminate.

</dd>
<dt>&lsquo;<samp>%c'\<var>O</var>'</samp>&rsquo;</dt>
<dd>where <var>O</var> is a string of 1, 2, or 3 octal digits,
stands for the character with octal code <var>O</var>.
For example, &lsquo;<samp>%c'\0'</samp>&rsquo; stands for a null character.

</dd>
<dt>&lsquo;<samp><var>F</var><var>n</var></samp>&rsquo;</dt>
<dd>where <var>F</var> is a <code>printf</code> conversion specification and <var>n</var> is one
of the following letters, stands for <var>n</var>&rsquo;s value formatted with <var>F</var>.

<dl compact="compact">
<dt>&lsquo;<samp>e</samp>&rsquo;</dt>
<dd>The line number of the line just before the group in the old file.

</dd>
<dt>&lsquo;<samp>f</samp>&rsquo;</dt>
<dd>The line number of the first line in the group in the old file;
equals <var>e</var> + 1.

</dd>
<dt>&lsquo;<samp>l</samp>&rsquo;</dt>
<dd>The line number of the last line in the group in the old file.

</dd>
<dt>&lsquo;<samp>m</samp>&rsquo;</dt>
<dd>The line number of the line just after the group in the old file;
equals <var>l</var> + 1.

</dd>
<dt>&lsquo;<samp>n</samp>&rsquo;</dt>
<dd>The number of lines in the group in the old file; equals <var>l</var> - <var>f</var> + 1.

</dd>
<dt>&lsquo;<samp>E, F, L, M, N</samp>&rsquo;</dt>
<dd>Likewise, for lines in the new file.

</dd>
</dl>

The <code>printf</code> conversion specification can be &lsquo;<samp>%d</samp>&rsquo;,
&lsquo;<samp>%o</samp>&rsquo;, &lsquo;<samp>%x</samp>&rsquo;, or &lsquo;<samp>%X</samp>&rsquo;, specifying decimal, octal,
lower case hexadecimal, or upper case hexadecimal output
respectively. After the &lsquo;<samp>%</samp>&rsquo; the following options can appear in
sequence: a &lsquo;<samp>-</samp>&rsquo; 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, &lsquo;<samp>%5dN</samp>&rsquo; prints the number of new lines in the group
in a field of width 5 characters, using the <code>printf</code> format <code>&quot;%5d&quot;</code>.

</dd>
<dt>&lsquo;<samp>(<var>A</var>=<var>B</var>?<var>T</var>:<var>E</var>)</samp>&rsquo;</dt>
<dd>If <var>A</var> equals <var>B</var> then <var>T</var> else <var>E</var>.
<var>A</var> and <var>B</var> are each either a decimal constant
or a single letter interpreted as above.
This format spec is equivalent to <var>T</var> if
<var>A</var>&rsquo;s value equals <var>B</var>&rsquo;s; otherwise it is equivalent to <var>E</var>.

For example, &lsquo;<samp>%(N=0?no:%dN) line%(N=1?:s)</samp>&rsquo; is equivalent to
&lsquo;<samp>no lines</samp>&rsquo; if <var>N</var> (the number of lines in the group in the
new file) is 0, to &lsquo;<samp>1 line</samp>&rsquo; if <var>N</var> is 1, and to &lsquo;<samp>%dN lines</samp>&rsquo;
otherwise.
</dd>
</dl>

<hr>
<div class="header">

Previous: <a href="#Line-group-formats" accesskey="p" rel="prev">Line group formats</a>, Up: <a href="#diff-options" accesskey="u" rel="up">diff options</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h4 class="appendixsubsubsec">A.11.1.2 Line formats</h4>

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 &lsquo;<samp>-</samp>&rsquo; for deleted lines, &lsquo;<samp>|</samp>&rsquo; for added lines, and a space
for unchanged lines. The formats contain newline characters where
newlines are desired on output.

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">cvs diff \
 --old-line-format='-%l
' \
 --new-line-format='|%l
' \
 --unchanged-line-format=' %l
' \
 myfile
</pre></div>

To specify a line format, use one of the following options. You should
quote <var>format</var>, since it often contains shell metacharacters.

<dl compact="compact">
<dt>&lsquo;<samp>--old-line-format=<var>format</var></samp>&rsquo;</dt>
<dd>formats lines just from the first file.

</dd>
<dt>&lsquo;<samp>--new-line-format=<var>format</var></samp>&rsquo;</dt>
<dd>formats lines just from the second file.

</dd>
<dt>&lsquo;<samp>--unchanged-line-format=<var>format</var></samp>&rsquo;</dt>
<dd>formats lines common to both files.

</dd>
<dt>&lsquo;<samp>--line-format=<var>format</var></samp>&rsquo;</dt>
<dd>formats all lines; in effect, it sets all three above options simultaneously.
</dd>
</dl>

In a line format, ordinary characters represent themselves;
conversion specifications start with &lsquo;<samp>%</samp>&rsquo; and have one of the
following forms.

<dl compact="compact">
<dt>&lsquo;<samp>%l</samp>&rsquo;</dt>
<dd>stands for the contents of the line, not counting its trailing
newline (if any). This format ignores whether the line is incomplete.

</dd>
<dt>&lsquo;<samp>%L</samp>&rsquo;</dt>
<dd>stands for the contents of the line, including its trailing newline
(if any). If a line is incomplete, this format preserves its
incompleteness.

</dd>
<dt>&lsquo;<samp>%%</samp>&rsquo;</dt>
<dd>stands for &lsquo;<samp>%</samp>&rsquo;.

</dd>
<dt>&lsquo;<samp>%c'<var>C</var>'</samp>&rsquo;</dt>
<dd>where <var>C</var> is a single character, stands for <var>C</var>.
<var>C</var> may not be a backslash or an apostrophe.
For example, &lsquo;<samp>%c':'</samp>&rsquo; stands for a colon.

</dd>
<dt>&lsquo;<samp>%c'\<var>O</var>'</samp>&rsquo;</dt>
<dd>where <var>O</var> is a string of 1, 2, or 3 octal digits,
stands for the character with octal code <var>O</var>.
For example, &lsquo;<samp>%c'\0'</samp>&rsquo; stands for a null character.

</dd>
<dt>&lsquo;<samp><var>F</var>n</samp>&rsquo;</dt>
<dd>where <var>F</var> is a <code>printf</code> conversion specification,
stands for the line number formatted with <var>F</var>.
For example, &lsquo;<samp>%.5dn</samp>&rsquo; prints the line number using the
<code>printf</code> format <code>&quot;%.5d&quot;</code>. See <a href="#Line-group-formats">Line group formats</a>, for
more about printf conversion specifications.

</dd>
</dl>

The default line format is &lsquo;<samp>%l</samp>&rsquo; 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 &lsquo;<samp>%l</samp>&rsquo; or &lsquo;<samp>%L</samp>&rsquo; in a line
format is just after a tab stop (e.g. by preceding &lsquo;<samp>%l</samp>&rsquo; or
&lsquo;<samp>%L</samp>&rsquo; with a tab character), or you should use the &lsquo;<samp>-t</samp>&rsquo; or
&lsquo;<samp>--expand-tabs</samp>&rsquo; 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 <code>diff</code>&rsquo;s normal format. You can tailor this command
to get fine control over <code>diff</code>&rsquo;s output.

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">cvs diff \
 --old-line-format='&lt; %l
' \
 --new-line-format='&gt; %l
' \
 --old-group-format='%df%(f=l?:,%dl)d%dE
%&lt;' \
 --new-group-format='%dea%dF%(F=L?:,%dL)
%&gt;' \
 --changed-group-format='%df%(f=l?:,%dl)c%dF%(F=L?:,%dL)
%&lt;---
%&gt;' \
 --unchanged-group-format='' \
 myfile
</pre></div>

<hr>
<div class="header">

Previous: <a href="#diff-options" accesskey="p" rel="prev">diff options</a>, Up: <a href="#diff" accesskey="u" rel="up">diff</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h4 class="appendixsubsec">A.11.2 diff examples</h4>

The following line produces a Unidiff (&lsquo;<samp>-u</samp>&rsquo; flag)
between revision 1.14 and 1.19 of
<samp>backend.c</samp>. Due to the &lsquo;<samp>-kk</samp>&rsquo; flag no
keywords are substituted, so differences that only depend
on keyword substitution are ignored.

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">$ cvs diff -kk -u -r 1.14 -r 1.19 backend.c
</pre></div>

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:

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">$ cvs diff -r RELEASE_1_0 -r EXPR1
</pre></div>

A command like this can be used to produce a context
diff between two releases:

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">$ cvs diff -c -r RELEASE_1_0 -r RELEASE_1_1 &gt; diffs
</pre></div>

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.

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">$ cvs diff -u | less
</pre></div>

<hr>
<div class="header">

Next: <a href="#history" accesskey="n" rel="next">history</a>, Previous: <a href="#diff" accesskey="p" rel="prev">diff</a>, Up: <a href="#CVS-commands" accesskey="u" rel="up">CVS commands</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h3 class="appendixsec">A.12 export&mdash;Export sources from CVS, similar to checkout</h3>

<ul>
<li> Synopsis: export [-flNnR] (-r rev[:date] | -D date) [-k subst] [-d dir] module&hellip;
</li><li> Requires: repository.
</li><li> Changes: current directory.
</li></ul>

This command is a variant of <code>checkout</code>; use it
when you want a copy of the source for module without
the CVS administrative directories. For example, you
might use <code>export</code> to prepare source for shipment
off-site. This command requires that you specify a
date or tag (with &lsquo;<samp>-D</samp>&rsquo; or &lsquo;<samp>-r</samp>&rsquo;), 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 &lsquo;<samp>-kv</samp>&rsquo; with <code>cvs
export</code>. 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&rsquo;t handle an export containing binary
files correctly. Also be aware that after having used
&lsquo;<samp>-kv</samp>&rsquo;, one can no longer use the <code>ident</code>
command (which is part of the RCS suite&mdash;see
ident(1)) which looks for keyword strings. If
you want to be able to use <code>ident</code> you must not
use &lsquo;<samp>-kv</samp>&rsquo;.

<table class="menu" border="0" cellspacing="0">
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#export-options" accesskey="1">export options</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">export options
</td></tr>
</table>

<hr>
<div class="header">

Up: <a href="#export" accesskey="u" rel="up">export</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h4 class="appendixsubsec">A.12.1 export options</h4>

These standard options are supported by <code>export</code>
(see <a href="#Common-options">Common options</a>, for a complete description of
them):

<dl compact="compact">
<dt><code>-D <var>date</var></code></dt>
<dd>Use the most recent revision no later than <var>date</var>.

</dd>
<dt><code>-f</code></dt>
<dd>If no matching revision is found, retrieve the most
recent revision (instead of ignoring the file).

</dd>
<dt><code>-l</code></dt>
<dd>Local; run only in current working directory.

</dd>
<dt><code>-n</code></dt>
<dd>Do not run any checkout program.

</dd>
<dt><code>-R</code></dt>
<dd>Export directories recursively. This is on by default.

</dd>
<dt><code>-r <var>tag</var>[:<var>date</var>]</code></dt>
<dd>Export the revision specified by <var>tag</var> or, when <var>date</var> is specified
and <var>tag</var> is a branch tag, the version from the branch <var>tag</var> as it
existed on <var>date</var>. See <a href="#Common-options">Common options</a>.
</dd>
</dl>

In addition, these options (that are common to
<code>checkout</code> and <code>export</code>) are also supported:

<dl compact="compact">
<dt><code>-d <var>dir</var></code></dt>
<dd>Create a directory called <var>dir</var> for the working
files, instead of using the module name.
See <a href="#checkout-options">checkout options</a>, for complete details on how
CVS handles this flag.

</dd>
<dt><code>-k <var>subst</var></code></dt>
<dd>Set keyword expansion mode (see <a href="#Substitution-modes">Substitution modes</a>).

</dd>
<dt><code>-N</code></dt>
<dd>Only useful together with &lsquo;<samp>-d <var>dir</var></samp>&rsquo;.
See <a href="#checkout-options">checkout options</a>, for complete details on how
CVS handles this flag.
</dd>
</dl>

<hr>
<div class="header">

Next: <a href="#import" accesskey="n" rel="next">import</a>, Previous: <a href="#export" accesskey="p" rel="prev">export</a>, Up: <a href="#CVS-commands" accesskey="u" rel="up">CVS commands</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h3 class="appendixsec">A.13 history&mdash;Show repository access history</h3>

<ul>
<li> Synopsis: history [-report] [-flags] [-options args] [files&hellip;]
</li><li> Requires: the file <samp>$CVSROOT/CVSROOT/history</samp>
</li><li> Changes: nothing.
</li></ul>

CVS can keep a history log that tracks each use of most CVS
commands. You can use <code>history</code> to display this information in
various formats.

To enable logging, the &lsquo;<samp>LogHistory</samp>&rsquo; config option must be set to
some value other than the empty string and the history file specified by
the &lsquo;<samp>HistoryLogPath</samp>&rsquo; option must be writable by all users who may run
the CVS executable (see <a href="#config">config</a>).

To enable the <code>history</code> command, logging must be enabled as above and
the &lsquo;<samp>HistorySearchPath</samp>&rsquo; config option (see <a href="#config">config</a>) 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 <code>history</code> command.

Creating a repository via the <code>cvs init</code> command will enable logging of
all possible events to a single history log file
(<samp>$CVSROOT/CVSROOT/history</samp>) with read and write permissions for all
users (see <a href="#Creating-a-repository">Creating a repository</a>).

Note: <code>history</code> uses &lsquo;<samp>-f</samp>&rsquo;, &lsquo;<samp>-l</samp>&rsquo;,
&lsquo;<samp>-n</samp>&rsquo;, and &lsquo;<samp>-p</samp>&rsquo; in ways that conflict with the
normal use inside CVS (see <a href="#Common-options">Common options</a>).

<table class="menu" border="0" cellspacing="0">
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#history-options" accesskey="1">history options</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">history options
</td></tr>
</table>

<hr>
<div class="header">

Up: <a href="#history" accesskey="u" rel="up">history</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h4 class="appendixsubsec">A.13.1 history options</h4>

Several options (shown above as &lsquo;<samp>-report</samp>&rsquo;) control what
kind of report is generated:

<dl compact="compact">
<dt><code>-c</code></dt>
<dd>Report on each time commit was used (i.e., each time
the repository was modified).

</dd>
<dt><code>-e</code></dt>
<dd>Everything (all record types). Equivalent to
specifying &lsquo;<samp>-x</samp>&rsquo; with all record types. Of course,
&lsquo;<samp>-e</samp>&rsquo; 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&rsquo;ll want to specify &lsquo;<samp>-x</samp>&rsquo;.

</dd>
<dt><code>-m <var>module</var></code></dt>
<dd>Report on a particular module. (You can meaningfully
use &lsquo;<samp>-m</samp>&rsquo; more than once on the command line.)

</dd>
<dt><code>-o</code></dt>
<dd>Report on checked-out modules. This is the default report type.

</dd>
<dt><code>-T</code></dt>
<dd>Report on all tags.

</dd>
<dt><code>-x <var>type</var></code></dt>
<dd>Extract a particular set of record types <var>type</var> from the CVS
history. The types are indicated by single letters,
which you may specify in combination.

Certain commands have a single record type:

<dl compact="compact">
<dt><code>F</code></dt>
<dd>release
</dd>
<dt><code>O</code></dt>
<dd>checkout
</dd>
<dt><code>E</code></dt>
<dd>export
</dd>
<dt><code>T</code></dt>
<dd>rtag
</dd>
</dl>

One of five record types may result from an update:

<dl compact="compact">
<dt><code>C</code></dt>
<dd>A merge was necessary but collisions were
detected (requiring manual merging).
</dd>
<dt><code>G</code></dt>
<dd>A merge was necessary and it succeeded.
</dd>
<dt><code>U</code></dt>
<dd>A working file was copied from the repository.
</dd>
<dt><code>P</code></dt>
<dd>A working file was patched to match the repository.
</dd>
<dt><code>W</code></dt>
<dd>The working copy of a file was deleted during
update (because it was gone from the repository).
</dd>
</dl>

One of three record types results from commit:

<dl compact="compact">
<dt><code>A</code></dt>
<dd>A file was added for the first time.
</dd>
<dt><code>M</code></dt>
<dd>A file was modified.
</dd>
<dt><code>R</code></dt>
<dd>A file was removed.
</dd>
</dl>
</dd>
</dl>

The options shown as &lsquo;<samp>-flags</samp>&rsquo; constrain or expand
the report without requiring option arguments:

<dl compact="compact">
<dt><code>-a</code></dt>
<dd>Show data for all users (the default is to show data
only for the user executing <code>history</code>).

</dd>
<dt><code>-l</code></dt>
<dd>Show last modification only.

</dd>
<dt><code>-w</code></dt>
<dd>Show only the records for modifications done from the
same working directory where <code>history</code> is
executing.
</dd>
</dl>

The options shown as &lsquo;<samp>-options <var>args</var></samp>&rsquo; constrain the report
based on an argument:

<dl compact="compact">
<dt><code>-b <var>str</var></code></dt>
<dd>Show data back to a record containing the string
<var>str</var> in either the module name, the file name, or
the repository path.

</dd>
<dt><code>-D <var>date</var></code></dt>
<dd>Show data since <var>date</var>. This is slightly different
from the normal use of &lsquo;<samp>-D <var>date</var></samp>&rsquo;, which
selects the newest revision older than <var>date</var>.

</dd>
<dt><code>-f <var>file</var></code></dt>
<dd>Show data for a particular file
(you can specify several &lsquo;<samp>-f</samp>&rsquo; options on the same command line).
This is equivalent to specifying the file on the command line.

</dd>
<dt><code>-n <var>module</var></code></dt>
<dd>Show data for a particular module
(you can specify several &lsquo;<samp>-n</samp>&rsquo; options on the same command line).

</dd>
<dt><code>-p <var>repository</var></code></dt>
<dd>Show data for a particular source repository (you
can specify several &lsquo;<samp>-p</samp>&rsquo; options on the same command
line).

</dd>
<dt><code>-r <var>rev</var></code></dt>
<dd>Show records referring to revisions since the revision
or tag named <var>rev</var> appears in individual RCS
files. Each RCS file is searched for the revision or
tag.

</dd>
<dt><code>-t <var>tag</var></code></dt>
<dd>Show records since tag <var>tag</var> was last added to the
history file. This differs from the &lsquo;<samp>-r</samp>&rsquo; flag
above in that it reads only the history file, not the
RCS files, and is much faster.

</dd>
<dt><code>-u <var>name</var></code></dt>
<dd>Show records for user <var>name</var>.

</dd>
<dt><code>-z <var>timezone</var></code></dt>
<dd>Show times in the selected records using the specified
time zone instead of UTC.
</dd>
</dl>

<hr>
<div class="header">

Next: <a href="#log" accesskey="n" rel="next">log</a>, Previous: <a href="#history" accesskey="p" rel="prev">history</a>, Up: <a href="#CVS-commands" accesskey="u" rel="up">CVS commands</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h3 class="appendixsec">A.14 import&mdash;Import sources into CVS, using vendor branches</h3>

<ul>
<li> Synopsis: import [-options] repository vendortag releasetag&hellip;
</li><li> Requires: Repository, source distribution directory.
</li><li> Changes: repository.
</li></ul>

Use <code>import</code> 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 <a href="#Tracking-sources">Tracking sources</a>, for
a discussion on this subject.

The <var>repository</var> 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 &lsquo;<samp>checkout
-j</samp>&rsquo; to reconcile the differences, as import instructs
you to do.

If CVS decides a file should be ignored
(see <a href="#cvsignore">cvsignore</a>), it does not import it and prints
&lsquo;<samp>I </samp>&rsquo; followed by the filename (see <a href="#import-output">import output</a>, for a
complete description of the output).

If the file <samp>$CVSROOT/CVSROOT/cvswrappers</samp> 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 <a href="#Wrappers">Wrappers</a>.

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.
<var>repository</var> is needed to identify the collection
of source. <var>vendortag</var> is a tag for the entire
branch (e.g., for 1.1.1). You must also specify at
least one <var>releasetag</var> to uniquely identify the files at
the leaves created each time you execute <code>import</code>. The
<var>releasetag</var> should be new, not previously existing in the
repository file, and uniquely identify the imported release,

Note that <code>import</code> 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 <a href="#Getting-the-source">Getting the source</a>).

<table class="menu" border="0" cellspacing="0">
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#import-options" accesskey="1">import options</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">import options
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#import-output" accesskey="2">import output</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">import output
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#import-examples" accesskey="3">import examples</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">import examples
</td></tr>
</table>

<hr>
<div class="header">

Next: <a href="#import-output" accesskey="n" rel="next">import output</a>, Up: <a href="#import" accesskey="u" rel="up">import</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h4 class="appendixsubsec">A.14.1 import options</h4>

This standard option is supported by <code>import</code>
(see <a href="#Common-options">Common options</a>, for a complete description):

<dl compact="compact">
<dt><code>-m <var>message</var></code></dt>
<dd>Use <var>message</var> as log information, instead of
invoking an editor.
</dd>
</dl>

There are the following additional special options.

<dl compact="compact">
<dt><code>-b <var>branch</var></code></dt>
<dd>See <a href="#Multiple-vendor-branches">Multiple vendor branches</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>-k <var>subst</var></code></dt>
<dd>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 <a href="#Substitution-modes">Substitution modes</a>, for a
list of valid &lsquo;<samp>-k</samp>&rsquo; settings.

</dd>
<dt><code>-I <var>name</var></code></dt>
<dd>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 &lsquo;-I !&rsquo;.

<var>name</var> can be a file name pattern of the same type
that you can specify in the <samp>.cvsignore</samp> file.
See <a href="#cvsignore">cvsignore</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>-W <var>spec</var></code></dt>
<dd>Specify file names that should be filtered during
import. You can use this option repeatedly.

<var>spec</var> can be a file name pattern of the same type
that you can specify in the <samp>.cvswrappers</samp>
file. See <a href="#Wrappers">Wrappers</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>-X</code></dt>
<dd>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 <code>dead</code>, resetting the new file&rsquo;s default branch,
and placing the file in the Attic (see <a href="#Attic">Attic</a>) directory.

Setting the &lsquo;<samp>ImportNewFilesToVendorBranchOnly</samp>&rsquo; option in
CVSROOT/config (see <a href="#config">config</a>) forces use of this option on
a repository-wide basis.
</dd>
</dl>

<hr>
<div class="header">

Next: <a href="#import-examples" accesskey="n" rel="next">import examples</a>, Previous: <a href="#import-options" accesskey="p" rel="prev">import options</a>, Up: <a href="#import" accesskey="u" rel="up">import</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h4 class="appendixsubsec">A.14.2 import output</h4>

<code>import</code> keeps you informed of its progress by printing a line
for each file, preceded by one character indicating the status of the file:

<dl compact="compact">
<dt><code>U <var>file</var></code></dt>
<dd>The file already exists in the repository and has not been locally
modified; a new revision has been created (if necessary).

</dd>
<dt><code>N <var>file</var></code></dt>
<dd>The file is a new file which has been added to the repository.

</dd>
<dt><code>C <var>file</var></code></dt>
<dd>The file already exists in the repository but has been locally modified;
you will have to merge the changes.

</dd>
<dt><code>I <var>file</var></code></dt>
<dd>The file is being ignored (see <a href="#cvsignore">cvsignore</a>).



</dd>
<dt><code>L <var>file</var></code></dt>
<dd>The file is a symbolic link; <code>cvs import</code> 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 <samp>modules</samp> file can be used
to recreate symbolic links on checkout, update, etc.;
see <a href="#modules">modules</a>.)
</dd>
</dl>

<hr>
<div class="header">

Previous: <a href="#import-output" accesskey="p" rel="prev">import output</a>, Up: <a href="#import" accesskey="u" rel="up">import</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h4 class="appendixsubsec">A.14.3 import examples</h4>

See <a href="#Tracking-sources">Tracking sources</a>, and <a href="#From-files">From files</a>.

<hr>
<div class="header">

Next: <a href="#ls-_0026-rls" accesskey="n" rel="next">ls &amp; rls</a>, Previous: <a href="#import" accesskey="p" rel="prev">import</a>, Up: <a href="#CVS-commands" accesskey="u" rel="up">CVS commands</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h3 class="appendixsec">A.15 log&mdash;Print out history information for files</h3>

<ul>
<li> Synopsis: log [options] [files&hellip;]

rlog [options] [files&hellip;]
</li><li> Requires: repository, working directory.
</li><li> Changes: nothing.
</li></ul>

Display log information for files. <code>log</code> used to
call the RCS utility <code>rlog</code>. 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 <code>$TZ</code> environment variable, which can be set to
govern how <code>log</code> displays dates.

Note: <code>log</code> uses &lsquo;<samp>-R</samp>&rsquo; in a way that conflicts
with the normal use inside CVS (see <a href="#Common-options">Common options</a>).

<table class="menu" border="0" cellspacing="0">
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#log-options" accesskey="1">log options</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">log options
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#log-examples" accesskey="2">log examples</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">log examples
</td></tr>
</table>

<hr>
<div class="header">

Next: <a href="#log-examples" accesskey="n" rel="next">log examples</a>, Up: <a href="#log" accesskey="u" rel="up">log</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h4 class="appendixsubsec">A.15.1 log options</h4>

By default, <code>log</code> prints all information that is
available. All other options restrict the output. Note that the revision
selection options (<code>-d</code>, <code>-r</code>, <code>-s</code>, and <code>-w</code>) 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
<code>log</code> header fields (<code>-b</code>, <code>-h</code>, <code>-R</code>, and <code>-t</code>)
unless the <code>-S</code> option is also specified.

<dl compact="compact">
<dt><code>-b</code></dt>
<dd>Print information about the revisions on the default
branch, normally the highest branch on the trunk.

</dd>
<dt><code>-d <var>dates</var></code></dt>
<dd>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 &lsquo;<samp>-D</samp>&rsquo; option to
many other CVS commands (see <a href="#Common-options">Common options</a>).
Dates can be combined into ranges as follows:

<dl compact="compact">
<dt><code><var>d1</var>&lt;<var>d2</var></code></dt>
<dt><code><var>d2</var>&gt;<var>d1</var></code></dt>
<dd>Select the revisions that were deposited between
<var>d1</var> and <var>d2</var>.

</dd>
<dt><code>&lt;<var>d</var></code></dt>
<dt><code><var>d</var>&gt;</code></dt>
<dd>Select all revisions dated <var>d</var> or earlier.

</dd>
<dt><code><var>d</var>&lt;</code></dt>
<dt><code>&gt;<var>d</var></code></dt>
<dd>Select all revisions dated <var>d</var> or later.

</dd>
<dt><code><var>d</var></code></dt>
<dd>Select the single, latest revision dated <var>d</var> or
earlier.
</dd>
</dl>

The &lsquo;<samp>&gt;</samp>&rsquo; or &lsquo;<samp>&lt;</samp>&rsquo; characters may be followed by
&lsquo;<samp>=</samp>&rsquo; to indicate an inclusive range rather than an
exclusive one.

Note that the separator is a semicolon (;).

</dd>
<dt><code>-h</code></dt>
<dd>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.

</dd>
<dt><code>-l</code></dt>
<dd>Local; run only in current working directory. (Default
is to run recursively).

</dd>
<dt><code>-N</code></dt>
<dd>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 &quot;more&quot;&rsquo;ing over 3 pages of tag
information, the log information is presented without
tags at all.

</dd>
<dt><code>-R</code></dt>
<dd>Print only the name of the RCS file.

</dd>
<dt><code>-r<var>revisions</var></code></dt>
<dd>Print information about revisions given in the
comma-separated list <var>revisions</var> of revisions and
ranges. The following table explains the available
range formats:

<dl compact="compact">
<dt><code><var>rev1</var>:<var>rev2</var></code></dt>
<dd>Revisions <var>rev1</var> to <var>rev2</var> (which must be on
the same branch).

</dd>
<dt><code><var>rev1</var>::<var>rev2</var></code></dt>
<dd>The same, but excluding <var>rev1</var>.

</dd>
<dt><code>:<var>rev</var></code></dt>
<dt><code>::<var>rev</var></code></dt>
<dd>Revisions from the beginning of the branch up to
and including <var>rev</var>.

</dd>
<dt><code><var>rev</var>:</code></dt>
<dd>Revisions starting with <var>rev</var> to the end of the
branch containing <var>rev</var>.

</dd>
<dt><code><var>rev</var>::</code></dt>
<dd>Revisions starting just after <var>rev</var> to the end of the
branch containing <var>rev</var>.

</dd>
<dt><code><var>branch</var></code></dt>
<dd>An argument that is a branch means all revisions on
that branch.

</dd>
<dt><code><var>branch1</var>:<var>branch2</var></code></dt>
<dt><code><var>branch1</var>::<var>branch2</var></code></dt>
<dd>A range of branches means all revisions
on the branches in that range.

</dd>
<dt><code><var>branch</var>.</code></dt>
<dd>The latest revision in <var>branch</var>.
</dd>
</dl>

A bare &lsquo;<samp>-r</samp>&rsquo; with no revisions means the latest
revision on the default branch, normally the trunk.
There can be no space between the &lsquo;<samp>-r</samp>&rsquo; option and
its argument.

</dd>
<dt><code>-S</code></dt>
<dd>Suppress the header if no revisions are selected.

</dd>
<dt><code>-s <var>states</var></code></dt>
<dd>Print information about revisions whose state
attributes match one of the states given in the
comma-separated list <var>states</var>. Individual states may
be any text string, though CVS commonly only uses two
states, &lsquo;<samp>Exp</samp>&rsquo; and &lsquo;<samp>dead</samp>&rsquo;. See <a href="#admin-options">admin options</a>
for more information.

</dd>
<dt><code>-t</code></dt>
<dd>Print the same as &lsquo;<samp>-h</samp>&rsquo;, plus the descriptive text.

</dd>
<dt><code>-w<var>logins</var></code></dt>
<dd>Print information about revisions checked in by users
with login names appearing in the comma-separated list
<var>logins</var>. If <var>logins</var> is omitted, the user&rsquo;s
login is assumed. There can be no space between the
&lsquo;<samp>-w</samp>&rsquo; option and its argument.
</dd>
</dl>

<code>log</code> prints the intersection of the revisions
selected with the options &lsquo;<samp>-d</samp>&rsquo;, &lsquo;<samp>-s</samp>&rsquo;, and
&lsquo;<samp>-w</samp>&rsquo;, intersected with the union of the revisions
selected by &lsquo;<samp>-b</samp>&rsquo; and &lsquo;<samp>-r</samp>&rsquo;.

<hr>
<div class="header">

Previous: <a href="#log-options" accesskey="p" rel="prev">log options</a>, Up: <a href="#log" accesskey="u" rel="up">log</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h4 class="appendixsubsec">A.15.2 log examples</h4>

Since <code>log</code> 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 <code>$TZ</code> environment
variable before invoking CVS:

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">$ TZ=UTC cvs log foo.c
$ TZ=EST cvs log bar.c
</pre></div>

(If you are using a <code>csh</code>-style shell, like <code>tcsh</code>,
you would need to prefix the examples above with <code>env</code>.)

<hr>
<div class="header">

Next: <a href="#rdiff" accesskey="n" rel="next">rdiff</a>, Previous: <a href="#log" accesskey="p" rel="prev">log</a>, Up: <a href="#CVS-commands" accesskey="u" rel="up">CVS commands</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h3 class="appendixsec">A.16 ls &amp; rls&mdash;List files in the repository</h3>

<ul>
<li> ls [-e | -l] [-RP] [-r tag[:date]] [-D date] [path&hellip;]

rls [-e | -l] [-RP] [-r tag[:date]] [-D date] [path&hellip;]
</li><li> Requires: repository for <code>rls</code>, repository &amp; working directory for
<code>ls</code>.
</li><li> Changes: nothing.
</li><li> Synonym: <code>dir</code> &amp; <code>list</code> are synonyms for <code>ls</code> and <code>rdir</code>
&amp; <code>rlist</code> are synonyms for <code>rls</code>.
</li></ul>

The <code>ls</code> and <code>rls</code> commands are used to list
files and directories in the repository.

By default <code>ls</code> lists the files and directories
that belong in your working directory, what would be
there after an <code>update</code>.

By default <code>rls</code> 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
<code>ls</code> and the topmost directory of the repository
for <code>rls</code>. Neither is recursive by default.

<table class="menu" border="0" cellspacing="0">
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#ls-_0026-rls-options" accesskey="1">ls &amp; rls options</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">ls &amp; rls options
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#rls-examples" accesskey="2">rls examples</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top"></td></tr>
</table>

<hr>
<div class="header">

Next: <a href="#rls-examples" accesskey="n" rel="next">rls examples</a>, Up: <a href="#ls-_0026-rls" accesskey="u" rel="up">ls &amp; rls</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h4 class="appendixsubsec">A.16.1 ls &amp; rls options</h4>

These standard options are supported by <code>ls</code> &amp; <code>rls</code>:

<dl compact="compact">
<dt><code>-d</code></dt>
<dd>Show dead revisions (with tag when specified).

</dd>
<dt><code>-e</code></dt>
<dd>Display in CVS/Entries format. This format is meant to remain easily parsable
by automation.

</dd>
<dt><code>-l</code></dt>
<dd>Display all details.

</dd>
<dt><code>-P</code></dt>
<dd>Don&rsquo;t list contents of empty directories when recursing.

</dd>
<dt><code>-R</code></dt>
<dd>List recursively.

</dd>
<dt><code>-r <var>tag</var>[:<var>date</var>]</code></dt>
<dd>Show files specified by <var>tag</var> or, when <var>date</var> is specified
and <var>tag</var> is a branch tag, the version from the branch <var>tag</var> as it
existed on <var>date</var>. See <a href="#Common-options">Common options</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>-D <var>date</var></code></dt>
<dd>Show files from date.
</dd>
</dl>

<hr>
<div class="header">

Previous: <a href="#ls-_0026-rls-options" accesskey="p" rel="prev">ls &amp; rls options</a>, Up: <a href="#ls-_0026-rls" accesskey="u" rel="up">ls &amp; rls</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h4 class="appendixsubsec">A.16.2 rls examples</h4>

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">$ cvs rls
cvs rls: Listing module: `.'
CVSROOT
first-dir
</pre></div>

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">$ cvs rls CVSROOT
cvs rls: Listing module: `CVSROOT'
checkoutlist
commitinfo
config
cvswrappers
loginfo
modules
notify
rcsinfo
taginfo
verifymsg

</pre></div>

<hr>
<div class="header">

Next: <a href="#release" accesskey="n" rel="next">release</a>, Previous: <a href="#ls-_0026-rls" accesskey="p" rel="prev">ls &amp; rls</a>, Up: <a href="#CVS-commands" accesskey="u" rel="up">CVS commands</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h3 class="appendixsec">A.17 rdiff&mdash;Create &rsquo;patch&rsquo; format diffs between revisions</h3>

<ul>
<li> rdiff [-flags] [-V vn] (-r tag1[:date1] | -D date1) [-r tag2[:date2] | -D date2] modules&hellip;
</li><li> Requires: repository.
</li><li> Changes: nothing.
</li><li> Synonym: patch
</li></ul>

Builds a Larry Wall format patch(1) file between two
releases, that can be fed directly into the <code>patch</code>
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&rsquo;t
require a prior checkout.) The diff output is sent to
the standard output device.

You can specify (using the standard &lsquo;<samp>-r</samp>&rsquo; and
&lsquo;<samp>-D</samp>&rsquo; 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 &lsquo;<samp>-p</samp>&rsquo; option to the <code>patch</code> command when
patching the old sources, so that <code>patch</code> is able to find
the files that are located in other directories.

<table class="menu" border="0" cellspacing="0">
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#rdiff-options" accesskey="1">rdiff options</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">rdiff options
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#rdiff-examples" accesskey="2">rdiff examples</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">rdiff examples
</td></tr>
</table>

<hr>
<div class="header">

Next: <a href="#rdiff-examples" accesskey="n" rel="next">rdiff examples</a>, Up: <a href="#rdiff" accesskey="u" rel="up">rdiff</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h4 class="appendixsubsec">A.17.1 rdiff options</h4>

These standard options are supported by <code>rdiff</code>
(see <a href="#Common-options">Common options</a>, for a complete description of
them):

<dl compact="compact">
<dt><code>-D <var>date</var></code></dt>
<dd>Use the most recent revision no later than <var>date</var>.

</dd>
<dt><code>-f</code></dt>
<dd>If no matching revision is found, retrieve the most
recent revision (instead of ignoring the file).

</dd>
<dt><code>-k <var>kflag</var></code></dt>
<dd>Process keywords according to <var>kflag</var>. See
<a href="#Keyword-substitution">Keyword substitution</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>-l</code></dt>
<dd>Local; don&rsquo;t descend subdirectories.

</dd>
<dt><code>-R</code></dt>
<dd>Examine directories recursively. This option is on by default.

</dd>
<dt><code>-r <var>tag</var></code></dt>
<dd>Use the revision specified by <var>tag</var>, or when <var>date</var> is specified
and <var>tag</var> is a branch tag, the version from the branch <var>tag</var> as it
existed on <var>date</var>. See <a href="#Common-options">Common options</a>.
</dd>
</dl>

In addition to the above, these options are available:

<dl compact="compact">
<dt><code>-c</code></dt>
<dd>Use the context diff format. This is the default format.

</dd>
<dt><code>-p</code></dt>
<dd>Show which C function each change is in.

</dd>
<dt><code>-s</code></dt>
<dd>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.

</dd>
<dt><code>-t</code></dt>
<dd>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.

</dd>
<dt><code>-u</code></dt>
<dd>Use the unidiff format for the context diffs.
Remember that old versions
of the <code>patch</code> program can&rsquo;t handle the unidiff
format, so if you plan to post this patch to the net
you should probably not use &lsquo;<samp>-u</samp>&rsquo;.

</dd>
<dt><code>-V <var>vn</var></code></dt>
<dd>Expand keywords according to the rules current in
RCS version <var>vn</var> (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.
</dd>
</dl>

<hr>
<div class="header">

Previous: <a href="#rdiff-options" accesskey="p" rel="prev">rdiff options</a>, Up: <a href="#rdiff" accesskey="u" rel="up">rdiff</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h4 class="appendixsubsec">A.17.2 rdiff examples</h4>

Suppose you receive mail from <tt>foo@example.net</tt> 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:

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">$ cvs rdiff -c -r FOO1_2 -r FOO1_4 tc | \
$$ Mail -s 'The patches you asked for' foo@example.net
</pre></div>

Suppose you have made release 1.3, and forked a branch
called &lsquo;<samp>R_1_3fix</samp>&rsquo; for bug fixes. &lsquo;<samp>R_1_3_1</samp>&rsquo;
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:

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">$ 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
</pre></div>

<hr>
<div class="header">

Next: <a href="#server-_0026-pserver" accesskey="n" rel="next">server &amp; pserver</a>, Previous: <a href="#rdiff" accesskey="p" rel="prev">rdiff</a>, Up: <a href="#CVS-commands" accesskey="u" rel="up">CVS commands</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h3 class="appendixsec">A.18 release&mdash;Indicate that a directory is no longer in use</h3>

<ul>
<li> release [-d] directories&hellip;
</li><li> Requires: Working directory.
</li><li> Changes: Working directory, history log.
</li></ul>

This command is meant to safely cancel the effect of
&lsquo;<samp>cvs checkout</samp>&rsquo;. Since CVS doesn&rsquo;t lock files, it
isn&rsquo;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 <a href="#history-file">history file</a>) that you&rsquo;ve abandoned your
checkout.

Use &lsquo;<samp>cvs release</samp>&rsquo; 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, &lsquo;<samp>cvs release</samp>&rsquo;
leaves a record of its execution (attesting to your
intentionally abandoning your checkout) in the CVS
history log.

<table class="menu" border="0" cellspacing="0">
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#release-options" accesskey="1">release options</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">release options
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#release-output" accesskey="2">release output</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">release output
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#release-examples" accesskey="3">release examples</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">release examples
</td></tr>
</table>

<hr>
<div class="header">

Next: <a href="#release-output" accesskey="n" rel="next">release output</a>, Up: <a href="#release" accesskey="u" rel="up">release</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h4 class="appendixsubsec">A.18.1 release options</h4>

The <code>release</code> command supports one command option:

<dl compact="compact">
<dt><code>-d</code></dt>
<dd>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 <code>release</code> 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 <code>add</code>
command; see <a href="#Adding-files">Adding files</a>) will be silently deleted&mdash;even
if it is non-empty!
</dd>
</dl>

<hr>
<div class="header">

Next: <a href="#release-examples" accesskey="n" rel="next">release examples</a>, Previous: <a href="#release-options" accesskey="p" rel="prev">release options</a>, Up: <a href="#release" accesskey="u" rel="up">release</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h4 class="appendixsubsec">A.18.2 release output</h4>

Before <code>release</code> releases your sources it will
print a one-line message for any file that is not
up-to-date.

<dl compact="compact">
<dt><code>U <var>file</var></code></dt>
<dt><code>P <var>file</var></code></dt>
<dd>There exists a newer revision of this file in the
repository, and you have not modified your local copy
of the file (&lsquo;<samp>U</samp>&rsquo; and &lsquo;<samp>P</samp>&rsquo; mean the same thing).

</dd>
<dt><code>A <var>file</var></code></dt>
<dd>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.

</dd>
<dt><code>R <var>file</var></code></dt>
<dd>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 <a href="#commit">commit</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>M <var>file</var></code></dt>
<dd>The file is modified in your working directory. There
might also be a newer revision inside the repository.

</dd>
<dt><code>? <var>file</var></code></dt>
<dd><var>file</var> 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 &lsquo;<samp>-I</samp>&rsquo; option, and
see <a href="#cvsignore">cvsignore</a>). If you remove your working
sources, this file will be lost.
</dd>
</dl>

<hr>
<div class="header">

Previous: <a href="#release-output" accesskey="p" rel="prev">release output</a>, Up: <a href="#release" accesskey="u" rel="up">release</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h4 class="appendixsubsec">A.18.3 release examples</h4>

Release the <samp>tc</samp> directory, and delete your local working copy
of the files.

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">$ cd .. # You must stand immediately above the
 # sources when you issue &lsquo;<samp>cvs release</samp>&rsquo;.
$ cvs release -d tc
You have [0] altered files in this repository.
Are you sure you want to release (and delete) directory `tc': y
$
</pre></div>

<hr>
<div class="header">

Next: <a href="#suck" accesskey="n" rel="next">suck</a>, Previous: <a href="#release" accesskey="p" rel="prev">release</a>, Up: <a href="#CVS-commands" accesskey="u" rel="up">CVS commands</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h3 class="appendixsec">A.19 server &amp; pserver&mdash;Act as a server for a client on stdin/stdout</h3>

<ul>
<li> pserver [-c path]

server [-c path]
</li><li> Requires: repository, client conversation on stdin/stdout
</li><li> Changes: Repository or, indirectly, client working directory.
</li></ul>

The CVS <code>server</code> and <code>pserver</code> commands are used to provide
repository access to remote clients and expect a client conversation on
stdin &amp; stdout. Typically these commands are launched from <code>inetd</code> or
via <code>ssh</code> (see <a href="#Remote-repositories">Remote repositories</a>).

<code>server</code> expects that the client has already been authenticated somehow,
typically via SSH, and <code>pserver</code> attempts to authenticate the client
itself.

Only one option is available with the <code>server</code> and <code>pserver</code>
commands:


<dl compact="compact">
<dt><code>-c path</code></dt>
<dd>Load configuration from the given <var>path</var> rather than from the
default location <samp>$CVSROOT/CVSROOT/config</samp> (see <a href="#config">config</a>).
<var>path</var> must be <samp>/etc/cvs.conf</samp> or prefixed by <samp>/etc/cvs/</samp>.
This option is supported beginning with CVS release 1.12.13.
</dd>
</dl>

<hr>
<div class="header">

Next: <a href="#update" accesskey="n" rel="next">update</a>, Previous: <a href="#server-_0026-pserver" accesskey="p" rel="prev">server &amp; pserver</a>, Up: <a href="#CVS-commands" accesskey="u" rel="up">CVS commands</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h3 class="appendixsec">A.20 suck&mdash;Download RCS ,v file raw</h3>

<ul>
<li> suck module/pa/th
</li><li> Requires: repository
</li></ul>

Locates the file module/pa/th,v or module/pa/Attic/th,v and downloads
it raw as RCS comma-v file.

Output consists of the real pathname of the comma-v file, relative to
the CVS repository, followed by a newline and the binary file content
immediately thereafter.

<hr>
<div class="header">

Previous: <a href="#suck" accesskey="p" rel="prev">suck</a>, Up: <a href="#CVS-commands" accesskey="u" rel="up">CVS commands</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h3 class="appendixsec">A.21 update&mdash;Bring work tree in sync with repository</h3>

<ul>
<li> update [-ACdflPpR] [-I name] [-j rev [-j rev]] [-k kflag] [-r tag[:date] | -D date] [-W spec] files&hellip;
</li><li> Requires: repository, working directory.
</li><li> Changes: working directory.
</li></ul>

After you&rsquo;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 <code>update</code> 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 <code>-C</code>
option, <code>update</code> will also merge any differences
between the local copy of files and their base revisions
into any destination revisions specified with <code>-r</code>,
<code>-D</code>, or <code>-A</code>.

<table class="menu" border="0" cellspacing="0">
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#update-options" accesskey="1">update options</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">update options
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#update-output" accesskey="2">update output</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">update output
</td></tr>
</table>

<hr>
<div class="header">

Next: <a href="#update-output" accesskey="n" rel="next">update output</a>, Up: <a href="#update" accesskey="u" rel="up">update</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h4 class="appendixsubsec">A.21.1 update options</h4>

These standard options are available with <code>update</code>
(see <a href="#Common-options">Common options</a>, for a complete description of
them):

<dl compact="compact">
<dt><code>-D date</code></dt>
<dd>Use the most recent revision no later than <var>date</var>.
This option is sticky, and implies &lsquo;<samp>-P</samp>&rsquo;.
See <a href="#Sticky-tags">Sticky tags</a>, for more information on sticky tags/dates.

</dd>
<dt><code>-f</code></dt>
<dd>Only useful with the &lsquo;<samp>-D</samp>&rsquo; or &lsquo;<samp>-r</samp>&rsquo; flags. If no matching revision
is found, retrieve the most recent revision (instead of ignoring the file).

</dd>
<dt><code>-k <var>kflag</var></code></dt>
<dd>Process keywords according to <var>kflag</var>. See
<a href="#Keyword-substitution">Keyword substitution</a>.
This option is sticky; future updates of
this file in this working directory will use the same
<var>kflag</var>. The <code>status</code> command can be viewed
to see the sticky options. See <a href="#Invoking-CVS">Invoking CVS</a>, for
more information on the <code>status</code> command.

</dd>
<dt><code>-l</code></dt>
<dd>Local; run only in current working directory. See <a href="#Recursive-behavior">Recursive behavior</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>-P</code></dt>
<dd>Prune empty directories. See <a href="#Moving-directories">Moving directories</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>-p</code></dt>
<dd>Pipe files to the standard output.

</dd>
<dt><code>-R</code></dt>
<dd>Update directories recursively (default). See <a href="#Recursive-behavior">Recursive behavior</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>-r <var>tag</var>[:<var>date</var>]</code></dt>
<dd>Retrieve the revisions specified by <var>tag</var> or, when <var>date</var> is specified
and <var>tag</var> is a branch tag, the version from the branch <var>tag</var> as it
existed on <var>date</var>. This option is sticky, and implies &lsquo;<samp>-P</samp>&rsquo;.
See <a href="#Sticky-tags">Sticky tags</a>, for more information on sticky tags/dates. Also
see <a href="#Common-options">Common options</a>.
</dd>
</dl>

These special options are also available with
<code>update</code>.

<dl compact="compact">
<dt><code>-A</code></dt>
<dd>Reset any sticky tags, dates, or &lsquo;<samp>-k</samp>&rsquo; options.
See <a href="#Sticky-tags">Sticky tags</a>, for more information on sticky tags/dates.

</dd>
<dt><code>-C</code></dt>
<dd>Overwrite locally modified files with clean copies from
the repository (the modified file is saved in
<samp>.#<var>file</var>.<var>revision</var></samp>, however).

</dd>
<dt><code>-d</code></dt>
<dd>Create any directories that exist in the repository if
they&rsquo;re missing from the working directory. Normally,
<code>update</code> 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 &lsquo;<samp>-d</samp>&rsquo; will create
those directories, which may not be what you want.

</dd>
<dt><code>-I <var>name</var></code></dt>
<dd>Ignore files whose names match <var>name</var> (in your
working directory) during the update. You can specify
&lsquo;<samp>-I</samp>&rsquo; more than once on the command line to specify
several files to ignore. Use &lsquo;<samp>-I !</samp>&rsquo; to avoid
ignoring any files at all. See <a href="#cvsignore">cvsignore</a>, for other
ways to make CVS ignore some files.

</dd>
<dt><code>-W<var>spec</var></code></dt>
<dd>Specify file names that should be filtered during
update. You can use this option repeatedly.

<var>spec</var> can be a file name pattern of the same type
that you can specify in the <samp>.cvswrappers</samp>
file. See <a href="#Wrappers">Wrappers</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>-j<var>revision</var></code></dt>
<dd>With two &lsquo;<samp>-j</samp>&rsquo; options, merge changes from the
revision specified with the first &lsquo;<samp>-j</samp>&rsquo; option to
the revision specified with the second &lsquo;<samp>j</samp>&rsquo; option,
into the working directory.

With one &lsquo;<samp>-j</samp>&rsquo; option, merge changes from the
ancestor revision to the revision specified with the
&lsquo;<samp>-j</samp>&rsquo; 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 &lsquo;<samp>-j</samp>&rsquo; option.

Note that using a single &lsquo;<samp>-j <var>tagname</var></samp>&rsquo; option rather than
&lsquo;<samp>-j <var>branchname</var></samp>&rsquo; to merge changes from a branch will
often not remove files which were removed on the branch.
See <a href="#Merging-adds-and-removals">Merging adds and removals</a>, for more.

In addition, each &lsquo;<samp>-j</samp>&rsquo; 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:
&lsquo;<samp>-j<var>Symbolic_Tag</var>:<var>Date_Specifier</var></samp>&rsquo;.

See <a href="#Branching-and-merging">Branching and merging</a>.

</dd>
</dl>

<hr>
<div class="header">

Previous: <a href="#update-options" accesskey="p" rel="prev">update options</a>, Up: <a href="#update" accesskey="u" rel="up">update</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h4 class="appendixsubsec">A.21.2 update output</h4>

<code>update</code> and <code>checkout</code> keep you informed of
their progress by printing a line for each file, preceded
by one character indicating the status of the file:

<dl compact="compact">
<dt><code>U <var>file</var></code></dt>
<dd>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&rsquo;t changed but are not the most recent
versions available in the repository.

</dd>
<dt><code>P <var>file</var></code></dt>
<dd>Like &lsquo;<samp>U</samp>&rsquo;, but the CVS server sends a patch instead of an entire
file. This accomplishes the same thing as &lsquo;<samp>U</samp>&rsquo; using less bandwidth.

</dd>
<dt><code>A <var>file</var></code></dt>
<dd>The file has been added to your private copy of the
sources, and will be added to the source repository
when you run <code>commit</code> on the file. This is a
reminder to you that the file needs to be committed.

</dd>
<dt><code>R <var>file</var></code></dt>
<dd>The file has been removed from your private copy of the
sources, and will be removed from the source repository
when you run <code>commit</code> on the file. This is a
reminder to you that the file needs to be committed.

</dd>
<dt><code>M <var>file</var></code></dt>
<dd>The file is modified in your working directory.

&lsquo;<samp>M</samp>&rsquo; can indicate one of two states for a file
you&rsquo;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 <code>update</code>) will be made. The exact
name of that file is printed while <code>update</code> runs.

</dd>
<dt><code>C <var>file</var></code></dt>
<dd>

A conflict was detected while trying to merge your
changes to <var>file</var> with changes from the source
repository. <var>file</var> (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
<samp>.#<var>file</var>.<var>revision</var></samp> where <var>revision</var>
is the revision that your modified file started
from. Resolve the conflict as described in
<a href="#Conflicts-example">Conflicts example</a>.
(Note that some systems automatically purge
files that begin with <samp>.#</samp> 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
<samp>__</samp> rather than <samp>.#</samp>.

</dd>
<dt><code>? <var>file</var></code></dt>
<dd><var>file</var> 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 &lsquo;<samp>-I</samp>&rsquo; option, and
see <a href="#cvsignore">cvsignore</a>).
</dd>
</dl>

<hr>
<div class="header">

Next: <a href="#Administrative-files" accesskey="n" rel="next">Administrative files</a>, Previous: <a href="#CVS-commands" accesskey="p" rel="prev">CVS commands</a>, Up: <a href="#Top" accesskey="u" rel="up">Top</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h2 class="appendix">Appendix B Quick reference to CVS commands</h2>

This appendix describes how to invoke CVS, with
references to where each command or feature is
described in detail. For other references run the
<code>cvs --help</code> command, or see <a href="#Index">Index</a>.
For an alphabetical list of all CVS commands,
see <a href="#CVS-command-list">CVS command list</a>).

A CVS command looks like:

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">cvs [ <var>global_options</var> ] <var>command</var> [ <var>command_options</var> ] [ <var>command_args</var> ]
</pre></div>

Global options:

<dl compact="compact">
<dt><code>--allow-root=<var>rootdir</var></code></dt>
<dd>Specify acceptable CVSROOT directory (server only).
Appeared in CVS 1.10. See <a href="#Password-authentication-server">Password authentication server</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>--allow-root-regexp=<var>rootdir</var></code></dt>
<dd>Specify a POSIX extended regular expression which matches acceptable
CVSROOT directories (server only). Appeared in CVS
1.12.14. See <a href="#Password-authentication-server">Password authentication server</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>-a</code></dt>
<dd>Authenticate all communication (client only) (not in CVS
1.9 and older). See <a href="#Global-options">Global options</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>-b</code></dt>
<dd>Specify RCS location (CVS 1.9 and older). See
<a href="#Global-options">Global options</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>-d <var>root</var></code></dt>
<dd>Specify the CVSROOT. See <a href="#Repository">Repository</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>-e <var>editor</var></code></dt>
<dd>Edit messages with <var>editor</var>. See <a href="#Committing-your-changes">Committing your changes</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>-f</code></dt>
<dd>Do not read the <samp>~/.cvsrc</samp> file. See <a href="#Global-options">Global options</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>-g</code></dt>
<dd>Set the umask to allow group writable permissions in
the working copy. See <a href="#Global-options">Global options</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>-H</code></dt>
<dt><code>--help</code></dt>
<dd>Print a help message. See <a href="#Global-options">Global options</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>-n</code></dt>
<dd>Do not change any files. See <a href="#Global-options">Global options</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>-Q</code></dt>
<dd>Be really quiet. See <a href="#Global-options">Global options</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>-q</code></dt>
<dd>Be somewhat quiet. See <a href="#Global-options">Global options</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>-r</code></dt>
<dd>Make new working files read-only. See <a href="#Global-options">Global options</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>-s <var>variable</var>=<var>value</var></code></dt>
<dd>Set a user variable. See <a href="#Variables">Variables</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>-T <var>tempdir</var></code></dt>
<dd>Put temporary files in <var>tempdir</var>. See <a href="#Global-options">Global options</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>-t</code></dt>
<dd>Trace CVS execution. See <a href="#Global-options">Global options</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>-v</code></dt>
<dt><code>--version</code></dt>
<dd>Display version and copyright information for CVS.

</dd>
<dt><code>-w</code></dt>
<dd>Make new working files read-write. See <a href="#Global-options">Global options</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>-x</code></dt>
<dd>Encrypt all communication (client only).
See <a href="#Global-options">Global options</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>-z <var>gzip-level</var></code></dt>
<dd>

Set the compression level (client only).
See <a href="#Global-options">Global options</a>.
</dd>
</dl>

Keyword expansion modes (see <a href="#Substitution-modes">Substitution modes</a>):

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">-kkv $Id: file1,v 1.1 1993/12/09 03:21:13 joe Exp $
-kkvl $Id: file1,v 1.1 1993/12/09 03:21:13 joe Exp harry $
-kk $Id$
-kv file1,v 1.1 1993/12/09 03:21:13 joe Exp
-ko no expansion
-kb no expansion, file is binary
</pre></div>

Keywords (see <a href="#Keyword-list">Keyword list</a>):

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">$Author: joe $
$Date: 1993/12/09 03:21:13 $
$Mdocdate: December 9 1993 $
$CVSHeader: files/file1,v 1.1 1993/12/09 03:21:13 joe Exp harry $
$Header: /home/files/file1,v 1.1 1993/12/09 03:21:13 joe Exp harry $
$Id: file1,v 1.1 1993/12/09 03:21:13 joe Exp harry $
$Locker: harry $
$Name: snapshot_1_14 $
$RCSfile: file1,v $
$Revision: 1.1 $
$Source: /home/files/file1,v $
$State: Exp $
$Log: file1,v $
Revision 1.1 1993/12/09 03:30:17 joe
Initial revision

</pre></div>

Commands, command options, and command arguments:

<dl compact="compact">
<dd></dd>
<dt><code>add [<var>options</var>] [<var>files</var>&hellip;]</code></dt>
<dd>Add a new file/directory. See <a href="#Adding-files">Adding files</a>.

<dl compact="compact">
<dt><code>-k <var>kflag</var></code></dt>
<dd>Set keyword expansion.

</dd>
<dt><code>-m <var>msg</var></code></dt>
<dd>Set file description.
</dd>
</dl>

</dd>
<dt><code>admin [<var>options</var>] [<var>files</var>&hellip;]</code></dt>
<dd>Administration of history files in the repository. See
<a href="#admin">admin</a>.

<dl compact="compact">
<dt><code>-b[<var>rev</var>]</code></dt>
<dd>Set default branch. See <a href="#Reverting-local-changes">Reverting local changes</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>-c<var>string</var></code></dt>
<dd>Set comment leader.

</dd>
<dt><code>-k<var>subst</var></code></dt>
<dd>Set keyword substitution. See <a href="#Keyword-substitution">Keyword substitution</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>-l[<var>rev</var>]</code></dt>
<dd>Lock revision <var>rev</var>, or latest revision.

</dd>
<dt><code>-m<var>rev</var>:<var>msg</var></code></dt>
<dd>Replace the log message of revision <var>rev</var> with
<var>msg</var>.

</dd>
<dt><code>-o<var>range</var></code></dt>
<dd>Delete revisions from the repository. See
<a href="#admin-options">admin options</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>-q</code></dt>
<dd>Run quietly; do not print diagnostics.

</dd>
<dt><code>-s<var>state</var>[:<var>rev</var>]</code></dt>
<dd>Set the state. See <a href="#admin-options">admin options</a> for more information on possible
states.

</dd>
<dt><code>-t</code></dt>
<dd>Set file description from standard input.

</dd>
<dt><code>-t<var>file</var></code></dt>
<dd>Set file description from <var>file</var>.

</dd>
<dt><code>-t-<var>string</var></code></dt>
<dd>Set file description to <var>string</var>.

</dd>
<dt><code>-u[<var>rev</var>]</code></dt>
<dd>Unlock revision <var>rev</var>, or latest revision.
</dd>
</dl>

</dd>
<dt><code>annotate [<var>options</var>] [<var>files</var>&hellip;]</code></dt>
<dd>Show last revision where each line was modified. See
<a href="#annotate">annotate</a>.

<dl compact="compact">
<dt><code>-D <var>date</var></code></dt>
<dd>Annotate the most recent revision no later than
<var>date</var>. See <a href="#Common-options">Common options</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>-F</code></dt>
<dd>Force annotation of binary files. (Without this option,
binary files are skipped with a message.)

</dd>
<dt><code>-f</code></dt>
<dd>Use head revision if tag/date not found. See
<a href="#Common-options">Common options</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>-l</code></dt>
<dd>Local; run only in current working directory. See <a href="#Recursive-behavior">Recursive behavior</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>-R</code></dt>
<dd>Operate recursively (default). See <a href="#Recursive-behavior">Recursive behavior</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>-r <var>tag</var>[:<var>date</var>]</code></dt>
<dd>Annotate revisions specified by <var>tag</var> or, when <var>date</var> is specified
and <var>tag</var> is a branch tag, the version from the branch <var>tag</var> as it
existed on <var>date</var>. See <a href="#Common-options">Common options</a>.
</dd>
</dl>

</dd>
<dt><code>checkout [<var>options</var>] <var>modules</var>&hellip;</code></dt>
<dd>Get a copy of the sources. See <a href="#checkout">checkout</a>.

<dl compact="compact">
<dt><code>-A</code></dt>
<dd>Reset any sticky tags/date/options. See <a href="#Sticky-tags">Sticky tags</a> and <a href="#Keyword-substitution">Keyword substitution</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>-c</code></dt>
<dd>Output the module database. See <a href="#checkout-options">checkout options</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>-D <var>date</var></code></dt>
<dd>Check out revisions as of <var>date</var> (is sticky). See
<a href="#Common-options">Common options</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>-d <var>dir</var></code></dt>
<dd>Check out into <var>dir</var>. See <a href="#checkout-options">checkout options</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>-f</code></dt>
<dd>Use head revision if tag/date not found. See
<a href="#Common-options">Common options</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>-j <var>tag</var>[:<var>date</var>]</code></dt>
<dd>Merge in the change specified by <var>tag</var>, or when <var>date</var> is specified
and <var>tag</var> is a branch tag, the version from the branch <var>tag</var> as it
existed on <var>date</var>. See <a href="#checkout-options">checkout options</a>. Also,
see <a href="#Common-options">Common options</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>-k <var>kflag</var></code></dt>
<dd>Use <var>kflag</var> keyword expansion. See
<a href="#Substitution-modes">Substitution modes</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>-l</code></dt>
<dd>Local; run only in current working directory. See <a href="#Recursive-behavior">Recursive behavior</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>-N</code></dt>
<dd>Don&rsquo;t &ldquo;shorten&rdquo; module paths if -d specified. See
<a href="#checkout-options">checkout options</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>-n</code></dt>
<dd>Do not run module program (if any). See <a href="#checkout-options">checkout options</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>-P</code></dt>
<dd>Prune empty directories. See <a href="#Moving-directories">Moving directories</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>-p</code></dt>
<dd>Check out files to standard output (avoids
stickiness). See <a href="#checkout-options">checkout options</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>-R</code></dt>
<dd>Operate recursively (default). See <a href="#Recursive-behavior">Recursive behavior</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>-r <var>tag</var>[:<var>date</var>]</code></dt>
<dd>Checkout the revision already tagged with <var>tag</var> or, when <var>date</var> is
specified and <var>tag</var> is a branch tag, the version from the branch <var>tag</var>
as it existed on <var>date</var>. See <a href="#Common-options">Common options</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>-s</code></dt>
<dd>Like -c, but include module status. See <a href="#checkout-options">checkout options</a>.
</dd>
</dl>

</dd>
<dt><code>commit [<var>options</var>] [<var>files</var>&hellip;]</code></dt>
<dd>Check changes into the repository. See <a href="#commit">commit</a>.

<dl compact="compact">
<dt><code>-c</code></dt>
<dd>Check for valid edits before committing. Requires a CVS client and server
both version 1.12.10 or greater.

</dd>
<dt><code>-F <var>file</var></code></dt>
<dd>Read log message from <var>file</var>. See <a href="#commit-options">commit options</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>-f</code></dt>
<dd>Force the file to be committed; disables recursion.
See <a href="#commit-options">commit options</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>-l</code></dt>
<dd>Local; run only in current working directory. See <a href="#Recursive-behavior">Recursive behavior</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>-m <var>msg</var></code></dt>
<dd>Use <var>msg</var> as log message. See <a href="#commit-options">commit options</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>-n</code></dt>
<dd>Do not run module program (if any). See <a href="#commit-options">commit options</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>-R</code></dt>
<dd>Operate recursively (default). See <a href="#Recursive-behavior">Recursive behavior</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>-r <var>rev</var></code></dt>
<dd>Commit to <var>rev</var>. See <a href="#commit-options">commit options</a>.
</dd>
</dl>

</dd>
<dt><code>diff [<var>options</var>] [<var>files</var>&hellip;]</code></dt>
<dd>Show differences between revisions. See <a href="#diff">diff</a>.
In addition to the options shown below, accepts a wide
variety of options to control output style, for example
&lsquo;<samp>-c</samp>&rsquo; for context diffs.

<dl compact="compact">
<dt><code>-D <var>date1</var></code></dt>
<dd>Diff revision for date against working file. See
<a href="#diff-options">diff options</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>-D <var>date2</var></code></dt>
<dd>Diff <var>rev1</var>/<var>date1</var> against <var>date2</var>. See
<a href="#diff-options">diff options</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>-l</code></dt>
<dd>Local; run only in current working directory. See <a href="#Recursive-behavior">Recursive behavior</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>-N</code></dt>
<dd>Include diffs for added and removed files. See
<a href="#diff-options">diff options</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>-R</code></dt>
<dd>Operate recursively (default). See <a href="#Recursive-behavior">Recursive behavior</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>-r <var>tag1</var>[:<var>date1</var>]</code></dt>
<dd>Diff the revisions specified by <var>tag1</var> or, when <var>date1</var> is specified
and <var>tag1</var> is a branch tag, the version from the branch <var>tag1</var> as it
existed on <var>date1</var>, against the working file. See <a href="#diff-options">diff options</a>
and <a href="#Common-options">Common options</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>-r <var>tag2</var>[:<var>date2</var>]</code></dt>
<dd>Diff the revisions specified by <var>tag2</var> or, when <var>date2</var> is specified
and <var>tag2</var> is a branch tag, the version from the branch <var>tag2</var> as it
existed on <var>date2</var>, against <var>rev1</var>/<var>date1</var>. See <a href="#diff-options">diff options</a>
and <a href="#Common-options">Common options</a>.
</dd>
</dl>

</dd>
<dt><code>edit [<var>options</var>] [<var>files</var>&hellip;]</code></dt>
<dd>Get ready to edit a watched file. See <a href="#Editing-files">Editing files</a>.

<dl compact="compact">
<dt><code>-a <var>actions</var></code></dt>
<dd>Specify actions for temporary watch, where
<var>actions</var> is <code>edit</code>, <code>unedit</code>,
<code>commit</code>, <code>all</code>, or <code>none</code>. See
<a href="#Editing-files">Editing files</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>-c</code></dt>
<dd>Check edits: Edit fails if someone else is already editing the file.
Requires a CVS client and server both of version 1.12.10 or greater.

</dd>
<dt><code>-f</code></dt>
<dd>Force edit; ignore other edits. Added in CVS 1.12.10.

</dd>
<dt><code>-l</code></dt>
<dd>Local; run only in current working directory. See <a href="#Recursive-behavior">Recursive behavior</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>-R</code></dt>
<dd>Operate recursively (default). See <a href="#Recursive-behavior">Recursive behavior</a>.
</dd>
</dl>

</dd>
<dt><code>editors [<var>options</var>] [<var>files</var>&hellip;]</code></dt>
<dd>See who is editing a watched file. See <a href="#Watch-information">Watch information</a>.

<dl compact="compact">
<dt><code>-l</code></dt>
<dd>Local; run only in current working directory. See <a href="#Recursive-behavior">Recursive behavior</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>-R</code></dt>
<dd>Operate recursively (default). See <a href="#Recursive-behavior">Recursive behavior</a>.
</dd>
</dl>

</dd>
<dt><code>export [<var>options</var>] <var>modules</var>&hellip;</code></dt>
<dd>Export files from CVS. See <a href="#export">export</a>.

<dl compact="compact">
<dt><code>-D <var>date</var></code></dt>
<dd>Check out revisions as of <var>date</var>. See
<a href="#Common-options">Common options</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>-d <var>dir</var></code></dt>
<dd>Check out into <var>dir</var>. See <a href="#export-options">export options</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>-f</code></dt>
<dd>Use head revision if tag/date not found. See
<a href="#Common-options">Common options</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>-k <var>kflag</var></code></dt>
<dd>Use <var>kflag</var> keyword expansion. See
<a href="#Substitution-modes">Substitution modes</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>-l</code></dt>
<dd>Local; run only in current working directory. See <a href="#Recursive-behavior">Recursive behavior</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>-N</code></dt>
<dd>Don&rsquo;t &ldquo;shorten&rdquo; module paths if -d specified. See
<a href="#export-options">export options</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>-n</code></dt>
<dd>Do not run module program (if any). See <a href="#export-options">export options</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>-R</code></dt>
<dd>Operate recursively (default). See <a href="#Recursive-behavior">Recursive behavior</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>-r <var>tag</var>[:<var>date</var>]</code></dt>
<dd>Export the revisions specified by <var>tag</var> or, when <var>date</var> is specified
and <var>tag</var> is a branch tag, the version from the branch <var>tag</var> as it
existed on <var>date</var>. See <a href="#Common-options">Common options</a>.
</dd>
</dl>

</dd>
<dt><code>history [<var>options</var>] [<var>files</var>&hellip;]</code></dt>
<dd>Show repository access history. See <a href="#history">history</a>.

<dl compact="compact">
<dt><code>-a</code></dt>
<dd>All users (default is self). See <a href="#history-options">history options</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>-b <var>str</var></code></dt>
<dd>Back to record with <var>str</var> in module/file/repos
field. See <a href="#history-options">history options</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>-c</code></dt>
<dd>Report on committed (modified) files. See <a href="#history-options">history options</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>-D <var>date</var></code></dt>
<dd>Since <var>date</var>. See <a href="#history-options">history options</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>-e</code></dt>
<dd>Report on all record types. See <a href="#history-options">history options</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>-l</code></dt>
<dd>Last modified (committed or modified report). See <a href="#history-options">history options</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>-m <var>module</var></code></dt>
<dd>Report on <var>module</var> (repeatable). See <a href="#history-options">history options</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>-n <var>module</var></code></dt>
<dd>In <var>module</var>. See <a href="#history-options">history options</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>-o</code></dt>
<dd>Report on checked out modules. See <a href="#history-options">history options</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>-p <var>repository</var></code></dt>
<dd>In <var>repository</var>. See <a href="#history-options">history options</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>-r <var>rev</var></code></dt>
<dd>Since revision <var>rev</var>. See <a href="#history-options">history options</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>-T</code></dt>
<dd>Produce report on all TAGs. See <a href="#history-options">history options</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>-t <var>tag</var></code></dt>
<dd>Since tag record placed in history file (by anyone).
See <a href="#history-options">history options</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>-u <var>user</var></code></dt>
<dd>For user <var>user</var> (repeatable). See <a href="#history-options">history options</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>-w</code></dt>
<dd>Working directory must match. See <a href="#history-options">history options</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>-x <var>types</var></code></dt>
<dd>Report on <var>types</var>, one or more of
<code>TOEFWUPCGMAR</code>. See <a href="#history-options">history options</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>-z <var>zone</var></code></dt>
<dd>Output for time zone <var>zone</var>. See <a href="#history-options">history options</a>.
</dd>
</dl>

</dd>
<dt><code>import [<var>options</var>] <var>repository</var> <var>vendor-tag</var> <var>release-tags</var>&hellip;</code></dt>
<dd>Import files into CVS, using vendor branches. See
<a href="#import">import</a>.

<dl compact="compact">
<dt><code>-b <var>bra</var></code></dt>
<dd>Import to vendor branch <var>bra</var>. See
<a href="#Multiple-vendor-branches">Multiple vendor branches</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>-d</code></dt>
<dd>Use the file&rsquo;s modification time as the time of
import. See <a href="#import-options">import options</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>-k <var>kflag</var></code></dt>
<dd>Set default keyword substitution mode. See
<a href="#import-options">import options</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>-m <var>msg</var></code></dt>
<dd>Use <var>msg</var> for log message. See
<a href="#import-options">import options</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>-I <var>ign</var></code></dt>
<dd>More files to ignore (! to reset). See
<a href="#import-options">import options</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>-W <var>spec</var></code></dt>
<dd>More wrappers. See <a href="#import-options">import options</a>.
</dd>
</dl>

</dd>
<dt><code>init</code></dt>
<dd>Create a CVS repository if it doesn&rsquo;t exist. See
<a href="#Creating-a-repository">Creating a repository</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>kserver</code></dt>
<dd>Kerberos authenticated server.
See <a href="#server-_0026-pserver">server &amp; pserver</a>.
See <a href="#Kerberos-authenticated">Kerberos authenticated</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>log [<var>options</var>] [<var>files</var>&hellip;]</code></dt>
<dd>Print out history information for files. See <a href="#log">log</a>.

<dl compact="compact">
<dt><code>-b</code></dt>
<dd>Only list revisions on the default branch. See <a href="#log-options">log options</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>-d <var>dates</var></code></dt>
<dd>Specify dates (<var>d1</var>&lt;<var>d2</var> for range, <var>d</var> for
latest before). See <a href="#log-options">log options</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>-h</code></dt>
<dd>Only print header. See <a href="#log-options">log options</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>-l</code></dt>
<dd>Local; run only in current working directory. See <a href="#Recursive-behavior">Recursive behavior</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>-N</code></dt>
<dd>Do not list tags. See <a href="#log-options">log options</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>-R</code></dt>
<dd>Only print name of RCS file. See <a href="#log-options">log options</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>-r<var>revs</var></code></dt>
<dd>Only list revisions <var>revs</var>. See <a href="#log-options">log options</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>-s <var>states</var></code></dt>
<dd>Only list revisions with specified states. See <a href="#log-options">log options</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>-t</code></dt>
<dd>Only print header and descriptive text. See <a href="#log-options">log options</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>-w<var>logins</var></code></dt>
<dd>Only list revisions checked in by specified logins. See <a href="#log-options">log options</a>.
</dd>
</dl>

</dd>
<dt><code>login</code></dt>
<dd>Prompt for password for authenticating server. See
<a href="#Password-authentication-client">Password authentication client</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>logout</code></dt>
<dd>Remove stored password for authenticating server. See
<a href="#Password-authentication-client">Password authentication client</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>ls [<var>options</var>] [<var>path</var>&hellip;]</code></dt>
<dd>List files available from CVS. See <a href="#ls-_0026-rls">ls &amp; rls</a>.

<dl compact="compact">
<dt><code>-d</code></dt>
<dd>Show dead revisions (with tag when specified).
See <a href="#ls-_0026-rls-options">ls &amp; rls options</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>-e</code></dt>
<dd>Display in CVS/Entries format.

</dd>
<dt><code>-l</code></dt>
<dd>Display all details.

</dd>
<dt><code>-P</code></dt>
<dd>Prune empty directories. See <a href="#Moving-directories">Moving directories</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>-R</code></dt>
<dd>List recursively. See <a href="#Recursive-behavior">Recursive behavior</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>-D <var>date</var></code></dt>
<dd>Show files from date. See <a href="#Common-options">Common options</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>-r <var>rev</var></code></dt>
<dd>Show files with revision or tag.
</dd>
</dl>

</dd>
<dt><code>pserver</code></dt>
<dd>Password authenticated server.
See <a href="#server-_0026-pserver">server &amp; pserver</a>.
See <a href="#Password-authentication-server">Password authentication server</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>rannotate [<var>options</var>] [<var>modules</var>&hellip;]</code></dt>
<dd>Show last revision where each line was modified. See
<a href="#annotate">annotate</a>.

<dl compact="compact">
<dt><code>-D <var>date</var></code></dt>
<dd>Annotate the most recent revision no later than
<var>date</var>. See <a href="#Common-options">Common options</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>-F</code></dt>
<dd>Force annotation of binary files. (Without this option,
binary files are skipped with a message.)

</dd>
<dt><code>-f</code></dt>
<dd>Use head revision if tag/date not found. See
<a href="#Common-options">Common options</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>-l</code></dt>
<dd>Local; run only in current working directory. See <a href="#Recursive-behavior">Recursive behavior</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>-R</code></dt>
<dd>Operate recursively (default). See <a href="#Recursive-behavior">Recursive behavior</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>-r <var>tag</var>[:<var>date</var>]</code></dt>
<dd>Annotate the revision specified by <var>tag</var> or, when <var>date</var> is specified
and <var>tag</var> is a branch tag, the version from the branch <var>tag</var>
as it existed on <var>date</var>. See <a href="#Common-options">Common options</a>.
</dd>
</dl>

</dd>
<dt><code>rdiff [<var>options</var>] <var>modules</var>&hellip;</code></dt>
<dd>Show differences between releases. See <a href="#rdiff">rdiff</a>.

<dl compact="compact">
<dt><code>-c</code></dt>
<dd>Context diff output format (default). See <a href="#rdiff-options">rdiff options</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>-D <var>date</var></code></dt>
<dd>Select revisions based on <var>date</var>. See <a href="#Common-options">Common options</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>-f</code></dt>
<dd>Use head revision if tag/date not found. See
<a href="#Common-options">Common options</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>-l</code></dt>
<dd>Local; run only in current working directory. See <a href="#Recursive-behavior">Recursive behavior</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>-R</code></dt>
<dd>Operate recursively (default). See <a href="#Recursive-behavior">Recursive behavior</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>-r <var>tag</var>[:<var>date</var>]</code></dt>
<dd>Select the revisions specified by <var>tag</var> or, when <var>date</var> is specified
and <var>tag</var> is a branch tag, the version from the branch <var>tag</var> as it
existed on <var>date</var>. See <a href="#diff-options">diff options</a> and <a href="#Common-options">Common options</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>-s</code></dt>
<dd>Short patch - one liner per file. See <a href="#rdiff-options">rdiff options</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>-t</code></dt>
<dd>Top two diffs - last change made to the file. See
<a href="#diff-options">diff options</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>-u</code></dt>
<dd>Unidiff output format. See <a href="#rdiff-options">rdiff options</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>-V <var>vers</var></code></dt>
<dd>Use RCS Version <var>vers</var> for keyword expansion (obsolete). See
<a href="#rdiff-options">rdiff options</a>.
</dd>
</dl>

</dd>
<dt><code>release [<var>options</var>] <var>directories</var>&hellip;</code></dt>
<dd>Indicate that a directory is no longer in use. See
<a href="#release">release</a>.

<dl compact="compact">
<dt><code>-d</code></dt>
<dd>Delete the given directory. See <a href="#release-options">release options</a>.
</dd>
</dl>

</dd>
<dt><code>remove [<var>options</var>] [<var>files</var>&hellip;]</code></dt>
<dd>Remove an entry from the repository. See <a href="#Removing-files">Removing files</a>.

<dl compact="compact">
<dt><code>-f</code></dt>
<dd>Delete the file before removing it. See <a href="#Removing-files">Removing files</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>-l</code></dt>
<dd>Local; run only in current working directory. See <a href="#Recursive-behavior">Recursive behavior</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>-R</code></dt>
<dd>Operate recursively (default). See <a href="#Recursive-behavior">Recursive behavior</a>.
</dd>
</dl>

</dd>
<dt><code>rlog [<var>options</var>] [<var>files</var>&hellip;]</code></dt>
<dd>Print out history information for modules. See <a href="#log">log</a>.

<dl compact="compact">
<dt><code>-b</code></dt>
<dd>Only list revisions on the default branch. See <a href="#log-options">log options</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>-d <var>dates</var></code></dt>
<dd>Specify dates (<var>d1</var>&lt;<var>d2</var> for range, <var>d</var> for
latest before). See <a href="#log-options">log options</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>-h</code></dt>
<dd>Only print header. See <a href="#log-options">log options</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>-l</code></dt>
<dd>Local; run only in current working directory. See <a href="#Recursive-behavior">Recursive behavior</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>-N</code></dt>
<dd>Do not list tags. See <a href="#log-options">log options</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>-R</code></dt>
<dd>Only print name of RCS file. See <a href="#log-options">log options</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>-r<var>revs</var></code></dt>
<dd>Only list revisions <var>revs</var>. See <a href="#log-options">log options</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>-s <var>states</var></code></dt>
<dd>Only list revisions with specified states. See <a href="#log-options">log options</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>-t</code></dt>
<dd>Only print header and descriptive text. See <a href="#log-options">log options</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>-w<var>logins</var></code></dt>
<dd>Only list revisions checked in by specified logins. See <a href="#log-options">log options</a>.
</dd>
</dl>

</dd>
<dt><code>rls [<var>options</var>] [<var>path</var>&hellip;]</code></dt>
<dd>List files in a module. See <a href="#ls-_0026-rls">ls &amp; rls</a>.

<dl compact="compact">
<dt><code>-d</code></dt>
<dd>Show dead revisions (with tag when specified).
See <a href="#ls-_0026-rls-options">ls &amp; rls options</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>-e</code></dt>
<dd>Display in CVS/Entries format.

</dd>
<dt><code>-l</code></dt>
<dd>Display all details.

</dd>
<dt><code>-P</code></dt>
<dd>Prune empty directories. See <a href="#Moving-directories">Moving directories</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>-R</code></dt>
<dd>List recursively. See <a href="#Recursive-behavior">Recursive behavior</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>-D <var>date</var></code></dt>
<dd>Show files from date. See <a href="#Common-options">Common options</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>-r <var>rev</var></code></dt>
<dd>Show files with revision or tag.
</dd>
</dl>

</dd>
<dt><code>rtag [<var>options</var>] <var>tag</var> <var>modules</var>&hellip;</code></dt>
<dd>Add a symbolic tag to a module.
See <a href="#Tagging-by-date_002ftag">Tagging by date/tag</a>.
See <a href="#Creating-a-branch">Creating a branch</a>.

<dl compact="compact">
<dt><code>-a</code></dt>
<dd>Clear tag from removed files that would not otherwise
be tagged. See <a href="#Tagging-add_002fremove">Tagging add/remove</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>-b</code></dt>
<dd>Create a branch named <var>tag</var>. See <a href="#Branching-and-merging">Branching and merging</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>-B</code></dt>
<dd>Used in conjunction with -F or -d, enables movement and deletion of
branch tags. Use with extreme caution. 

</dd>
<dt><code>-D <var>date</var></code></dt>
<dd>Tag revisions as of <var>date</var>. See <a href="#Tagging-by-date_002ftag">Tagging by date/tag</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>-d</code></dt>
<dd>Delete <var>tag</var>. See <a href="#Modifying-tags">Modifying tags</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>-F</code></dt>
<dd>Move <var>tag</var> if it already exists. See <a href="#Modifying-tags">Modifying tags</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>-f</code></dt>
<dd>Force a head revision match if tag/date not found.
See <a href="#Tagging-by-date_002ftag">Tagging by date/tag</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>-l</code></dt>
<dd>Local; run only in current working directory. See <a href="#Recursive-behavior">Recursive behavior</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>-n</code></dt>
<dd>No execution of tag program. See <a href="#Common-options">Common options</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>-R</code></dt>
<dd>Operate recursively (default). See <a href="#Recursive-behavior">Recursive behavior</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>-r <var>tag</var>[:<var>date</var>]</code></dt>
<dd>Tag the revision already tagged with <var>tag</var> or, when <var>date</var> is specified
and <var>tag</var> is a branch tag, the version from the branch <var>tag</var> as it
existed on <var>date</var>. See <a href="#Tagging-by-date_002ftag">Tagging by date/tag</a> and <a href="#Common-options">Common options</a>.
</dd>
</dl>

</dd>
<dt><code>server</code></dt>
<dd>SSH/rsh server.
See <a href="#server-_0026-pserver">server &amp; pserver</a>.
See <a href="#Connecting-via-rsh">Connecting via rsh</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>suck <var>module/filename</var></code></dt>
<dd>Download RCS ,v file raw. See <a href="#suck">suck</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>status [<var>options</var>] <var>files</var>&hellip;</code></dt>
<dd>Display status information in a working directory. See
<a href="#File-status">File status</a>.

<dl compact="compact">
<dt><code>-l</code></dt>
<dd>Local; run only in current working directory. See <a href="#Recursive-behavior">Recursive behavior</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>-R</code></dt>
<dd>Operate recursively (default). See <a href="#Recursive-behavior">Recursive behavior</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>-v</code></dt>
<dd>Include tag information for file. See <a href="#Tags">Tags</a>.
</dd>
</dl>

</dd>
<dt><code>tag [<var>options</var>] <var>tag</var> [<var>files</var>&hellip;]</code></dt>
<dd>Add a symbolic tag to checked out version of files.
See <a href="#Tagging-the-working-directory">Tagging the working directory</a>.
See <a href="#Creating-a-branch">Creating a branch</a>.

<dl compact="compact">
<dt><code>-b</code></dt>
<dd>Create a branch named <var>tag</var>. See <a href="#Branching-and-merging">Branching and merging</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>-c</code></dt>
<dd>Check that working files are unmodified. See
<a href="#Tagging-the-working-directory">Tagging the working directory</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>-D <var>date</var></code></dt>
<dd>Tag revisions as of <var>date</var>. See <a href="#Tagging-by-date_002ftag">Tagging by date/tag</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>-d</code></dt>
<dd>Delete <var>tag</var>. See <a href="#Modifying-tags">Modifying tags</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>-F</code></dt>
<dd>Move <var>tag</var> if it already exists. See <a href="#Modifying-tags">Modifying tags</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>-f</code></dt>
<dd>Force a head revision match if tag/date not found.
See <a href="#Tagging-by-date_002ftag">Tagging by date/tag</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>-l</code></dt>
<dd>Local; run only in current working directory. See <a href="#Recursive-behavior">Recursive behavior</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>-R</code></dt>
<dd>Operate recursively (default). See <a href="#Recursive-behavior">Recursive behavior</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>-r <var>tag</var>[:<var>date</var>]</code></dt>
<dd>Tag the revision already tagged with <var>tag</var>, or when <var>date</var> is specified
and <var>tag</var> is a branch tag, the version from the branch <var>tag</var> as it
existed on <var>date</var>. See <a href="#Tagging-by-date_002ftag">Tagging by date/tag</a> and <a href="#Common-options">Common options</a>.
</dd>
</dl>

</dd>
<dt><code>unedit [<var>options</var>] [<var>files</var>&hellip;]</code></dt>
<dd>Undo an edit command. See <a href="#Editing-files">Editing files</a>.

<dl compact="compact">
<dt><code>-l</code></dt>
<dd>Local; run only in current working directory. See <a href="#Recursive-behavior">Recursive behavior</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>-R</code></dt>
<dd>Operate recursively (default). See <a href="#Recursive-behavior">Recursive behavior</a>.
</dd>
</dl>

</dd>
<dt><code>update [<var>options</var>] [<var>files</var>&hellip;]</code></dt>
<dd>Bring work tree in sync with repository. See
<a href="#update">update</a>.

<dl compact="compact">
<dt><code>-A</code></dt>
<dd>Reset any sticky tags/date/options. See <a href="#Sticky-tags">Sticky tags</a> and <a href="#Keyword-substitution">Keyword substitution</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>-C</code></dt>
<dd>Overwrite locally modified files with clean copies from
the repository (the modified file is saved in
<samp>.#<var>file</var>.<var>revision</var></samp>, however).

</dd>
<dt><code>-D <var>date</var></code></dt>
<dd>Check out revisions as of <var>date</var> (is sticky). See
<a href="#Common-options">Common options</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>-d</code></dt>
<dd>Create directories. See <a href="#update-options">update options</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>-f</code></dt>
<dd>Use head revision if tag/date not found. See
<a href="#Common-options">Common options</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>-I <var>ign</var></code></dt>
<dd>More files to ignore (! to reset). See
<a href="#import-options">import options</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>-j <var>tag</var>[:<var>date</var>]</code></dt>
<dd>Merge in changes from revisions specified by <var>tag</var> or, when <var>date</var> is
specified and <var>tag</var> is a branch tag, the version from the branch <var>tag</var>
as it existed on <var>date</var>. See <a href="#update-options">update options</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>-k <var>kflag</var></code></dt>
<dd>Use <var>kflag</var> keyword expansion. See
<a href="#Substitution-modes">Substitution modes</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>-l</code></dt>
<dd>Local; run only in current working directory. See <a href="#Recursive-behavior">Recursive behavior</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>-P</code></dt>
<dd>Prune empty directories. See <a href="#Moving-directories">Moving directories</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>-p</code></dt>
<dd>Check out files to standard output (avoids
stickiness). See <a href="#update-options">update options</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>-R</code></dt>
<dd>Operate recursively (default). See <a href="#Recursive-behavior">Recursive behavior</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>-r <var>tag</var>[:<var>date</var>]</code></dt>
<dd>Checkout the revisions specified by <var>tag</var> or, when <var>date</var> is specified
and <var>tag</var> is a branch tag, the version from the branch <var>tag</var> as it
existed on <var>date</var>. See <a href="#Common-options">Common options</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>-W <var>spec</var></code></dt>
<dd>More wrappers. See <a href="#import-options">import options</a>.
</dd>
</dl>

</dd>
<dt><code>version</code></dt>
<dd>

Display the version of CVS being used. If the repository
is remote, display both the client and server versions.

</dd>
<dt><code>watch [on|off|add|remove] [<var>options</var>] [<var>files</var>&hellip;]</code></dt>
<dd>
on/off: turn on/off read-only checkouts of files. See
<a href="#Setting-a-watch">Setting a watch</a>.

add/remove: add or remove notification on actions. See
<a href="#Getting-Notified">Getting Notified</a>.

<dl compact="compact">
<dt><code>-a <var>actions</var></code></dt>
<dd>Specify actions for temporary watch, where
<var>actions</var> is <code>edit</code>, <code>unedit</code>,
<code>commit</code>, <code>all</code>, or <code>none</code>. See
<a href="#Editing-files">Editing files</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>-l</code></dt>
<dd>Local; run only in current working directory. See <a href="#Recursive-behavior">Recursive behavior</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>-R</code></dt>
<dd>Operate recursively (default). See <a href="#Recursive-behavior">Recursive behavior</a>.
</dd>
</dl>

</dd>
<dt><code>watchers [<var>options</var>] [<var>files</var>&hellip;]</code></dt>
<dd>See who is watching a file. See <a href="#Watch-information">Watch information</a>.

<dl compact="compact">
<dt><code>-l</code></dt>
<dd>Local; run only in current working directory. See <a href="#Recursive-behavior">Recursive behavior</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>-R</code></dt>
<dd>Operate recursively (default). See <a href="#Recursive-behavior">Recursive behavior</a>.
</dd>
</dl>

</dd>
</dl>

<hr>
<div class="header">

Next: <a href="#Environment-variables" accesskey="n" rel="next">Environment variables</a>, Previous: <a href="#Invoking-CVS" accesskey="p" rel="prev">Invoking CVS</a>, Up: <a href="#Top" accesskey="u" rel="up">Top</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h2 class="appendix">Appendix C Reference manual for Administrative files</h2>

Inside the repository, in the directory
<samp>$CVSROOT/CVSROOT</samp>, there are a number of
supportive files for CVS. You can use CVS in a limited
fashion without any of them, but if they are set up
properly they can help make life easier. For a
discussion of how to edit them, see <a href="#Intro-administrative-files">Intro administrative files</a>.

The most important of these files is the <samp>modules</samp>
file, which defines the modules inside the repository.

<table class="menu" border="0" cellspacing="0">
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#modules" accesskey="1">modules</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">Defining modules
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#Wrappers" accesskey="2">Wrappers</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">Specify binary-ness based on file name
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#Trigger-Scripts" accesskey="3">Trigger Scripts</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">Launch scripts in response to server events
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#rcsinfo" accesskey="4">rcsinfo</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">Templates for the log messages
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#cvsignore" accesskey="5">cvsignore</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">Ignoring files via cvsignore
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#checkoutlist" accesskey="6">checkoutlist</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">Adding your own administrative files
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#history-file" accesskey="7">history file</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">History information
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#Variables" accesskey="8">Variables</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">Various variables are expanded
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#config" accesskey="9">config</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">Miscellaneous CVS configuration
</td></tr>
</table>

<hr>
<div class="header">

Next: <a href="#Wrappers" accesskey="n" rel="next">Wrappers</a>, Up: <a href="#Administrative-files" accesskey="u" rel="up">Administrative files</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h3 class="appendixsec">C.1 The modules file</h3>

The <samp>modules</samp> file records your definitions of
names for collections of source code. CVS will
use these definitions if you use CVS to update the
modules file (use normal commands like <code>add</code>,
<code>commit</code>, etc).

The <samp>modules</samp> file may contain blank lines and
comments (lines beginning with &lsquo;<samp>#</samp>&rsquo;) as well as
module definitions. Long lines can be continued on the
next line by specifying a backslash (&lsquo;<samp>\</samp>&rsquo;) as the
last character on the line.

There are three basic types of modules: alias modules,
regular modules, and ampersand modules. The difference
between them is the way that they map files in the
repository to files in the working directory. In all
of the following examples, the top-level repository
contains a directory called <samp>first-dir</samp>, which
contains two files, <samp>file1</samp> and <samp>file2</samp>, and a
directory <samp>sdir</samp>. <samp>first-dir/sdir</samp> contains
a file <samp>sfile</samp>.

<table class="menu" border="0" cellspacing="0">
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#Alias-modules" accesskey="1">Alias modules</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">The simplest kind of module
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#Regular-modules" accesskey="2">Regular modules</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#Ampersand-modules" accesskey="3">Ampersand modules</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#Excluding-directories" accesskey="4">Excluding directories</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">Excluding directories from a module
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#Module-options" accesskey="5">Module options</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">Regular and ampersand modules can take options
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#Module-program-options" accesskey="6">Module program options</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">How the modules &ldquo;program options&rdquo; programs
 are run. 
</td></tr>
</table>

<hr>
<div class="header">

Next: <a href="#Regular-modules" accesskey="n" rel="next">Regular modules</a>, Up: <a href="#modules" accesskey="u" rel="up">modules</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h4 class="appendixsubsec">C.1.1 Alias modules</h4>

Alias modules are the simplest kind of module:

<dl compact="compact">
<dt><code><var>mname</var> -a <var>aliases</var>&hellip;</code></dt>
<dd>This represents the simplest way of defining a module
<var>mname</var>. The &lsquo;<samp>-a</samp>&rsquo; flags the definition as a
simple alias: CVS will treat any use of <var>mname</var> (as
a command argument) as if the list of names
<var>aliases</var> had been specified instead.
<var>aliases</var> may contain either other module names or
paths. When you use paths in aliases, <code>checkout</code>
creates all intermediate directories in the working
directory, just as if the path had been specified
explicitly in the CVS arguments.
</dd>
</dl>

For example, if the modules file contains:

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">amodule -a first-dir
</pre></div>

then the following two commands are equivalent:

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">$ cvs co amodule
$ cvs co first-dir
</pre></div>

and they each would provide output such as:

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">cvs checkout: Updating first-dir
U first-dir/file1
U first-dir/file2
cvs checkout: Updating first-dir/sdir
U first-dir/sdir/sfile
</pre></div>

<hr>
<div class="header">

Next: <a href="#Ampersand-modules" accesskey="n" rel="next">Ampersand modules</a>, Previous: <a href="#Alias-modules" accesskey="p" rel="prev">Alias modules</a>, Up: <a href="#modules" accesskey="u" rel="up">modules</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h4 class="appendixsubsec">C.1.2 Regular modules</h4>

<dl compact="compact">
<dt><code><var>mname</var> [ options ] <var>dir</var> [ <var>files</var>&hellip; ]</code></dt>
<dd>In the simplest case, this form of module definition
reduces to &lsquo;<samp><var>mname</var> <var>dir</var></samp>&rsquo;. This defines
all the files in directory <var>dir</var> as module <var>mname</var>.
<var>dir</var> is a relative path (from <code>$CVSROOT</code>) to a
directory of source in the source repository. In this
case, on checkout, a single directory called
<var>mname</var> is created as a working directory; no
intermediate directory levels are used by default, even
if <var>dir</var> was a path involving several directory
levels.
</dd>
</dl>

For example, if a module is defined by:

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">regmodule first-dir
</pre></div>

then regmodule will contain the files from first-dir:

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">$ cvs co regmodule
cvs checkout: Updating regmodule
U regmodule/file1
U regmodule/file2
cvs checkout: Updating regmodule/sdir
U regmodule/sdir/sfile
$
</pre></div>

By explicitly specifying files in the module definition
after <var>dir</var>, you can select particular files from
directory <var>dir</var>. Here is
an example:

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">regfiles first-dir/sdir sfile
</pre></div>

With this definition, getting the regfiles module
will create a single working directory
<samp>regfiles</samp> containing the file listed, which
comes from a directory deeper
in the CVS source repository:

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">$ cvs co regfiles
U regfiles/sfile
$
</pre></div>

<hr>
<div class="header">

Next: <a href="#Excluding-directories" accesskey="n" rel="next">Excluding directories</a>, Previous: <a href="#Regular-modules" accesskey="p" rel="prev">Regular modules</a>, Up: <a href="#modules" accesskey="u" rel="up">modules</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h4 class="appendixsubsec">C.1.3 Ampersand modules</h4>

A module definition can refer to other modules by
including &lsquo;<samp>&amp;<var>module</var></samp>&rsquo; in its definition.
<div class="example">
<pre class="example"><var>mname</var> [ options ] <var>&amp;module</var>&hellip;
</pre></div>

Then getting the module creates a subdirectory for each such
module, in the directory containing the module. For
example, if modules contains

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">ampermod &amp;first-dir
</pre></div>

then a checkout will create an <code>ampermod</code> directory
which contains a directory called <code>first-dir</code>,
which in turns contains all the directories and files
which live there. For example, the command

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">$ cvs co ampermod
</pre></div>

will create the following files:

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">ampermod/first-dir/file1
ampermod/first-dir/file2
ampermod/first-dir/sdir/sfile
</pre></div>

There is one quirk/bug: the messages that CVS
prints omit the <samp>ampermod</samp>, and thus do not
correctly display the location to which it is checking
out the files:

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">$ cvs co ampermod
cvs checkout: Updating first-dir
U first-dir/file1
U first-dir/file2
cvs checkout: Updating first-dir/sdir
U first-dir/sdir/sfile
$
</pre></div>

Do not rely on this buggy behavior; it may get fixed in
a future release of CVS.

<hr>
<div class="header">

Next: <a href="#Module-options" accesskey="n" rel="next">Module options</a>, Previous: <a href="#Ampersand-modules" accesskey="p" rel="prev">Ampersand modules</a>, Up: <a href="#modules" accesskey="u" rel="up">modules</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h4 class="appendixsubsec">C.1.4 Excluding directories</h4>

An alias module may exclude particular directories from
other modules by using an exclamation mark (&lsquo;<samp>!</samp>&rsquo;)
before the name of each directory to be excluded.

For example, if the modules file contains:

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">exmodule -a !first-dir/sdir first-dir
</pre></div>

then checking out the module &lsquo;<samp>exmodule</samp>&rsquo; will check
out everything in &lsquo;<samp>first-dir</samp>&rsquo; except any files in
the subdirectory &lsquo;<samp>first-dir/sdir</samp>&rsquo;.

<hr>
<div class="header">

Next: <a href="#Module-program-options" accesskey="n" rel="next">Module program options</a>, Previous: <a href="#Excluding-directories" accesskey="p" rel="prev">Excluding directories</a>, Up: <a href="#modules" accesskey="u" rel="up">modules</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h4 class="appendixsubsec">C.1.5 Module options</h4>

Either regular modules or ampersand modules can contain
options, which supply additional information concerning
the module.

<dl compact="compact">
<dd>
</dd>
<dt><code>-d <var>name</var></code></dt>
<dd>Name the working directory something other than the
module name.



</dd>
<dt><code>-e <var>prog</var></code></dt>
<dd>Specify a program <var>prog</var> to run whenever files in a
module are exported. <var>prog</var> runs with a single
argument, the module name.



</dd>
<dt><code>-o <var>prog</var></code></dt>
<dd>Specify a program <var>prog</var> to run whenever files in a
module are checked out. <var>prog</var> runs with a single
argument, the module name. See <a href="#Module-program-options">Module program options</a> for
information on how <var>prog</var> is called.




</dd>
<dt><code>-s <var>status</var></code></dt>
<dd>Assign a status to the module. When the module file is
printed with &lsquo;<samp>cvs checkout -s</samp>&rsquo; the modules are
sorted according to primarily module status, and
secondarily according to the module name. This option
has no other meaning. You can use this option for
several things besides status: for instance, list the
person that is responsible for this module.



</dd>
<dt><code>-t <var>prog</var></code></dt>
<dd>Specify a program <var>prog</var> to run whenever files in a
module are tagged with <code>rtag</code>. <var>prog</var> runs
with two arguments: the module name and the symbolic
tag specified to <code>rtag</code>. It is not run
when <code>tag</code> is executed. Generally you will find
that the <samp>taginfo</samp> file is a better solution (see <a href="#taginfo">taginfo</a>).
</dd>
</dl>

You should also see see <a href="#Module-program-options">Module program options</a> about how the
&ldquo;program options&rdquo; programs are run.

<hr>
<div class="header">

Previous: <a href="#Module-options" accesskey="p" rel="prev">Module options</a>, Up: <a href="#modules" accesskey="u" rel="up">modules</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h4 class="appendixsubsec">C.1.6 How the modules file &ldquo;program options&rdquo; programs are run</h4>

For checkout, rtag, and export, the program is server-based, and as such the
following applies:-

If using remote access methods (pserver, ext, etc.),
CVS will execute this program on the server from a temporary
directory. The path is searched for this program.

If using &ldquo;local access&rdquo; (on a local or remote NFS filesystem, i.e.
repository set just to a path),
the program will be executed from the newly checked-out tree, if
found there, or alternatively searched for in the path if not.

The programs are all run after the operation has effectively
completed.

<hr>
<div class="header">

Next: <a href="#Trigger-Scripts" accesskey="n" rel="next">Trigger Scripts</a>, Previous: <a href="#modules" accesskey="p" rel="prev">modules</a>, Up: <a href="#Administrative-files" accesskey="u" rel="up">Administrative files</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h3 class="appendixsec">C.2 The cvswrappers file</h3>

Wrappers refers to a CVS feature which lets you
control certain settings based on the name of the file
which is being operated on. The settings are &lsquo;<samp>-k</samp>&rsquo;
for binary files, and &lsquo;<samp>-m</samp>&rsquo; for nonmergeable text
files.

The &lsquo;<samp>-m</samp>&rsquo; option
specifies the merge methodology that should be used when
a non-binary file is updated. <code>MERGE</code> means the usual
CVS behavior: try to merge the files. <code>COPY</code>
means that <code>cvs update</code> will refuse to merge
files, as it also does for files specified as binary
with &lsquo;<samp>-kb</samp>&rsquo; (but if the file is specified as
binary, there is no need to specify &lsquo;<samp>-m 'COPY'</samp>&rsquo;).
CVS will provide the user with the
two versions of the files, and require the user using
mechanisms outside CVS, to insert any necessary
changes.

WARNING: do not use <code>COPY</code> with
CVS 1.9 or earlier - such versions of CVS will
copy one version of your file over the other, wiping
out the previous contents.
The &lsquo;<samp>-m</samp>&rsquo; wrapper option only affects behavior when
merging is done on update; it does not affect how files
are stored. See <a href="#Binary-files">Binary files</a>, for more on
binary files.

The basic format of the file <samp>cvswrappers</samp> is:

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">wildcard [option value][option value]...

where option is one of
-m           update methodology      value: MERGE or COPY
-k           keyword expansion       value: expansion mode

and value is a single-quote delimited value.
</pre></div>

For example, the following command imports a
directory, treating files whose name ends in
&lsquo;<samp>.exe</samp>&rsquo; as binary:

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">cvs import -I ! -W &quot;*.exe -k 'b'&quot; first-dir vendortag reltag
</pre></div>

<hr>
<div class="header">

Next: <a href="#rcsinfo" accesskey="n" rel="next">rcsinfo</a>, Previous: <a href="#Wrappers" accesskey="p" rel="prev">Wrappers</a>, Up: <a href="#Administrative-files" accesskey="u" rel="up">Administrative files</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h3 class="appendixsec">C.3 The Trigger Scripts</h3>

Several of the administrative files support triggers, or the launching external
scripts or programs at specific times before or after particular events, during
the execution of CVS commands. These hooks can be used to prevent certain
actions, log them, and/or maintain anything else you deem practical.

All the trigger scripts are launched in a copy of the user sandbox being
committed, on the server, in client-server mode. In local mode, the scripts
are actually launched directly from the user sandbox directory being committed.
For most intents and purposes, the same scripts can be run in both locations
without alteration.

<table class="menu" border="0" cellspacing="0">
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#syntax" accesskey="1">syntax</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">The common syntax
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#Trigger-Script-Security" accesskey="2">Trigger Script Security</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">Trigger script security
</td></tr>
<tr><th colspan="3" align="left" valign="top"><pre class="menu-comment">

</pre></th></tr><tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#commit-files" accesskey="3">commit files</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">The commit support files (commitinfo,
 verifymsg, loginfo)
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#commitinfo" accesskey="4">commitinfo</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">Pre-commit checking
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#verifymsg" accesskey="5">verifymsg</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">How are log messages evaluated?
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#loginfo" accesskey="6">loginfo</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">Where should log messages be sent?
</td></tr>
<tr><th colspan="3" align="left" valign="top"><pre class="menu-comment">

</pre></th></tr><tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#postadmin" accesskey="7">postadmin</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">Logging admin commands
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#taginfo" accesskey="8">taginfo</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">Verifying/Logging tags
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#posttag" accesskey="9">posttag</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">Logging tags
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#postwatch">postwatch</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">Logging watch commands
</td></tr>
<tr><th colspan="3" align="left" valign="top"><pre class="menu-comment">

</pre></th></tr><tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#preproxy">preproxy</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">Launch a script on a secondary server prior
				to becoming a write proxy
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#postproxy">postproxy</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">Launch a script on a secondary server after
				completing proxy operations
</td></tr>
</table>

<hr>
<div class="header">

Next: <a href="#Trigger-Script-Security" accesskey="n" rel="next">Trigger Script Security</a>, Up: <a href="#Trigger-Scripts" accesskey="u" rel="up">Trigger Scripts</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h4 class="appendixsubsec">C.3.1 The common syntax</h4>

The administrative files such as <samp>commitinfo</samp>,
<samp>loginfo</samp>, <samp>rcsinfo</samp>, <samp>verifymsg</samp>, etc.,
all have a common format. The purpose of the files are
described later on. The common syntax is described
here.


Each line contains the following:

<ul>
<li> 

A regular expression or the literal string &lsquo;<samp>DEFAULT</samp>&rsquo;. Some script hooks
also support the literal string &lsquo;<samp>ALL</samp>&rsquo;. Other than the &lsquo;<samp>ALL</samp>&rsquo; and
&lsquo;<samp>DEFAULT</samp>&rsquo; keywords, this is a basic regular expression in the syntax used
by GNU emacs. See the descriptions of the individual script hooks for
information on whether the &lsquo;<samp>ALL</samp>&rsquo; keyword is supported
(see <a href="#Trigger-Scripts">Trigger Scripts</a>).

</li><li> A whitespace separator&mdash;one or more spaces and/or tabs.

</li><li> A file name or command-line template.
</li></ul>

Blank lines are ignored. Lines that start with the
character &lsquo;<samp>#</samp>&rsquo; are treated as comments. Long lines
unfortunately can not be broken in two parts in
any way.

The first regular expression that matches the current
directory name in the repository or the first line containing &lsquo;<samp>DEFAULT</samp>&rsquo;
in lieu of a regular expression is used and all lines containing &lsquo;<samp>ALL</samp>&rsquo; is
used for the hooks which support the &lsquo;<samp>ALL</samp>&rsquo; keyword. The rest of the line
is used as a file name or command-line template as appropriate. See the
descriptions of the individual script hooks for information on whether the
&lsquo;<samp>ALL</samp>&rsquo; keyword is supported (see <a href="#Trigger-Scripts">Trigger Scripts</a>).





Note: The following information on format strings is valid
as long as the line <code>UseNewInfoFmtStrings=yes</code> appears in
your repository&rsquo;s config file (see <a href="#config">config</a>). Otherwise,
default format strings may be appended to the command line and
the &lsquo;<samp>loginfo</samp>&rsquo; file, especially, can exhibit slightly
different behavior. For more information,
See <a href="#Updating-Commit-Files">Updating Commit Files</a>.

In the cases where the second segment of the matched line is a
command line template (e.g. <samp>commitinfo</samp>, <samp>loginfo</samp>,
&amp; <samp>verifymsg</samp>), the command line template may contain format
strings which will be replaced with specific values before the
script is run.

Format strings can represent a single variable or one or more
attributes of a list variable. An example of a list variable
would be the list available to scripts hung on the loginfo hooks
- the list of files which were just committed. In the case of
loginfo, three attributes are available for each list item: file
name, precommit version, and postcommit version.

Format strings consist of a &lsquo;<samp>%</samp>&rsquo; character followed by an optional
&lsquo;<samp>{</samp>&rsquo; (required in the multiple list attribute case), a
single format character representing a variable or a single attribute of
list elements or multiple format characters representing attributes of
list elements, and a closing &lsquo;<samp>}</samp>&rsquo; when the open bracket was present.

Flat format strings, or single format characters which get replaced
with a single value, will generate a single argument
to the called script, regardless of whether the replacement variable contains
white space or other special characters.

List attributes will generate an argument for each attribute
requested for each list item. For example, &lsquo;<samp>%{sVv}</samp>&rsquo;
in a <samp>loginfo</samp> command template will generate three
arguments (file name, precommit version, postcommit version,
...) for each file committed. As in the flat format string
case, each attribute will be passed in as a single argument
regardless of whether it contains white space or other
special characters.
 
&lsquo;<samp>%%</samp>&rsquo; will be replaced with a literal &lsquo;<samp>%</samp>&rsquo;.

The format strings available to all script hooks are:

<dl compact="compact">
<dt><tt>c</tt></dt>
<dd>The canonical name of the command being executed. For instance, in the case of
a hook run from <code>cvs up</code>, CVS would replace &lsquo;<samp>%c</samp>&rsquo; with the string
&lsquo;<samp>update</samp>&rsquo; and, in the case of a hook run from <code>cvs ci</code>, CVS would
replace &lsquo;<samp>%c</samp>&rsquo; with the string &lsquo;<samp>commit</samp>&rsquo;.
</dd>
<dt><tt>n</tt></dt>
<dd>The null, or empty, string.
</dd>
<dt><tt>p</tt></dt>
<dd>The name of the directory being operated on within the repository.
</dd>
<dt><tt>r</tt></dt>
<dd>The name of the repository (the path portion of <code>$CVSROOT</code>).
</dd>
<dt><tt>R</tt></dt>
<dd>On a server, the name of the referrer, if any. The referrer is the CVSROOT the
client reports it used to contact a server which then referred it to this
server. Should usually be set on a primary server with a write proxy setup.
</dd>
</dl>

Other format strings are file specific. See the docs on the
particular script hooks for more information
(see <a href="#Trigger-Scripts">Trigger Scripts</a>).

As an example, the following line in a <samp>loginfo</samp> file would
match only the directory <samp>module</samp> and any subdirectories of
<samp>module</samp>:

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">^module$/\|$$ (echo; echo %p: %{sVv}; cat) &gt;&gt;$CVSROOT/CVSROOT/commitlog
</pre></div>

Using this same line and assuming a commit of new revisions
1.5.4.4 and 1.27.4.1 based on old revisions 1.5.4.3 and 1.27,
respectively, of file1 and file2 in module, something like the
following log message should be appended to commitlog:

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">

module
file1 1.5.4.3 1.5.4.4 file2 1.27 1.27.4.1
Update of /cvsroot/module
In directory localhost.localdomain:/home/jrandom/work/module

Modified Files:
	file1 file2
Log Message:
A log message.
</pre></div>

<hr>
<div class="header">

Next: <a href="#commit-files" accesskey="n" rel="next">commit files</a>, Previous: <a href="#syntax" accesskey="p" rel="prev">syntax</a>, Up: <a href="#Trigger-Scripts" accesskey="u" rel="up">Trigger Scripts</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h4 class="appendixsubsec">C.3.2 Security and the Trigger Scripts</h4>

Security is a huge subject, and implementing a secure system is a non-trivial
task. This section will barely touch on all the issues involved, but it is
well to note that, as with any script you will be allowing an untrusted
user to run on your server, there are measures you can take to help prevent
your trigger scripts from being abused.

For instance, since the CVS trigger scripts all run in a copy of the user&rsquo;s
sandbox on the server, a naively coded Perl trigger script which attempts to
use a Perl module that is not installed on the system can be hijacked by any
user with commit access who is checking in a file with the correct name. Other
scripting languages may be vulnerable to similar hacks.

One way to make a script more secure, at least with Perl, is to use scripts
which invoke the <code>-T</code>, or &quot;taint-check&quot; switch on their <code>#!</code> line.
In the most basic terms, this causes Perl to avoid running code that may have
come from an external source. Please run the <code>perldoc perlsec</code> command
for more on Perl security. Again, other languages may implement other security
verification hooks which look more or less like Perl&rsquo;s &quot;taint-check&quot; mechanism.

<hr>
<div class="header">

Next: <a href="#commitinfo" accesskey="n" rel="next">commitinfo</a>, Previous: <a href="#Trigger-Script-Security" accesskey="p" rel="prev">Trigger Script Security</a>, Up: <a href="#Trigger-Scripts" accesskey="u" rel="up">Trigger Scripts</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h4 class="appendixsubsec">C.3.3 The commit support files</h4>

The &lsquo;<samp>-i</samp>&rsquo; flag in the <samp>modules</samp> file can be
used to run a certain program whenever files are
committed (see <a href="#modules">modules</a>). The files described in
this section provide other, more flexible, ways to run
programs whenever something is committed.

There are three kinds of programs that can be run on
commit. They are specified in files in the repository,
as described below. The following table summarises the
file names and the purpose of the corresponding
programs.

<dl compact="compact">
<dt><samp>commitinfo</samp></dt>
<dd>The program is responsible for checking that the commit
is allowed. If it exits with a non-zero exit status
the commit will be aborted. See <a href="#commitinfo">commitinfo</a>.

</dd>
<dt><samp>verifymsg</samp></dt>
<dd>The specified program is used to evaluate the log message,
and possibly verify that it contains all required
fields. This is most useful in combination with the
<samp>rcsinfo</samp> file, which can hold a log message
template (see <a href="#rcsinfo">rcsinfo</a>). See <a href="#verifymsg">verifymsg</a>.

</dd>
<dt><samp>loginfo</samp></dt>
<dd>The specified program is called when the commit is
complete. It receives the log message and some
additional information and can store the log message in
a file, or mail it to appropriate persons, or maybe
post it to a local newsgroup, or&hellip; Your
imagination is the limit! See <a href="#loginfo">loginfo</a>.
</dd>
</dl>

<table class="menu" border="0" cellspacing="0">
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#Updating-Commit-Files" accesskey="1">Updating Commit Files</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">Updating legacy repositories to stop using
 deprecated command line template formats
</td></tr>
</table>

<hr>
<div class="header">

Up: <a href="#commit-files" accesskey="u" rel="up">commit files</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h4 class="appendixsubsubsec">C.3.3.1 Updating legacy repositories to stop using deprecated command line template formats</h4>



New repositories are created set to use the new format strings by default, so
if you are creating a new repository, you shouldn&rsquo;t have to worry about this
section.

If you are attempting to maintain a legacy repository which was
making use of the <samp>commitinfo</samp>, <samp>editinfo</samp>, <samp>verifymsg</samp>,
<samp>loginfo</samp>, and/or <samp>taginfo</samp> script hooks, you should have no
immediate problems with using the current CVS executable, but your users
will probably start to see deprecation warnings.

The reason for this is that all of the script hooks have been updated to
use a new command line parser that extensibly supports multiple
<samp>loginfo</samp> &amp; <samp>notify</samp> style format strings (see <a href="#syntax">syntax</a>)
and this support is not completely compatible with the old style format
strings.

The quick upgrade method is to stick a &lsquo;<samp>1</samp>&rsquo; after each format string
in your old <samp>loginfo</samp> file. For example:

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">DEFAULT (echo &quot;&quot;; id; echo %{sVv}; date; cat) &gt;&gt; $CVSROOT/CVSROOT/commitlog
</pre></div>

would become:

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">DEFAULT (echo &quot;&quot;; id; echo %1{sVv}; date; cat) &gt;&gt; $CVSROOT/CVSROOT/commitlog
</pre></div>

If you were counting on the fact that only the first &lsquo;<samp>%</samp>&rsquo; in the line was
replaced as a format string, you may also have to double up any further
percent signs on the line.

If you did this all at once and checked it in, everything should still be
running properly.

Now add the following line to your config file (see <a href="#config">config</a>):
<div class="example">
<pre class="example">UseNewInfoFmtStrings=yes
</pre></div>

Everything should still be running properly, but your users will probably
start seeing new deprecation warnings.
 
Dealing with the deprecation warnings now generated by <samp>commitinfo</samp>,
<samp>editinfo</samp>, <samp>verifymsg</samp>, and <samp>taginfo</samp> should be easy. Simply
specify what are currently implicit arguments explicitly. This means appending
the following strings to each active command line template in each file:
<dl compact="compact">
<dt><code>commitinfo</code></dt>
<dd>&lsquo;<samp> %r/%p %s</samp>&rsquo;
</dd>
<dt><code>editinfo</code></dt>
<dd>&lsquo;<samp> %l</samp>&rsquo;
</dd>
<dt><code>taginfo</code></dt>
<dd>&lsquo;<samp> %t %o %p %{sv}</samp>&rsquo;
</dd>
<dt><code>verifymsg</code></dt>
<dd>&lsquo;<samp> %l</samp>&rsquo;
</dd>
</dl>

If you don&rsquo;t desire that any of the newly available information be passed to
the scripts hanging off of these hooks, no further modifications to these
files should be necessary to insure current and future compatibility with
CVS&rsquo;s format strings.

Fixing <samp>loginfo</samp> could be a little tougher. The old style
<samp>loginfo</samp> format strings caused a single space and comma separated
argument to be passed in in place of the format string. This is what will
continue to be generated due to the deprecated &lsquo;<samp>1</samp>&rsquo; you inserted into
the format strings.

Since the new format separates each individual item and passes it into the
script as a separate argument (for a good reason - arguments containing commas
and/or white space are now parsable), to remove the deprecated &lsquo;<samp>1</samp>&rsquo; from
your <samp>loginfo</samp> command line templates, you will most likely have to
rewrite any scripts called by the hook to handle the new argument format.

Also note that the way &lsquo;<samp>%</samp>&rsquo; followed by unrecognised characters and by
&lsquo;<samp>{}</samp>&rsquo; was treated in past versions of CVS is not strictly adhered to as
there were bugs in the old versions. Specifically, &lsquo;<samp>%{}</samp>&rsquo; would eat the
next character and unrecognised strings resolved only to the empty string,
which was counter to what was stated in the documentation. This version will
do what the documentation said it should have (if you were using only some
combination of &lsquo;<samp>%{sVv}</samp>&rsquo;, e.g. &lsquo;<samp>%{sVv}</samp>&rsquo;, &lsquo;<samp>%{sV}</samp>&rsquo;, or
&lsquo;<samp>%v</samp>&rsquo;, you should have no troubles).

On the bright side, you should have plenty of time to do this before all
support for the old format strings is removed from CVS, so you can just
put up with the deprecation warnings for awhile if you like.

<hr>
<div class="header">

Next: <a href="#verifymsg" accesskey="n" rel="next">verifymsg</a>, Previous: <a href="#commit-files" accesskey="p" rel="prev">commit files</a>, Up: <a href="#Trigger-Scripts" accesskey="u" rel="up">Trigger Scripts</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h4 class="appendixsubsec">C.3.4 Commitinfo</h4>

The <samp>commitinfo</samp> file defines programs to execute
whenever &lsquo;<samp>cvs commit</samp>&rsquo; is about to execute. These
programs are used for pre-commit checking to verify
that the modified, added and removed files are really
ready to be committed. This could be used, for
instance, to verify that the changed files conform to
to your site&rsquo;s standards for coding practice.

The <samp>commitinfo</samp> file has the standard form for script hooks
(see <a href="#Trigger-Scripts">Trigger Scripts</a>), where each line is a regular expression followed by
a command to execute. It supports only the DEFAULT keywords.


In addition to the common format strings (see <a href="#syntax">syntax</a>),
<samp>commitinfo</samp> supports:

<dl compact="compact">
<dt><tt>{s}</tt></dt>
<dd>a list of the names of files to be committed
</dd>
</dl>

Currently, if no format strings are specified, a default
string of &lsquo;<samp> %r/%p %{s}</samp>&rsquo; will be appended to the command
line template before replacement is performed, but this
feature is deprecated. It is simply in place so that legacy
repositories will remain compatible with the new CVS application.
For information on updating, see <a href="#Updating-Commit-Files">Updating Commit Files</a>.



The first line with a regular expression matching the
directory within the repository will be used. If the
command returns a non-zero exit status the commit will
be aborted.



The command will be run in the root of the workspace
containing the new versions of any files the user would like
to modify (commit), or in a copy of the workspace on
the server (see <a href="#Remote-repositories">Remote repositories</a>). If a file is
being removed, there will be no copy of the file under the
current directory. If a file is being added, there will be
no corresponding archive file in the repository unless the
file is being resurrected.

Note that both the repository directory and the corresponding
Attic (see <a href="#Attic">Attic</a>) directory may need to be checked to
locate the archive file corresponding to any given file being
committed. Much of the information about the specific commit
request being made, including the destination branch, commit
message, and command line options specified, is not available
to the command.

<hr>
<div class="header">

Next: <a href="#loginfo" accesskey="n" rel="next">loginfo</a>, Previous: <a href="#commitinfo" accesskey="p" rel="prev">commitinfo</a>, Up: <a href="#Trigger-Scripts" accesskey="u" rel="up">Trigger Scripts</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h4 class="appendixsubsec">C.3.5 Verifying log messages</h4>

Once you have entered a log message, you can evaluate
that message to check for specific content, such as
a bug ID. Use the <samp>verifymsg</samp> file to
specify a program that is used to verify the log message.
This program could be a simple script that checks
that the entered message contains the required fields.

The <samp>verifymsg</samp> file is often most useful together
with the <samp>rcsinfo</samp> file, which can be used to
specify a log message template (see <a href="#rcsinfo">rcsinfo</a>).

The <samp>verifymsg</samp> file has the standard form for script hooks
(see <a href="#Trigger-Scripts">Trigger Scripts</a>), where each line is a regular expression followed by
a command to execute. It supports only the DEFAULT keywords.


In addition to the common format strings (see <a href="#syntax">syntax</a>),
<samp>verifymsg</samp> supports:

<dl compact="compact">
<dt><tt>l</tt></dt>
<dd>the full path to the file containing the log message to be verified
</dd>
<dt><tt>{sV}</tt></dt>
<dd>File attributes, where:
<dl compact="compact">
<dt><tt>s</tt></dt>
<dd>file name
</dd>
<dt><tt>V</tt></dt>
<dd>old version number (pre-checkin)
</dd>
</dl>
</dd>
</dl>

Currently, if no format strings are specified, a default
string of &lsquo;<samp> %l</samp>&rsquo; will be appended to the command
line template before replacement is performed, but this
feature is deprecated. It is simply in place so that legacy
repositories will remain compatible with the new CVS application.
For information on updating, see <a href="#Updating-Commit-Files">Updating Commit Files</a>.

One thing that should be noted is that the &lsquo;<samp>ALL</samp>&rsquo;
keyword is not supported. If more than one matching
line is found, the first one is used. This can be
useful for specifying a default verification script in a
directory, and then overriding it in a subdirectory.


If the verification script exits with a non-zero exit status,
the commit is aborted.


In the default configuration, CVS allows the
verification script to change the log message. This is
controlled via the RereadLogAfterVerify CVSROOT/config
option.

When &lsquo;<samp>RereadLogAfterVerify=always</samp>&rsquo; or
&lsquo;<samp>RereadLogAfterVerify=stat</samp>&rsquo;, the log message will
either always be reread after the verification script
is run or reread only if the log message file status
has changed.

See <a href="#config">config</a>, for more on CVSROOT/config options.

It is NOT a good idea for a <samp>verifymsg</samp> script to
interact directly with the user in the various
client/server methods. For the <code>pserver</code> method,
there is no protocol support for communicating between
<samp>verifymsg</samp> and the client on the remote end. For the
<code>ext</code> and <code>server</code> methods, it is possible
for CVS to become confused by the characters going
along the same channel as the CVS protocol
messages. See <a href="#Remote-repositories">Remote repositories</a>, for more
information on client/server setups. In addition, at the time
the <samp>verifymsg</samp> script runs, the CVS
server has locks in place in the repository. If control is
returned to the user here then other users may be stuck waiting
for access to the repository.

This option can be useful if you find yourself using an
rcstemplate that needs to be modified to remove empty
elements or to fill in default values. It can also be
useful if the rcstemplate has changed in the repository
and the CVS/Template was not updated, but is able to be
adapted to the new format by the verification script
that is run by <samp>verifymsg</samp>.

An example of an update might be to change all
occurrences of &rsquo;BugId:&rsquo; to be &rsquo;DefectId:&rsquo; (which can be
useful if the rcstemplate has recently been changed and
there are still checked-out user trees with cached
copies in the CVS/Template file of the older version).

Another example of an update might be to delete a line
that contains &rsquo;BugID: none&rsquo; from the log message after
validation of that value as being allowed is made.

<table class="menu" border="0" cellspacing="0">
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#verifymsg-example" accesskey="1">verifymsg example</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">Verifymsg example
</td></tr>
</table>

<hr>
<div class="header">

Up: <a href="#verifymsg" accesskey="u" rel="up">verifymsg</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h4 class="appendixsubsubsec">C.3.5.1 Verifying log messages</h4>

The following is a little silly example of a
<samp>verifymsg</samp> file, together with the corresponding
<samp>rcsinfo</samp> file, the log message template and a
verification script. We begin with the log message template.
We want to always record a bug-id number on the first
line of the log message. The rest of log message is
free text. The following template is found in the file
<samp>/usr/cvssupport/tc.template</samp>.

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">BugId:
</pre></div>

The script <samp>/usr/cvssupport/bugid.verify</samp> is used to
evaluate the log message.

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">#!/bin/sh
#
# bugid.verify filename
#
# Verify that the log message contains a valid bugid
# on the first line.
#
if sed 1q &lt; $1 | grep '^BugId:[ ]*[0-9][0-9]*$' &gt; /dev/null; then
 exit 0
elif sed 1q &lt; $1 | grep '^BugId:[ ]*none$' &gt; /dev/null; then
 # It is okay to allow commits with 'BugId: none',
 # but do not put that text into the real log message.
 grep -v '^BugId:[ ]*none$' &gt; $1.rewrite
 mv $1.rewrite $1
 exit 0
else
 echo &quot;No BugId found.&quot;
 exit 1
fi
</pre></div>

The <samp>verifymsg</samp> file contains this line:

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">^tc /usr/cvssupport/bugid.verify %l
</pre></div>

The <samp>rcsinfo</samp> file contains this line:

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">^tc /usr/cvssupport/tc.template
</pre></div>

The <samp>config</samp> file contains this line:

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">RereadLogAfterVerify=always
</pre></div>

<hr>
<div class="header">

Next: <a href="#postadmin" accesskey="n" rel="next">postadmin</a>, Previous: <a href="#verifymsg" accesskey="p" rel="prev">verifymsg</a>, Up: <a href="#Trigger-Scripts" accesskey="u" rel="up">Trigger Scripts</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h4 class="appendixsubsec">C.3.6 Loginfo</h4>

The <samp>loginfo</samp> file is used to control where log information is sent after
versioned changes are made to repository archive files and after directories
are added to the repository. <a href="#posttag">posttag</a> for how to log tagging
information and <a href="#postadmin">postadmin</a> for how to log changes due to the <code>admin</code>
command.

The <samp>loginfo</samp> file has the standard form for script hooks
(see <a href="#Trigger-Scripts">Trigger Scripts</a>), where each line is a regular expression followed by
a command to execute. It supports the ALL and DEFAULT keywords.

Any specified scripts are called:

<dl compact="compact">
<dt><code>commit</code></dt>
<dd>Once per directory, immediately after a successfully completing the commit of
all files within that directory.
</dd>
<dt><code>import</code></dt>
<dd>Once per import, immediately after completion of all write operations.
</dd>
<dt><code>add</code></dt>
<dd>Immediately after the successful <code>add</code> of a directory.
</dd>
</dl>

Any script called via <samp>loginfo</samp> will be fed the log information on its
standard input. Note that the filter program must read all
of the log information from its standard input or CVS may fail with a
broken pipe signal.


In addition to the common format strings (see <a href="#syntax">syntax</a>),
<samp>loginfo</samp> supports:

<dl compact="compact">
<dt><tt>{sVv}</tt></dt>
<dd>File attributes, where:
<dl compact="compact">
<dt><tt>s</tt></dt>
<dd>file name
</dd>
<dt><tt>V</tt></dt>
<dd>old version number (pre-checkin)
</dd>
<dt><tt>v</tt></dt>
<dd>new version number (post-checkin)
</dd>
</dl>
</dd>
</dl>

For example, some valid format strings are &lsquo;<samp>%%</samp>&rsquo;,
&lsquo;<samp>%s</samp>&rsquo;, &lsquo;<samp>%{s}</samp>&rsquo;, and &lsquo;<samp>%{sVv}</samp>&rsquo;.



Currently, if &lsquo;<samp>UseNewInfoFmtStrings</samp>&rsquo; is not set in the <samp>config</samp>
administration file (see <a href="#config">config</a>), the format strings will be substituted
as they were in past versions of CVS, but this feature is deprecated.
It is simply in place so that legacy repositories will remain compatible with
the new CVS application. For information on updating,
please see <a href="#Updating-Commit-Files">Updating Commit Files</a>.

As an example, if &lsquo;<samp>/u/src/master/yoyodyne/tc</samp>&rsquo; is the repository, &lsquo;<samp>%p</samp>&rsquo;
and &lsquo;<samp>%{sVv}</samp>&rsquo; are the format strings, and three files (<tt>ChangeLog</tt>,
<tt>Makefile</tt>, <tt>foo.c</tt>) were modified, the output might be:

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">yoyodyne/tc ChangeLog 1.1 1.2 Makefile 1.3 1.4 foo.c 1.12 1.13
</pre></div>

Note: when CVS is accessing a remote repository,
<samp>loginfo</samp> will be run on the remote
(i.e., server) side, not the client side (see <a href="#Remote-repositories">Remote repositories</a>).

<table class="menu" border="0" cellspacing="0">
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#loginfo-example" accesskey="1">loginfo example</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">Loginfo example
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#Keeping-a-checked-out-copy" accesskey="2">Keeping a checked out copy</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">Updating a tree on every checkin
</td></tr>
</table>

<hr>
<div class="header">

Next: <a href="#Keeping-a-checked-out-copy" accesskey="n" rel="next">Keeping a checked out copy</a>, Up: <a href="#loginfo" accesskey="u" rel="up">loginfo</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h4 class="appendixsubsubsec">C.3.6.1 Loginfo example</h4>

The following <samp>loginfo</samp> file, together with the
tiny shell-script below, appends all log messages
to the file <samp>$CVSROOT/CVSROOT/commitlog</samp>,
and any commits to the administrative files (inside
the <samp>CVSROOT</samp> directory) are also logged in
<samp>/usr/adm/cvsroot-log</samp>.
Commits to the <samp>prog1</samp> directory are mailed to <tt>ceder</tt>.

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">ALL /usr/local/bin/cvs-log $CVSROOT/CVSROOT/commitlog $USER
^CVSROOT$/\|$$ /usr/local/bin/cvs-log /usr/adm/cvsroot-log $USER
^prog1$/\|$$ Mail -s &quot;%p %s&quot; ceder
</pre></div>

The shell-script <samp>/usr/local/bin/cvs-log</samp> looks
like this:

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">#!/bin/sh
(echo &quot;------------------------------------------------------&quot;;
 echo -n &quot;$2 &quot;;
 date;
 echo;
 cat) &gt;&gt; $1
</pre></div>

<hr>
<div class="header">

Previous: <a href="#loginfo-example" accesskey="p" rel="prev">loginfo example</a>, Up: <a href="#loginfo" accesskey="u" rel="up">loginfo</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h4 class="appendixsubsubsec">C.3.6.2 Keeping a checked out copy</h4>

It is often useful to maintain a directory tree which
contains files which correspond to the latest version
in the repository. For example, other developers might
want to refer to the latest sources without having to
check them out, or you might be maintaining a web site
with CVS and want every checkin to cause the files
used by the web server to be updated.

The way to do this is by having loginfo invoke
<code>cvs update</code>. Doing so in the naive way will
cause a problem with locks, so the <code>cvs update</code>
must be run in the background.
Here is an example for unix (this should all be on one line):

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">^cyclic-pages$/\|$$	(date; cat; (sleep 2; cd /u/www/local-docs;
 cvs -q update -d) &amp;) &gt;&gt; $CVSROOT/CVSROOT/updatelog 2&gt;&amp;1
</pre></div>

This will cause checkins to repository directory <code>cyclic-pages</code>
and its subdirectories to update the checked
out tree in <samp>/u/www/local-docs</samp>.

<hr>
<div class="header">

Next: <a href="#taginfo" accesskey="n" rel="next">taginfo</a>, Previous: <a href="#loginfo" accesskey="p" rel="prev">loginfo</a>, Up: <a href="#Trigger-Scripts" accesskey="u" rel="up">Trigger Scripts</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h4 class="appendixsubsec">C.3.7 Logging admin commands</h4>

The <samp>postadmin</samp> file defines programs to execute after an <code>admin</code>
command modifies files. The <samp>postadmin</samp> file has the standard form
for script hooks (see <a href="#Trigger-Scripts">Trigger Scripts</a>), where each line is a regular
expression followed by a command to execute. It supports the ALL and DEFAULT
keywords.


The <samp>postadmin</samp> file supports no format strings other than the common
ones (see <a href="#syntax">syntax</a>),

<hr>
<div class="header">

Next: <a href="#posttag" accesskey="n" rel="next">posttag</a>, Previous: <a href="#postadmin" accesskey="p" rel="prev">postadmin</a>, Up: <a href="#Trigger-Scripts" accesskey="u" rel="up">Trigger Scripts</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h4 class="appendixsubsec">C.3.8 Taginfo</h4>




The <samp>taginfo</samp> file defines programs to execute
when someone executes a <code>tag</code> or <code>rtag</code>
command. The <samp>taginfo</samp> file has the standard form
for script hooks (see <a href="#Trigger-Scripts">Trigger Scripts</a>), where each line
is a regular expression followed by a command to execute.
It supports the ALL and DEFAULT keywords.


In addition to the common format strings (see <a href="#syntax">syntax</a>),
<samp>taginfo</samp> supports:

<dl compact="compact">
<dt><tt>b</tt></dt>
<dd>tag type (<code>T</code> for branch, <code>N</code> for not-branch, or <code>?</code> for
unknown, as during delete operations)
</dd>
<dt><tt>o</tt></dt>
<dd>operation (<code>add</code> for <code>tag</code>, <code>mov</code> for <code>tag -F</code>, or
<code>del</code> for <code>tag -d</code>)
</dd>
<dt><tt>t</tt></dt>
<dd>new tag name
</dd>
<dt><tt>{sTVv}</tt></dt>
<dd>file attributes, where:
<dl compact="compact">
<dt><tt>s</tt></dt>
<dd>file name
</dd>
<dt><tt>T</tt></dt>
<dd>tag name of destination, or the empty string when there is no associated
tag name (this usually means the trunk)
</dd>
<dt><tt>V</tt></dt>
<dd>old version number (for a move or delete operation)
</dd>
<dt><tt>v</tt></dt>
<dd>new version number (for an add or move operation)
</dd>
</dl>
</dd>
</dl>

For example, some valid format strings are &lsquo;<samp>%%</samp>&rsquo;, &lsquo;<samp>%p</samp>&rsquo;, &lsquo;<samp>%t</samp>&rsquo;,
&lsquo;<samp>%s</samp>&rsquo;, &lsquo;<samp>%{s}</samp>&rsquo;, and &lsquo;<samp>%{sVv}</samp>&rsquo;.



Currently, if no format strings are specified, a default
string of &lsquo;<samp> %t %o %p %{sv}</samp>&rsquo; will be appended to the command
line template before replacement is performed, but this
feature is deprecated. It is simply in place so that legacy
repositories will remain compatible with the new CVS application.
For information on updating, see <a href="#Updating-Commit-Files">Updating Commit Files</a>.



A non-zero exit of the filter program will cause the tag to be
aborted.

Here is an example of using <samp>taginfo</samp> to log <code>tag</code> and <code>rtag</code>
commands. In the <samp>taginfo</samp> file put:

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">ALL /usr/local/cvsroot/CVSROOT/loggit %t %b %o %p %{sVv}
</pre></div>

Where <samp>/usr/local/cvsroot/CVSROOT/loggit</samp> contains the
following script:

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">#!/bin/sh
echo &quot;$@&quot; &gt;&gt;/home/kingdon/cvsroot/CVSROOT/taglog
</pre></div>

<hr>
<div class="header">

Next: <a href="#postwatch" accesskey="n" rel="next">postwatch</a>, Previous: <a href="#taginfo" accesskey="p" rel="prev">taginfo</a>, Up: <a href="#Trigger-Scripts" accesskey="u" rel="up">Trigger Scripts</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h4 class="appendixsubsec">C.3.9 Logging tags</h4>

The <samp>posttag</samp> file defines programs to execute after a <code>tag</code> or
<code>rtag</code> command modifies files. The <samp>posttag</samp> file has the standard
form for script hooks (see <a href="#Trigger-Scripts">Trigger Scripts</a>), where each line is a regular
expression followed by a command to execute. It supports the ALL and DEFAULT
keywords.


The <samp>posttag</samp> admin file supports the same format strings as the
<samp>taginfo</samp> file (see <a href="#taginfo">taginfo</a>),

<hr>
<div class="header">

Next: <a href="#preproxy" accesskey="n" rel="next">preproxy</a>, Previous: <a href="#posttag" accesskey="p" rel="prev">posttag</a>, Up: <a href="#Trigger-Scripts" accesskey="u" rel="up">Trigger Scripts</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h4 class="appendixsubsec">C.3.10 Logging watch commands</h4>

The <samp>postwatch</samp> file defines programs to execute after any command (for
instance, <code>watch</code>, <code>edit</code>, <code>unedit</code>, or <code>commit</code>) modifies
any <samp>CVS/fileattr</samp> file in the repository (see <a href="#Watches">Watches</a>). The
<samp>postwatch</samp> file has the standard form for script hooks
(see <a href="#Trigger-Scripts">Trigger Scripts</a>), where each line is a regular expression followed by
a command to execute. It supports the ALL and DEFAULT keywords.


The <samp>postwatch</samp> file supports no format strings other than the common
ones (see <a href="#syntax">syntax</a>), but it is worth noting that the <code>%c</code> format string
may not be replaced as you might expect. Client runs of <code>edit</code> and
<code>unedit</code> can sometimes skip contacting the CVS server and cache the
notification of the file attribute change to be sent the next time the client
contacts the server for whatever other reason,

<hr>
<div class="header">

Next: <a href="#postproxy" accesskey="n" rel="next">postproxy</a>, Previous: <a href="#postwatch" accesskey="p" rel="prev">postwatch</a>, Up: <a href="#Trigger-Scripts" accesskey="u" rel="up">Trigger Scripts</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h4 class="appendixsubsec">C.3.11 Launch a Script before Proxying</h4>

The <samp>preproxy</samp> file defines programs to execute after a secondary
server receives a write request from a client, just before it starts up the
primary server and becomes a write proxy. This hook could be used to
dial a modem, launch an SSH tunnel, establish a VPN, or anything else that
might be necessary to do before contacting the primary server.

<samp>preproxy</samp> scripts are called once, at the time of the write request, with
the repository argument (if requested) set from the topmost directory sent by
the client.

The <samp>preproxy</samp> file has the standard form
for script hooks (see <a href="#Trigger-Scripts">Trigger Scripts</a>), where each line is a regular
expression followed by a command to execute. It supports the ALL and DEFAULT
keywords.


In addition to the common format strings, the <samp>preproxy</samp> file supports the
following format string:

<dl compact="compact">
<dt><tt>P</tt></dt>
<dd>the CVSROOT string which specifies the primary server
</dd>
</dl>

<hr>
<div class="header">

Previous: <a href="#preproxy" accesskey="p" rel="prev">preproxy</a>, Up: <a href="#Trigger-Scripts" accesskey="u" rel="up">Trigger Scripts</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h4 class="appendixsubsec">C.3.12 Launch a Script after Proxying</h4>

The <samp>postproxy</samp> file defines programs to execute after a secondary
server notes that the connection to the primary server has shut down and before
it releases the client by shutting down the connection to the client.
This could hook could be used to
disconnect a modem, an SSH tunnel, a VPN, or anything else that
might be necessary to do after contacting the primary server. This hook should
also be used to pull updates from the primary server before allowing the client
which did the write to disconnect since otherwise the client&rsquo;s next read
request may generate error messages and fail upon encountering an out of date
repository on the secondary server.

<samp>postproxy</samp> scripts are called once per directory.

The <samp>postproxy</samp> file has the standard form
for script hooks (see <a href="#Trigger-Scripts">Trigger Scripts</a>), where each line is a regular
expression followed by a command to execute. It supports the ALL and DEFAULT
keywords.


In addition to the common format strings, the <samp>postproxy</samp> file supports
the following format string:

<dl compact="compact">
<dt><tt>P</tt></dt>
<dd>the CVSROOT string which specifies the primary server
</dd>
</dl>

<hr>
<div class="header">

Next: <a href="#cvsignore" accesskey="n" rel="next">cvsignore</a>, Previous: <a href="#Trigger-Scripts" accesskey="p" rel="prev">Trigger Scripts</a>, Up: <a href="#Administrative-files" accesskey="u" rel="up">Administrative files</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h3 class="appendixsec">C.4 Rcsinfo</h3>

The <samp>rcsinfo</samp> file can be used to specify a form to
edit when filling out the commit log. The
<samp>rcsinfo</samp> file has a syntax similar to the
<samp>verifymsg</samp>, <samp>commitinfo</samp> and <samp>loginfo</samp>
files. See <a href="#syntax">syntax</a>. Unlike the other files the second
part is not a command-line template. Instead,
the part after the regular expression should be a full pathname to
a file containing the log message template.

If the repository name does not match any of the
regular expressions in this file, the &lsquo;<samp>DEFAULT</samp>&rsquo;
line is used, if it is specified.

All occurrences of the name &lsquo;<samp>ALL</samp>&rsquo; appearing as a
regular expression are used in addition to the first
matching regular expression or &lsquo;<samp>DEFAULT</samp>&rsquo;.

The log message template will be used as a default log
message. If you specify a log message with &lsquo;<samp>cvs
commit -m <var>message</var></samp>&rsquo; or &lsquo;<samp>cvs commit -f
<var>file</var></samp>&rsquo; that log message will override the
template.

See <a href="#verifymsg">verifymsg</a>, for an example <samp>rcsinfo</samp>
file.

When CVS is accessing a remote repository,
the contents of <samp>rcsinfo</samp> at the time a directory
is first checked out will specify a template. This
template will be updated on all &lsquo;<samp>cvs update</samp>&rsquo;
commands. It will also be added to new directories
added with a &lsquo;<samp>cvs add new-directory</samp>&rsquo; command.
In versions of CVS prior to version 1.12, the
<samp>CVS/Template</samp> file was not updated. If the
CVS server is at version 1.12 or higher an older
client may be used and the <samp>CVS/Template</samp> will
be updated from the server.

<hr>
<div class="header">

Next: <a href="#checkoutlist" accesskey="n" rel="next">checkoutlist</a>, Previous: <a href="#rcsinfo" accesskey="p" rel="prev">rcsinfo</a>, Up: <a href="#Administrative-files" accesskey="u" rel="up">Administrative files</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h3 class="appendixsec">C.5 Ignoring files via cvsignore</h3>

There are certain file names that frequently occur
inside your working copy, but that you don&rsquo;t want to
put under CVS control. Examples are all the object
files that you get while you compile your sources.
Normally, when you run &lsquo;<samp>cvs update</samp>&rsquo;, it prints a
line for each file it encounters that it doesn&rsquo;t know
about (see <a href="#update-output">update output</a>).

CVS has a list of files (or sh(1) file name patterns)
that it should ignore while running <code>update</code>,
<code>import</code> and <code>release</code>.
This list is constructed in the following way.

<ul>
<li> The list is initialised to include certain file name
patterns: names associated with CVS
administration, or with other common source control
systems; common names for patch files, object files,
archive files, and editor backup files; and other names
that are usually artifacts of assorted utilities.
Currently, the default list of ignored file name
patterns is:

<div class="example">
<pre class="example"> RCS SCCS CVS CVS.adm
 RCSLOG cvslog.*
 tags TAGS
 .make.state .nse_depinfo
 *~ #* .#* ,* _$* *$
 *.old *.bak *.BAK *.orig *.rej .del-*
 *.a *.olb *.o *.obj *.so *.exe
 *.Z *.elc *.ln
 core
</pre></div>

</li><li> The per-repository list in
<samp>$CVSROOT/CVSROOT/cvsignore</samp> is appended to
the list, if that file exists.

</li><li> The per-user list in <samp>.cvsignore</samp> in your home
directory is appended to the list, if it exists.

</li><li> Any entries in the environment variable
<code>$CVSIGNORE</code> is appended to the list.

</li><li> Any &lsquo;<samp>-I</samp>&rsquo; options given to CVS is appended.

</li><li> As CVS traverses through your directories, the contents
of any <samp>.cvsignore</samp> will be appended to the list.
The patterns found in <samp>.cvsignore</samp> are only valid
for the directory that contains them, not for
any sub-directories.
</li></ul>

In any of the 5 places listed above, a single
exclamation mark (&lsquo;<samp>!</samp>&rsquo;) clears the ignore list.
This can be used if you want to store any file which
normally is ignored by CVS.

Specifying &lsquo;<samp>-I !</samp>&rsquo; to <code>cvs import</code> will import
everything, which is generally what you want to do if
you are importing files from a pristine distribution or
any other source which is known to not contain any
extraneous files. However, looking at the rules above
you will see there is a fly in the ointment; if the
distribution contains any <samp>.cvsignore</samp> files, then
the patterns from those files will be processed even if
&lsquo;<samp>-I !</samp>&rsquo; is specified. The only workaround is to
remove the <samp>.cvsignore</samp> files in order to do the
import. Because this is awkward, in the future
&lsquo;<samp>-I !</samp>&rsquo; might be modified to override
<samp>.cvsignore</samp> files in each directory.

Note that the syntax of the ignore files consists of a
series of lines, each of which contains a space
separated list of filenames. This offers no clean way
to specify filenames which contain spaces, but you can
use a workaround like <samp>foo?bar</samp> to match a file
named <samp>foo bar</samp> (it also matches <samp>fooxbar</samp>
and the like). Also note that there is currently no
way to specify comments.

<hr>
<div class="header">

Next: <a href="#history-file" accesskey="n" rel="next">history file</a>, Previous: <a href="#cvsignore" accesskey="p" rel="prev">cvsignore</a>, Up: <a href="#Administrative-files" accesskey="u" rel="up">Administrative files</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h3 class="appendixsec">C.6 The checkoutlist file</h3>

It may be helpful to use CVS to maintain your own
files in the <samp>CVSROOT</samp> directory. For example,
suppose that you have a script <samp>logcommit.pl</samp>
which you run by including the following line in the
<samp>commitinfo</samp> administrative file:

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">ALL $CVSROOT/CVSROOT/logcommit.pl %r/%p %s
</pre></div>

To maintain <samp>logcommit.pl</samp> with CVS you would
add the following line to the <samp>checkoutlist</samp>
administrative file:

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">logcommit.pl
</pre></div>

The format of <samp>checkoutlist</samp> is one line for each
file that you want to maintain using CVS, giving
the name of the file, followed optionally by more whitespace
and any error message that should print if the file cannot be
checked out into CVSROOT after a commit:

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">logcommit.pl	Could not update CVSROOT/logcommit.pl.
</pre></div>

After setting up <samp>checkoutlist</samp> in this fashion,
the files listed there will function just like
CVS&rsquo;s built-in administrative files. For example,
when checking in one of the files you should get a
message such as:

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">cvs commit: Rebuilding administrative file database
</pre></div>

and the checked out copy in the <samp>CVSROOT</samp>
directory should be updated.

Note that listing <samp>passwd</samp> (see <a href="#Password-authentication-server">Password authentication server</a>) in <samp>checkoutlist</samp> is not
recommended for security reasons.

For information about keeping a checkout out copy in a
more general context than the one provided by
<samp>checkoutlist</samp>, see <a href="#Keeping-a-checked-out-copy">Keeping a checked out copy</a>.

<hr>
<div class="header">

Next: <a href="#Variables" accesskey="n" rel="next">Variables</a>, Previous: <a href="#checkoutlist" accesskey="p" rel="prev">checkoutlist</a>, Up: <a href="#Administrative-files" accesskey="u" rel="up">Administrative files</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h3 class="appendixsec">C.7 The history file</h3>

By default, the file <samp>$CVSROOT/CVSROOT/history</samp> is used
to log information for the <code>history</code> command (see <a href="#history">history</a>).
This file name may be changed with the &lsquo;<samp>HistoryLogPath</samp>&rsquo; and
&lsquo;<samp>HistorySearchPath</samp>&rsquo; config options (see <a href="#config">config</a>).

The file format of the <samp>history</samp> file is
documented only in comments in the CVS source
code, but generally programs should use the <code>cvs
history</code> command to access it anyway, in case the
format changes with future releases of CVS.

<hr>
<div class="header">

Next: <a href="#config" accesskey="n" rel="next">config</a>, Previous: <a href="#history-file" accesskey="p" rel="prev">history file</a>, Up: <a href="#Administrative-files" accesskey="u" rel="up">Administrative files</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h3 class="appendixsec">C.8 Expansions in administrative files</h3>

Sometimes in writing an administrative file, you might
want the file to be able to know various things based
on environment CVS is running in. There are
several mechanisms to do that.

To find the home directory of the user running CVS
(from the <code>HOME</code> environment variable), use
&lsquo;<samp>~</samp>&rsquo; followed by &lsquo;<samp>/</samp>&rsquo; or the end of the line.
Likewise for the home directory of <var>user</var>, use
&lsquo;<samp>~<var>user</var></samp>&rsquo;. These variables are expanded on
the server machine, and don&rsquo;t get any reasonable
expansion if pserver (see <a href="#Password-authenticated">Password authenticated</a>)
is in use; therefore user variables (see below) may be
a better choice to customise behavior based on the user
running CVS.

One may want to know about various pieces of
information internal to CVS. A CVS internal
variable has the syntax <code>${<var>variable</var>}</code>,
where <var>variable</var> starts with a letter and consists
of alphanumeric characters and &lsquo;<samp>_</samp>&rsquo;. If the
character following <var>variable</var> is a
non-alphanumeric character other than &lsquo;<samp>_</samp>&rsquo;, the
&lsquo;<samp>{</samp>&rsquo; and &lsquo;<samp>}</samp>&rsquo; can be omitted. The CVS
internal variables are:

<dl compact="compact">
<dt><code>CVSROOT</code></dt>
<dd>
This is the absolute path to the current CVS root directory.
See <a href="#Repository">Repository</a>, for a description of the various
ways to specify this, but note that the internal
variable contains just the directory and not any
of the access method information.

</dd>
<dt><code>RCSBIN</code></dt>
<dd>
In CVS 1.9.18 and older, this specified the
directory where CVS was looking for RCS
programs. Because CVS no longer runs RCS
programs, specifying this internal variable is now an
error.

</dd>
<dt><code>CVSEDITOR</code></dt>
<dd>
</dd>
<dt><code>EDITOR</code></dt>
<dd>
</dd>
<dt><code>VISUAL</code></dt>
<dd>
These all expand to the same value, which is the editor
that CVS is using. See <a href="#Global-options">Global options</a>, for how
to specify this.

</dd>
<dt><code>USER</code></dt>
<dd>
Username of the user running CVS (on the CVS
server machine).
When using pserver, this is the user specified in the repository
specification which need not be the same as the username the
server is running as (see <a href="#Password-authentication-server">Password authentication server</a>).
Do not confuse this with the environment variable of the same name.

</dd>
<dt><code>SESSIONID</code></dt>
<dd>
Unique Session ID of the CVS process. This is a
random string of printable characters of at least 16
characters length. Users should assume that it may
someday grow to at most 256 characters in length.

</dd>
<dt><code>COMMITID</code></dt>
<dd>
Unique Session ID of the CVS process. This is a
random string of printable characters of at least 16
characters length. Users should assume that it may
someday grow to at most 256 characters in length.
Currently, Debian and MirBSD CVS uses 19 characters.
</dd>
</dl>

If you want to pass a value to the administrative files
which the user who is running CVS can specify,
use a user variable.

To expand a user variable, the
administrative file contains
<code>${=<var>variable</var>}</code>. To set a user variable,
specify the global option &lsquo;<samp>-s</samp>&rsquo; to CVS, with
argument <code><var>variable</var>=<var>value</var></code>. It may be
particularly useful to specify this option via
<samp>.cvsrc</samp> (see <a href="#g_t_007e_002f_002ecvsrc">~/.cvsrc</a>).

For example, if you want the administrative file to
refer to a test directory you might create a user
variable <code>TESTDIR</code>. Then if CVS is invoked
as

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">cvs -s TESTDIR=/work/local/tests
</pre></div>

and the
administrative file contains <code>sh
${=TESTDIR}/runtests</code>, then that string is expanded
to <code>sh /work/local/tests/runtests</code>.

All other strings containing &lsquo;<samp>$</samp>&rsquo; are reserved;
there is no way to quote a &lsquo;<samp>$</samp>&rsquo; character so that
&lsquo;<samp>$</samp>&rsquo; represents itself.

Environment variables passed to administrative files are:

<dl compact="compact">
<dd>

</dd>
<dt><code>CVS_USER</code></dt>
<dd>
The CVS-specific username provided by the user, if it
can be provided (currently just for the pserver access
method), and to the empty string otherwise. (<code>CVS_USER</code>
and <code>USER</code> may differ when <samp>$CVSROOT/CVSROOT/passwd</samp>
is used to map CVS usernames to system usernames.)

</dd>
<dt><code>LOGNAME</code></dt>
<dd>
The username of the system user.

</dd>
<dt><code>USER</code></dt>
<dd>
Same as <code>LOGNAME</code>.
Do not confuse this with the internal variable of the same name.
</dd>
</dl>

<hr>
<div class="header">

Previous: <a href="#Variables" accesskey="p" rel="prev">Variables</a>, Up: <a href="#Administrative-files" accesskey="u" rel="up">Administrative files</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h3 class="appendixsec">C.9 The CVSROOT/config configuration file</h3>

Usually, the <samp>config</samp> file is found at <samp>$CVSROOT/CVSROOT/config</samp>,
but this may be overridden on the <code>pserver</code> and <code>server</code> command
lines (see <a href="#server-_0026-pserver">server &amp; pserver</a>).

The administrative file <samp>config</samp> contains various
miscellaneous settings which affect the behavior of
CVS. The syntax is slightly different from the
other administrative files.

Leading white space on any line is ignored, though the syntax is very strict
and will reject spaces and tabs almost anywhere else.

Empty lines, lines containing nothing but white space, and lines which start
with &lsquo;<samp>#</samp>&rsquo; (discounting any leading white space) are ignored.

Other lines consist of the optional leading white space, a keyword, &lsquo;<samp>=</samp>&rsquo;,
and a value. Please note again that this syntax is very strict.
Extraneous spaces or tabs, other than the leading white space, are not
permitted on these lines.

As of CVS 1.12.13, lines of the form &lsquo;<samp>[<var>CVSROOT</var>]</samp>&rsquo; mark the subsequent
section of the config file as applying only to certain repositories. Multiple
&lsquo;<samp>[<var>CVSROOT</var>]</samp>&rsquo; lines without intervening
&lsquo;<samp><var>KEYWORD</var>=<var>VALUE</var></samp>&rsquo; pairs cause processing to fall through,
processing subsequent keywords for any root in the list. Finally, keywords
and values which appear before any &lsquo;<samp>[<var>CVSROOT</var>]</samp>&rsquo; lines are defaults,
and may to apply to any repository. For example, consider the following file:

<div class="example">
<pre class="example"># Defaults
LogHistory=TMAR

[/cvsroots/team1]
  LockDir=/locks/team1

[/cvsroots/team2]
  LockDir=/locks/team2

[/cvsroots/team3]
  LockDir=/locks/team3

[/cvsroots/team4]
  LockDir=/locks/team4

[/cvsroots/team3]
[/cvsroots/team4]
 # Override logged commands for teams 3 &amp; 4.
 LogHistory=all
</pre></div>

This example file sets up separate lock directories for each project, as well
as a default set of logged commands overridden for the example&rsquo;s team 3 &amp;
team 4. This syntax could be useful, for instance, if you wished to share a
single config file, for instance <samp>/etc/cvs.conf</samp>, among several
repositories.

Currently defined keywords are:

<dl compact="compact">
<dd>
</dd>
<dt><code>HistorySearchPath=<var>pattern</var></code></dt>
<dd>Request that CVS look for its history information in files matching
<var>pattern</var>, which is a standard UNIX file glob. If <var>pattern</var> matches
multiple files, all will be searched in lexicographically sorted order.
See <a href="#history">history</a>, and <a href="#history-file">history file</a>, for more.

If no value is supplied for this option, it defaults to
<samp>$CVSROOT/CVSROOT/history</samp>.


</dd>
<dt><code>HistoryLogPath=<var>path</var></code></dt>
<dd>Control where CVS logs its history. If the file does not exist, CVS
will attempt to create it. Format strings, as available to the GNU C
<code>strftime</code> function and often the UNIX date command, and the string
<var>$CVSROOT</var> will be substituted in this path. For example, consider the
line:

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">HistoryLogPath=$CVSROOT/CVSROOT/history/%Y-%m-%d
</pre></div>

This line would cause CVS to attempt to create its history file in a
subdirectory (<samp>history</samp>) of the configuration directory (<samp>CVSROOT</samp>)
with a name equal to the current date representation in the ISO8601 format (for
example, on May 11, 2005, CVS would attempt to log its history under the
repository root directory in a file named <samp>CVSROOT/history/2005-05-11</samp>).
See <a href="#history">history</a>, and <a href="#history-file">history file</a>, for more.

If no value is supplied for this option, it defaults to
<samp>$CVSROOT/CVSROOT/history</samp>.




</dd>
<dt><code>ImportNewFilesToVendorBranchOnly=<var>value</var></code></dt>
<dd>Specify whether <code>cvs import</code> should always behave as if the
&lsquo;<samp>-X</samp>&rsquo; flag was specified on the command line. 
<var>value</var> may be either &lsquo;<samp>yes</samp>&rsquo; or &lsquo;<samp>no</samp>&rsquo;. If set to &lsquo;<samp>yes</samp>&rsquo;,
all uses of <code>cvs import</code> on the repository will behave as if the
&lsquo;<samp>-X</samp>&rsquo; flag was set. The default value is &lsquo;<samp>no</samp>&rsquo;.


</dd>
<dt><code>KeywordExpand=<var>value</var></code></dt>
<dd>Specify &lsquo;<samp>i</samp>&rsquo; followed by a list of keywords to be expanded
(for example, &lsquo;<samp>KeywordExpand=iMYCVS,Name,Date,Mdocdate</samp>&rsquo;),
or &lsquo;<samp>e</samp>&rsquo; followed by a list of keywords not to be expanded
(for example, &lsquo;<samp>KeywordExpand=eCVSHeader</samp>&rsquo;).
For more on keyword expansion, see <a href="#Configuring-keyword-expansion">Configuring keyword expansion</a>.


</dd>
<dt><code>LocalKeyword=<var>value</var></code></dt>
<dd>Specify a local alias for a standard keyword.
See <a href="#Keyword-substitution">Keyword substitution</a> for more information in local keywords.
Example: &lsquo;<samp>LocalKeyword=MYCVS=CVSHeader</samp>&rsquo;


</dd>
<dt><code>LockDir=<var>directory</var></code></dt>
<dd>Put CVS lock files in <var>directory</var> rather than
directly in the repository. This is useful if you want
to let users read from the repository while giving them
write access only to <var>directory</var>, not to the
repository.
It can also be used to put the locks on a very fast
in-memory filesystem to speed up locking and unlocking
the repository.
You need to create <var>directory</var>, but
CVS will create subdirectories of <var>directory</var> as it
needs them. For information on CVS locks, see
<a href="#Concurrency">Concurrency</a>.

Before enabling the LockDir option, make sure that you
have tracked down and removed any copies of CVS 1.9 or
older. Such versions neither support LockDir, nor will
give an error indicating that they don&rsquo;t support it.
The result, if this is allowed to happen, is that some
CVS users will put the locks one place, and others will
put them another place, and therefore the repository
could become corrupted. CVS 1.10 does not support
LockDir but it will print a warning if run on a
repository with LockDir enabled.


</dd>
<dt><code>LogHistory=<var>value</var></code></dt>
<dd>Control what is logged to the <samp>CVSROOT/history</samp> file (see <a href="#history">history</a>).
Default of &lsquo;<samp>TOEFWUPCGMAR</samp>&rsquo; (or simply &lsquo;<samp>all</samp>&rsquo;) will log
all transactions. Any subset of the default is
legal. (For example, to only log transactions that modify the
<samp>*,v</samp> files, use &lsquo;<samp>LogHistory=TMAR</samp>&rsquo; which is nowadays
set by <code>cvs init</code> by default.)
To disable history logging
completely, use &lsquo;<samp>LogHistory=</samp>&rsquo;.



</dd>
<dt><code>MaxCommentLeaderLength=<var>length</var></code></dt>
<dd>Set to some length, in bytes, where a trailing &lsquo;<samp>k</samp>&rsquo;, &lsquo;<samp>M</samp>&rsquo;, &lsquo;<samp>G</samp>&rsquo;,
or &lsquo;<samp>T</samp>&rsquo; causes the preceding nubmer to be interpreted as kilobytes,
megabytes, gigabytes, or terrabytes, respectively, will cause
<code>$Log$</code> keywords (see <a href="#Keyword-substitution">Keyword substitution</a>), with
more than <var>length</var> bytes preceding it on a line to be ignored (or to fall
back on the comment leader set in the RCS archive file - see
<code>UseArchiveCommentLeader</code> below). Defaults to 20 bytes to allow checkouts
to proceed normally when they include binary files containing
<code>$Log$</code> keywords and which users have neglected to mark
as binary.




</dd>
<dt><code>MinCompressionLevel=<var>value</var></code></dt>
<dt><code>MaxCompressionLevel=<var>value</var></code></dt>
<dd>Restricts the level of compression used by the CVS server to a <var>value</var>
between 0 and 9. <var>value</var>s 1 through 9 are the same ZLIB compression
levels accepted by the &lsquo;<samp>-z</samp>&rsquo; option (see <a href="#Global-options">Global options</a>), and 0 means
no compression. When one or both of these keys are set and a client requests a
level outside the specified range, the server will simply use the closest
permissable level. Clients will continue compressing at the level requested by
the user.

The exception is when level 0 (no compression) is not available and the client
fails to request any compression. The CVS server will then exit with an
error message when it becomes apparent that the client is not going to request
compression. This will not happen with clients version 1.12.13 and later since
these client versions allow the server to notify them that they must request
some level of compression.

</dd>
<dt><code>PrimaryServer=<var>CVSROOT</var></code></dt>
<dd>When specified, and the repository specified by <var>CVSROOT</var> is not the one
currently being accessed, then the server will turn itself into a transparent
proxy to <var>CVSROOT</var> for write requests. The <var>hostname</var> configured as
part of <var>CVSROOT</var> must resolve to the same string returned by the
<code>uname</code> command on the primary server for this to work. Host name
resolution is performed via some combination of <code>named</code>, a broken out
line from <samp>/etc/hosts</samp>, and the Network Information Service (NIS or YP),
depending on the configuration of the particular system.

Only the &lsquo;<samp>:ext:</samp>&rsquo; method is
currently supported for primaries (actually, &lsquo;<samp>:fork:</samp>&rsquo; is supported as
well, but only for testing - if you find another use for accessing a primary
via the &lsquo;<samp>:fork:</samp>&rsquo; method, please send a note to <a href="mailto:bug-cvs@nongnu.org">bug-cvs@nongnu.org</a>
about it). See <a href="#Write-proxies">Write proxies</a> for more on configuring and using write
proxies.


</dd>
<dt><code>RCSBIN=<var>bindir</var></code></dt>
<dd>For CVS 1.9.12 through 1.9.18, this setting told
CVS to look for RCS programs in the
<var>bindir</var> directory. Current versions of CVS
do not run RCS programs; for compatibility this
setting is accepted, but it does nothing.



</dd>
<dt><code>RereadLogAfterVerify=<var>value</var></code></dt>
<dd>Modify the &lsquo;<samp>commit</samp>&rsquo; command such that CVS will reread the
log message after running the program specified by <samp>verifymsg</samp>.
<var>value</var> may be one of &lsquo;<samp>yes</samp>&rsquo; or &lsquo;<samp>always</samp>&rsquo;, indicating that
the log message should always be reread; &lsquo;<samp>no</samp>&rsquo;
or &lsquo;<samp>never</samp>&rsquo;, indicating that it should never be
reread; or <var>value</var> may be &lsquo;<samp>stat</samp>&rsquo;, indicating
that the file should be checked with the filesystem
&lsquo;<samp>stat()</samp>&rsquo; function to see if it has changed (see warning below)
before rereading. The default value is &lsquo;<samp>always</samp>&rsquo;.

Note: the &lsquo;stat&rsquo; mode can cause CVS to pause for up to
one extra second per directory committed. This can be less IO and
CPU intensive but is not recommended for use with large repositories

See <a href="#verifymsg">verifymsg</a>, for more information on how verifymsg
may be used.


</dd>
<dt><code>SystemAuth=<var>value</var></code></dt>
<dd>If <var>value</var> is &lsquo;<samp>yes</samp>&rsquo;, then pserver should check
for users in the system&rsquo;s user database if not found in
<samp>CVSROOT/passwd</samp>. If it is &lsquo;<samp>no</samp>&rsquo;, then all
pserver users must exist in <samp>CVSROOT/passwd</samp>.
The default is &lsquo;<samp>yes</samp>&rsquo;. For more on pserver, see
<a href="#Password-authenticated">Password authenticated</a>.




</dd>
<dt><code>TmpDir=<var>path</var></code></dt>
<dd>Specify <var>path</var> as the directory to create temporary files in.
See <a href="#Global-options">Global options</a>, for more on setting the path to the temporary
directory. This option first appeared with CVS release 1.12.13.


</dd>
<dt><code>TopLevelAdmin=<var>value</var></code></dt>
<dd>Modify the &lsquo;<samp>checkout</samp>&rsquo; command to create a
&lsquo;<samp>CVS</samp>&rsquo; directory at the top level of the new
working directory, in addition to &lsquo;<samp>CVS</samp>&rsquo;
directories created within checked-out directories.
The default value is &lsquo;<samp>no</samp>&rsquo;.

This option is useful if you find yourself performing
many commands at the top level of your working
directory, rather than in one of the checked out
subdirectories. The <samp>CVS</samp> directory created there
will mean you don&rsquo;t have to specify <code>CVSROOT</code> for
each command. It also provides a place for the
<samp>CVS/Template</samp> file (see <a href="#Working-directory-storage">Working directory storage</a>).



</dd>
<dt><code>UseArchiveCommentLeader=<var>value</var></code></dt>
<dd>Set to <code>true</code>, if the text preceding a <code>$Log$</code>
keyword is found to exceed <code>MaxCommentLeaderLength</code> (above) bytes, then
the comment leader set in the RCS archive file (see <a href="#admin">admin</a>), if any, will
be used instead. If there is no comment leader set in the archive file or
<var>value</var> is set to &lsquo;<samp>false</samp>&rsquo;, then the keyword will not be expanded
(see <a href="#Keyword-list">Keyword list</a>). To force the comment leader in the RCS archive file to
be used exclusively (and <code>$Log$</code> expansion skipped in
files where the comment leader has not been set in the archive file), set
<var>value</var> and set <code>MaxCommentLeaderLength</code> to <code>0</code>.





</dd>
<dt><code>UseNewInfoFmtStrings=<var>value</var></code></dt>
<dd>Specify whether CVS should support the new or old command line
template model for the commit support files (see <a href="#commit-files">commit files</a>).
This configuration variable began life in deprecation and is only here
in order to give people time to update legacy repositories to use the new
format string syntax before support for the old syntax is removed. For
information on updating your repository to support the new model,
please see <a href="#Updating-Commit-Files">Updating Commit Files</a>.

Note that new repositories (created with the <code>cvs init</code> command)
will have this value set to &lsquo;<samp>yes</samp>&rsquo;, but the default value is &lsquo;<samp>no</samp>&rsquo;.


</dd>
<dt><code>UserAdminOptions=<var>value</var></code></dt>
<dd>Control what options will be allowed with the <code>cvs admin</code>
command (see <a href="#admin">admin</a>) for users not in the <code>cvsadmin</code> group.
The <var>value</var> string is a list of single character options
which should be allowed. If a user who is not a member of the
<code>cvsadmin</code> group tries to execute any <code>cvs admin</code>
option which is not listed they will will receive an error message
reporting that the option is restricted.

If no <code>cvsadmin</code> group exists on the server, CVS will
ignore the <code>UserAdminOptions</code> keyword (see <a href="#admin">admin</a>).

When not specified, <code>UserAdminOptions</code> defaults to
&lsquo;<samp>k</samp>&rsquo;. In other words, it defaults to allowing
users outside of the <code>cvsadmin</code> group to use the
<code>cvs admin</code> command only to change the default keyword
expansion mode for files.

As an example, to restrict users not in the <code>cvsadmin</code>
group to using <code>cvs admin</code> to change the default keyword
substitution mode, lock revisions, unlock revisions, and
replace the log message, use &lsquo;<samp>UserAdminOptions=klum</samp>&rsquo;.
</dd>
</dl>

<hr>
<div class="header">

Next: <a href="#Compatibility" accesskey="n" rel="next">Compatibility</a>, Previous: <a href="#Administrative-files" accesskey="p" rel="prev">Administrative files</a>, Up: <a href="#Top" accesskey="u" rel="up">Top</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h2 class="appendix">Appendix D All environment variables which affect CVS</h2>

This is a complete list of all environment variables
that affect CVS (Windows users, please bear with this list;
$VAR is equivalent to %VAR% at the Windows command prompt).

<dl compact="compact">
<dd>
</dd>
<dt><code>$CVSIGNORE</code></dt>
<dd>A whitespace-separated list of file name patterns that
CVS should ignore. See <a href="#cvsignore">cvsignore</a>.


</dd>
<dt><code>$CVSWRAPPERS</code></dt>
<dd>A whitespace-separated list of file name patterns that
CVS should treat as wrappers. See <a href="#Wrappers">Wrappers</a>.



</dd>
<dt><code>$CVSREAD</code></dt>
<dd>If this is set, <code>checkout</code> and <code>update</code> will
try hard to make the files in your working directory
read-only. When this is not set, the default behavior
is to permit modification of your working files.


</dd>
<dt><code>$CVSREADONLYFS</code></dt>
<dd>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.

Setting this has the same effect as if the &lsquo;<samp>-R</samp>&rsquo; command-line
option is used. This can also allow the use of
read-only NFS repositories.

</dd>
<dt><code>$CVSUMASK</code></dt>
<dd>Controls permissions of files in the repository. See
<a href="#File-permissions">File permissions</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>$CVSROOT</code></dt>
<dd>Should contain the full pathname to the root of the CVS
source repository (where the RCS files are
kept). This information must be available to CVS for
most commands to execute; if <code>$CVSROOT</code> is not set,
or if you wish to override it for one invocation, you
can supply it on the command line: &lsquo;<samp>cvs -d cvsroot
cvs_command&hellip;</samp>&rsquo; Once you have checked out a working
directory, CVS stores the appropriate root (in
the file <samp>CVS/Root</samp>), so normally you only need to
worry about this when initially checking out a working
directory.

</dd>
<dt><code>$CVSEDITOR</code></dt>
<dd>
</dd>
<dt><code>$EDITOR</code></dt>
<dd>
</dd>
<dt><code>$VISUAL</code></dt>
<dd>
Specifies the program to use for recording log messages
during commit. <code>$CVSEDITOR</code> overrides
<code>$EDITOR</code>, which overrides <code>$VISUAL</code>.
See <a href="#Committing-your-changes">Committing your changes</a> for more or
<a href="#Global-options">Global options</a> for alternative ways of specifying a
log editor.


</dd>
<dt><code>$PATH</code></dt>
<dd>If <code>$RCSBIN</code> is not set, and no path is compiled
into CVS, it will use <code>$PATH</code> to try to find all
programs it uses.


</dd>
<dt><code>$HOME</code></dt>
<dd>
</dd>
<dt><code>$HOMEPATH</code></dt>
<dd>
</dd>
<dt><code>$HOMEDRIVE</code></dt>
<dd>Used to locate the directory where the <samp>.cvsrc</samp>
file, and other such files, are searched. On Unix, CVS
just checks for <code>HOME</code>. On Windows NT, the system will
set <code>HOMEDRIVE</code>, for example to &lsquo;<samp>d:</samp>&rsquo; and <code>HOMEPATH</code>,
for example to <samp>\joe</samp>. On Windows 95, you&rsquo;ll
probably need to set <code>HOMEDRIVE</code> and <code>HOMEPATH</code> yourself.


</dd>
<dt><code>$CVS_RSH</code></dt>
<dd>Specifies the external program which CVS connects with,
when <code>:ext:</code> access method is specified.
see <a href="#Connecting-via-rsh">Connecting via rsh</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>$CVS_SERVER</code></dt>
<dd>Used in client-server mode when accessing a remote
repository using RSH. It specifies the name of
the program to start on the server side (and any
necessary arguments) when accessing a remote repository
using the <code>:ext:</code>, <code>:fork:</code>, or <code>:server:</code> access methods.
The default value for <code>:ext:</code> and <code>:server:</code> is <code>cvs</code>;
the default value for <code>:fork:</code> is the name used to run the client.
see <a href="#Connecting-via-rsh">Connecting via rsh</a>

</dd>
<dt><code>$CVS_PASSFILE</code></dt>
<dd>Used in client-server mode when accessing the <code>cvs
login server</code>. Default value is <samp>$HOME/.cvspass</samp>.
see <a href="#Password-authentication-client">Password authentication client</a>


</dd>
<dt><code>$CVS_CLIENT_PORT</code></dt>
<dd>Used in client-server mode to set the port to use when accessing the server
via Kerberos, GSSAPI, or CVS&rsquo;s password authentication protocol
if the port is not specified in the CVSROOT.
see <a href="#Remote-repositories">Remote repositories</a>


</dd>
<dt><code>$CVS_PROXY_PORT</code></dt>
<dd>Used in client-server mode to set the port to use when accessing a server
via a web proxy, if the port is not specified in the CVSROOT. Works with
GSSAPI, and the password authentication protocol.
see <a href="#Remote-repositories">Remote repositories</a>


</dd>
<dt><code>$CVS_RCMD_PORT</code></dt>
<dd>Used in client-server mode. If set, specifies the port
number to be used when accessing the RCMD demon on
the server side. (Currently not used for Unix clients).


</dd>
<dt><code>$CVS_CLIENT_LOG</code></dt>
<dd>Used for debugging only in client-server mode.
If set and not empty, everything sent to the server is logged
into <samp><code>$CVS_CLIENT_LOG</code>.in</samp>, and everything received
from the server is logged into <samp><code>$CVS_CLIENT_LOG</code>.out</samp>.


</dd>
<dt><code>$CVS_SECONDARY_LOG</code></dt>
<dd>Used for debugging only in secondary write proxy mode.
If set and not empty, everything sent to the primary server is logged
into <samp><code>$CVS_SECONDARY_LOG</code>.in</samp>, and everything received
from the primary server is logged into <samp><code>$CVS_SECONDARY_LOG</code>.out</samp>.


</dd>
<dt><code>$CVS_SERVER_LOG</code></dt>
<dd>Used for debugging only in client-server mode.
If set and not empty, everything sent to the client is logged
into <samp><code>$CVS_SERVER_LOG</code>.in</samp>, and everything received
from the client is logged into <samp><code>$CVS_SERVER_LOG</code>.out</samp>.


</dd>
<dt><code>$CVS_SERVER_SLEEP</code></dt>
<dd>Used only for debugging the server side in
client-server mode. If set, delays the start of the
server child process the specified amount of
seconds so that you can attach to it with a debugger.


</dd>
<dt><code>$CVS_IGNORE_REMOTE_ROOT</code></dt>
<dd>For CVS 1.10 and older, setting this variable
prevents CVS from overwriting the <samp>CVS/Root</samp>
file when the &lsquo;<samp>-d</samp>&rsquo; global option is specified.
Later versions of CVS do not rewrite
<samp>CVS/Root</samp>, so <code>CVS_IGNORE_REMOTE_ROOT</code> has no
effect.


</dd>
<dt><code>$CVS_LOCAL_BRANCH_NUM</code></dt>
<dd>Setting this variable allows some control over the
branch number that is assigned. This is specifically to
support the local commit feature of CVSup. If one sets
<code>CVS_LOCAL_BRANCH_NUM</code> to (say) 1000 then branches
the local repository, the revision numbers will look
like 1.66.1000.xx. There is almost a dead-set certainty
that there will be no conflicts with version numbers.


</dd>
<dt><code>$COMSPEC</code></dt>
<dd>Used under OS/2 only. It specifies the name of the
command interpreter and defaults to CMD.EXE.




</dd>
<dt><code>$TMPDIR</code></dt>
<dd>Directory in which temporary files are located.
See <a href="#Global-options">Global options</a>, for more on setting the temporary directory.


</dd>
<dt><code>$CVS_PID</code></dt>
<dd>This is the process identification (aka pid) number of
the CVS process. It is often useful in the
programs and/or scripts specified by the
<samp>commitinfo</samp>, <samp>verifymsg</samp>, <samp>loginfo</samp>
files.
</dd>
</dl>

<hr>
<div class="header">

Next: <a href="#Troubleshooting" accesskey="n" rel="next">Troubleshooting</a>, Previous: <a href="#Environment-variables" accesskey="p" rel="prev">Environment variables</a>, Up: <a href="#Top" accesskey="u" rel="up">Top</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h2 class="appendix">Appendix E Compatibility between CVS Versions</h2>

The repository format is compatible going back to
CVS 1.3. But see <a href="#Watches-Compatibility">Watches Compatibility</a>, if
you have copies of CVS 1.6 or older and you want
to use the optional developer communication features.

The working directory format is compatible going back
to CVS 1.5. It did change between CVS 1.3
and CVS 1.5. If you run CVS 1.5 or newer on
a working directory checked out with CVS 1.3,
CVS will convert it, but to go back to CVS
1.3 you need to check out a new working directory with
CVS 1.3.

The remote protocol is interoperable going back to CVS 1.5, but no
further (1.5 was the first official release with the remote protocol,
but some older versions might still be floating around). In many
cases you need to upgrade both the client and the server to take
advantage of new features and bug fixes, however.

<hr>
<div class="header">

Next: <a href="#Credits" accesskey="n" rel="next">Credits</a>, Previous: <a href="#Compatibility" accesskey="p" rel="prev">Compatibility</a>, Up: <a href="#Top" accesskey="u" rel="up">Top</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h2 class="appendix">Appendix F Troubleshooting</h2>

If you are having trouble with CVS, this appendix
may help. If there is a particular error message which
you are seeing, then you can look up the message
alphabetically. If not, you can look through the
section on other problems to see if your problem is
mentioned there.

<table class="menu" border="0" cellspacing="0">
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#Error-messages" accesskey="1">Error messages</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">Partial list of CVS errors
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#Connection" accesskey="2">Connection</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">Trouble making a connection to a CVS server
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#Other-problems" accesskey="3">Other problems</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">Problems not readily listed by error message
</td></tr>
</table>

<hr>
<div class="header">

Next: <a href="#Connection" accesskey="n" rel="next">Connection</a>, Up: <a href="#Troubleshooting" accesskey="u" rel="up">Troubleshooting</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h3 class="appendixsec">F.1 Partial list of error messages</h3>

Here is a partial list of error messages that you may
see from CVS. It is not a complete list&mdash;CVS
is capable of printing many, many error messages, often
with parts of them supplied by the operating system,
but the intention is to list the common and/or
potentially confusing error messages.

The messages are alphabetical, but introductory text
such as &lsquo;<samp>cvs update: </samp>&rsquo; is not considered in
ordering them.

In some cases the list includes messages printed by old
versions of CVS (partly because users may not be
sure which version of CVS they are using at any
particular moment).

<dl compact="compact">
<dt><code><var>file</var>:<var>line</var>: Assertion '<var>text</var>' failed</code></dt>
<dd>The exact format of this message may vary depending on
your system. It indicates a bug in CVS, which can
be handled as described in <a href="#BUGS">BUGS</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>cvs <var>command</var>: authorization failed: server <var>host</var> rejected access</code></dt>
<dd>This is a generic response when trying to connect to a
pserver server which chooses not to provide a
specific reason for denying authorization. Check that
the username and password specified are correct and
that the <code>CVSROOT</code> specified is allowed by &lsquo;<samp>--allow-root</samp>&rsquo;
or &lsquo;<samp>--allow-root-regexp</samp>&rsquo;
in <samp>inetd.conf</samp>. See <a href="#Password-authenticated">Password authenticated</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>cvs <var>command</var>: conflict: removed <var>file</var> was modified by second party</code></dt>
<dd>This message indicates that you removed a file, and
someone else modified it. To resolve the conflict,
first run &lsquo;<samp>cvs add <var>file</var></samp>&rsquo;. If desired, look
at the other party&rsquo;s modification to decide whether you
still want to remove it. If you don&rsquo;t want to remove
it, stop here. If you do want to remove it, proceed
with &lsquo;<samp>cvs remove <var>file</var></samp>&rsquo; and commit your
removal.

</dd>
<dt><code>cannot change permissions on temporary directory</code></dt>
<dd><div class="example">
<pre class="example">Operation not permitted
</pre></div>
This message has been happening in a non-reproducible,
occasional way when we run the client/server testsuite,
both on Red Hat Linux 3.0.3 and 4.1. We haven&rsquo;t been
able to figure out what causes it, nor is it known
whether it is specific to Linux (or even to this
particular machine!). If the problem does occur on
other unices, &lsquo;<samp>Operation not permitted</samp>&rsquo; would be
likely to read &lsquo;<samp>Not owner</samp>&rsquo; or whatever the system
in question uses for the unix <code>EPERM</code> error. If
you have any information to add, please let us know as
described in <a href="#BUGS">BUGS</a>. If you experience this error
while using CVS, retrying the operation which
produced it should work fine.

</dd>
<dt><code>cvs [server aborted]: Cannot check out files into the repository itself</code></dt>
<dd>The obvious cause for this message (especially for
non-client/server CVS) is that the CVS root
is, for example, <samp>/usr/local/cvsroot</samp> and you try
to check out files when you are in a subdirectory, such
as <samp>/usr/local/cvsroot/test</samp>. However, there is a
more subtle cause, which is that the temporary
directory on the server is set to a subdirectory of the
root (which is also not allowed). If this is the
problem, set the temporary directory to somewhere else,
for example <samp>/var/tmp</samp>; see <code>TMPDIR</code> in
<a href="#Environment-variables">Environment variables</a>, for how to set the
temporary directory.

</dd>
<dt><code>cannot commit files as 'root'</code></dt>
<dd>See &lsquo;<samp>'root' is not allowed to commit files</samp>&rsquo;.

</dd>
<dt><code>cannot open CVS/Entries for reading: No such file or directory</code></dt>
<dd>This generally indicates a CVS internal error, and
can be handled as with other CVS bugs
(see <a href="#BUGS">BUGS</a>). Usually there is a workaround&mdash;the
exact nature of which would depend on the situation but
which hopefully could be figured out.

</dd>
<dt><code>cvs [init aborted]: cannot open CVS/Root: No such file or directory</code></dt>
<dd>This message is harmless. Provided it is not
accompanied by other errors, the operation has
completed successfully. This message should not occur
with current versions of CVS, but it is documented
here for the benefit of CVS 1.9 and older.

</dd>
<dt><code>cvs server: cannot open /root/.cvsignore: Permission denied</code></dt>
<dt><code>cvs [server aborted]: can't chdir(/root): Permission denied</code></dt>
<dd>See <a href="#Connection">Connection</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>cvs [checkout aborted]: cannot rename file <var>file</var> to CVS/,,<var>file</var>: Invalid argument</code></dt>
<dd>This message has been reported as intermittently
happening with CVS 1.9 on Solaris 2.5. The cause is
unknown; if you know more about what causes it, let us
know as described in <a href="#BUGS">BUGS</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>cvs [<var>command</var> aborted]: cannot start server via rcmd</code></dt>
<dd>This, unfortunately, is a rather nonspecific error
message which CVS 1.9 will print if you are
running the CVS client and it is having trouble
connecting to the server. Current versions of CVS
should print a much more specific error message. If
you get this message when you didn&rsquo;t mean to run the
client at all, you probably forgot to specify
<code>:local:</code>, as described in <a href="#Repository">Repository</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>ci: <var>file</var>,v: bad diff output line: Binary files - and /tmp/T2a22651 differ</code></dt>
<dd>CVS 1.9 and older will print this message
when trying to check in a binary file if
RCS is not correctly installed. Re-read the
instructions that came with your RCS distribution
and the INSTALL file in the CVS
distribution. Alternately, upgrade to a current
version of CVS, which checks in files itself
rather than via RCS.

</dd>
<dt><code>cvs checkout: could not check out <var>file</var></code></dt>
<dd>With CVS 1.9, this can mean that the <code>co</code> program
(part of RCS) returned a failure. It should be
preceded by another error message, however it has been
observed without another error message and the cause is
not well-understood. With the current version of CVS,
which does not run <code>co</code>, if this message occurs
without another error message, it is definitely a CVS
bug (see <a href="#BUGS">BUGS</a>).

</dd>
<dt><code>cvs [login aborted]: could not find out home directory</code></dt>
<dd>This means that you need to set the environment
variables that CVS uses to locate your home directory.
See the discussion of <code>HOME</code>, <code>HOMEDRIVE</code>, and <code>HOMEPATH</code> in
<a href="#Environment-variables">Environment variables</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>cvs update: could not merge revision <var>rev</var> of <var>file</var>: No such file or directory</code></dt>
<dd>CVS 1.9 and older will print this message if there was
a problem finding the <code>rcsmerge</code> program. Make
sure that it is in your <code>PATH</code>, or upgrade to a
current version of CVS, which does not require
an external <code>rcsmerge</code> program.

</dd>
<dt><code>cvs [update aborted]: could not patch <var>file</var>: No such file or directory</code></dt>
<dd>This means that there was a problem finding the
<code>patch</code> program. Make sure that it is in your
<code>PATH</code>. Note that despite appearances the message
is not referring to whether it can find <var>file</var>.
If both the client and the server are running a current
version of CVS, then there is no need for an
external patch program and you should not see this
message. But if either client or server is running
CVS 1.9, then you need <code>patch</code>.

</dd>
<dt><code>cvs update: could not patch <var>file</var>; will refetch</code></dt>
<dd>This means that for whatever reason the client was
unable to apply a patch that the server sent. The
message is nothing to be concerned about, because
inability to apply the patch only slows things down and
has no effect on what CVS does.

</dd>
<dt><code>dying gasps from <var>server</var> unexpected</code></dt>
<dd>There is a known bug in the server for CVS 1.9.18
and older which can cause this. For me, this was
reproducible if I used the &lsquo;<samp>-t</samp>&rsquo; global option. It
was fixed by Andy Piper&rsquo;s 14 Nov 1997 change to
src/filesubr.c, if anyone is curious.
If you see the message,
you probably can just retry the operation which failed,
or if you have discovered information concerning its
cause, please let us know as described in <a href="#BUGS">BUGS</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>end of file from server (consult above messages if any)</code></dt>
<dd>The most common cause for this message is if you are
using an external <code>rsh</code> program and it exited with
an error. In this case the <code>rsh</code> program should
have printed a message, which will appear before the
above message. For more information on setting up a
CVS client and server, see <a href="#Remote-repositories">Remote repositories</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>cvs [update aborted]: EOF in key in RCS file <var>file</var>,v</code></dt>
<dt><code>cvs [checkout aborted]: EOF while looking for end of string in RCS file <var>file</var>,v</code></dt>
<dd>This means that there is a syntax error in the given
RCS file. Note that this might be true even if RCS can
read the file OK; CVS does more error checking of
errors in the RCS file. That is why you may see this
message when upgrading from CVS 1.9 to CVS
1.10. The likely cause for the original corruption is
hardware, the operating system, or the like. Of
course, if you find a case in which CVS seems to
corrupting the file, by all means report it,
(see <a href="#BUGS">BUGS</a>).
There are quite a few variations of this error message,
depending on exactly where in the RCS file CVS
finds the syntax error.


</dd>
<dt><code>cvs commit: Executing 'mkmodules'</code></dt>
<dd>This means that your repository is set up for a version
of CVS prior to CVS 1.8. When using CVS
1.8 or later, the above message will be preceded by

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">cvs commit: Rebuilding administrative file database
</pre></div>

If you see both messages, the database is being rebuilt
twice, which is unnecessary but harmless. If you wish
to avoid the duplication, and you have no versions of
CVS 1.7 or earlier in use, remove <code>-i mkmodules</code>
every place it appears in your <code>modules</code>
file. For more information on the <code>modules</code> file,
see <a href="#modules">modules</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>missing author</code></dt>
<dd>Typically this can happen if you created an RCS file
with your username set to empty. CVS will, bogusly,
create an illegal RCS file with no value for the author
field. The solution is to make sure your username is
set to a non-empty value and re-create the RCS file.

</dd>
<dt><code>cvs [checkout aborted]: no such tag <var>tag</var></code></dt>
<dd>This message means that CVS isn&rsquo;t familiar with
the tag <var>tag</var>. Usually the root cause is that you have
mistyped a tag name. Ocassionally this can also occur because the
users creating tags do not have permissions to write to the
<samp>CVSROOT/val-tags</samp> file (see <a href="#File-permissions">File permissions</a>, for more).

Prior to CVS version 1.12.10, there were a few relatively
obscure cases where a given tag could be created in an archive
file in the repository but CVS would require the user to
try a few other CVS commands involving that tag
until one was found whch caused CVS to update


the <samp>val-tags</samp> file, at which point the originally failing command
would begin to work. This same method can be used to repair a <samp>val-tags</samp>
file that becomes out of date due to the permissions problem mentioned above.
This updating is only required once per tag - once a tag is listed in
<samp>val-tags</samp>, it stays there.

Note that using &lsquo;<samp>tag -f</samp>&rsquo; to not require tag matches did not and
does not override this check (see <a href="#Common-options">Common options</a>). 
 
</dd>
<dt><code>*PANIC* administration files missing</code></dt>
<dd>This typically means that there is a directory named
CVS but it does not contain the administrative files
which CVS puts in a CVS directory. If the problem is
that you created a CVS directory via some mechanism
other than CVS, then the answer is simple, use a name
other than CVS. If not, it indicates a CVS bug
(see <a href="#BUGS">BUGS</a>).

</dd>
<dt><code>rcs error: Unknown option: -x,v/</code></dt>
<dd>This message will be followed by a usage message for
RCS. It means that you have an old version of
RCS (probably supplied with your operating
system), as well as an old version of CVS.
CVS 1.9.18 and earlier only work with RCS version 5 and
later; current versions of CVS do not run RCS programs.

</dd>
<dt><code>cvs [server aborted]: received broken pipe signal</code></dt>
<dd>This message can be caused by a loginfo program that fails to
read all of the log information from its standard input.
If you find it happening in any other circumstances,
please let us know as described in <a href="#BUGS">BUGS</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>'root' is not allowed to commit files</code></dt>
<dd>When committing a permanent change, CVS makes a log entry of
who committed the change. If you are committing the change logged
in as &quot;root&quot; (not under &quot;su&quot; or other root-priv giving program),
CVS cannot determine who is actually making the change.
As such, by default, CVS disallows changes to be committed by users
logged in as &quot;root&quot;. (You can disable this option by passing the
<code>--enable-rootcommit</code> option to <samp>configure</samp> and recompiling CVS.
On some systems this means editing the appropriate <samp>config.h</samp> file
before building CVS.)

</dd>
<dt><code>cvs [server aborted]: Secondary out of sync with primary!</code></dt>
<dd>
This usually means that the version of CVS running on a secondary
server is incompatible with the version running on the primary server
(see <a href="#Write-proxies">Write proxies</a>).
This will not occur if the client supports redirection.

It is not the version number that is significant here, but the list of
supported requests that the servers provide to the client.
For example, even if both servers were the same version,
if the secondary was compiled with GSSAPI support and the primary was not,
the list of supported requests provided by the two servers
would be different and the secondary would not work as a transparent
proxy to the primary.
Conversely, even if the two servers were radically different versions
but both provided the same list of valid requests to the client,
the transparent proxy would succeed.

</dd>
<dt><code>Terminated with fatal signal 11</code></dt>
<dd>This message usually indicates that CVS (the server, if you&rsquo;re
using client/server mode) has run out of (virtual) memory.
Although CVS tries to catch the error and issue a more meaningful
message, there are many circumstances where that is not possible.
If you appear to have lots of memory available to the system,
the problem is most likely that you&rsquo;re running into a system-wide
limit on the amount of memory a single process can use or a
similar process-specific limit.
The mechanisms for displaying and setting such limits vary from
system to system, so you&rsquo;ll have to consult an expert for your
particular system if you don&rsquo;t know how to do that.

</dd>
<dt><code>Too many arguments!</code></dt>
<dd>This message is typically printed by the <samp>log.pl</samp>
script which is in the <samp>contrib</samp> directory in the
CVS source distribution. In some versions of
CVS, <samp>log.pl</samp> has been part of the default
CVS installation. The <samp>log.pl</samp> script gets
called from the <samp>loginfo</samp> administrative file.
Check that the arguments passed in <samp>loginfo</samp> match
what your version of <samp>log.pl</samp> expects. In
particular, the <samp>log.pl</samp> from CVS 1.3 and
older expects the log file as an argument whereas the
<samp>log.pl</samp> from CVS 1.5 and newer expects the
log file to be specified with a &lsquo;<samp>-f</samp>&rsquo; option. Of
course, if you don&rsquo;t need <samp>log.pl</samp> you can just
comment it out of <samp>loginfo</samp>.

</dd>
<dt><code>cvs [update aborted]: unexpected EOF reading <var>file</var>,v</code></dt>
<dd>See &lsquo;<samp>EOF in key in RCS file</samp>&rsquo;.

</dd>
<dt><code>cvs [login aborted]: unrecognized auth response from <var>server</var></code></dt>
<dd>This message typically means that the server is not set
up properly. For example, if <samp>inetd.conf</samp> points
to a nonexistent cvs executable. To debug it further,
find the log file which inetd writes
(<samp>/var/log/messages</samp> or whatever inetd uses on
your system). For details, see <a href="#Connection">Connection</a>, and
<a href="#Password-authentication-server">Password authentication server</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>cvs commit: Up-to-date check failed for `<var>file</var>'</code></dt>
<dd>This means that someone else has committed a change to
that file since the last time that you did a <code>cvs
update</code>. So before proceeding with your <code>cvs
commit</code> you need to <code>cvs update</code>. CVS will merge
the changes that you made and the changes that the
other person made. If it does not detect any conflicts
it will report &lsquo;<samp>M <var>file</var></samp>&rsquo; and you are ready
to <code>cvs commit</code>. If it detects conflicts it will
print a message saying so, will report &lsquo;<samp>C <var>file</var></samp>&rsquo;,
and you need to manually resolve the
conflict. For more details on this process see
<a href="#Conflicts-example">Conflicts example</a>.

</dd>
<dt><code>Usage:	diff3 [-exEX3 [-i | -m] [-L label1 -L label3]] file1 file2 file3</code></dt>
<dd><div class="example">
<pre class="example">Only one of [exEX3] allowed
</pre></div>
This indicates a problem with the installation of
<code>diff3</code> and <code>rcsmerge</code>. Specifically
<code>rcsmerge</code> was compiled to look for GNU diff3, but
it is finding unix diff3 instead. The exact text of
the message will vary depending on the system. The
simplest solution is to upgrade to a current version of
CVS, which does not rely on external
<code>rcsmerge</code> or <code>diff3</code> programs.

</dd>
<dt><code>warning: unrecognized response `<var>text</var>' from cvs server</code></dt>
<dd>If <var>text</var> contains a valid response (such as
&lsquo;<samp>ok</samp>&rsquo;) followed by an extra carriage return
character (on many systems this will cause the second
part of the message to overwrite the first part), then
it probably means that you are using the &lsquo;<samp>:ext:</samp>&rsquo;
access method with a version of rsh, such as most
non-unix rsh versions, which does not by default
provide a transparent data stream. In such cases you
probably want to try &lsquo;<samp>:server:</samp>&rsquo; instead of
&lsquo;<samp>:ext:</samp>&rsquo;. If <var>text</var> is something else, this
may signify a problem with your CVS server.
Double-check your installation against the instructions
for setting up the CVS server.

</dd>
<dt><code>cvs commit: [<var>time</var>] waiting for <var>user</var>'s lock in <var>directory</var></code></dt>
<dd>This is a normal message, not an error. See
<a href="#Concurrency">Concurrency</a>, for more details.

</dd>
<dt><code>cvs commit: warning: editor session failed</code></dt>
<dd>
This means that the editor which CVS is using exits with a nonzero
exit status. Some versions of vi will do this even when there was not
a problem editing the file. If so, point the
<code>CVSEDITOR</code> environment variable to a small script
such as:

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">#!/bin/sh
vi $*
exit 0
</pre></div>

</dd>
<dt><code>cvs update: warning: <var>file</var> was lost</code></dt>
<dd>This means that the working copy of <var>file</var> has been deleted
but it has not been removed from CVS.
This is nothing to be concerned about,
the update will just recreate the local file from the repository.
(This is a convenient way to discard local changes to a file:
just delete it and then run <code>cvs update</code>.)

</dd>
<dt><code>cvs update: warning: <var>file</var> is not (any longer) pertinent</code></dt>
<dd>This means that the working copy of <var>file</var> has been deleted,
it has not been removed from CVS in the current working directory,
but it has been removed from CVS in some other working directory.
This is nothing to be concerned about,
the update would have removed the local file anyway.

</dd>
</dl>

<hr>
<div class="header">

Next: <a href="#Other-problems" accesskey="n" rel="next">Other problems</a>, Previous: <a href="#Error-messages" accesskey="p" rel="prev">Error messages</a>, Up: <a href="#Troubleshooting" accesskey="u" rel="up">Troubleshooting</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h3 class="appendixsec">F.2 Trouble making a connection to a CVS server</h3>

This section concerns what to do if you are having
trouble making a connection to a CVS server. If
you are running the CVS command line client
running on Windows, first upgrade the client to
CVS 1.9.12 or later. The error reporting in
earlier versions provided much less information about
what the problem was. If the client is non-Windows,
CVS 1.9 should be fine.

If the error messages are not sufficient to track down
the problem, the next steps depend largely on which
access method you are using.

<dl compact="compact">
<dd>
</dd>
<dt><code>:ext:</code></dt>
<dd>Try running the rsh program from the command line. For
example: &quot;rsh servername cvs -v&quot; should print CVS
version information. If this doesn&rsquo;t work, you need to
fix it before you can worry about CVS problems.


</dd>
<dt><code>:server:</code></dt>
<dd>You don&rsquo;t need a command line rsh program to use this
access method, but if you have an rsh program around,
it may be useful as a debugging tool. Follow the
directions given for :ext:.


</dd>
<dt><code>:pserver:</code></dt>
<dd>Errors along the lines of &quot;connection refused&quot; typically indicate
that inetd isn&rsquo;t even listening for connections on port 2401
whereas errors like &quot;connection reset by peer&quot;,
&quot;received broken pipe signal&quot;, &quot;recv() from server: EOF&quot;,
or &quot;end of file from server&quot;
typically indicate that inetd is listening for
connections but is unable to start CVS (this is frequently
caused by having an incorrect path in <samp>inetd.conf</samp>
or by firewall software rejecting the connection).
&quot;unrecognized auth response&quot; errors are caused by a bad command
line in <samp>inetd.conf</samp>, typically an invalid option or forgetting
to put the &lsquo;<samp>pserver</samp>&rsquo; command at the end of the line.
Another less common problem is invisible control characters that
your editor &quot;helpfully&quot; added without you noticing.

One good debugging tool is to &quot;telnet servername
2401&quot;. After connecting, send any text (for example
&quot;foo&quot; followed by return). If CVS is working
correctly, it will respond with

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">cvs [pserver aborted]: bad auth protocol start: foo
</pre></div>

If instead you get:

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">Usage: cvs [cvs-options] command [command-options-and-arguments]
...
</pre></div>

then you&rsquo;re missing the &lsquo;<samp>pserver</samp>&rsquo; command at the end of the
line in <samp>inetd.conf</samp>; check to make sure that the entire command
is on one line and that it&rsquo;s complete.

Likewise, if you get something like:

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">Unknown command: `pserved'

CVS commands are:
 add Add a new file/directory to the repository
...
</pre></div>

then you&rsquo;ve misspelled &lsquo;<samp>pserver</samp>&rsquo; in some way. If it isn&rsquo;t
obvious, check for invisible control characters (particularly
carriage returns) in <samp>inetd.conf</samp>.

If it fails to work at all, then make sure inetd is working
right. Change the invocation in <samp>inetd.conf</samp> to run the
echo program instead of cvs. For example:

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">2401 stream tcp nowait root /bin/echo echo hello
</pre></div>

After making that change and instructing inetd to
re-read its configuration file, &quot;telnet servername
2401&quot; should show you the text hello and then the
server should close the connection. If this doesn&rsquo;t
work, you need to fix it before you can worry about
CVS problems.

On AIX systems, the system will often have its own
program trying to use port 2401. This is AIX&rsquo;s problem
in the sense that port 2401 is registered for use with
CVS. I hear that there is an AIX patch available
to address this problem.

Another good debugging tool is the &lsquo;<samp>-d</samp>&rsquo;
(debugging) option to inetd. Consult your system
documentation for more information.

If you seem to be connecting but get errors like:

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">cvs server: cannot open /root/.cvsignore: Permission denied
cvs [server aborted]: can't chdir(/root): Permission denied
</pre></div>

then you probably haven&rsquo;t specified &lsquo;<samp>-f</samp>&rsquo; in <samp>inetd.conf</samp>.
(In releases prior to CVS 1.11.1, this problem can be caused by
your system setting the <code>$HOME</code> environment variable
for programs being run by inetd. In this case, you can either
have inetd run a shell script that unsets <code>$HOME</code> and then runs
CVS, or you can use <code>env</code> to run CVS with a pristine
environment.)

If you can connect successfully for a while but then can&rsquo;t,
you&rsquo;ve probably hit inetd&rsquo;s rate limit.
(If inetd receives too many requests for the same service
in a short period of time, it assumes that something is wrong
and temporarily disables the service.)
Check your inetd documentation to find out how to adjust the
rate limit (some versions of inetd have a single rate limit,
others allow you to set the limit for each service separately.)
</dd>
</dl>

<hr>
<div class="header">

Previous: <a href="#Connection" accesskey="p" rel="prev">Connection</a>, Up: <a href="#Troubleshooting" accesskey="u" rel="up">Troubleshooting</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h3 class="appendixsec">F.3 Other common problems</h3>

Here is a list of problems which do not fit into the
above categories. They are in no particular order.

<ul>
<li> On Windows, if there is a 30 second or so delay when
you run a CVS command, it may mean that you have
your home directory set to <samp>C:/</samp>, for example (see
<code>HOMEDRIVE</code> and <code>HOMEPATH</code> in
<a href="#Environment-variables">Environment variables</a>). CVS expects the home
directory to not end in a slash, for example <samp>C:</samp>
or <samp>C:\cvs</samp>.

</li><li> If you are running CVS 1.9.18 or older, and
<code>cvs update</code> finds a conflict and tries to
merge, as described in <a href="#Conflicts-example">Conflicts example</a>, but
doesn&rsquo;t tell you there were conflicts, then you may
have an old version of RCS. The easiest solution
probably is to upgrade to a current version of
CVS, which does not rely on external RCS
programs.
</li></ul>

<hr>
<div class="header">

Next: <a href="#BUGS" accesskey="n" rel="next">BUGS</a>, Previous: <a href="#Troubleshooting" accesskey="p" rel="prev">Troubleshooting</a>, Up: <a href="#Top" accesskey="u" rel="up">Top</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h2 class="appendix">Appendix G Credits</h2>

Roland Pesch, then of Cygnus Support &lt;<tt>roland@wrs.com</tt>&gt;
wrote the manual pages which were distributed with
CVS 1.3. Much of their text was copied into this
manual. He also read an early draft
of this manual and contributed many ideas and
corrections.

The mailing-list <code>info-cvs</code> is sometimes
informative. I have included information from postings
made by the following persons:
David G. Grubbs &lt;<tt>dgg@think.com</tt>&gt;.

Some text has been extracted from the man pages for
RCS.

The CVS FAQ by David G. Grubbs has provided
useful material. The FAQ is no longer maintained,
however, and this manual is about the closest thing there
is to a successor (with respect to documenting how to
use CVS, at least).

In addition, the following persons have helped by
telling me about mistakes I&rsquo;ve made:

<div class="display">
<pre class="display">Roxanne Brunskill &lt;<tt>rbrunski@datap.ca</tt>&gt;,
Kathy Dyer &lt;<tt>dyer@phoenix.ocf.llnl.gov</tt>&gt;,
Karl Pingle &lt;<tt>pingle@acuson.com</tt>&gt;,
Thomas A Peterson &lt;<tt>tap@src.honeywell.com</tt>&gt;,
Inge Wallin &lt;<tt>ingwa@signum.se</tt>&gt;,
Dirk Koschuetzki &lt;<tt>koschuet@fmi.uni-passau.de</tt>&gt;
and Michael Brown &lt;<tt>brown@wi.extrel.com</tt>&gt;.
</pre></div>

The list of contributors here is not comprehensive; for a more
complete list of who has contributed to this manual see
the file <samp>doc/ChangeLog</samp> in the CVS source
distribution.

MirBSD is the de-facto (if not de-iure yet) new upstream of
GNU CVS since 2012 or so; this version is provided
in Debian as well. Responsible is:

<div class="display">
<pre class="display">mirabilos &lt;<tt>m@mirbsd.org</tt>&gt;
</pre></div>

CVS Homepage: <a href="http://www.nongnu.org/cvs/">http://www.nongnu.org/cvs/</a>

<hr>
<div class="header">

Next: <a href="#CVS-command-list" accesskey="n" rel="next">CVS command list</a>, Previous: <a href="#Credits" accesskey="p" rel="prev">Credits</a>, Up: <a href="#Top" accesskey="u" rel="up">Top</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h2 class="appendix">Appendix H Dealing with bugs in CVS or this manual</h2>

Neither CVS nor this manual is perfect, and they
probably never will be. If you are having trouble
using CVS, or think you have found a bug, there
are a number of things you can do about it. Note that
if the manual is unclear, that can be considered a bug
in the manual, so these problems are often worth doing
something about as well as problems with CVS itself.




<ul>
<li> If you want someone to help you and fix bugs that you
report, there are companies which will do that for a
fee. One such company is:

<div class="example">
<pre class="example">Ximbiot
319 S. River St.
Harrisburg, PA 17104-1657
USA
Email: info@ximbiot.com
Phone: (717) 579-6168
Fax: (717) 234-3125
<a href="http://ximbiot.com/">http://ximbiot.com/</a>

</pre></div>

</li><li> If you got CVS through a distributor, such as an
operating system vendor or a vendor of freeware
CD-ROMs, you may wish to see whether the
distributor provides support. Often, they will provide
no support or minimal support, but this may vary from
distributor to distributor.

</li><li> If you have the skills and time to do so, you may wish
to fix the bug yourself. If you wish to submit your
fix for inclusion in future releases of CVS, see
the file HACKING in the CVS source
distribution. It contains much more information on the
process of submitting fixes.

</li><li> There may be resources on the net which can help. A
good place to start is:

<div class="example">
<pre class="example"><a href="http://cvs.nongnu.org/">http://cvs.nongnu.org/</a>
</pre></div>

If you are so inspired, increasing the information
available on the net is likely to be appreciated. For
example, before the standard CVS distribution
worked on Windows 95, there was a web page with some
explanation and patches for running CVS on Windows
95, and various people helped out by mentioning this
page on mailing lists or newsgroups when the subject
came up.

</li><li> It is also possible to report bugs to <a href="mailto:bug-cvs@nongnu.org">bug-cvs@nongnu.org</a>.
Note that someone may or may not want to do anything
with your bug report&mdash;if you need a solution consider
one of the options mentioned above. People probably do
want to hear about bugs which are particularly severe
in consequences and/or easy to fix, however. You can
also increase your odds by being as clear as possible
about the exact nature of the bug and any other
relevant information. The way to report bugs is to
send email to <a href="mailto:bug-cvs@nongnu.org">bug-cvs@nongnu.org</a>. Note
that submissions to <a href="mailto:bug-cvs@nongnu.org">bug-cvs@nongnu.org</a> may be distributed
under the terms of the GNU General Public License, so if
you don&rsquo;t like this, don&rsquo;t submit them. There is
usually no justification for sending mail directly to
one of the CVS maintainers rather than to
<a href="mailto:bug-cvs@nongnu.org">bug-cvs@nongnu.org</a>; those maintainers who want to hear
about such bug reports read <a href="mailto:bug-cvs@nongnu.org">bug-cvs@nongnu.org</a>. Also note
that sending a bug report to other mailing lists or
newsgroups is not a substitute for sending it to
<a href="mailto:bug-cvs@nongnu.org">bug-cvs@nongnu.org</a>. It is fine to discuss CVS bugs on
whatever forum you prefer, but there are not
necessarily any maintainers reading bug reports sent
anywhere except <a href="mailto:bug-cvs@nongnu.org">bug-cvs@nongnu.org</a>.
</li></ul>

People often ask if there is a list of known bugs or
whether a particular bug is a known one. The file
BUGS in the CVS source distribution is one
list of known bugs, but it doesn&rsquo;t necessarily try to
be comprehensive. Perhaps there will never be a
comprehensive, detailed list of known bugs.

<hr>
<div class="header">

Next: <a href="#Index" accesskey="n" rel="next">Index</a>, Previous: <a href="#BUGS" accesskey="p" rel="prev">BUGS</a>, Up: <a href="#Top" accesskey="u" rel="up">Top</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h2 class="appendix">Appendix I Alphabetical list of all CVS commands</h2>

See <a href="#Cederqvist">CVS manual Table of Contents</a>.

<table class="menu" border="0" cellspacing="0">
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#add" accesskey="1">add</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">Add a new file/directory to the repository
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#admin" accesskey="2">admin</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">Administration front-end for RCS
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#annotate" accesskey="3">annotate</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">Show last revision where each line was modified
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#checkout" accesskey="4">checkout</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">Checkout sources for editing
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#commit" accesskey="5">commit</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">Check files into the repository
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#diff" accesskey="6">diff</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">Show differences between revisions
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#edit" accesskey="7">edit</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">Get ready to edit a watched file
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#editors" accesskey="8">editors</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">See who is editing a watched file
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#export" accesskey="9">export</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">Export sources from CVS, similar to checkout
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#history">history</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">Show repository access history
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#import">import</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">Import sources into CVS, using vendor branches
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#init">init</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">Create a CVS repository
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#kserver">kserver</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">Act in Kerberos server mode
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#log">log</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">Print out history information for files
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#login">login</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">Prompt for password for authenticating server
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#logout">logout</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">Removes entry in .cvspass for remote repository
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#ls">ls</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">List files available from CVS
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#pserver">pserver</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">Act in password server mode
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#rannotate">rannotate</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">Show last revision where each line of module was modified
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#rdiff">rdiff</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">Create &rsquo;patch&rsquo; format diffs between revisions
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#release">release</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">Indicate that a work subdirectory is no longer in use
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#remove">remove</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">Remove an entry from the repository
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#rlog">rlog</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">Print out history information for a module
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#rls">rls</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">List files in a module
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#rtag">rtag</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">Add a symbolic tag to a module
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#server">server</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">Act in server mode
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#suck">suck</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">Download RCS ,v file raw
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#status">status</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">Display status information on checked out files
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#tag">tag</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">Add a symbolic tag to checked out version of files
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#unedit">unedit</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">Undo an edit command
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#update">update</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">Bring work tree in sync with repository
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#version">version</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">Show current CVS version(s)
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#watch">watch</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">Set watches
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#watchers">watchers</a></td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">See who is watching a file
</td></tr>
</table>

<hr>
<div class="header">

Previous: <a href="#CVS-command-list" accesskey="p" rel="prev">CVS command list</a>, Up: <a href="#Top" accesskey="u" rel="up">Top</a> &nbsp; [<a href="#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]
</div>
<h2 class="unnumbered">Index</h2>

<table><tr><th valign="top">Jump to: &nbsp; </th><td><a class="summary-letter" href="#Index_cp_symbol-1">!</a>
 &nbsp; 
<a class="summary-letter" href="#Index_cp_symbol-2">#</a>
 &nbsp; 
<a class="summary-letter" href="#Index_cp_symbol-3">&amp;</a>
 &nbsp; 
<a class="summary-letter" href="#Index_cp_symbol-4">-</a>
 &nbsp; 
<a class="summary-letter" href="#Index_cp_symbol-5">.</a>
 &nbsp; 
<a class="summary-letter" href="#Index_cp_symbol-6">/</a>
 &nbsp; 
<a class="summary-letter" href="#Index_cp_symbol-7">&lt;</a>
 &nbsp; 
<a class="summary-letter" href="#Index_cp_symbol-8">=</a>
 &nbsp; 
<a class="summary-letter" href="#Index_cp_symbol-9">&gt;</a>
 &nbsp; 
<a class="summary-letter" href="#Index_cp_symbol-10">_</a>
 &nbsp; 
 
<a class="summary-letter" href="#Index_cp_letter-A">A</a>
 &nbsp; 
<a class="summary-letter" href="#Index_cp_letter-B">B</a>
 &nbsp; 
<a class="summary-letter" href="#Index_cp_letter-C">C</a>
 &nbsp; 
<a class="summary-letter" href="#Index_cp_letter-D">D</a>
 &nbsp; 
<a class="summary-letter" href="#Index_cp_letter-E">E</a>
 &nbsp; 
<a class="summary-letter" href="#Index_cp_letter-F">F</a>
 &nbsp; 
<a class="summary-letter" href="#Index_cp_letter-G">G</a>
 &nbsp; 
<a class="summary-letter" href="#Index_cp_letter-H">H</a>
 &nbsp; 
<a class="summary-letter" href="#Index_cp_letter-I">I</a>
 &nbsp; 
<a class="summary-letter" href="#Index_cp_letter-J">J</a>
 &nbsp; 
<a class="summary-letter" href="#Index_cp_letter-K">K</a>
 &nbsp; 
<a class="summary-letter" href="#Index_cp_letter-L">L</a>
 &nbsp; 
<a class="summary-letter" href="#Index_cp_letter-M">M</a>
 &nbsp; 
<a class="summary-letter" href="#Index_cp_letter-N">N</a>
 &nbsp; 
<a class="summary-letter" href="#Index_cp_letter-O">O</a>
 &nbsp; 
<a class="summary-letter" href="#Index_cp_letter-P">P</a>
 &nbsp; 
<a class="summary-letter" href="#Index_cp_letter-R">R</a>
 &nbsp; 
<a class="summary-letter" href="#Index_cp_letter-S">S</a>
 &nbsp; 
<a class="summary-letter" href="#Index_cp_letter-T">T</a>
 &nbsp; 
<a class="summary-letter" href="#Index_cp_letter-U">U</a>
 &nbsp; 
<a class="summary-letter" href="#Index_cp_letter-V">V</a>
 &nbsp; 
<a class="summary-letter" href="#Index_cp_letter-W">W</a>
 &nbsp; 
<a class="summary-letter" href="#Index_cp_letter-X">X</a>
 &nbsp; 
<a class="summary-letter" href="#Index_cp_letter-Z">Z</a>
 &nbsp; 
</td></tr></table>
<table class="index-cp" border="0">
<tr><td></td><th align="left">Index Entry</th><td>&nbsp;</td><th align="left"> Section</th></tr>
<tr><td colspan="4"> <hr></td></tr>
<tr><th id="Index_cp_symbol-1">!</th><td></td><td></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-_0021_002c-in-modules-file">!, in modules file</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Excluding-directories">Excluding directories</a></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="4"> <hr></td></tr>
<tr><th id="Index_cp_symbol-2">#</th><td></td><td></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-_0023cvs_002elock_002c-removing">#cvs.lock, removing</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Concurrency">Concurrency</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-_0023cvs_002elock_002c-technical-details">#cvs.lock, technical details</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Locks">Locks</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-_0023cvs_002epfl_002c-technical-details">#cvs.pfl, technical details</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Locks">Locks</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-_0023cvs_002erfl_002c-and-backups">#cvs.rfl, and backups</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Backing-up">Backing up</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-_0023cvs_002erfl_002c-removing">#cvs.rfl, removing</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Concurrency">Concurrency</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-_0023cvs_002erfl_002c-technical-details">#cvs.rfl, technical details</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Locks">Locks</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-_0023cvs_002etfl">#cvs.tfl</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Locks">Locks</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-_0023cvs_002ewfl_002c-removing">#cvs.wfl, removing</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Concurrency">Concurrency</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-_0023cvs_002ewfl_002c-technical-details">#cvs.wfl, technical details</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Locks">Locks</a></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="4"> <hr></td></tr>
<tr><th id="Index_cp_symbol-3">&amp;</th><td></td><td></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-_0026_002c-in-modules-file">&amp;, in modules file</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Ampersand-modules">Ampersand modules</a></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="4"> <hr></td></tr>
<tr><th id="Index_cp_symbol-4">-</th><td></td><td></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-_002da_002c-in-modules-file">-a, in modules file</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Alias-modules">Alias modules</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-_002dd_002c-in-modules-file">-d, in modules file</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Module-options">Module options</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-_002de_002c-in-modules-file">-e, in modules file</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Module-options">Module options</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-_002de_002c-in-modules-file-1">-e, in modules file</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Module-program-options">Module program options</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-_002dj-_0028merging-branches_0029">-j (merging branches)</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Merging-a-branch">Merging a branch</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-_002dj-_0028merging-branches_0029_002c-and-keyword-substitution">-j (merging branches), and keyword substitution</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Merging-and-keywords">Merging and keywords</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-_002dk-_0028keyword-substitution_0029">-k (keyword substitution)</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Substitution-modes">Substitution modes</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-_002dkk_002c-to-avoid-conflicts-during-a-merge">-kk, to avoid conflicts during a merge</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Merging-and-keywords">Merging and keywords</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-_002do_002c-in-modules-file">-o, in modules file</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Module-options">Module options</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-_002do_002c-in-modules-file-1">-o, in modules file</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Module-program-options">Module program options</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-_002ds_002c-in-modules-file">-s, in modules file</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Module-options">Module options</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-_002dt_002c-in-modules-file">-t, in modules file</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Module-options">Module options</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-_002dt_002c-in-modules-file-1">-t, in modules file</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Module-program-options">Module program options</a></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="4"> <hr></td></tr>
<tr><th id="Index_cp_symbol-5">.</th><td></td><td></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-_002e_0023-files">.# files</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#update-output">update output</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-_002ebashrc_002c-setting-CVSROOT-in">.bashrc, setting CVSROOT in</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Specifying-a-repository">Specifying a repository</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-_002ecshrc_002c-setting-CVSROOT-in">.cshrc, setting CVSROOT in</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Specifying-a-repository">Specifying a repository</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-_002ecvsrc-file">.cvsrc file</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#g_t_007e_002f_002ecvsrc">~/.cvsrc</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-_002eprofile_002c-setting-CVSROOT-in">.profile, setting CVSROOT in</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Specifying-a-repository">Specifying a repository</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-_002etcshrc_002c-setting-CVSROOT-in">.tcshrc, setting CVSROOT in</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Specifying-a-repository">Specifying a repository</a></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="4"> <hr></td></tr>
<tr><th id="Index_cp_symbol-6">/</th><td></td><td></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-_002fusr_002flocal_002fcvsroot_002c-as-example-repository">/usr/local/cvsroot, as example repository</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Repository">Repository</a></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="4"> <hr></td></tr>
<tr><th id="Index_cp_symbol-7">&lt;</th><td></td><td></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-_003c_003c_003c_003c_003c_003c_003c">&lt;&lt;&lt;&lt;&lt;&lt;&lt;</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Conflicts-example">Conflicts example</a></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="4"> <hr></td></tr>
<tr><th id="Index_cp_symbol-8">=</th><td></td><td></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-_003d_003d_003d_003d_003d_003d_003d">=======</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Conflicts-example">Conflicts example</a></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="4"> <hr></td></tr>
<tr><th id="Index_cp_symbol-9">&gt;</th><td></td><td></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-_003e_003e_003e_003e_003e_003e_003e">&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Conflicts-example">Conflicts example</a></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="4"> <hr></td></tr>
<tr><th id="Index_cp_symbol-10">_</th><td></td><td></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-_005f_005f-files-_0028VMS_0029">__ files (VMS)</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#update-output">update output</a></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="4"> <hr></td></tr>
<tr><th id="Index_cp_letter-A">A</th><td></td><td></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Abandoning-work">Abandoning work</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Editing-files">Editing files</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-abbreviations-for-months">abbreviations for months</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Calendar-date-items">Calendar date items</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Access-a-branch">Access a branch</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Accessing-branches">Accessing branches</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-add-_0028subcommand_0029">add (subcommand)</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Adding-files">Adding files</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Adding-a-tag">Adding a tag</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Tags">Tags</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Adding-files">Adding files</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Adding-files">Adding files</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Admin-_0028subcommand_0029">Admin (subcommand)</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#admin">admin</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Admin-commands_002c-logging">Admin commands, logging</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#postadmin">postadmin</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Administrative-files-_0028intro_0029">Administrative files (intro)</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Intro-administrative-files">Intro administrative files</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Administrative-files-_0028reference_0029">Administrative files (reference)</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Administrative-files">Administrative files</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Administrative-files_002c-editing-them">Administrative files, editing them</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Intro-administrative-files">Intro administrative files</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Alias-modules">Alias modules</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Alias-modules">Alias modules</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-ALL-keyword_002c-in-lieu-of-regular-expressions-in-script-hooks">&lsquo;<samp>ALL</samp>&rsquo; keyword, in lieu of regular expressions in script hooks</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#syntax">syntax</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Ampersand-modules">Ampersand modules</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Ampersand-modules">Ampersand modules</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-annotate-_0028subcommand_0029">annotate (subcommand)</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#annotate">annotate</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Atomic-transactions_002c-lack-of">Atomic transactions, lack of</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Concurrency">Concurrency</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Attic">Attic</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Attic">Attic</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Authenticated-client_002c-using">Authenticated client, using</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Password-authentication-client">Password authentication client</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Authenticating-server_002c-setting-up">Authenticating server, setting up</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Password-authentication-server">Password authentication server</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Authentication_002c-stream">Authentication, stream</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Global-options">Global options</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Author-keyword">Author keyword</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Keyword-list">Keyword list</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-authors-of-get_005fdate">authors of <code>get_date</code></a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Authors-of-get_005fdate">Authors of get_date</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Automatically-ignored-files">Automatically ignored files</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#cvsignore">cvsignore</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Avoiding-editor-invocation">Avoiding editor invocation</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Common-options">Common options</a></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="4"> <hr></td></tr>
<tr><th id="Index_cp_letter-B">B</th><td></td><td></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Backing-up_002c-repository">Backing up, repository</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Backing-up">Backing up</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Base-directory_002c-in-CVS-directory">Base directory, in CVS directory</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Working-directory-storage">Working directory storage</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-BASE_002c-as-reserved-tag-name">BASE, as reserved tag name</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Tags">Tags</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-BASE_002c-special-date">BASE, special date</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Common-options">Common options</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-BASE_002c-special-tag">BASE, special tag</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Common-options">Common options</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Baserev-file_002c-in-CVS-directory">Baserev file, in CVS directory</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Working-directory-storage">Working directory storage</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Baserev_002etmp-file_002c-in-CVS-directory">Baserev.tmp file, in CVS directory</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Working-directory-storage">Working directory storage</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-beginning-of-time_002c-for-POSIX">beginning of time, for <acronym>POSIX</acronym></a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Seconds-since-the-Epoch">Seconds since the Epoch</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Bellovin_002c-Steven-M_002e">Bellovin, Steven M.</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Authors-of-get_005fdate">Authors of get_date</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Berets_002c-Jim">Berets, Jim</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Authors-of-get_005fdate">Authors of get_date</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Berry_002c-K_002e">Berry, K.</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Authors-of-get_005fdate">Authors of get_date</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Bill-of-materials">Bill of materials</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Builds">Builds</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Binary-files">Binary files</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Binary-files">Binary files</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Branch-merge-example">Branch merge example</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Merging-a-branch">Merging a branch</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Branch-number">Branch number</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Revision-numbers">Revision numbers</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Branch-number-1">Branch number</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Branches-and-revisions">Branches and revisions</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Branch-tags_002c-deleting">Branch tags, deleting</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Modifying-tags">Modifying tags</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Branch-tags_002c-moving">Branch tags, moving</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Modifying-tags">Modifying tags</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Branch_002c-accessing">Branch, accessing</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Accessing-branches">Accessing branches</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Branch_002c-check-out">Branch, check out</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Accessing-branches">Accessing branches</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Branch_002c-creating-a">Branch, creating a</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Creating-a-branch">Creating a branch</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Branch_002c-identifying">Branch, identifying</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Accessing-branches">Accessing branches</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Branch_002c-retrieving">Branch, retrieving</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Accessing-branches">Accessing branches</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Branch_002c-vendor_002d">Branch, vendor-</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Tracking-sources">Tracking sources</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Branches-motivation">Branches motivation</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Branches-motivation">Branches motivation</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Branches_002c-copying-changes-between">Branches, copying changes between</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Branching-and-merging">Branching and merging</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Branches_002c-sticky">Branches, sticky</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Accessing-branches">Accessing branches</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Branching">Branching</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Branching-and-merging">Branching and merging</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Bringing-a-file-up-to-date">Bringing a file up to date</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Updating-a-file">Updating a file</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Bugs-in-this-manual-or-CVS">Bugs in this manual or CVS</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#BUGS">BUGS</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Bugs_002c-reporting">Bugs, reporting</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#BUGS">BUGS</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Builds">Builds</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Builds">Builds</a></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="4"> <hr></td></tr>
<tr><th id="Index_cp_letter-C">C</th><td></td><td></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-calendar-date-item">calendar date item</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Calendar-date-items">Calendar date items</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-case_002c-ignored-in-dates">case, ignored in dates</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#General-date-syntax">General date syntax</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Changes_002c-copying-between-branches">Changes, copying between branches</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Branching-and-merging">Branching and merging</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Changing-a-log-message">Changing a log message</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#admin-options">admin options</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Check-out-a-branch">Check out a branch</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Accessing-branches">Accessing branches</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Checked-out-copy_002c-keeping">Checked out copy, keeping</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Keeping-a-checked-out-copy">Keeping a checked out copy</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Checking-out-source">Checking out source</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Getting-the-source">Getting the source</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-checkout-_0028subcommand_0029">checkout (subcommand)</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#checkout">checkout</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Checkout-program">Checkout program</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Module-options">Module options</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Checkout_002c-as-term-for-getting-ready-to-edit">Checkout, as term for getting ready to edit</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Editing-files">Editing files</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Checkout_002c-example">Checkout, example</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Getting-the-source">Getting the source</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-checkoutlist">checkoutlist</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#checkoutlist">checkoutlist</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Choosing_002c-reserved-or-unreserved-checkouts">Choosing, reserved or unreserved checkouts</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Choosing-a-model">Choosing a model</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Cleaning-up">Cleaning up</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Cleaning-up">Cleaning up</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Client_002fServer-Operation">Client/Server Operation</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Remote-repositories">Remote repositories</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Client_002fServer-Operation_002c-port-specification">Client/Server Operation, port specification</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Remote-repositories">Remote repositories</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Client_002fServer-Operation_002c-port-specification-1">Client/Server Operation, port specification</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Password-authentication-server">Password authentication server</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-co-_0028subcommand_0029">co (subcommand)</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#checkout">checkout</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Command-reference">Command reference</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Invoking-CVS">Invoking CVS</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Command-structure">Command structure</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Structure">Structure</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Comment-leader">Comment leader</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#admin-options">admin options</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-comments_002c-in-dates">comments, in dates</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#General-date-syntax">General date syntax</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-commit-_0028subcommand_0029">commit (subcommand)</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#commit">commit</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-commit-files_002c-see-Info-files">commit files, see Info files</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#commit-files">commit files</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-COMMITID_002c-internal-variable">COMMITID, internal variable</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Variables">Variables</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-COMMITID_002c-internal-variable-1">COMMITID, internal variable</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Variables">Variables</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-commitinfo"><samp>commitinfo</samp></a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#commitinfo">commitinfo</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-commitinfo-_0028admin-file_0029">commitinfo (admin file)</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#commitinfo">commitinfo</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-commitinfo-_0028admin-file_0029_002c-exit-status">commitinfo (admin file), exit status</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#commitinfo">commitinfo</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-commitinfo-_0028admin-file_0029_002c-updating-legacy-repositories">commitinfo (admin file), updating legacy repositories</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#commitinfo">commitinfo</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-commitinfo_002c-command-environment"><samp>commitinfo</samp>, command environment</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#commitinfo">commitinfo</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-commitinfo_002c-working-directory"><samp>commitinfo</samp>, working directory</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#commitinfo">commitinfo</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Commits_002c-administrative-support-files">Commits, administrative support files</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#commit-files">commit files</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Commits_002c-precommit-verification-of">Commits, precommit verification of</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#commitinfo">commitinfo</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Committing-changes-to-files">Committing changes to files</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Committing-your-changes">Committing your changes</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Committing_002c-when-to">Committing, when to</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#When-to-commit">When to commit</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Common-options">Common options</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Common-options">Common options</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Common-syntax-of-info-files_002c-format-strings">Common syntax of info files, format strings</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#syntax">syntax</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Common-syntax-of-info-files_002c-updating-legacy-repositories">Common syntax of info files, updating legacy repositories</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Updating-Commit-Files">Updating Commit Files</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-compatibility-notes_002c-commitinfo-admin-file">compatibility notes, commitinfo admin file</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#commitinfo">commitinfo</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-compatibility-notes_002c-config-admin-file">compatibility notes, config admin file</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#config">config</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-compatibility-notes_002c-loginfo-admin-file">compatibility notes, loginfo admin file</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#loginfo">loginfo</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-compatibility-notes_002c-taginfo-admin-file">compatibility notes, taginfo admin file</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#taginfo">taginfo</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-compatibility-notes_002c-verifymsg-admin-file">compatibility notes, verifymsg admin file</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#verifymsg">verifymsg</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Compatibility_002c-between-CVS-versions">Compatibility, between CVS versions</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Compatibility">Compatibility</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Compression">Compression</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Global-options">Global options</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Compression-1">Compression</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Invoking-CVS">Invoking CVS</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Compression-levels_002c-restricting-on-server">Compression levels, restricting on server</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#config">config</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-COMSPEC_002c-environment-variable">COMSPEC, environment variable</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Environment-variables">Environment variables</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-config-_0028admin-file_0029_002c-import">config (admin file), import</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#config">config</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-config-_0028admin-file_0029_002c-updating-legacy-repositories">config (admin file), updating legacy repositories</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#config">config</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-config_002c-in-CVSROOT">config, in CVSROOT</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#config">config</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-configuration-file">configuration file</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#server-_0026-pserver">server &amp; pserver</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-configuration-file-1">configuration file</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#config">config</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Configuring-keyword-expansion">Configuring keyword expansion</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Configuring-keyword-expansion">Configuring keyword expansion</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Conflict-markers">Conflict markers</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Conflicts-example">Conflicts example</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Conflict-resolution">Conflict resolution</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Conflicts-example">Conflicts example</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Conflicts-_0028merge-example_0029">Conflicts (merge example)</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Conflicts-example">Conflicts example</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-connection-method-options">connection method options</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#The-connection-method">The connection method</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Contributors-_0028CVS-program_0029">Contributors (CVS program)</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#What-is-CVS_003f">What is CVS?</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Contributors-_0028manual_0029">Contributors (manual)</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Credits">Credits</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Copying-a-repository">Copying a repository</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Moving-a-repository">Moving a repository</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Copying-changes">Copying changes</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Branching-and-merging">Branching and merging</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Correcting-a-log-message">Correcting a log message</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#admin-options">admin options</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Creating-a-branch">Creating a branch</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Creating-a-branch">Creating a branch</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Creating-a-project">Creating a project</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Starting-a-new-project">Starting a new project</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Creating-a-repository">Creating a repository</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Creating-a-repository">Creating a repository</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Credits-_0028CVS-program_0029">Credits (CVS program)</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#What-is-CVS_003f">What is CVS?</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Credits-_0028manual_0029">Credits (manual)</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Credits">Credits</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-CVS-1_002e6_002c-and-watches">CVS 1.6, and watches</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Watches-Compatibility">Watches Compatibility</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-CVS-command-structure">CVS command structure</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Structure">Structure</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-CVS-directory_002c-in-repository">CVS directory, in repository</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#CVS-in-repository">CVS in repository</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-CVS-directory_002c-in-working-directory">CVS directory, in working directory</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Working-directory-storage">Working directory storage</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-CVS-passwd-file">CVS passwd file</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Password-authentication-server">Password authentication server</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-CVS_002c-history-of">CVS, history of</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#What-is-CVS_003f">What is CVS?</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-CVS_002c-introduction-to">CVS, introduction to</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#What-is-CVS_003f">What is CVS?</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-CVS_002c-versions-of">CVS, versions of</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Compatibility">Compatibility</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-CVS_002fBase-directory">CVS/Base directory</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Working-directory-storage">Working directory storage</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-CVS_002fBaserev-file">CVS/Baserev file</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Working-directory-storage">Working directory storage</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-CVS_002fBaserev_002etmp-file">CVS/Baserev.tmp file</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Working-directory-storage">Working directory storage</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-CVS_002fEntries-file">CVS/Entries file</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Working-directory-storage">Working directory storage</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-CVS_002fEntries_002eBackup-file">CVS/Entries.Backup file</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Working-directory-storage">Working directory storage</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-CVS_002fEntries_002eLog-file">CVS/Entries.Log file</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Working-directory-storage">Working directory storage</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-CVS_002fEntries_002eStatic-file">CVS/Entries.Static file</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Working-directory-storage">Working directory storage</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-CVS_002fNotify-file">CVS/Notify file</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Working-directory-storage">Working directory storage</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-CVS_002fNotify_002etmp-file">CVS/Notify.tmp file</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Working-directory-storage">Working directory storage</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-CVS_002fRepository-file">CVS/Repository file</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Working-directory-storage">Working directory storage</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-CVS_002fRoot-file">CVS/Root file</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Specifying-a-repository">Specifying a repository</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-CVS_002fTag-file">CVS/Tag file</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Working-directory-storage">Working directory storage</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-CVS_002fTemplate-file">CVS/Template file</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Working-directory-storage">Working directory storage</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-cvsadmin">cvsadmin</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#admin">admin</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-CVSEDITOR_002c-environment-variable">CVSEDITOR, environment variable</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Committing-your-changes">Committing your changes</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-CVSEDITOR_002c-environment-variable-1">CVSEDITOR, environment variable</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Environment-variables">Environment variables</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-CVSEDITOR_002c-internal-variable">CVSEDITOR, internal variable</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Variables">Variables</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-CVSHeader-keyword">CVSHeader keyword</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Keyword-list">Keyword list</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-cvsignore-_0028admin-file_0029_002c-global">cvsignore (admin file), global</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#cvsignore">cvsignore</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-CVSIGNORE_002c-environment-variable">CVSIGNORE, environment variable</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Environment-variables">Environment variables</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-CVSREAD_002c-environment-variable">CVSREAD, environment variable</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Environment-variables">Environment variables</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-CVSREAD_002c-overriding">CVSREAD, overriding</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Global-options">Global options</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-CVSREADONLYFS_002c-environment-variable">CVSREADONLYFS, environment variable</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Environment-variables">Environment variables</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-cvsroot">cvsroot</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Repository">Repository</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-CVSROOT-_0028file_0029">CVSROOT (file)</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Administrative-files">Administrative files</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-CVSROOT_002c-environment-variable">CVSROOT, environment variable</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Specifying-a-repository">Specifying a repository</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-CVSROOT_002c-internal-variable">CVSROOT, internal variable</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Variables">Variables</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-CVSROOT_002c-module-name">CVSROOT, module name</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Intro-administrative-files">Intro administrative files</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-CVSROOT_002c-multiple-repositories">CVSROOT, multiple repositories</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Multiple-repositories">Multiple repositories</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-CVSROOT_002c-overriding">CVSROOT, overriding</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Global-options">Global options</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-CVSROOT_002c-storage-of-files">CVSROOT, storage of files</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#CVSROOT-storage">CVSROOT storage</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-CVSROOT_002fconfig">CVSROOT/config</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#config">config</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-CVSROOT_002fEmptydir-directory">CVSROOT/Emptydir directory</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Working-directory-storage">Working directory storage</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-CVSROOT_002fval_002dtags-file_002c-and-read_002donly-access-to-projects">CVSROOT/val-tags file, and read-only access to projects</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#File-permissions">File permissions</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-CVSROOT_002fval_002dtags-file_002c-forcing-tags-into">CVSROOT/val-tags file, forcing tags into</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Error-messages">Error messages</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-CVSUMASK_002c-environment-variable">CVSUMASK, environment variable</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#File-permissions">File permissions</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-cvswrappers-_0028admin-file_0029">cvswrappers (admin file)</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Wrappers">Wrappers</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-CVSWRAPPERS_002c-environment-variable">CVSWRAPPERS, environment variable</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Wrappers">Wrappers</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-CVSWRAPPERS_002c-environment-variable-1">CVSWRAPPERS, environment variable</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Environment-variables">Environment variables</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-CVS_005fCLIENT_005fLOG_002c-environment-variable">CVS_CLIENT_LOG, environment variable</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Environment-variables">Environment variables</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-CVS_005fCLIENT_005fPORT">CVS_CLIENT_PORT</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Environment-variables">Environment variables</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-CVS_005fIGNORE_005fREMOTE_005fROOT_002c-environment-variable">CVS_IGNORE_REMOTE_ROOT, environment variable</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Environment-variables">Environment variables</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-CVS_005fLOCAL_005fBRANCH_005fNUM_002c-environment-variable">CVS_LOCAL_BRANCH_NUM, environment variable</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Environment-variables">Environment variables</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-CVS_005fPASSFILE_002c-environment-variable">CVS_PASSFILE, environment variable</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Password-authentication-client">Password authentication client</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-CVS_005fPID_002c-environment-variable">CVS_PID, environment variable</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Environment-variables">Environment variables</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-CVS_005fPROXY_005fPORT">CVS_PROXY_PORT</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#The-connection-method">The connection method</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-CVS_005fPROXY_005fPORT-1">CVS_PROXY_PORT</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Environment-variables">Environment variables</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-CVS_005fRCMD_005fPORT_002c-environment-variable">CVS_RCMD_PORT, environment variable</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Environment-variables">Environment variables</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-CVS_005fRSH-method-option">CVS_RSH method option</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#The-connection-method">The connection method</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-CVS_005fRSH_002c-environment-variable">CVS_RSH, environment variable</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Environment-variables">Environment variables</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-CVS_005fSECONDARY_005fLOG_002c-environment-variable">CVS_SECONDARY_LOG, environment variable</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Environment-variables">Environment variables</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-CVS_005fSERVER-method-option">CVS_SERVER method option</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#The-connection-method">The connection method</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-CVS_005fSERVER_002c-and-fork-method">CVS_SERVER, and fork method</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Connecting-via-fork">Connecting via fork</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-CVS_005fSERVER_002c-environment-variable">CVS_SERVER, environment variable</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Connecting-via-rsh">Connecting via rsh</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-CVS_005fSERVER_005fLOG_002c-environment-variable">CVS_SERVER_LOG, environment variable</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Environment-variables">Environment variables</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-CVS_005fSERVER_005fSLEEP_002c-environment-variable">CVS_SERVER_SLEEP, environment variable</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Environment-variables">Environment variables</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-CVS_005fUSER_002c-environment-variable">CVS_USER, environment variable</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Variables">Variables</a></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="4"> <hr></td></tr>
<tr><th id="Index_cp_letter-D">D</th><td></td><td></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-date-format_002c-ISO-8601">date format, ISO 8601</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Calendar-date-items">Calendar date items</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-date-input-formats">date input formats</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Date-input-formats">Date input formats</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Date-keyword">Date keyword</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Keyword-list">Keyword list</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Dates">Dates</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Common-options">Common options</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-day-of-week-item">day of week item</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Day-of-week-items">Day of week items</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Dead-state">Dead state</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Attic">Attic</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Decimal-revision-number">Decimal revision number</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Revision-numbers">Revision numbers</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-DEFAULT-keyword_002c-in-lieu-of-regular-expressions-in-script-hooks">&lsquo;<samp>DEFAULT</samp>&rsquo; keyword, in lieu of regular expressions in script hooks</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#syntax">syntax</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Defining-a-module">Defining a module</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Defining-the-module">Defining the module</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Defining-modules-_0028intro_0029">Defining modules (intro)</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Intro-administrative-files">Intro administrative files</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Defining-modules-_0028reference-manual_0029">Defining modules (reference manual)</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#modules">modules</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Deleting-branch-tags">Deleting branch tags</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Modifying-tags">Modifying tags</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Deleting-files">Deleting files</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Removing-files">Removing files</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Deleting-revisions">Deleting revisions</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#admin-options">admin options</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Deleting-sticky-tags">Deleting sticky tags</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Sticky-tags">Sticky tags</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Deleting-tags">Deleting tags</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Modifying-tags">Modifying tags</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Descending-directories">Descending directories</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Recursive-behavior">Recursive behavior</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Device-nodes">Device nodes</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Special-Files">Special Files</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Diff">Diff</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Viewing-differences">Viewing differences</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-diff-_0028subcommand_0029">diff (subcommand)</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#diff">diff</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Differences_002c-merging">Differences, merging</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Merging-two-revisions">Merging two revisions</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Directories_002c-moving">Directories, moving</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Moving-directories">Moving directories</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Directories_002c-removing">Directories, removing</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Removing-directories">Removing directories</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Directory_002c-descending">Directory, descending</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Recursive-behavior">Recursive behavior</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Disjoint-repositories">Disjoint repositories</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Multiple-repositories">Multiple repositories</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-displacement-of-dates">displacement of dates</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Relative-items-in-date-strings">Relative items in date strings</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Distributing-log-messages">Distributing log messages</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#loginfo">loginfo</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-driver_002ec-_0028merge-example_0029">driver.c (merge example)</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Conflicts-example">Conflicts example</a></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="4"> <hr></td></tr>
<tr><th id="Index_cp_letter-E">E</th><td></td><td></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-edit-_0028subcommand_0029">edit (subcommand)</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Editing-files">Editing files</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Editing-administrative-files">Editing administrative files</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Intro-administrative-files">Intro administrative files</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Editing-the-modules-file">Editing the modules file</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Defining-the-module">Defining the module</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Editor_002c-avoiding-invocation-of">Editor, avoiding invocation of</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Common-options">Common options</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-EDITOR_002c-environment-variable">EDITOR, environment variable</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Committing-your-changes">Committing your changes</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-EDITOR_002c-environment-variable-1">EDITOR, environment variable</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Environment-variables">Environment variables</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-EDITOR_002c-internal-variable">EDITOR, internal variable</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Variables">Variables</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-EDITOR_002c-overriding">EDITOR, overriding</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Global-options">Global options</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-editors-_0028subcommand_0029">editors (subcommand)</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Watch-information">Watch information</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Eggert_002c-Paul">Eggert, Paul</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Authors-of-get_005fdate">Authors of get_date</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-emerge">emerge</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Conflicts-example">Conflicts example</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Emptydir_002c-in-CVSROOT-directory">Emptydir, in CVSROOT directory</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Working-directory-storage">Working directory storage</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Encryption">Encryption</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Global-options">Global options</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Entries-file_002c-in-CVS-directory">Entries file, in CVS directory</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Working-directory-storage">Working directory storage</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Entries_002eBackup-file_002c-in-CVS-directory">Entries.Backup file, in CVS directory</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Working-directory-storage">Working directory storage</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Entries_002eLog-file_002c-in-CVS-directory">Entries.Log file, in CVS directory</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Working-directory-storage">Working directory storage</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Entries_002eStatic-file_002c-in-CVS-directory">Entries.Static file, in CVS directory</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Working-directory-storage">Working directory storage</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Environment-variables">Environment variables</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Environment-variables">Environment variables</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-environment-variables_002c-passed-to-administrative-files">environment variables, passed to administrative files</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Variables">Variables</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-epoch_002c-for-POSIX">epoch, for <acronym>POSIX</acronym></a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Seconds-since-the-Epoch">Seconds since the Epoch</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Errors_002c-reporting">Errors, reporting</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#BUGS">BUGS</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Example-of-a-work_002dsession">Example of a work-session</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#A-sample-session">A sample session</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Example-of-merge">Example of merge</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Conflicts-example">Conflicts example</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Example_002c-branch-merge">Example, branch merge</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Merging-a-branch">Merging a branch</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Excluding-directories_002c-in-modules-file">Excluding directories, in modules file</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Excluding-directories">Excluding directories</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Exit-status_002c-of-commitinfo">Exit status, of commitinfo</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#commitinfo">commitinfo</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Exit-status_002c-of-CVS">Exit status, of CVS</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Exit-status">Exit status</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Exit-status_002c-of-editor">Exit status, of editor</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Error-messages">Error messages</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Exit-status_002c-of-taginfo-admin-file">Exit status, of taginfo admin file</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#taginfo">taginfo</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Exit-status_002c-of-verifymsg">Exit status, of <samp>verifymsg</samp></a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#verifymsg">verifymsg</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-export-_0028subcommand_0029">export (subcommand)</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#export">export</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Export-program">Export program</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Module-options">Module options</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-ext-method_002c-setting-up">ext method, setting up</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Connecting-via-rsh">Connecting via rsh</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-ext-method_002c-troubleshooting">ext method, troubleshooting</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Connection">Connection</a></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="4"> <hr></td></tr>
<tr><th id="Index_cp_letter-F">F</th><td></td><td></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Fetching-source">Fetching source</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Getting-the-source">Getting the source</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-File-had-conflicts-on-merge">File had conflicts on merge</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#File-status">File status</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-File-locking">File locking</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Multiple-developers">Multiple developers</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-File-permissions_002c-general">File permissions, general</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#File-permissions">File permissions</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-File-permissions_002c-Windows_002dspecific">File permissions, Windows-specific</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Windows-permissions">Windows permissions</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-File-status">File status</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#File-status">File status</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Files_002c-moving">Files, moving</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Moving-files">Moving files</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Files_002c-reference-manual">Files, reference manual</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Administrative-files">Administrative files</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Fixing-a-log-message">Fixing a log message</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#admin-options">admin options</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Forcing-a-tag-match">Forcing a tag match</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Common-options">Common options</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-fork-method_002c-setting-up">fork method, setting up</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Connecting-via-fork">Connecting via fork</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-fork_002c-access-method">fork, access method</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Connecting-via-fork">Connecting via fork</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Form-for-log-message">Form for log message</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#rcsinfo">rcsinfo</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Format-of-CVS-commands">Format of CVS commands</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Structure">Structure</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-format-strings">format strings</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#syntax">syntax</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-format-strings_002c-commitinfo-admin-file">format strings, commitinfo admin file</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#commitinfo">commitinfo</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-format-strings_002c-common-syntax">format strings, common syntax</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#syntax">syntax</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-format-strings_002c-config-admin-file">format strings, config admin file</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#config">config</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-format-strings_002c-loginfo-admin-file">format strings, loginfo admin file</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#loginfo">loginfo</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-format-strings_002c-postadmin-admin-file">format strings, postadmin admin file</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#postadmin">postadmin</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-format-strings_002c-postproxy-admin-file">format strings, postproxy admin file</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#postproxy">postproxy</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-format-strings_002c-posttag-admin-file">format strings, posttag admin file</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#posttag">posttag</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-format-strings_002c-postwatch-admin-file">format strings, postwatch admin file</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#postwatch">postwatch</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-format-strings_002c-preproxy-admin-file">format strings, preproxy admin file</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#preproxy">preproxy</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-format-strings_002c-taginfo-admin-file">format strings, taginfo admin file</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#taginfo">taginfo</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-format-strings_002c-verifymsg-admin-file">format strings, verifymsg admin file</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#verifymsg">verifymsg</a></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="4"> <hr></td></tr>
<tr><th id="Index_cp_letter-G">G</th><td></td><td></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-general-date-syntax">general date syntax</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#General-date-syntax">General date syntax</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Getting-started">Getting started</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#A-sample-session">A sample session</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Getting-the-source">Getting the source</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Getting-the-source">Getting the source</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Global-cvsignore">Global cvsignore</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#cvsignore">cvsignore</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Global-options">Global options</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Global-options">Global options</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Group_002c-UNIX-file-permissions_002c-in-repository">Group, UNIX file permissions, in repository</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#File-permissions">File permissions</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-gserver-_0028client_002fserver-connection-method_0029_002c-port-specification">gserver (client/server connection method), port specification</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Remote-repositories">Remote repositories</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-gserver-_0028client_002fserver-connection-method_0029_002c-port-specification-1">gserver (client/server connection method), port specification</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Password-authentication-server">Password authentication server</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-gserver-method_002c-setting-up">gserver method, setting up</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#GSSAPI-authenticated">GSSAPI authenticated</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-GSSAPI">GSSAPI</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#GSSAPI-authenticated">GSSAPI authenticated</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Gzip">Gzip</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Global-options">Global options</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Gzip-1">Gzip</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Invoking-CVS">Invoking CVS</a></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="4"> <hr></td></tr>
<tr><th id="Index_cp_letter-H">H</th><td></td><td></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Hard-links">Hard links</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Special-Files">Special Files</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-HEAD_002c-as-reserved-tag-name">HEAD, as reserved tag name</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Tags">Tags</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-HEAD_002c-special-tag">HEAD, special tag</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Common-options">Common options</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Header-keyword">Header keyword</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Keyword-list">Keyword list</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-history-_0028subcommand_0029">history (subcommand)</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#history">history</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-History-browsing">History browsing</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#History-browsing">History browsing</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-History-file">History file</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#history-file">history file</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-History-files">History files</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Repository-files">Repository files</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-History-of-CVS">History of CVS</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#What-is-CVS_003f">What is CVS?</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-HistoryLogPath_002c-in-CVSROOT_002fconfig">HistoryLogPath, in CVSROOT/config</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#config">config</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-HistorySearchPath_002c-in-CVSROOT_002fconfig">HistorySearchPath, in CVSROOT/config</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#config">config</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-HOME_002c-environment-variable">HOME, environment variable</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Environment-variables">Environment variables</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-HOMEDRIVE_002c-environment-variable">HOMEDRIVE, environment variable</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Environment-variables">Environment variables</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-HOMEPATH_002c-environment-variable">HOMEPATH, environment variable</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Environment-variables">Environment variables</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-HTTP-proxies_002c-connecting-via">HTTP proxies, connecting via</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#The-connection-method">The connection method</a></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="4"> <hr></td></tr>
<tr><th id="Index_cp_letter-I">I</th><td></td><td></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Id-keyword">Id keyword</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Keyword-list">Keyword list</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Ident-_0028shell-command_0029">Ident (shell command)</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Using-keywords">Using keywords</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Identifying-a-branch">Identifying a branch</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Accessing-branches">Accessing branches</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Identifying-files">Identifying files</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Keyword-substitution">Keyword substitution</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Ignored-files">Ignored files</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#cvsignore">cvsignore</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Ignoring-files">Ignoring files</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#cvsignore">cvsignore</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-import-_0028subcommand_0029">import (subcommand)</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#import">import</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-import_002c-config-admin-file">import, config admin file</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#config">config</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Importing-files">Importing files</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#From-files">From files</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Importing-files_002c-from-other-version-control-systems">Importing files, from other version control systems</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#From-other-version-control-systems">From other version control systems</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Importing-modules">Importing modules</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#First-import">First import</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-ImportNewFilesToVendorBranchOnly_002c-in-CVSROOT_002fconfig">ImportNewFilesToVendorBranchOnly, in CVSROOT/config</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#config">config</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Index">Index</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Index">Index</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-inetd_002c-configuring-for-pserver">inetd, configuring for pserver</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Password-authentication-server">Password authentication server</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-info-files">info files</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Trigger-Scripts">Trigger Scripts</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-info-files_002c-commitinfo">info files, commitinfo</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#commitinfo">commitinfo</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-info-files_002c-common-syntax">info files, common syntax</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#syntax">syntax</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-info-files_002c-common-syntax_002c-format-strings">info files, common syntax, format strings</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#syntax">syntax</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-info-files_002c-common-syntax_002c-updating-legacy-repositories">info files, common syntax, updating legacy repositories</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Updating-Commit-Files">Updating Commit Files</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-info-files_002c-precommit-verification-of-commits">info files, precommit verification of commits</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#commitinfo">commitinfo</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-info-files_002c-security">info files, security</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Trigger-Script-Security">Trigger Script Security</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Informing-others">Informing others</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Informing-others">Informing others</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-init-_0028subcommand_0029">init (subcommand)</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Creating-a-repository">Creating a repository</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Installed-images-_0028VMS_0029">Installed images (VMS)</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#File-permissions">File permissions</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Internal-variables">Internal variables</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Variables">Variables</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Introduction-to-CVS">Introduction to CVS</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#What-is-CVS_003f">What is CVS?</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Invoking-CVS">Invoking CVS</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Invoking-CVS">Invoking CVS</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-ISO-8601-date-format">ISO 8601 date format</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Calendar-date-items">Calendar date items</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Isolation">Isolation</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#History-browsing">History browsing</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-items-in-date-strings">items in date strings</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#General-date-syntax">General date syntax</a></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="4"> <hr></td></tr>
<tr><th id="Index_cp_letter-J">J</th><td></td><td></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Join">Join</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Merging-a-branch">Merging a branch</a></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="4"> <hr></td></tr>
<tr><th id="Index_cp_letter-K">K</th><td></td><td></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Keeping-a-checked-out-copy">Keeping a checked out copy</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Keeping-a-checked-out-copy">Keeping a checked out copy</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Kerberos_002c-using-gserver-method">Kerberos, using gserver method</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#GSSAPI-authenticated">GSSAPI authenticated</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Kerberos_002c-using-kerberized-rsh">Kerberos, using kerberized rsh</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Connecting-via-rsh">Connecting via rsh</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Kerberos_002c-using-kserver-method">Kerberos, using kserver method</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Kerberos-authenticated">Kerberos authenticated</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Keyword-expansion">Keyword expansion</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Keyword-substitution">Keyword substitution</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Keyword-List">Keyword List</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Keyword-list">Keyword list</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Keyword-substitution">Keyword substitution</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Keyword-substitution">Keyword substitution</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Keyword-substitution_002c-and-merging">Keyword substitution, and merging</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Merging-and-keywords">Merging and keywords</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Keyword-substitution_002c-changing-modes">Keyword substitution, changing modes</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Substitution-modes">Substitution modes</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-KeywordExpand_002c-in-CVSROOT_002fconfig">KeywordExpand, in CVSROOT/config</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#config">config</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Kflag">Kflag</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Substitution-modes">Substitution modes</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-kinit">kinit</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Kerberos-authenticated">Kerberos authenticated</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Known-bugs-in-this-manual-or-CVS">Known bugs in this manual or CVS</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#BUGS">BUGS</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-kserver-_0028client_002fserver-connection-method_0029_002c-port-specification">kserver (client/server connection method), port specification</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Remote-repositories">Remote repositories</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-kserver-_0028client_002fserver-connection-method_0029_002c-port-specification-1">kserver (client/server connection method), port specification</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Password-authentication-server">Password authentication server</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-kserver-method_002c-setting-up">kserver method, setting up</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Kerberos-authenticated">Kerberos authenticated</a></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="4"> <hr></td></tr>
<tr><th id="Index_cp_letter-L">L</th><td></td><td></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-language_002c-in-dates">language, in dates</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#General-date-syntax">General date syntax</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-language_002c-in-dates-1">language, in dates</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#General-date-syntax">General date syntax</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Layout-of-repository">Layout of repository</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Repository">Repository</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Left_002dhand-options">Left-hand options</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Global-options">Global options</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Linear-development">Linear development</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Revision-numbers">Revision numbers</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Link_002c-symbolic_002c-importing">Link, symbolic, importing</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#import-output">import output</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-List_002c-mailing-list">List, mailing list</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#What-is-CVS_003f">What is CVS?</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Local-keyword">Local keyword</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Keyword-list">Keyword list</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-local-method_002c-setting-up">local method, setting up</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Repository">Repository</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-LocalKeyword_002c-in-CVSROOT_002fconfig">LocalKeyword, in CVSROOT/config</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#config">config</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Locally-Added">Locally Added</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#File-status">File status</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Locally-Modified">Locally Modified</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#File-status">File status</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Locally-Removed">Locally Removed</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#File-status">File status</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-LockDir_002c-in-CVSROOT_002fconfig">LockDir, in CVSROOT/config</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#config">config</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Locker-keyword">Locker keyword</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Keyword-list">Keyword list</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Locking-files">Locking files</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Multiple-developers">Multiple developers</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Locks_002c-cvs_002c-and-backups">Locks, cvs, and backups</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Backing-up">Backing up</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Locks_002c-cvs_002c-introduction">Locks, cvs, introduction</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Concurrency">Concurrency</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Locks_002c-cvs_002c-technical-details">Locks, cvs, technical details</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Locks">Locks</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-log-_0028subcommand_0029">log (subcommand)</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#log">log</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Log-information_002c-saving">Log information, saving</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#history-file">history file</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Log-keyword">Log keyword</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Keyword-list">Keyword list</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Log-keyword_002c-configuring-substitution-behavior">Log keyword, configuring substitution behavior</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Keyword-list">Keyword list</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Log-keyword_002c-configuring-substitution-behavior-1">Log keyword, configuring substitution behavior</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#config">config</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Log-keyword_002c-configuring-substitution-behavior-2">Log keyword, configuring substitution behavior</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#config">config</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Log-message-entry">Log message entry</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Committing-your-changes">Committing your changes</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Log-message-template">Log message template</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#rcsinfo">rcsinfo</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Log-message_002c-correcting">Log message, correcting</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#admin-options">admin options</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Log-message_002c-verifying">Log message, verifying</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#verifymsg">verifymsg</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Log-messages">Log messages</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#loginfo">loginfo</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-logging_002c-commits">logging, commits</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#verifymsg">verifymsg</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-logging_002c-commits-1">logging, commits</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#loginfo">loginfo</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-logging_002c-commits-2">logging, commits</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#rcsinfo">rcsinfo</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-LogHistory_002c-in-CVSROOT_002fconfig">LogHistory, in CVSROOT/config</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#config">config</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Login-_0028subcommand_0029">Login (subcommand)</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Password-authentication-client">Password authentication client</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-loginfo-_0028admin-file_0029">loginfo (admin file)</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#loginfo">loginfo</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-loginfo-_0028admin-file_0029_002c-updating-legacy-repositories">loginfo (admin file), updating legacy repositories</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#loginfo">loginfo</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-LOGNAME_002c-environment-variable">LOGNAME, environment variable</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Variables">Variables</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Logout-_0028subcommand_0029">Logout (subcommand)</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Password-authentication-client">Password authentication client</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-ls-_0028subcommand_0029">ls (subcommand)</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#ls-_0026-rls">ls &amp; rls</a></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="4"> <hr></td></tr>
<tr><th id="Index_cp_letter-M">M</th><td></td><td></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-MacKenzie_002c-David">MacKenzie, David</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Authors-of-get_005fdate">Authors of get_date</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Mail_002c-automatic-mail-on-commit">Mail, automatic mail on commit</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Informing-others">Informing others</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Mailing-list">Mailing list</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#What-is-CVS_003f">What is CVS?</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Mailing-log-messages">Mailing log messages</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#loginfo">loginfo</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Main-trunk-and-branches">Main trunk and branches</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Branching-and-merging">Branching and merging</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-make">make</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Builds">Builds</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Many-repositories">Many repositories</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Multiple-repositories">Multiple repositories</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Markers_002c-conflict">Markers, conflict</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Conflicts-example">Conflicts example</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-MaxCommentLeaderLength">MaxCommentLeaderLength</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Keyword-list">Keyword list</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-MaxCommentLeaderLength_002c-in-CVSROOT_002fconfig">MaxCommentLeaderLength, in CVSROOT/config</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#config">config</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-MaxCompressionLevel_002c-in-CVSROOT_002fconfig">MaxCompressionLevel, in CVSROOT/config</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#config">config</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Mdocdate-keyword">Mdocdate keyword</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Keyword-list">Keyword list</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Merge_002c-an-example">Merge, an example</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Conflicts-example">Conflicts example</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Merge_002c-branch-example">Merge, branch example</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Merging-a-branch">Merging a branch</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Merging">Merging</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Branching-and-merging">Branching and merging</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Merging-a-branch">Merging a branch</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Merging-a-branch">Merging a branch</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Merging-a-file">Merging a file</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Updating-a-file">Updating a file</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Merging-two-revisions">Merging two revisions</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Merging-two-revisions">Merging two revisions</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Merging_002c-and-keyword-substitution">Merging, and keyword substitution</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Merging-and-keywords">Merging and keywords</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Meyering_002c-Jim">Meyering, Jim</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Authors-of-get_005fdate">Authors of get_date</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-MinCompressionLevel_002c-in-CVSROOT_002fconfig">MinCompressionLevel, in CVSROOT/config</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#config">config</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-minutes_002c-time-zone-correction-by">minutes, time zone correction by</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Time-of-day-items">Time of day items</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-mkmodules">mkmodules</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Error-messages">Error messages</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Modifications_002c-copying-between-branches">Modifications, copying between branches</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Branching-and-merging">Branching and merging</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Module-status">Module status</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Module-options">Module options</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Module_002c-defining">Module, defining</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Defining-the-module">Defining the module</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Modules-_0028admin-file_0029">Modules (admin file)</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#modules">modules</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Modules-file">Modules file</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Intro-administrative-files">Intro administrative files</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Modules-file-program-options">Modules file program options</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Module-program-options">Module program options</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Modules-file_002c-changing">Modules file, changing</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Defining-the-module">Defining the module</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-modules_002edb">modules.db</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#CVSROOT-storage">CVSROOT storage</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-modules_002edir">modules.dir</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#CVSROOT-storage">CVSROOT storage</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-modules_002epag">modules.pag</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#CVSROOT-storage">CVSROOT storage</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-month-names-in-date-strings">month names in date strings</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Calendar-date-items">Calendar date items</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-months_002c-written_002dout">months, written-out</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#General-date-syntax">General date syntax</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Motivation-for-branches">Motivation for branches</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Branches-motivation">Branches motivation</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Moving-a-repository">Moving a repository</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Moving-a-repository">Moving a repository</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Moving-branch-tags">Moving branch tags</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Modifying-tags">Modifying tags</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Moving-directories">Moving directories</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Moving-directories">Moving directories</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Moving-files">Moving files</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Moving-files">Moving files</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Moving-tags">Moving tags</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Modifying-tags">Modifying tags</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Multiple-developers">Multiple developers</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Multiple-developers">Multiple developers</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Multiple-repositories">Multiple repositories</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Multiple-repositories">Multiple repositories</a></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="4"> <hr></td></tr>
<tr><th id="Index_cp_letter-N">N</th><td></td><td></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Name-keyword">Name keyword</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Keyword-list">Keyword list</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Name_002c-symbolic-_0028tag_0029">Name, symbolic (tag)</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Tags">Tags</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Needs-Checkout">Needs Checkout</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#File-status">File status</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Needs-Merge">Needs Merge</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#File-status">File status</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Needs-Patch">Needs Patch</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#File-status">File status</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Newsgroups">Newsgroups</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#What-is-CVS_003f">What is CVS?</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-notify-_0028admin-file_0029">notify (admin file)</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Getting-Notified">Getting Notified</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Notify-file_002c-in-CVS-directory">Notify file, in CVS directory</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Working-directory-storage">Working directory storage</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Notify_002etmp-file_002c-in-CVS-directory">Notify.tmp file, in CVS directory</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Working-directory-storage">Working directory storage</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Number_002c-branch">Number, branch</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Revision-numbers">Revision numbers</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Number_002c-branch-1">Number, branch</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Branches-and-revisions">Branches and revisions</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Number_002c-revision_002d">Number, revision-</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Revision-numbers">Revision numbers</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-numbers_002c-written_002dout">numbers, written-out</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#General-date-syntax">General date syntax</a></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="4"> <hr></td></tr>
<tr><th id="Index_cp_letter-O">O</th><td></td><td></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Option-defaults">Option defaults</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#g_t_007e_002f_002ecvsrc">~/.cvsrc</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-options_002c-connection-method">options, connection method</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#The-connection-method">The connection method</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Options_002c-global">Options, global</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Global-options">Global options</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Options_002c-in-modules-file">Options, in modules file</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Module-options">Module options</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-ordinal-numbers">ordinal numbers</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#General-date-syntax">General date syntax</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Outdating-revisions">Outdating revisions</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#admin-options">admin options</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Overlap">Overlap</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Updating-a-file">Updating a file</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Overriding-CVSREAD">Overriding CVSREAD</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Global-options">Global options</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Overriding-CVSROOT">Overriding CVSROOT</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Global-options">Global options</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Overriding-EDITOR">Overriding EDITOR</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Global-options">Global options</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Overriding-RCSBIN">Overriding RCSBIN</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Global-options">Global options</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Overview">Overview</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Overview">Overview</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Ownership_002c-saving-in-CVS">Ownership, saving in CVS</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Special-Files">Special Files</a></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="4"> <hr></td></tr>
<tr><th id="Index_cp_letter-P">P</th><td></td><td></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Parallel-repositories">Parallel repositories</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Multiple-repositories">Multiple repositories</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-passwd-_0028admin-file_0029">passwd (admin file)</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Password-authentication-server">Password authentication server</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Password-client_002c-using">Password client, using</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Password-authentication-client">Password authentication client</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Password-server_002c-setting-up">Password server, setting up</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Password-authentication-server">Password authentication server</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-PATH_002c-environment-variable">PATH, environment variable</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Environment-variables">Environment variables</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Per_002ddirectory-sticky-tags_002fdates">Per-directory sticky tags/dates</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Working-directory-storage">Working directory storage</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Permissions_002c-general">Permissions, general</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#File-permissions">File permissions</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Permissions_002c-saving-in-CVS">Permissions, saving in CVS</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Special-Files">Special Files</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Permissions_002c-Windows_002dspecific">Permissions, Windows-specific</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Windows-permissions">Windows permissions</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Pinard_002c-F_002e">Pinard, F.</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Authors-of-get_005fdate">Authors of get_date</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Policy">Policy</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#When-to-commit">When to commit</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-port_002c-specifying-for-remote-repositories">port, specifying for remote repositories</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Remote-repositories">Remote repositories</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-port_002c-specifying-for-remote-repositories-1">port, specifying for remote repositories</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Password-authentication-server">Password authentication server</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-postadmin-_0028admin-file_0029">postadmin (admin file)</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#postadmin">postadmin</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-postproxy-_0028admin-file_0029">postproxy (admin file)</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#postproxy">postproxy</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-posttag-_0028admin-file_0029">posttag (admin file)</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#posttag">posttag</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-postwatch-_0028admin-file_0029">postwatch (admin file)</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#postwatch">postwatch</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-preproxy-_0028admin-file_0029">preproxy (admin file)</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#preproxy">preproxy</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Primary-server">Primary server</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Write-proxies">Write proxies</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Primary-server-1">Primary server</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#config">config</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-PrimaryServer_002c-in-CVSROOT_002fconfig">PrimaryServer, in CVSROOT/config</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Write-proxies">Write proxies</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-PrimaryServer_002c-in-CVSROOT_002fconfig-1">PrimaryServer, in CVSROOT/config</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#config">config</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-proxies_002c-HTTP_002c-connecting-via">proxies, HTTP, connecting via</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#The-connection-method">The connection method</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-proxies_002c-web_002c-connecting-via">proxies, web, connecting via</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#The-connection-method">The connection method</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-proxy_002c-method-option">proxy, method option</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#The-connection-method">The connection method</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-proxy_002c-write">proxy, write</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Write-proxies">Write proxies</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-proxy_002c-write-1">proxy, write</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#config">config</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-proxyport_002c-method-option">proxyport, method option</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#The-connection-method">The connection method</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-pserver-_0028client_002fserver-connection-method_0029_002c-port-specification">pserver (client/server connection method), port specification</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Remote-repositories">Remote repositories</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-pserver-_0028client_002fserver-connection-method_0029_002c-port-specification-1">pserver (client/server connection method), port specification</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Password-authentication-server">Password authentication server</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-pserver-_0028subcommand_0029">pserver (subcommand)</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Password-authentication-server">Password authentication server</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-pserver-_0028subcommand_0029-1">pserver (subcommand)</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#server-_0026-pserver">server &amp; pserver</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-pserver-method_002c-setting-up">pserver method, setting up</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Password-authentication-client">Password authentication client</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-pserver-method_002c-troubleshooting">pserver method, troubleshooting</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Connection">Connection</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-pure-numbers-in-date-strings">pure numbers in date strings</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Pure-numbers-in-date-strings">Pure numbers in date strings</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-PVCS_002c-importing-files-from">PVCS, importing files from</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#From-other-version-control-systems">From other version control systems</a></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="4"> <hr></td></tr>
<tr><th id="Index_cp_letter-R">R</th><td></td><td></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-RCS-history-files">RCS history files</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Repository-files">Repository files</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-RCS-revision-numbers">RCS revision numbers</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Tags">Tags</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-RCS_002c-importing-files-from">RCS, importing files from</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#From-other-version-control-systems">From other version control systems</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-RCS_002dstyle-locking">RCS-style locking</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Multiple-developers">Multiple developers</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-RCSBIN_002c-in-CVSROOT_002fconfig">RCSBIN, in CVSROOT/config</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#config">config</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-RCSBIN_002c-internal-variable">RCSBIN, internal variable</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Variables">Variables</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-RCSBIN_002c-overriding">RCSBIN, overriding</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Global-options">Global options</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-RCSfile-keyword">RCSfile keyword</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Keyword-list">Keyword list</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-rcsinfo-_0028admin-file_0029">rcsinfo (admin file)</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#rcsinfo">rcsinfo</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-rdiff-_0028subcommand_0029">rdiff (subcommand)</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#rdiff">rdiff</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Read_002donly-files_002c-and-_002dr">Read-only files, and -r</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Global-options">Global options</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Read_002donly-files_002c-and-CVSREAD">Read-only files, and CVSREAD</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Environment-variables">Environment variables</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Read_002donly-files_002c-and-watches">Read-only files, and watches</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Setting-a-watch">Setting a watch</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Read_002donly-files_002c-in-repository">Read-only files, in repository</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#File-permissions">File permissions</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Read_002donly-mode">Read-only mode</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Global-options">Global options</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Read_002donly-repository-access">Read-only repository access</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Read_002donly-access">Read-only access</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Read_002donly-repository-mode">Read-only repository mode</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Global-options">Global options</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-readers-_0028admin-file_0029">readers (admin file)</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Read_002donly-access">Read-only access</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Recursive-_0028directory-descending_0029">Recursive (directory descending)</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Recursive-behavior">Recursive behavior</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Redirect_002c-method-option">Redirect, method option</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#The-connection-method">The connection method</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Reference-manual-_0028files_0029">Reference manual (files)</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Administrative-files">Administrative files</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Reference-manual-for-variables">Reference manual for variables</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Environment-variables">Environment variables</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Reference_002c-commands">Reference, commands</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Invoking-CVS">Invoking CVS</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Regular-expression-syntax">Regular expression syntax</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#syntax">syntax</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Regular-modules">Regular modules</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Regular-modules">Regular modules</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-relative-items-in-date-strings">relative items in date strings</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Relative-items-in-date-strings">Relative items in date strings</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-release-_0028subcommand_0029">release (subcommand)</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#release">release</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Releases_002c-revisions-and-versions">Releases, revisions and versions</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Versions-revisions-releases">Versions revisions releases</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Releasing-your-working-copy">Releasing your working copy</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Cleaning-up">Cleaning up</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Remote-repositories">Remote repositories</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Remote-repositories">Remote repositories</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Remote-repositories_002c-port-specification">Remote repositories, port specification</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Remote-repositories">Remote repositories</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Remote-repositories_002c-port-specification-1">Remote repositories, port specification</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Password-authentication-server">Password authentication server</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Remove-_0028subcommand_0029">Remove (subcommand)</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Removing-files">Removing files</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Removing-a-change">Removing a change</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Merging-two-revisions">Merging two revisions</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Removing-branch-tags">Removing branch tags</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Modifying-tags">Modifying tags</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Removing-directories">Removing directories</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Removing-directories">Removing directories</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Removing-files">Removing files</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Removing-files">Removing files</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Removing-tags">Removing tags</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Modifying-tags">Modifying tags</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Removing-your-working-copy">Removing your working copy</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Cleaning-up">Cleaning up</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Renaming-directories">Renaming directories</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Moving-directories">Moving directories</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Renaming-files">Renaming files</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Moving-files">Moving files</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Renaming-tags">Renaming tags</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Modifying-tags">Modifying tags</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Replacing-a-log-message">Replacing a log message</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#admin-options">admin options</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Reporting-bugs">Reporting bugs</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#BUGS">BUGS</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Repositories_002c-multiple">Repositories, multiple</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Multiple-repositories">Multiple repositories</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Repositories_002c-remote">Repositories, remote</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Remote-repositories">Remote repositories</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Repositories_002c-remote_002c-port-specification">Repositories, remote, port specification</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Remote-repositories">Remote repositories</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Repositories_002c-remote_002c-port-specification-1">Repositories, remote, port specification</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Password-authentication-server">Password authentication server</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Repository-_0028intro_0029">Repository (intro)</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Repository">Repository</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Repository-file_002c-in-CVS-directory">Repository file, in CVS directory</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Working-directory-storage">Working directory storage</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Repository_002c-backing-up">Repository, backing up</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Backing-up">Backing up</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Repository_002c-example">Repository, example</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Repository">Repository</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Repository_002c-how-data-is-stored">Repository, how data is stored</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Repository-storage">Repository storage</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Repository_002c-moving">Repository, moving</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Moving-a-repository">Moving a repository</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Repository_002c-setting-up">Repository, setting up</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Creating-a-repository">Creating a repository</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-RereadLogAfterVerify_002c-in-CVSROOT_002fconfig">RereadLogAfterVerify, in CVSROOT/config</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#config">config</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Reserved-checkouts">Reserved checkouts</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Multiple-developers">Multiple developers</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Resetting-sticky-tags">Resetting sticky tags</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Sticky-tags">Sticky tags</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Resolving-a-conflict">Resolving a conflict</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Conflicts-example">Conflicts example</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Restoring-old-version-of-removed-file">Restoring old version of removed file</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Merging-two-revisions">Merging two revisions</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Resurrecting-old-version-of-dead-file">Resurrecting old version of dead file</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Merging-two-revisions">Merging two revisions</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Retrieve-a-branch">Retrieve a branch</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Accessing-branches">Accessing branches</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Retrieving-an-old-revision-using-tags">Retrieving an old revision using tags</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Tags">Tags</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Reverting-to-repository-version">Reverting to repository version</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Editing-files">Editing files</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Revision-keyword">Revision keyword</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Keyword-list">Keyword list</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Revision-management">Revision management</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Revision-management">Revision management</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Revision-numbers">Revision numbers</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Revision-numbers">Revision numbers</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Revision-numbers-_0028branches_0029">Revision numbers (branches)</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Branches-and-revisions">Branches and revisions</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Revision-tree">Revision tree</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Revision-numbers">Revision numbers</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Revision-tree_002c-making-branches">Revision tree, making branches</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Branching-and-merging">Branching and merging</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Revisions_002c-merging-differences-between">Revisions, merging differences between</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Merging-two-revisions">Merging two revisions</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Revisions_002c-versions-and-releases">Revisions, versions and releases</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Versions-revisions-releases">Versions revisions releases</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Right_002dhand-options">Right-hand options</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Common-options">Common options</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-rls-_0028subcommand_0029">rls (subcommand)</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#ls-_0026-rls">ls &amp; rls</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Root-file_002c-in-CVS-directory">Root file, in CVS directory</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Specifying-a-repository">Specifying a repository</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-rsh">rsh</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Connecting-via-rsh">Connecting via rsh</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-rsh-replacements-_0028Kerberized_002c-SSH_002c-_0026c_0029">rsh replacements (Kerberized, SSH, &amp;c)</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Connecting-via-rsh">Connecting via rsh</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-rtag-_0028subcommand_0029">rtag (subcommand)</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Tagging-by-date_002ftag">Tagging by date/tag</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-rtag-_0028subcommand_0029_002c-creating-a-branch-using">rtag (subcommand), creating a branch using</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Creating-a-branch">Creating a branch</a></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="4"> <hr></td></tr>
<tr><th id="Index_cp_letter-S">S</th><td></td><td></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Salz_002c-Rich">Salz, Rich</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Authors-of-get_005fdate">Authors of get_date</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Saving-space">Saving space</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#admin-options">admin options</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-SCCS_002c-importing-files-from">SCCS, importing files from</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#From-other-version-control-systems">From other version control systems</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-script-hook_002c-postadmin">script hook, postadmin</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#postadmin">postadmin</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-script-hook_002c-postproxy">script hook, postproxy</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#postproxy">postproxy</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-script-hook_002c-posttag">script hook, posttag</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#posttag">posttag</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-script-hook_002c-postwatch">script hook, postwatch</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#postwatch">postwatch</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-script-hook_002c-preproxy">script hook, preproxy</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#preproxy">preproxy</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-script-hook_002c-taginfo">script hook, taginfo</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#taginfo">taginfo</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-script-hooks">script hooks</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Trigger-Scripts">Trigger Scripts</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-script-hooks_002c-commitinfo">script hooks, commitinfo</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#commitinfo">commitinfo</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-script-hooks_002c-common-syntax">script hooks, common syntax</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#syntax">syntax</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-script-hooks_002c-precommit-verification-of-commits">script hooks, precommit verification of commits</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#commitinfo">commitinfo</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-script-hooks_002c-security">script hooks, security</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Trigger-Script-Security">Trigger Script Security</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Secondary-server">Secondary server</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Write-proxies">Write proxies</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Secondary-server-1">Secondary server</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#config">config</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-secondary-server_002c-pull-updates">secondary server, pull updates</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#postproxy">postproxy</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Security_002c-file-permissions-in-repository">Security, file permissions in repository</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#File-permissions">File permissions</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Security_002c-GSSAPI">Security, GSSAPI</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#GSSAPI-authenticated">GSSAPI authenticated</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Security_002c-Kerberos">Security, Kerberos</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Kerberos-authenticated">Kerberos authenticated</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Security_002c-of-pserver">Security, of pserver</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Password-authentication-security">Password authentication security</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Security_002c-setuid">Security, setuid</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#File-permissions">File permissions</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-server-_0028subcommand_0029">server (subcommand)</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#server-_0026-pserver">server &amp; pserver</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-server-method_002c-setting-up">server method, setting up</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Connecting-via-rsh">Connecting via rsh</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-server-method_002c-troubleshooting">server method, troubleshooting</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Connection">Connection</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Server_002c-CVS">Server, CVS</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Remote-repositories">Remote repositories</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Server_002c-temporary-directories">Server, temporary directories</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Server-temporary-directory">Server temporary directory</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Setgid">Setgid</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#File-permissions">File permissions</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Setting-up-a-repository">Setting up a repository</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Creating-a-repository">Creating a repository</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Setuid">Setuid</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#File-permissions">File permissions</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Source-keyword">Source keyword</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Keyword-list">Keyword list</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Source_002c-getting-CVS-source">Source, getting CVS source</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#What-is-CVS_003f">What is CVS?</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Source_002c-getting-from-CVS">Source, getting from CVS</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Getting-the-source">Getting the source</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Special-files">Special files</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Special-Files">Special Files</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Specifying-dates">Specifying dates</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Common-options">Common options</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Spreading-information">Spreading information</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Informing-others">Informing others</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-SSH-_0028rsh-replacement_0029">SSH (rsh replacement)</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Connecting-via-rsh">Connecting via rsh</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Starting-a-project-with-CVS">Starting a project with CVS</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Starting-a-new-project">Starting a new project</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-State-keyword">State keyword</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Keyword-list">Keyword list</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Status-of-a-file">Status of a file</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#File-status">File status</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Status-of-a-module">Status of a module</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Module-options">Module options</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Sticky-date">Sticky date</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Sticky-tags">Sticky tags</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Sticky-tags">Sticky tags</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Sticky-tags">Sticky tags</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Sticky-tags_002c-resetting">Sticky tags, resetting</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Sticky-tags">Sticky tags</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Sticky-tags_002fdates_002c-per_002ddirectory">Sticky tags/dates, per-directory</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Working-directory-storage">Working directory storage</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Storing-log-messages">Storing log messages</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#loginfo">loginfo</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Stream-authentication">Stream authentication</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Global-options">Global options</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Structure">Structure</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Structure">Structure</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Subdirectories">Subdirectories</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Recursive-behavior">Recursive behavior</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-suck-_0028subcommand_0029">suck (subcommand)</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#suck">suck</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Support_002c-getting-CVS-support">Support, getting CVS support</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#BUGS">BUGS</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Symbolic-link_002c-importing">Symbolic link, importing</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#import-output">import output</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Symbolic-links">Symbolic links</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Special-Files">Special Files</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Symbolic-name-_0028tag_0029">Symbolic name (tag)</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Tags">Tags</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Syntax-of-info-files_002c-updating-legacy-repositories">Syntax of info files, updating legacy repositories</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Updating-Commit-Files">Updating Commit Files</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-syntax-of-trigger-script-hooks">syntax of trigger script hooks</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#syntax">syntax</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-SystemAuth_002c-in-CVSROOT_002fconfig">SystemAuth, in CVSROOT/config</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#config">config</a></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="4"> <hr></td></tr>
<tr><th id="Index_cp_letter-T">T</th><td></td><td></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-tag-_0028subcommand_0029">tag (subcommand)</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Tagging-the-working-directory">Tagging the working directory</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-tag-_0028subcommand_0029_002c-creating-a-branch-using">tag (subcommand), creating a branch using</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Creating-a-branch">Creating a branch</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-tag-_0028subcommand_0029_002c-introduction">tag (subcommand), introduction</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Tags">Tags</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Tag-file_002c-in-CVS-directory">Tag file, in CVS directory</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Working-directory-storage">Working directory storage</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Tag-program">Tag program</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Module-options">Module options</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-taginfo-_0028admin-file_0029">taginfo (admin file)</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#taginfo">taginfo</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-taginfo-_0028admin-file_0029_002c-exit-status">taginfo (admin file), exit status</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#taginfo">taginfo</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-taginfo-_0028admin-file_0029_002c-updating-legacy-repositories">taginfo (admin file), updating legacy repositories</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#taginfo">taginfo</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Tags">Tags</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Tags">Tags</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Tags_002c-deleting">Tags, deleting</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Modifying-tags">Modifying tags</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Tags_002c-example">Tags, example</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Tags">Tags</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Tags_002c-logging">Tags, logging</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#taginfo">taginfo</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Tags_002c-logging-1">Tags, logging</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#posttag">posttag</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Tags_002c-moving">Tags, moving</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Modifying-tags">Modifying tags</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Tags_002c-renaming">Tags, renaming</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Modifying-tags">Modifying tags</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Tags_002c-retrieving-old-revisions">Tags, retrieving old revisions</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Tags">Tags</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Tags_002c-sticky">Tags, sticky</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Sticky-tags">Sticky tags</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Tags_002c-symbolic-name">Tags, symbolic name</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Tags">Tags</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Tags_002c-verifying">Tags, verifying</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#taginfo">taginfo</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-tc_002c-Trivial-Compiler-_0028example_0029">tc, Trivial Compiler (example)</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#A-sample-session">A sample session</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Team-of-developers">Team of developers</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Multiple-developers">Multiple developers</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Template-file_002c-in-CVS-directory">Template file, in CVS directory</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Working-directory-storage">Working directory storage</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Template-for-log-message">Template for log message</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#rcsinfo">rcsinfo</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Temporary-directories_002c-and-server">Temporary directories, and server</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Server-temporary-directory">Server temporary directory</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-temporary-directory_002c-set-in-config">temporary directory, set in config</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#config">config</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-temporary-file-directory_002c-set-via-command-line">temporary file directory, set via command line</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Global-options">Global options</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-temporary-file-directory_002c-set-via-config">temporary file directory, set via config</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Global-options">Global options</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-temporary-file-directory_002c-set-via-environment-variable">temporary file directory, set via environment variable</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Global-options">Global options</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-temporary-file-directory_002c-set-via-environment-variable-1">temporary file directory, set via environment variable</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Environment-variables">Environment variables</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-temporary-files_002c-location-of">temporary files, location of</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Global-options">Global options</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-temporary-files_002c-location-of-1">temporary files, location of</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#config">config</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-temporary-files_002c-location-of-2">temporary files, location of</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Environment-variables">Environment variables</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Third_002dparty-sources">Third-party sources</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Tracking-sources">Tracking sources</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Time">Time</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Common-options">Common options</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-time-of-day-item">time of day item</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Time-of-day-items">Time of day items</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-time-zone-correction">time zone correction</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Time-of-day-items">Time of day items</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-time-zone-item">time zone item</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#General-date-syntax">General date syntax</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-time-zone-item-1">time zone item</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Time-zone-items">Time zone items</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Timezone_002c-in-output">Timezone, in output</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#log">log</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Timezone_002c-in-output-1">Timezone, in output</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#log-examples">log examples</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-TMPDIR_002c-environment-variable">TMPDIR, environment variable</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Global-options">Global options</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-TMPDIR_002c-environment-variable-1">TMPDIR, environment variable</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Environment-variables">Environment variables</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-TmpDir_002c-in-config">TmpDir, in config</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#config">config</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-TopLevelAdmin_002c-in-CVSROOT_002fconfig">TopLevelAdmin, in CVSROOT/config</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#config">config</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Trace">Trace</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Global-options">Global options</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Traceability">Traceability</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#History-browsing">History browsing</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Tracking-sources">Tracking sources</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Tracking-sources">Tracking sources</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Transactions_002c-atomic_002c-lack-of">Transactions, atomic, lack of</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Concurrency">Concurrency</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-trigger-script-hooks_002c-common-syntax">trigger script hooks, common syntax</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#syntax">syntax</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-trigger-scripts">trigger scripts</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Trigger-Scripts">Trigger Scripts</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-trigger-scripts_002c-commitinfo">trigger scripts, commitinfo</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#commitinfo">commitinfo</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-trigger-scripts_002c-precommit-verification-of-commits">trigger scripts, precommit verification of commits</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#commitinfo">commitinfo</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-trigger-scripts_002c-security">trigger scripts, security</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Trigger-Script-Security">Trigger Script Security</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Trivial-Compiler-_0028example_0029">Trivial Compiler (example)</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#A-sample-session">A sample session</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Typical-repository">Typical repository</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Repository">Repository</a></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="4"> <hr></td></tr>
<tr><th id="Index_cp_letter-U">U</th><td></td><td></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Umask_002c-for-repository-files">Umask, for repository files</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#File-permissions">File permissions</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Undoing-a-change">Undoing a change</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Merging-two-revisions">Merging two revisions</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-unedit-_0028subcommand_0029">unedit (subcommand)</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Editing-files">Editing files</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Unknown">Unknown</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#File-status">File status</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Unreserved-checkouts">Unreserved checkouts</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Multiple-developers">Multiple developers</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Unresolved-Conflict">Unresolved Conflict</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#File-status">File status</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Up_002dto_002ddate">Up-to-date</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#File-status">File status</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-update-_0028subcommand_0029">update (subcommand)</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#update">update</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Update_002c-introduction">Update, introduction</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Updating-a-file">Updating a file</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-update_002c-to-display-file-status">update, to display file status</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#File-status">File status</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Updating-a-file">Updating a file</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Updating-a-file">Updating a file</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-UseArchiveCommentLeader">UseArchiveCommentLeader</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Keyword-list">Keyword list</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-UseArchiveCommentLeader_002c-in-CVSROOT_002fconfig">UseArchiveCommentLeader, in CVSROOT/config</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#config">config</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-UseNewInfoFmtStrings_002c-in-CVSROOT_002fconfig">UseNewInfoFmtStrings, in CVSROOT/config</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#config">config</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-User-aliases">User aliases</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Password-authentication-server">Password authentication server</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-User-variables">User variables</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Variables">Variables</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-USER_002c-environment-variable">USER, environment variable</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Variables">Variables</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-USER_002c-internal-variable">USER, internal variable</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Variables">Variables</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-UserAdminOptions_002c-in-CVSROOT_002fconfig">UserAdminOptions, in CVSROOT/config</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#admin">admin</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-UserAdminOptions_002c-in-CVSROOT_002fconfig-1">UserAdminOptions, in CVSROOT/config</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#config">config</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-users-_0028admin-file_0029">users (admin file)</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Getting-Notified">Getting Notified</a></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="4"> <hr></td></tr>
<tr><th id="Index_cp_letter-V">V</th><td></td><td></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-val_002dtags-file_002c-and-read_002donly-access-to-projects">val-tags file, and read-only access to projects</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#File-permissions">File permissions</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-val_002dtags-file_002c-forcing-tags-into">val-tags file, forcing tags into</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Error-messages">Error messages</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Variables">Variables</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Variables">Variables</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Vendor">Vendor</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Tracking-sources">Tracking sources</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Vendor-branch">Vendor branch</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Tracking-sources">Tracking sources</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-verifymsg-_0028admin-file_0029"><samp>verifymsg</samp> (admin file)</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#verifymsg">verifymsg</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-verifymsg-_0028admin_002fcommit-file_0029_002c-updating-legacy-repositories">verifymsg (admin/commit file), updating legacy repositories</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#verifymsg">verifymsg</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-verifymsg_002c-changing-the-log-message"><samp>verifymsg</samp>, changing the log message</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#verifymsg">verifymsg</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-verifymsg_002c-changing-the-log-message-1"><samp>verifymsg</samp>, changing the log message</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#config">config</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-verifymsg_002c-example">verifymsg, example</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#verifymsg-example">verifymsg example</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-version-_0028subcommand_0029">version (subcommand)</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Invoking-CVS">Invoking CVS</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Versions_002c-of-CVS">Versions, of CVS</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Compatibility">Compatibility</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Versions_002c-revisions-and-releases">Versions, revisions and releases</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Versions-revisions-releases">Versions revisions releases</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Viewing-differences">Viewing differences</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Viewing-differences">Viewing differences</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-VISUAL_002c-environment-variable">VISUAL, environment variable</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Committing-your-changes">Committing your changes</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-VISUAL_002c-environment-variable-1">VISUAL, environment variable</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Environment-variables">Environment variables</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-VISUAL_002c-internal-variable">VISUAL, internal variable</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Variables">Variables</a></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="4"> <hr></td></tr>
<tr><th id="Index_cp_letter-W">W</th><td></td><td></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-watch-add-_0028subcommand_0029">watch add (subcommand)</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Getting-Notified">Getting Notified</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Watch-family-of-commands_002c-logging">Watch family of commands, logging</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#postwatch">postwatch</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-watch-off-_0028subcommand_0029">watch off (subcommand)</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Setting-a-watch">Setting a watch</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-watch-on-_0028subcommand_0029">watch on (subcommand)</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Setting-a-watch">Setting a watch</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-watch-remove-_0028subcommand_0029">watch remove (subcommand)</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Getting-Notified">Getting Notified</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-watchers-_0028subcommand_0029">watchers (subcommand)</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Watch-information">Watch information</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Watches">Watches</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Watches">Watches</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-wdiff-_0028import-example_0029">wdiff (import example)</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#First-import">First import</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Web-pages_002c-maintaining-with-CVS">Web pages, maintaining with CVS</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Keeping-a-checked-out-copy">Keeping a checked out copy</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-web-proxies_002c-connecting-via">web proxies, connecting via</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#The-connection-method">The connection method</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-What-_0028shell-command_0029">What (shell command)</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Using-keywords">Using keywords</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-What-branches-are-good-for">What branches are good for</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Branches-motivation">Branches motivation</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-What-is-CVS-not_003f">What is CVS not?</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#What-is-CVS-not_003f">What is CVS not?</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-What-is-CVS_003f">What is CVS?</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#What-is-CVS_003f">What is CVS?</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-When-to-commit">When to commit</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#When-to-commit">When to commit</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Windows_002c-and-permissions">Windows, and permissions</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Windows-permissions">Windows permissions</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Work_002dsession_002c-example-of">Work-session, example of</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#A-sample-session">A sample session</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Working-copy">Working copy</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Multiple-developers">Multiple developers</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Working-copy_002c-removing">Working copy, removing</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Cleaning-up">Cleaning up</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Wrappers">Wrappers</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Wrappers">Wrappers</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-write-proxy">write proxy</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Write-proxies">Write proxies</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-write-proxy-1">write proxy</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#config">config</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Write-proxy_002c-logging">Write proxy, logging</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#preproxy">preproxy</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Write-proxy_002c-logging-1">Write proxy, logging</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#postproxy">postproxy</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Write-proxy_002c-pull-updates">Write proxy, pull updates</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#postproxy">postproxy</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Write-proxy_002c-verifying">Write proxy, verifying</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#preproxy">preproxy</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-writers-_0028admin-file_0029">writers (admin file)</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Read_002donly-access">Read-only access</a></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="4"> <hr></td></tr>
<tr><th id="Index_cp_letter-X">X</th><td></td><td></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Ximbiot">Ximbiot</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#BUGS">BUGS</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-xinetd_002c-configuring-for-pserver">xinetd, configuring for pserver</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#Password-authentication-server">Password authentication server</a></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="4"> <hr></td></tr>
<tr><th id="Index_cp_letter-Z">Z</th><td></td><td></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Zone_002c-time_002c-in-output">Zone, time, in output</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#log">log</a></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td valign="top"><a href="#index-Zone_002c-time_002c-in-output-1">Zone, time, in output</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td valign="top"><a href="#log-examples">log examples</a></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="4"> <hr></td></tr>
</table>
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