CVS

Access a new repository

local repository

#> cvs -d /usr/local/cvs command
password-authenticated server

#> cvs -d :pserver:jrandom@cvs.foobar.com:/usr/local/cvs command

the password can be stored in ~/.cvspass with

#> cvs -d :pserver:jrandom@cvs.foobar.com:/usr/local/cvs login

and can be removed from ~/.cvspass with

#> cvs -d :pserver:jrandom@cvs.foobar.com:/usr/local/cvs logout

external connection program

#> CVS_RSH=rsh; export CVS_RSH
                                            

                                            #> cvs -d :ext:jrandom@cvs.foobar.com:/usr/local/cvs command

the other protocols are kserver (Kerberos) and gserver (Generic Security Services API)

the -d flag can be replaced by defining the environment variable CVSROOT

#> CVSROOT=:pserver:jrandom@cvs.foobar.com:/usr/local/cvs; export CVSROOT

create a project

#> cvs import -m "log msg" projname vendortag releasetag
Checking out a working copy
- #> cvs checkout myproj
  
  or
  
  #> cvs co myproj
- specifying the revision
  
  #> cvs checkout -r 1.3 myproj
- specifying the tag
  
  #> cvs checkout -r MyTag myproj
- list all the modukes
  
  #> cvs co -c

Creating/removing elements

creating a file requires two steps: first the add command on it, then commit:

#> cvs add newfile.c
                                            

                                            #> cvs ci -m "added newfile.c" newfile.c

keyword expansion and line-ending conversion must be turned off to add binary files:

#> cvs add -kb newfile.c
it is also possible to remove keyword expansion for some files:

#> cvs add -ko newfile.c

removing a file requires first to remove the file from the working directory:

#> rm newfile.c
                                            

                                            #> cvs remove newfile.c
                                            

                                            #> cvs ci -m "removed newfile.c" newfile.c

creating a directory requires just the add command:

#> mkdir newdir
                                            

                                            #> cvs add newdir

to remove a directory from a project, first remove all the files in it

#> cd newdir
                                            

                                            #> rm file1 file2 file3
                                            

                                            #> cvs remove file1 file2 file3
                                            

                                            #> cvs ci -m "removed all files" file1 file2 file3
                                            

                                            #> cd ..
                                            

                                            #> cvs update -P

the -P option tells update to prune all empty directories

rename a file

#> mv oldname newname
                                            

                                            #> cvs remove oldname
                                            

                                            #> cvs add newname
                                            

                                            #> cvs ci -m "renamed oldname to newname" oldname newname

rename a directory

#> mkdir newdir
                                            

                                            #> cvs add newdir
                                            

                                            #> mv olddir/* newdir
                                            

                                            mv: newdir/CVS: cannot overwrite directory (this is not a problem)
                                            

                                            #> cd olddir
                                            

                                            #> cvs rm foo.c bar.txt
                                            

                                            #> cd ../newdir
                                            

                                            #> cvs add foo.c bar.txt
                                            

                                            #> cd .. 
                                            

                                            #> cvs commit -m "moved foo.c and bar.txt from olddir to newdir"
                                            

                                            #> cvs update -P

status

#> cvs status hello.c
History
- dump the log of the file
  
  #> cvs log hello.c
- for each file of the file, indicate whan, who and on which revision the change has been done
  
  #> cvs annotate hello.c
Update
- #> cvs update
- to a given revision
  
  #> cvs update -r 1.2
- to a given tag
  
  #> cvs update -r MyTag
Diff
- #> cvs diff
- use
  
  -c
  
  to perform a context diff
  
  #> cvs diff -c foobar.c
- use
  
  -r
  
  to specify the version to use as the reference to be compared with the working copy
  
  #> cvs diff -r 1.218.2.14 toto.c
  
  or both versions
  
  #> cvs diff -r 1.218.2.14 -r 1.218.2.13 toto.c
tkdiff
- compare a file with its repository revision
  
  #> tkdiff hello.c
- compare two text files
  
  #> tkdiff foo bar
commit

#> cvs commit -m "print goodbye too" hello.c

or

#> cvs ci -m "print goodbye too" hello.c
Tag
- a tag name starts with a letter and contain letters, digits, hyphens (-), and underscores (_).
- CVS has two different kinds of tags:
  Sticky tags which are tightly bound to one particular revision number for a given file
  Branch tags that allow you to check in new revisions.
- cvs tag uses a file system hierarchy determine which revisions to associate with the label
  cvs rtag works directly on the repository.
- create a sticky tag from an existing hierarchy
  
  #> cvs tag MyTag
- create a branch tag from an existing hierarchy
  
  #> cvs tag -R -b MyTag
- create a branch tag from an existing tag
  
  #> cvs tag -r ExistingTag -b MyTag
- move the tag MyTag to version 1.11 for the foobar.c file
  
  #> cvs tag -r 1.11 -F MyTag foobar.c
- delete a tag
  
  #> cvs rtag -d MyTag MyProject
Help
- return the version of the client and of the server
  
  #> cvs version
- return the list of synonyms
  
  #> cvs --help-synonyms