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TLDR: cvs (tldr-pages)

Concurrent Versions System, a revision control system.

  • Create a new repository (requires the `$CVSROOT` environment variable to be set externally)
    cvs -d {{path/to/repository}} init
  • Add a project to the repository
    cvs import -m "{{message}}" {{project_name}} {{version}} {{vendor}}
  • Checkout a project
    cvs checkout {{project_name}}
  • Show changes made to files
    cvs diff {{path/to/file}}
  • Add a file
    cvs add {{path/to/file}}
  • Commit a file
    cvs commit -m "{{message}}" {{path/to/file}}
  • Update the working directory from the remote repository
    cvs update
cvs(1)
NAME SYNOPSIS NOTE Structure
Overall structure of CVS commands cvs Exit status CVS's exit status Default options and the ~/.cvsrc file Global options -a -b bindir -T tempdir -d cvs_root_directory -e editor -f -g -H --help -R -n -Q -q -r -s variable=value -t -v --version -w -x -z level Common options Common command options -D date_spec -f -k kflag -l -m message -n -P -p -R -r tag -r tag[:date] -W admin, annotate, Date input formats, CVS commands admin options -Aoldfile -alogins -b[rev] -cstring -e[logins] -I -i -ksubst -l[rev] -L -mrev:msg -Nname[:[rev]] -nname[:[rev]] -orange -q -sstate[:rev] -t[file] -t-string -U -u[rev] -Vn -xsuffixes annotate, checkout, admin, CVS commands annotate options -b -l -R -f -F -r tag[:date] -D date annotate example checkout, commit, annotate, CVS commands checkout options -D date -f -k kflag -l -n -P -p -R -r tag[:date] -A -c -d dir -j tag -N -s checkout examples commit, diff, checkout, CVS commands commit options -l -R -r revision -c -F file -f -m message commit examples Committing to a branch Creating the branch after editing diff, export, commit, CVS commands diff options -D date -k kflag -l -R -r tag[:date] -a -b -B --binary --brief -c -C lines -d -e --ed --expand-tabs -f -F regexp --forward-ed -H -i -I regexp --ignore-all-space --ignore-blank-lines --ignore-case --ignore-space-change --initial-tab -L label --left-column --minimal -n -N --new-file -p --rcs --report-identical-files -s --show-c-function --side-by-side --speed-large-files --suppress-common-lines -t -T --text -u -U lines -w -W columns -y Line group formats % %> Line formats diff examples export, history, diff, CVS commands export options -D date -f -l -n -R -r tag[:date] -d dir -k subst -N history, import, export, CVS commands history options -c -e -m module -o -T -x type -a -l -w -b str -D date -f file -n module -p repository -r rev -t tag -u name -z timezone import, log, history, CVS commands import options -m message -b branch -k subst -I name -W spec -X import output import examples log, ls & rls, import, CVS commands log options -b -d dates -h -l -N -R -rrevisions -S -s states -t -wlogins log examples ls & rls List files in the repository ls & rls options -d -e -l -P -R -r tag[:date] -D date rls examples rdiff, release, ls & rls, CVS commands rdiff options -D date -f -k kflag -l -R -r tag -c -p -s -t -u -V vn rdiff examples release, server & pserver, rdiff, CVS commands release options -d release output release examples server & pserver Act as a server for a client on stdin/stdout -c path suck, update, server & pserver, CVS commands update, , suck, CVS commands update options -D date -f -k kflag -l -P -p -R -r tag[:date] -A -C -d -I name -Wspec -jrevision update output
AUTHORS SEE ALSO
CVS(1)                                 General Commands Manual                                CVS(1)



NAME
       cvs - Concurrent Versions System

SYNOPSIS
       cvs [ cvs_options ]
              cvs_command [ command_options ] [ command_args ]

NOTE
       This  manual  page is a summary of parts of the cvs documentation and automatically generated
       from an appendix of the CVS manual (the Cederqvist), which is also the target of  all  cross-
       references  found  in this manual page; please refer to the full CVS manual for more in-depth
       documentation of the Concurrent Versions System.

       If you're reading this manual page as part of the MirBSD online (HTML) manual pages  archive,
       follow  the cvs(GNU) link to the Cederqvist (and the cvsclient(GNU) link to the client/server
       protocol description, if necessary).

       If you installed cvs via the Debian or MirPorts Framework package management systems,
              /usr/mpkg/share/doc/cvs/cvs.pdf (MirPorts Framework) or
              /usr/share/doc/cvs/cvs.pdf (Debian), respectively,
       are versions of the Cederqvist rendered as books, for printing and reading on screen.

       If you have a Texinfo reader such as info installed (part of the base system on MirBSD;  part
       of the info package on Debian), you can read the Cederqvist by entering:
              info cvs

       Quick introduction to info so you aren't immediately lost:

           arrow keys
              to move on the page

           Tab
              to move to the next hyperlink

           Return
              to activate the hyperlink under the cursor

           l (lowercase ell)
              to go to the previously visited page

           Page Up/b, Page Down/Space
              to  move  by screen pages, including advancing to the previous (or next, respectively)
              section at the first (last) screen page

           p, n
              to go to the previous (next) page on the current navigation hierarchy level

           t  to go to the "Top" page, i.e. the start of the document

           /<search-term>Return
              to start a search from the current cursor position and jump to the first result

           /Return
              to jump to the next result in an ongoing search

           q  to exit the info viewer

       Other ways to read further documentation are described in the SEE ALSO section of this manual
       page.

CVS commands
   Guide to CVS commands
       This appendix describes the overall structure of cvs commands, and describes some commands in
       detail (others are described elsewhere; for a quick reference to cvs commands, see node  'In‐
       voking  CVS'  in  the  CVS manual, and for an alphabetical list of all cvs commands, see node
       'CVS command list' in the CVS manual).


Structure
   Overall structure of CVS commands
       The overall format of all cvs commands is:


         cvs [ cvs_options ] cvs_command [ command_options ] [ command_args ]






       cvs

         The name of the cvs program.



       cvs_options

         Some options that affect all sub-commands of cvs.  These are described below.



       cvs_command

         One of several different sub-commands.  Some of the commands have aliases that can be  used
         instead;  those aliases are noted in the reference manual for that command.  There are only
         two situations where you may omit cvs_command: cvs -H elicits a list of available commands,
         and cvs -v displays version information on cvs itself.



       command_options

         Options that are specific for the command.



       command_args

         Arguments to the commands.

         There  is unfortunately some confusion between cvs_options and command_options.  When given
         as a cvs_option, some options only affect some of the  commands.   When  given  as  a  com‐‐
         mand_option  it  may  have a different meaning, and be accepted by more commands.  In other
         words, do not take the above categorization too seriously.  Look at the  documentation  in‐
         stead.


Exit status
   CVS's exit status
       cvs  can  indicate  to  the calling environment whether it succeeded or failed by setting its
       exit status.  The exact way of testing the exit status will vary from one operating system to
       another.   For  example  in a unix shell script the $? variable will be 0 if the last command
       returned a successful exit status, or greater than 0 if the exit status indicated failure.

       If cvs is successful, it returns a successful status; if there is an error, it prints an  er‐
       ror message and returns a failure status.  The one exception to this is the cvs diff command.
       It will return a successful status if it found no differences, or a failure status  if  there
       were differences or if there was an error.  Because this behavior provides no good way to de‐
       tect errors, in the future it is possible that cvs diff will be changed to  behave  like  the
       other cvs commands.


~/.cvsrc
   Default options and the ~/.cvsrc file
       There  are some command_options that are used so often that you might have set up an alias or
       some other means to make sure you always specify that option.   One  example  (the  one  that
       drove  the  implementation  of the .cvsrc support, actually) is that many people find the de‐
       fault output of the diff command to be very hard to read, and that either  context  diffs  or
       unidiffs are much easier to understand.

       The  ~/.cvsrc  file is a way that you can add default options to cvs_commands within cvs, in‐
       stead of relying on aliases or other shell scripts.

       The format of the ~/.cvsrc file is simple.  The file is searched for a line that begins  with
       the  same name as the cvs_command being executed.  If a match is found, then the remainder of
       the line is split up (at whitespace characters) into separate options and added to  the  com‐
       mand arguments before any options from the command line.

       If  a  command  has two names (e.g., checkout and co), the official name, not necessarily the
       one used on the command line, will be used to match against the file.  So if this is the con‐
       tents of the user's ~/.cvsrc file:


         log -N
         diff -uN
         rdiff -u
         update -Pd
         checkout -P
         release -d




       the  command cvs checkout foo would have the -P option added to the arguments, as well as cvs
       co foo.

       With the example file above, the output from cvs diff foobar will be in unidiff format.   cvs
       diff  -c  foobar  will  provide context diffs, as usual.  Getting "old" format diffs would be
       slightly more complicated, because diff doesn't have an option to specify use  of  the  "old"
       format, so you would need cvs -f diff foobar.

       In  place of the command name you can use cvs to specify global options (see node 'Global op‐
       tions' in the CVS manual).  For example the following line in .cvsrc


         cvs -z6




       causes cvs to use compression level 6.


Global options
       The available cvs_options (that are given to the left of cvs_command) are:



       --allow-root=rootdir

         May be invoked multiple times to specify one legal cvsroot directory with each  invocation.
         Also  causes  CVS  to preparse the configuration file for each specified root, which can be
         useful when configuring write proxies,  See node 'Password authentication  server'  in  the
         CVS manual & node 'Write proxies' in the CVS manual.



       -a

         Authenticate  all  communication  between the client and the server.  Only has an effect on
         the cvs client.  As of this writing, this is only implemented when using a  GSSAPI  connec‐
         tion  (see node 'GSSAPI authenticated' in the CVS manual).  Authentication prevents certain
         sorts of attacks involving hijacking the active tcp  connection.   Enabling  authentication
         does not enable encryption.



       -b bindir

         In  cvs  1.9.18  and  older,  this specified that rcs programs are in the bindir directory.
         Current versions of cvs do not run rcs programs; for compatibility this option is accepted,
         but it does nothing.



       -T tempdir

         Use tempdir as the directory where temporary files are located.

         The cvs client and server store temporary files in a temporary directory.  The path to this
         temporary directory is set via, in order of precedence:


       •   The argument to the global -T option.


       •   The value set for TmpDir in the config file (server only - see node 'config' in  the  CVS
           manual).


       •   The  contents  of the $TMPDIR environment variable (%TMPDIR% on Windows - see node 'Envi‐
           ronment variables' in the CVS manual).


       •   /tmp


           Temporary directories should always be specified as an absolute pathname.  When running a
           CVS client, -T affects only the local process; specifying -T for the client has no effect
           on the server and vice versa.



       -d cvs_root_directory

         Use cvs_root_directory as the root directory pathname of  the  repository.   Overrides  the
         setting of the $CVSROOT environment variable.  See node 'Repository' in the CVS manual.



       -e editor

         Use  editor to enter revision log information.  Overrides the setting of the $CVSEDITOR and
         $EDITOR environment variables.  For more information, see node 'Committing your changes' in
         the CVS manual.



       -f

         Do  not read the ~/.cvsrc file.  This option is most often used because of the non-orthogo‐
         nality of the cvs option set.  For example, the cvs log option -N (turn off display of  tag
         names)  does  not have a corresponding option to turn the display on.  So if you have -N in
         the ~/.cvsrc entry for log, you may need to use -f to show the tag names.



       -g

         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 di‐
         rectory.   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 .cvsrc file is
         strongly discouraged; if you must, ensure all source checkouts are  "firewalled"  within  a
         private group or a private mode 0700 directory.

         This option is a MidnightBSD extension merged into Debian and MirBSD cvs.



       -H




       --help

         Display  usage information about the specified cvs_command (but do not actually execute the
         command).  If you don't specify a command name, cvs -H displays overall help for  cvs,  in‐
         cluding a list of other help options.



       -R

         Turns  on read-only repository mode.  This allows one to check out from a read-only reposi‐
         tory, such as within an anoncvs server, or from a cd-rom repository.

         Same effect as if the CVSREADONLYFS environment variable is set. Using -R can also  consid‐
         erably speed up checkouts over NFS.



       -n

         Do not change any files.  Attempt to execute the cvs_command, but only to issue reports; do
         not remove, update, or merge any existing files, or create any new files.

         Note that cvs will not necessarily produce exactly the same output as without -n.  In  some
         cases  the output will be the same, but in other cases cvs will skip some of the processing
         that would have been required to produce the exact same output.



       -Q

         Cause the command to be really quiet; the command will only  generate  output  for  serious
         problems.



       -q

         Cause  the  command to be somewhat quiet; informational messages, such as reports of recur‐
         sion through subdirectories, are suppressed.



       -r

         Make new working files read-only.  Same effect as if the $CVSREAD environment  variable  is
         set  (see  node 'Environment variables' in the CVS manual).  The default is to make working
         files writable, unless watches are on (see node 'Watches' in the CVS manual).



       -s variable=value

         Set a user variable (see node 'Variables' in the CVS manual).



       -t

         Trace program execution; display messages showing the steps of cvs activity.   Particularly
         useful with -n to explore the potential impact of an unfamiliar command.



       -v




       --version

         Display version and copyright information for cvs.



       -w

         Make new working files read-write.  Overrides the setting of the $CVSREAD environment vari‐
         able.  Files are created read-write by default, unless $CVSREAD is set or -r is given.



       -x

         Encrypt all communication between the client and the server.  Only has an effect on the cvs
         client.   As  of this writing, this is only implemented when using a GSSAPI connection (see
         node 'GSSAPI authenticated' in the CVS manual) or a Kerberos connection (see node 'Kerberos
         authenticated'  in  the  CVS  manual).  Enabling encryption implies that message traffic is
         also authenticated.  Encryption support is not available by default; it must be enabled us‐
         ing a special configure option, --enable-encryption, when you build cvs.



       -z level

         Request  compression  level  for  network traffic.  cvs interprets level identically to the
         gzip program.  Valid levels are 1 (high speed, low compression) to 9 (low speed, high  com‐
         pression), or 0 to disable compression (the default).  Data sent to the server will be com‐
         pressed at the requested level and the client will request the server use the same compres‐
         sion  level for data returned.  The server will use the closest level allowed by the server
         administrator to compress returned data.  This option only has an effect when passed to the
         cvs client.


Common options
   Common command options
       This  section  describes  the command_options that are available across several cvs commands.
       These options are always given to the right of cvs_command. Not all commands support  all  of
       these  options;  each  option  is only supported for commands where it makes sense.  However,
       when a command has one of these options you can almost always count on the same  behavior  of
       the  option as in other commands.  (Other command options, which are listed with the individ‐
       ual commands, may have different behavior from one cvs command to the other).

       Note: the history command is an exception; it supports many options that conflict  even  with
       these standard options.



       -D date_spec

         Use  the  most  recent revision no later than date_spec.  date_spec is a single argument, a
         date description specifying a date in the past.

         The specification is sticky when you use it to make a private copy of a source  file;  that
         is,  when you get a working file using -D, cvs records the date you specified, so that fur‐
         ther updates in the same directory will use the same date (for more information  on  sticky
         tags/dates, see node 'Sticky tags' in the CVS manual).

         -D  is  available with the annotate, checkout, diff, export, history, ls, rdiff, rls, rtag,
         tag, and update commands.  (The history command uses this option in  a  slightly  different
         way; see node 'history options' in the CVS manual).

         For  a  complete description of the date formats accepted by cvs, see node 'Date input for‐
         mats' in the CVS manual.

         Remember to quote the argument to the -D flag so that your shell doesn't  interpret  spaces
         as argument separators.  A command using the -D flag can look like this:


           $ cvs diff -D "1 hour ago" cvs.texinfo






       -f

         When  you specify a particular date or tag to cvs commands, they normally ignore files that
         do not contain the tag (or did not exist prior to the date) that you specified.  Use the -f
         option  if  you want files retrieved even when there is no match for the tag or date.  (The
         most recent revision of the file will be used).

         Note that even with -f, a tag that you specify must exist (that is, in some file, not  nec‐
         essary in every file).  This is so that cvs will continue to give an error if you mistype a
         tag name.

         -f is available with these commands: annotate, checkout, export, rdiff, rtag, and update.

         WARNING:  The commit and remove commands also have a -f option, but it has a different  behavior for those commands.  See node 'commit options' in the CVS manual, and node 'Removing
         files' in the CVS manual.



       -k kflag

         Override the default processing of RCS keywords other than -kb.  See node 'Keyword  substi‐
         tution'  in  the  CVS  manual, for the meaning of kflag.  Used with the checkout and update
         commands, your kflag specification is sticky; that is, when you  use  this  option  with  a
         checkout  or  update command, cvs associates your selected kflag with any files it operates
         on, and continues to use that kflag with future commands on the same files until you  spec‐
         ify otherwise.

         The  -k option is available with the add, checkout, diff, export, import, rdiff, and update
         commands.

         WARNING: Prior to CVS version 1.12.2, the -k flag overrode the -kb indication for a  binary
         file.   This  could sometimes corrupt binary files.  See node 'Merging and keywords' in the
         CVS manual, for more.



       -l

         Local; run only in current working directory, rather than recursing through subdirectories.

         Available with the following commands: annotate, checkout, commit, diff, edit, editors, ex‐‐
         port, log, rdiff, remove, rtag, status, tag, unedit, update, watch, and watchers.



       -m message

         Use message as log information, instead of invoking an editor.

         Available with the following commands: add, commit and import.



       -n

         Do  not  run  any  tag program.  (A program can be specified to run in the modules database
         (see node 'modules' in the CVS manual); this option bypasses it).

         Note: this is not the same as the cvs -n program option, which you can specify to the  left
         of a cvs command!

         Available with the checkout, commit, export, and rtag commands.



       -P

         Prune empty directories.  See node 'Removing directories' in the CVS manual.



       -p

         Pipe  the  files retrieved from the repository to standard output, rather than writing them
         in the current directory.  Available with the checkout and update commands.



       -R

         Process directories recursively.  This is the default for all cvs commands, with the excep‐
         tion of ls & rls.

         Available with the following commands: annotate, checkout, commit, diff, edit, editors, ex‐‐
         port, ls, rdiff, remove, rls, rtag, status, tag, unedit, update, watch, and watchers.



       -r tag




       -r tag[:date]

         Use the revision specified by the tag argument (and the  date  argument  for  the  commands
         which  accept  it) instead of the default head revision.  As well as arbitrary tags defined
         with the tag or rtag command, two special tags are always available:  HEAD  refers  to  the
         most  recent version available in the repository (also known as the tip of the MAIN branch,
         also known as trunk; the name of a branch refers to its tip; this version of cvs introduces
         .bhead,  but  only for the diff command, for the same), and BASE refers to the revision you
         last checked out into the current working directory.

         The tag specification is sticky when you use this with checkout or update to make your  own
         copy  of  a  file: cvs remembers the tag and continues to use it on future update commands,
         until you specify otherwise (for more information on sticky tags/dates,  see  node  'Sticky
         tags' in the CVS manual).

         The  tag  can  be  either a symbolic or numeric tag, as described in node 'Tags' in the CVS
         manual, or the name of a branch, as described in node 'Branching and merging'  in  the  CVS
         manual.   When tag is the name of a branch, some commands accept the optional date argument
         to specify the revision as of the given date on the branch.  When a command expects a  spe‐
         cific  revision,  the  name  of a branch is interpreted as the most recent revision on that
         branch.

         As a Debian and MirBSD cvs extension, specifying BASE as the date portion of  the  argument
         yields  the  base revision of the branch specified by the tag portion of the argument, i.e.
         the revision on the parent branch the tag branch split off, or, where  both  branches  were
         the same.  This option has not received very much testing, beware!

         Specifying  the  -q global option along with the -r command option is often useful, to sup‐
         press the warning messages when the rcs file does not contain the specified tag.

         Note: this is not the same as the overall cvs -r option, which you can specify to the  left
         of a cvs command!

         -r tag is available with the commit and history commands.

         -r  tag[:date] is available with the annotate, checkout, diff, export, rdiff, rtag, and up‐‐
         date commands.



       -W

         Specify file names that should be filtered.  You can use this option repeatedly.  The  spec
         can  be a file name pattern of the same type that you can specify in the .cvswrappers file.
         Available with the following commands: import, and update.



admin, annotate, Date input formats, CVS commands
   admin——Administration front-end for RCS
       • Requires: repository, working directory.

       • Changes: repository.

       • Synonym: rcs

         This is the cvs interface to assorted administrative facilities.  Some of them  have  ques‐
         tionable  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  ex‐
         treme care should be used.

         On  unix,  if there is a group named cvsadmin, only members of that group can run cvs admin
         commands, except for those specified using the UserAdminOptions configuration option in the
         CVSROOT/config file.  Options specified using UserAdminOptions can be run by any user.  See
         node 'config' in the CVS manual for more on UserAdminOptions.

         The cvsadmin group should exist on the server, or any system running the  non-client/server
         cvs.   To disallow cvs admin for all users, create a group with no users in it.  On NT, the
         cvsadmin feature does not exist and all users can run cvs admin.


admin options
       Some of these options have questionable usefulness for cvs but exist for historical purposes.
       Some even make it impossible to use cvs until you undo the effect!



       -Aoldfile

         Might  not work together with cvs.  Append the access list of oldfile to the access list of
         the rcs file.



       -alogins

         Might not work together with cvs.  Append the login names appearing in the  comma-separated
         list logins to the access list of the rcs file.



       -b[rev]

         Set  the  default  branch to rev.  In cvs, you normally do not manipulate default branches;
         sticky tags (see node 'Sticky tags' in the CVS manual) are a better  way  to  decide  which
         branch you want to work on.  There is one reason to run cvs admin -b: to revert to the ven‐
         dor's version when using vendor branches (see node 'Reverting local  changes'  in  the  CVS
         manual).  There can be no space between -b and its argument.



       -cstring

         Sets  the  comment leader to string.  The comment leader is not used by current versions of
         cvs or rcs 5.7.  Therefore, you can almost surely not worry about it.   See  node  'Keyword
         substitution' in the CVS manual.



       -e[logins]

         Might  not  work together with cvs.  Erase the login names appearing in the comma-separated
         list logins from the access list of the RCS file.  If logins is omitted, erase  the  entire
         access list.  There can be no space between -e and its argument.



       -I

         Run interactively, even if the standard input is not a terminal.  This option does not work
         with the client/server cvs and is likely to disappear in a future release of cvs.



       -i

         Useless with cvs.  This creates and initialises a new rcs file, without depositing a  revi‐
         sion.   With  cvs,  add  files with the cvs add command (see node 'Adding files' in the CVS
         manual).



       -ksubst

         Set the default keyword substitution to subst.  See node 'Keyword substitution' in the  CVS
         manual.   Giving an explicit -k option to cvs update, cvs export, or cvs checkout overrides
         this default.



       -l[rev]

         Lock the revision with number rev.  If a branch is given, lock the latest revision on  that
         branch.   If  rev is omitted, lock the latest revision on the default branch.  There can be
         no space between -l and its argument.

         This can be used in conjunction with the rcslock.pl script in the contrib directory of  the
         cvs source distribution to provide reserved checkouts (where only one user can be editing a
         given file at a time).  See the comments in that file for details (and see the README  file
         in  that  directory for disclaimers about the unsupported nature of contrib).  According to
         comments in that file, locking must set to strict (which is the default).



       -L

         Set locking to strict.  Strict locking means that the owner of an RCS file  is  not  exempt
         from locking for checkin.  For use with cvs, strict locking must be set; see the discussion
         under the -l option above.



       -mrev:msg

         Replace the log message of revision rev with msg.



       -Nname[:[rev]]

         Act like -n, except override any previous assignment of name.  For use with magic branches,
         see node 'Magic branch numbers' in the CVS manual.



       -nname[:[rev]]

         Associate the symbolic name name with the branch or revision rev.  It is normally better to
         use cvs tag or cvs rtag instead.  Delete the symbolic name if both : and rev  are  omitted;
         otherwise,  print  an  error message if name is already associated with another number.  If
         rev is symbolic, it is expanded before association.  A rev consisting of  a  branch  number
         followed  by  a  . stands for the current latest revision in the branch.  A : with an empty
         rev stands for the current latest revision on the default branch, normally the trunk.   For
         example,  cvs admin -nname: associates name with the current latest revision of all the RCS
         files; this contrasts with cvs admin -nname:$ which associates name with the revision  num‐
         bers extracted from keyword strings in the corresponding working files.



       -orange

         Deletes (outdates) the revisions given by range.

         Note  that  this  command can be quite dangerous unless you know exactly what you are doing
         (for example see the warnings below about how the rev1:rev2 syntax is confusing).

         If you are short on disc this option might help you.  But think twice before using it—there
         is no way short of restoring the latest backup to undo this command!  If you delete differ‐
         ent revisions than you planned, either due to carelessness or (heaven forbid)  a  cvs  bug,
         there is no opportunity to correct the error before the revisions are deleted.  It probably
         would be a good idea to experiment on a copy of the repository first.

         Specify range in one of the following ways:


         rev1::rev2

           Collapse all revisions between rev1 and rev2, so that cvs only stores the differences as‐
           sociated  with  going  from  rev1 to rev2, not intermediate steps.  For example, after -o
           1.3::1.5 one can retrieve revision 1.3, revision 1.5, or the differences to get from  1.3
           to  1.5,  but  not the revision 1.4, or the differences between 1.3 and 1.4.  Other exam‐
           ples: -o 1.3::1.4 and -o 1.3::1.3 have no effect, because there are no intermediate revi‐
           sions to remove.


         ::rev

           Collapse  revisions  between  the  beginning of the branch containing rev and rev itself.
           The branchpoint and rev are left intact.  For  example,  -o  ::1.3.2.6  deletes  revision
           1.3.2.1, revision 1.3.2.5, and everything in between, but leaves 1.3 and 1.3.2.6 intact.


         rev::

           Collapse revisions between rev and the end of the branch containing rev.  Revision rev is
           left intact but the head revision is deleted.


         rev

           Delete the revision rev.  For example, -o 1.3 is equivalent to -o 1.2::1.4.


         rev1:rev2

           Delete the revisions from rev1 to rev2, inclusive, on the same branch.  One will  not  be
           able  to retrieve rev1 or rev2 or any of the revisions in between.  For example, the com‐
           mand cvs admin -oR_1_01:R_1_02 . is rarely useful.  It means to delete revisions  up  to,
           and including, the tag R_1_02.  But beware!  If there are files that have not changed be‐
           tween R_1_02 and R_1_03 the file will have the same numerical revision number assigned to
           the tags R_1_02 and R_1_03.  So not only will it be impossible to retrieve R_1_02; R_1_03
           will also have to be restored from  the  tapes!   In  most  cases  you  want  to  specify
           rev1::rev2 instead.


         :rev

           Delete revisions from the beginning of the branch containing rev up to and including rev.


         rev:

           Delete  revisions  from revision rev, including rev itself, to the end of the branch con‐
           taining rev.

           None of the revisions to be deleted may have branches or locks.

           If any of the revisions to be deleted have symbolic names, and one specifies one  of  the
           ::  syntaxes,  then  cvs  will give an error and not delete any revisions.  If you really
           want to delete both the symbolic names and the revisions, first delete the symbolic names
           with  cvs  tag -d, then run cvs admin -o.  If one specifies the non-:: syntaxes, then cvs
           will delete the revisions but leave the symbolic names pointing to nonexistent revisions.
           This  behavior  is preserved for compatibility with previous versions of cvs, but because
           it isn't very useful, in the future it may change to be like the :: case.

           Due to the way cvs handles branches rev cannot be  specified  symbolically  if  it  is  a
           branch.  See node 'Magic branch numbers' in the CVS manual, for an explanation.

           Make sure that no-one has checked out a copy of the revision you outdate.  Strange things
           will happen if he starts to edit it and tries to check it back in.  For this reason, this
           option  is  not a good way to take back a bogus commit; commit a new revision undoing the
           bogus change instead (see node 'Merging two revisions' in the CVS manual).



       -q

         Run quietly; do not print diagnostics.



       -sstate[:rev]

         Useful with cvs.  Set the state attribute of the revision rev to state.  If rev is a branch
         number,  assume  the  latest revision on that branch.  If rev is omitted, assume the latest
         revision on the default branch.  Any identifier is acceptable for state.  A useful  set  of
         states  is  Exp (for experimental), Stab (for stable), and Rel (for released).  By default,
         the state of a new revision is set to Exp when it is created.  The state is visible in  the
         output  from  cvs log (see node 'log' in the CVS manual), and in the $Log$ and $State$ key‐
         words (see node 'Keyword substitution' in the CVS manual).  Note that  cvs  uses  the  dead
         state  for its own purposes (see node 'Attic' in the CVS manual); to take a file to or from
         the dead state use commands like cvs remove and cvs add (see node 'Adding and removing'  in
         the CVS manual), not cvs admin -s.



       -t[file]

         Useful  with  cvs.  Write descriptive text from the contents of the named file into the RCS
         file, deleting the existing text.  The file pathname may not begin with -.  The descriptive
         text  can be seen in the output from cvs log (see node 'log' in the CVS manual).  There can
         be no space between -t and its argument.

         If file is omitted, obtain the text from standard input, terminated by end-of-file or by  a
         line containing . by itself.  Prompt for the text if interaction is possible; see -I.



       -t-string

         Similar  to  -tfile. Write descriptive text from the string into the rcs file, deleting the
         existing text.  There can be no space between -t and its argument.



       -U

         Set locking to non-strict.  Non-strict locking means that the owner of a file need not lock
         a  revision  for checkin.  For use with cvs, strict locking must be set; see the discussion
         under the -l option above.



       -u[rev]

         See the option -l above, for a discussion of using this option with cvs.  Unlock the  revi‐
         sion with number rev.  If a branch is given, unlock the latest revision on that branch.  If
         rev is omitted, remove the latest lock held by the caller.  Normally, only the locker of  a
         revision  may  unlock  it; somebody else unlocking a revision breaks the lock.  This causes
         the original locker to be sent a commit notification (see node 'Getting  Notified'  in  the
         CVS manual).  There can be no space between -u and its argument.



       -Vn

         In  previous versions of cvs, this option meant to write an rcs file which would be accept‐
         able to rcs version n, but it is now obsolete and specifying it will produce an error.



       -xsuffixes

         In previous versions of cvs, this was documented as a way of specifying the  names  of  the
         rcs  files.   However, cvs has always required that the rcs files used by cvs end in ,v, so
         this option has never done anything useful.



annotate, checkout, admin, CVS commands
   annotate——What revision modified each line of a file?
       • Synopsis: annotate [options] files...

         rannotate [options] files...

       • Requires: repository.

       • Changes: nothing.

         For each file in files, print the head revision of the trunk, together with information  on
         the  last modification for each line.  If backwards annotation is requested, show the first
         modification after the specified revision.  (Backwards annotation currently appears  to  be
         broken.)


annotate options
       These  standard  options are supported by annotate (see node 'Common options' in the CVS man‐
       ual, for a complete description of them):



       -b

         Backwards, show when a line was removed.  Currently appears to be broken.



       -l

         Local directory only, no recursion.



       -R

         Process directories recursively.



       -f

         Use head revision if tag/date not found.



       -F

         Annotate binary files.



       -r tag[:date]

         Annotate file as of specified revision/tag or, when date is specified and tag is  a  branch
         tag,  the  version from the branch tag as it existed on date.  See node 'Common options' in
         the CVS manual.



       -D date

         Annotate file as of specified date.


annotate example
       For example:


         $ cvs annotate ssfile
         Annotations for ssfile
         ***************
         1.1          (mary     27-Mar-96): ssfile line 1
         1.2          (joe      28-Mar-96): ssfile line 2




       The file ssfile currently contains two lines.  The ssfile line 1 line was checked in by  mary
       on March 27.  Then, on March 28, joe added a line ssfile line 2, without modifying the ssfile
       line 1 line.  This report doesn't tell you anything about lines which have  been  deleted  or
       replaced; you need to use cvs diff for that (see node 'diff' in the CVS manual).

       The  options  to cvs annotate are listed in node 'Invoking CVS' in the CVS manual, and can be
       used to select the files and revisions to annotate.  The options are described in more detail
       there and in node 'Common options' in the CVS manual.


checkout, commit, annotate, CVS commands
   checkout——Check out sources for editing
       • Synopsis: checkout [options] modules...

       • Requires: repository.

       • Changes: working directory.

       • Synonyms: co, get

         Create  or  update  a  working directory containing copies of the source files specified by
         modules.  You must execute checkout before using most of the other cvs commands, since most
         of them operate on your working directory.

         The  modules are either symbolic names for some collection of source directories and files,
         or paths to directories or files in the repository.  The symbolic names are defined in  the
         modules file.  See node 'modules' in the CVS manual.

         Depending on the modules you specify, checkout may recursively create directories and popu‐
         late them with the appropriate source files.  You can then edit these source files  at  any
         time  (regardless  of whether other software developers are editing their own copies of the
         sources); update them to include new changes applied by others to the source repository; or
         commit your work as a permanent change to the source repository.

         Note  that  checkout is used to create directories.  The top-level directory created is al‐
         ways added to the directory where checkout is invoked, and usually has the same name as the
         specified module.  In the case of a module alias, the created sub-directory may have a dif‐
         ferent name, but you can be sure that it will be a sub-directory, and  that  checkout  will
         show  the relative path leading to each file as it is extracted into your private work area
         (unless you specify the -Q global option).

         The files created by checkout are created read-write, unless the -r option to cvs (see node
         'Global options' in the CVS manual) is specified, the CVSREAD environment variable is spec‐
         ified (see node 'Environment variables' in the CVS manual), or a watch  is  in  effect  for
         that file (see node 'Watches' in the CVS manual).

         Note  that  running  checkout  on a directory that was already built by a prior checkout is
         also permitted.  This is similar to specifying the -d option to the update command  in  the
         sense  that  new  directories  that have been created in the repository will appear in your
         work area.  However, checkout takes a module name whereas update takes  a  directory  name.
         Also to use checkout this way it must be run from the top level directory (where you origi‐
         nally ran checkout from), so before you run checkout to update an existing directory, don't
         forget to change your directory to the top level directory.

         For the output produced by the checkout command see node 'update output' in the CVS manual.


checkout options
       These  standard  options are supported by checkout (see node 'Common options' in the CVS man‐
       ual, for a complete description of them):



       -D date

         Use the most recent revision no later than date.  This option is sticky,  and  implies  -P.
         See node 'Sticky tags' in the CVS manual, for more information on sticky tags/dates.



       -f

         Only  useful  with the -D or -r flags.  If no matching revision is found, retrieve the most
         recent revision (instead of ignoring the file).



       -k kflag

         Process keywords according to kflag.  See node 'Keyword substitution' in  the  CVS  manual.
         This  option  is sticky; future updates of this file in this working directory will use the
         same kflag.  The status command can be viewed to see the sticky options.  See node  'Invok‐
         ing CVS' in the CVS manual, for more information on the status command.



       -l

         Local; run only in current working directory.



       -n

         Do  not  run any checkout program (as specified with the -o option in the modules file; see
         node 'modules' in the CVS manual).



       -P

         Prune empty directories.  See node 'Moving directories' in the CVS manual.



       -p

         Pipe files to the standard output.



       -R

         Checkout directories recursively.  This option is on by default.



       -r tag[:date]

         Checkout the revision specified by tag or, when date is specified and tag is a branch  tag,
         the  version from the branch tag as it existed on date.  This option is sticky, and implies
         -P.  See node 'Sticky tags' in the CVS manual, for more information on  sticky  tags/dates.
         Also, see node 'Common options' in the CVS manual.

         In addition to those, you can use these special command options with checkout:



       -A

         Reset any sticky tags, dates, or -k options.  See node 'Sticky tags' in the CVS manual, for
         more information on sticky tags/dates.



       -c

         Copy the module file, sorted, to the standard output, instead of creating or modifying  any
         files or directories in your working directory.



       -d dir

         Create  a directory called dir for the working files, instead of using the module name.  In
         general, using this flag is equivalent to using mkdir dir; cd dir followed by the  checkout
         command without the -d flag.

         There is an important exception, however.  It is very convenient when checking out a single
         item to have the output appear in a directory that doesn't contain empty  intermediate  di‐
         rectories.   In this case only, cvs tries to ``shorten'' pathnames to avoid those empty di‐
         rectories.

         For example, given a module foo that contains the file bar.c, the command cvs co -d dir foo
         will  create directory dir and place bar.c inside.  Similarly, given a module bar which has
         subdirectory baz wherein there is a file quux.c, the command cvs co  -d  dir  bar/baz  will
         create directory dir and place quux.c inside.

         Using  the -N flag will defeat this behavior.  Given the same module definitions above, cvs
         co -N -d dir foo will create directories dir/foo and place bar.c inside, while cvs co -N -d
         dir bar/baz will create directories dir/bar/baz and place quux.c inside.



       -j tag

         With  two -j options, merge changes from the revision specified with the first -j option to
         the revision specified with the second j option, into the working directory.

         With one -j option, merge changes from the ancestor revision to the revision specified with
         the -j option, into the working directory.  The ancestor revision is the common ancestor of
         the revision which the working directory is based on, and the revision specified in the  -j
         option.

         In  addition,  each  -j  option can contain an optional date specification which, when used
         with branches, can limit the chosen revision to one within a specific  date.   An  optional
         date is specified by adding a colon (:) to the tag: -jSymbolic_Tag:Date_Specifier.

         See node 'Branching and merging' in the CVS manual.



       -N

         Only  useful together with -d dir.  With this option, cvs will not ``shorten'' module paths
         in your working directory when you check out a single module.  See the -d flag for examples
         and a discussion.



       -s

         Like -c, but include the status of all modules, and sort it by the status string.  See node
         'modules' in the CVS manual, for info about the -s option that is used inside  the  modules
         file to set the module status.


checkout examples
       Get a copy of the module tc:


         $ cvs checkout tc




       Get a copy of the module tc as it looked one day ago:


         $ cvs checkout -D yesterday tc





commit, diff, checkout, CVS commands
   commit——Check files into the repository
       • Synopsis: commit [-lnRf] [-m 'log_message' | -F file] [-r revision] [files...]

       • Requires: working directory, repository.

       • Changes: repository.

       • Synonym: ci

         Use  commit  when  you  want to incorporate changes from your working source files into the
         source repository.

         If you don't specify particular files to commit, all of the files in your  working  current
         directory  are  examined.   commit  is careful to change in the repository only those files
         that you have really changed.  By default (or if you explicitly  specify  the  -R  option),
         files  in  subdirectories are also examined and committed if they have changed; you can use
         the -l option to limit commit to the current directory only.

         commit verifies that the selected files are up to date with the current  revisions  in  the
         source repository; it will notify you, and exit without committing, if any of the specified
         files must be made current first with update (see node 'update' in the CVS manual).  commit
         does  not  call  the  update command for you, but rather leaves that for you to do when the
         time is right.

         When all is well, an editor is invoked to allow you to enter a log  message  that  will  be
         written to one or more logging programs (see node 'modules' in the CVS manual, and see node
         'loginfo' in the CVS manual) and placed in the rcs file inside the  repository.   This  log
         message  can  be retrieved with the log command; see node 'log' in the CVS manual.  You can
         specify the log message on the command line with the -m message option, and thus avoid  the
         editor invocation, or use the -F file option to specify that the argument file contains the
         log message.

         At commit, a unique commitid is placed in the rcs file inside  the  repository.  All  files
         committed  at  once  get  the same commitid, 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 log and status com‐
         mand; see node 'log' in the CVS manual and node 'File status' in the CVS manual.


commit options
       These standard options are supported by commit (see node 'Common options' in the CVS  manual,
       for a complete description of them):



       -l

         Local; run only in current working directory.



       -R

         Commit directories recursively.  This is on by default.



       -r revision

         Commit to revision.  revision must be either a branch, or a revision on the main trunk that
         is higher than any existing revision number (see node 'Assigning revisions' in the CVS man‐
         ual).  You cannot commit to a specific revision on a branch.

         commit also supports these options:



       -c

         Refuse  to  commit  files  unless  the user has registered a valid edit on the file via cvs
         edit.  This is most useful when commit -c and edit -c have been placed in all .cvsrc files.
         A commit can be forced anyways by either regestering an edit retroactively via cvs edit (no
         changes to the file will be lost) or using the -f option to commit.  Support for commit  -c
         requires both client and a server versions 1.12.10 or greater.



       -F file

         Read the log message from file, instead of invoking an editor.



       -f

         Note that this is not the standard behavior of the -f option as defined in node 'Common op‐
         tions' in the CVS manual.

         Force cvs to commit a new revision even if you haven't made any changes to the file.  As of
         cvs  version  1.12.10, it also causes the -c option to be ignored.  If the current revision
         of file is 1.7, then the following two commands are equivalent:


           $ cvs commit -f file
           $ cvs commit -r 1.8 file




         The -f option disables recursion (i.e., it implies -l).  To force cvs to commit a new revi‐
         sion for all files in all subdirectories, you must use -f -R.



       -m message

         Use message as the log message, instead of invoking an editor.


commit examples
   Committing to a branch
       You can commit to a branch revision (one that has an even number of dots) with the -r option.
       To create a branch revision, use the -b option of the rtag or tag commands (see node 'Branch‐
       ing  and  merging'  in  the CVS manual).  Then, either checkout or update can be used to base
       your sources on the newly created branch.  From that point on, all commit changes made within
       these  working sources will be automatically added to a branch revision, thereby not disturb‐
       ing main-line development in any way.  For example, if you had to create a patch to  the  1.2
       version  of  the product, even though the 2.0 version is already under development, you might
       do:


         $ cvs rtag -b -r FCS1_2 FCS1_2_Patch product_module
         $ cvs checkout -r FCS1_2_Patch product_module
         $ cd product_module
         [[ hack away ]]
         $ cvs commit




       This works automatically since the -r option is sticky.


   Creating the branch after editing
       Say you have been working on some extremely experimental software, based on whatever revision
       you happened to checkout last week.  If others in your group would like to work on this soft‐
       ware 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:


         [[ hacked sources are present ]]
         $ cvs tag -b EXPR1
         $ cvs update -r EXPR1
         $ cvs commit




       The update command will make the -r EXPR1 option sticky on all files.  Note that your changes
       to the files will never be removed by the update command.  The commit will automatically com‐
       mit to the correct branch, because the -r is sticky.  You could also do like this:


         [[ hacked sources are present ]]
         $ cvs tag -b EXPR1
         $ cvs commit -r EXPR1




       but then, only those files that were changed by you will have the -r EXPR1 sticky  flag.   If
       you  hack  away, and commit without specifying the -r EXPR1 flag, some files may accidentally
       end up on the main trunk.

       To work with you on the experimental change, others would simply do


         $ cvs checkout -r EXPR1 whatever_module





diff, export, commit, CVS commands
   diff——Show differences between revisions
       • Synopsis: diff [-lR]  [-k  kflag]  [format_options]  [(-r  rev1[:date1]  |  -D  date1)  [-r
         rev2[:date2] | -D date2]] [files...]

       • Requires: working directory, repository.

       • Changes: nothing.

         The diff command is used to compare different revisions of files.  The default action is to
         compare your working files with the revisions they were based on, and  report  any  differ‐
         ences that are found.

         If  any file names are given, only those files are compared.  If any directories are given,
         all files under them will be compared.

         The exit status for diff is different than for other cvs commands;  for  details  see  node
         'Exit status' in the CVS manual.


diff options
       These  standard  options  are supported by diff (see node 'Common options' in the CVS manual,
       for a complete description of them):



       -D date

         Use the most recent revision no later than date.  See -r for how this affects the  compari‐
         son.



       -k kflag

         Process keywords according to kflag.  See node 'Keyword substitution' in the CVS manual.



       -l

         Local; run only in current working directory.



       -R

         Examine directories recursively.  This option is on by default.



       -r tag[:date]

         Compare  with revision specified by tag or, when date is specified and tag is a branch tag,
         the version from the branch tag as it existed on date.  Zero, one or two -r options can  be
         present.   With  no  -r  option, the working file will be compared with the revision it was
         based on.  With one -r, that revision will be compared to your current working file.   With
         two  -r options those two revisions will be compared (and your working file will not affect
         the outcome in any way).

         One or both -r options can be replaced by a -D date option, described above.

         The following options specify the format of the output.  They have the same meaning  as  in
         GNU diff.  Most options have two equivalent names, one of which is a single letter preceded
         by -, and the other of which is a long name preceded by --.



       -lines

         Show lines (an integer) lines of context.  This option does not specify an output format by
         itself;  it  has  no  effect unless it is combined with -c or -u.  This option is obsolete.
         For proper operation, patch typically needs at least two lines of context.



       -a

         Treat all files as text and compare them line-by-line, even if they do not seem to be text.



       -b

         Ignore trailing white space and consider all other sequences of one  or  more  white  space
         characters to be equivalent.



       -B

         Ignore changes that just insert or delete blank lines.



       --binary

         Read and write data in binary mode.



       --brief

         Report only whether the files differ, not the details of the differences.



       -c

         Use the context output format.



       -C lines




       --context[=lines]

         Use  the  context  output  format, showing lines (an integer) lines of context, or three if
         lines is not given.  For proper operation, patch typically needs at least two lines of con‐
         text.



       --changed-group-format=format

         Use  format  to  output  a  line  group  containing  differing  lines  from  both  files in
         if-then-else format.  See node 'Line group formats' in the CVS manual.



       -d

         Change the algorithm to perhaps find a smaller set of  changes.   This  makes  diff  slower
         (sometimes much slower).



       -e




       --ed

         Make output that is a valid ed script.



       --expand-tabs

         Expand tabs to spaces in the output, to preserve the alignment of tabs in the input files.



       -f

         Make  output  that looks vaguely like an ed script but has changes in the order they appear
         in the file.



       -F regexp

         In context and unified format, for each hunk of differences, show some of the last  preced‐
         ing line that matches regexp.



       --forward-ed

         Make  output  that looks vaguely like an ed script but has changes in the order they appear
         in the file.



       -H

         Use heuristics to speed handling of large files that have numerous scattered small changes.



       --horizon-lines=lines

         Do not discard the last lines lines of the common prefix and the first lines lines  of  the
         common suffix.



       -i

         Ignore changes in case; consider upper- and lower-case letters equivalent.



       -I regexp

         Ignore changes that just insert or delete lines that match regexp.



       --ifdef=name

         Make merged if-then-else output using name.



       --ignore-all-space

         Ignore white space when comparing lines.



       --ignore-blank-lines

         Ignore changes that just insert or delete blank lines.



       --ignore-case

         Ignore changes in case; consider upper- and lower-case to be the same.



       --ignore-matching-lines=regexp

         Ignore changes that just insert or delete lines that match regexp.



       --ignore-space-change

         Ignore  trailing  white  space  and consider all other sequences of one or more white space
         characters to be equivalent.



       --initial-tab

         Output a tab rather than a space before the text of a line in  normal  or  context  format.
         This causes the alignment of tabs in the line to look normal.



       -L label

         Use label instead of the file name in the context format and unified format headers.



       --label=label

         Use label instead of the file name in the context format and unified format headers.



       --left-column

         Print only the left column of two common lines in side by side format.



       --line-format=format

         Use  format  to  output all input lines in if-then-else format.  See node 'Line formats' in
         the CVS manual.



       --minimal

         Change the algorithm to perhaps find a smaller set of  changes.   This  makes  diff  slower
         (sometimes much slower).



       -n

         Output RCS-format diffs; like -f except that each command specifies the number of lines af‐
         fected.



       -N




       --new-file

         In directory comparison, if a file is found in only one directory, treat it as present  but
         empty in the other directory.



       --new-group-format=format

         Use  format to output a group of lines taken from just the second file in if-then-else for‐
         mat.  See node 'Line group formats' in the CVS manual.



       --new-line-format=format

         Use format to output a line taken from just the second file in  if-then-else  format.   See
         node 'Line formats' in the CVS manual.



       --old-group-format=format

         Use  format  to output a group of lines taken from just the first file in if-then-else for‐
         mat.  See node 'Line group formats' in the CVS manual.



       --old-line-format=format

         Use format to output a line taken from just the first file  in  if-then-else  format.   See
         node 'Line formats' in the CVS manual.



       -p

         Show which C function each change is in.



       --rcs

         Output RCS-format diffs; like -f except that each command specifies the number of lines af‐
         fected.



       --report-identical-files




       -s

         Report when two files are the same.



       --show-c-function

         Show which C function each change is in.



       --show-function-line=regexp

         In context and unified format, for each hunk of differences, show some of the last  preced‐
         ing line that matches regexp.



       --side-by-side

         Use the side by side output format.



       --speed-large-files

         Use heuristics to speed handling of large files that have numerous scattered small changes.



       --suppress-common-lines

         Do not print common lines in side by side format.



       -t

         Expand tabs to spaces in the output, to preserve the alignment of tabs in the input files.



       -T

         Output  a  tab  rather  than a space before the text of a line in normal or context format.
         This causes the alignment of tabs in the line to look normal.



       --text

         Treat all files as text and compare them line-by-line, even if they do  not  appear  to  be
         text.



       -u

         Use the unified output format.



       --unchanged-group-format=format

         Use  format to output a group of common lines taken from both files in if-then-else format.
         See node 'Line group formats' in the CVS manual.



       --unchanged-line-format=format

         Use format to output a line common to both files in if-then-else format.   See  node  'Line
         formats' in the CVS manual.



       -U lines




       --unified[=lines]

         Use  the  unified  output  format, showing lines (an integer) lines of context, or three if
         lines is not given.  For proper operation, patch typically needs at least two lines of con‐
         text.



       -w

         Ignore white space when comparing lines.



       -W columns




       --width=columns

         Use an output width of columns in side by side format.



       -y

         Use the side by side output format.


Line group formats
       Line  group  formats  let  you  specify  formats  suitable  for  many applications that allow
       if-then-else input, including programming languages and text formatting  languages.   A  line
       group format specifies the output format for a contiguous group of similar lines.

       For  example,  the  following  command compares the TeX file myfile with the original version
       from the repository, and outputs a merged file in which old regions are  surrounded  by  \be‐‐
       gin{em}-\end{em} lines, and new regions are surrounded by \begin{bf}-\end{bf} lines.


         cvs diff \

            --old-group-format='\begin{em}
         %<\end{em}
         ' \

            --new-group-format='\begin{bf}
         %>\end{bf}
         ' \

            myfile




       The  following  command  is equivalent to the above example, but it is a little more verbose,
       because it spells out the default line group formats.


         cvs diff \

            --old-group-format='\begin{em}
         %<\end{em}
         ' \

            --new-group-format='\begin{bf}
         %>\end{bf}
         ' \

            --unchanged-group-format='%=' \

            --changed-group-format='\begin{em}
         %<\end{em}
         \begin{bf}
         %>\end{bf}
         ' \

            myfile




       Here is a more advanced example, which outputs a diff listing with  headers  containing  line
       numbers in a ``plain English'' style.


         cvs diff \

            --unchanged-group-format='' \

            --old-group-format='-------- %dn line%(n=1?:s) deleted at %df:
         %<' \

            --new-group-format='-------- %dN line%(N=1?:s) added after %de:
         %>' \

            --changed-group-format='-------- %dn line%(n=1?:s) changed at %df:
         %<-------- to:
         %>' \

            myfile




       To  specify  a line group format, use one of the options listed below.  You can specify up to
       four line group formats, one for each kind of line group.  You should quote  format,  because
       it typically contains shell metacharacters.



       --old-group-format=format

         These  line  groups  are  hunks containing only lines from the first file.  The default old
         group format is the same as the changed group format if it is specified; otherwise it is  a
         format that outputs the line group as-is.



       --new-group-format=format

         These  line  groups  are hunks containing only lines from the second file.  The default new
         group format is same as the changed group format if it is specified; otherwise it is a for‐
         mat that outputs the line group as-is.



       --changed-group-format=format

         These  line  groups  are hunks containing lines from both files.  The default changed group
         format is the concatenation of the old and new group formats.



       --unchanged-group-format=format

         These line groups contain lines common to both files.  The default unchanged  group  format
         is a format that outputs the line group as-is.

         In a line group format, ordinary characters represent themselves; conversion specifications
         start with % and have one of the following forms.



       %<

         stands for the lines from the first file, including the trailing  newline.   Each  line  is
         formatted according to the old line format (see node 'Line formats' in the CVS manual).



       %>

         stands  for  the  lines from the second file, including the trailing newline.  Each line is
         formatted according to the new line format.



       %=

         stands for the lines common to both files, including the trailing newline.   Each  line  is
         formatted according to the unchanged line format.



       %%

         stands for %.



       %c'C'

         where  C  is  a single character, stands for C.  C may not be a backslash or an apostrophe.
         For example, %c':' stands for a colon, even inside the then-part of an if-then-else format,
         which a colon would normally terminate.



       %c'\O'

         where O is a string of 1, 2, or 3 octal digits, stands for the character with octal code O.
         For example, %c'\0' stands for a null character.



       Fn

         where F is a printf conversion specification and n is one of the following letters,  stands
         for n's value formatted with F.


         e

           The line number of the line just before the group in the old file.


         f

           The line number of the first line in the group in the old file; equals e + 1.


         l

           The line number of the last line in the group in the old file.


         m

           The line number of the line just after the group in the old file; equals l + 1.


         n

           The number of lines in the group in the old file; equals l - f + 1.


         E, F, L, M, N

           Likewise, for lines in the new file.


           The  printf conversion specification can be %d, %o, %x, or %X, specifying decimal, octal,
           lower case hexadecimal, or upper case hexadecimal output respectively.  After the  %  the
           following  options  can appear in sequence: a - specifying left-justification; an integer
           specifying the minimum field width; and a period followed by an optional integer specify‐
           ing  the  minimum  number of digits.  For example, %5dN prints the number of new lines in
           the group in a field of width 5 characters, using the printf format "%5d".



       (A=B?T:E)

         If A equals B then T else E.  A and B are each either a decimal constant or a single letter
         interpreted  as above.  This format spec is equivalent to T if A's value equals B's; other‐
         wise it is equivalent to E.

         For example, %(N=0?no:%dN) line%(N=1?:s) is equivalent to no lines  if  N  (the  number  of
         lines in the group in the new file) is 0, to 1 line if N is 1, and to %dN lines otherwise.


Line formats
       Line formats control how each line taken from an input file is output as part of a line group
       in if-then-else format.

       For example, the following command outputs text with a one-column  change  indicator  to  the
       left  of the text.  The first column of output is - for deleted lines, | for added lines, and
       a space for unchanged lines.  The formats contain newline characters where newlines  are  de‐
       sired on output.


         cvs diff \

            --old-line-format='-%l
         ' \

            --new-line-format='|%l
         ' \

            --unchanged-line-format=' %l
         ' \

            myfile




       To  specify  a line format, use one of the following options.  You should quote format, since
       it often contains shell metacharacters.



       --old-line-format=format

         formats lines just from the first file.



       --new-line-format=format

         formats lines just from the second file.



       --unchanged-line-format=format

         formats lines common to both files.



       --line-format=format

         formats all lines; in effect, it sets all three above options simultaneously.

         In a line format, ordinary characters represent themselves; conversion specifications start
         with % and have one of the following forms.



       %l

         stands for the contents of the line, not counting its trailing newline (if any).  This for‐
         mat ignores whether the line is incomplete.



       %L

         stands for the contents of the line, including its trailing newline (if any).  If a line is
         incomplete, this format preserves its incompleteness.



       %%

         stands for %.



       %c'C'

         where  C  is  a single character, stands for C.  C may not be a backslash or an apostrophe.
         For example, %c':' stands for a colon.



       %c'\O'

         where O is a string of 1, 2, or 3 octal digits, stands for the character with octal code O.
         For example, %c'\0' stands for a null character.



       Fn

         where  F is a printf conversion specification, stands for the line number formatted with F.
         For example, %.5dn prints the line number using the printf format "%.5d".  See  node  'Line
         group formats' in the CVS manual, for more about printf conversion specifications.


         The default line format is %l followed by a newline character.

         If  the  input contains tab characters and it is important that they line up on output, you
         should ensure that %l or %L in a line format is just after a tab stop (e.g. by preceding %l
         or %L with a tab character), or you should use the -t or --expand-tabs option.

         Taken  together,  the  line  and line group formats let you specify many different formats.
         For example, the following command uses a format similar to diff's normal format.  You  can
         tailor this command to get fine control over diff's output.


         cvs diff \

            --old-line-format='< %l
         ' \

            --new-line-format='> %l
         ' \

            --old-group-format='%df%(f=l?:,%dl)d%dE
         %<' \

            --new-group-format='%dea%dF%(F=L?:,%dL)
         %>' \

            --changed-group-format='%df%(f=l?:,%dl)c%dF%(F=L?:,%dL)
         %<—
         %>' \

            --unchanged-group-format='' \

            myfile





diff examples
       The  following line produces a Unidiff (-u flag) between revision 1.14 and 1.19 of backend.c.
       Due to the -kk flag no keywords are substituted, so differences that only depend  on  keyword
       substitution are ignored.


         $ cvs diff -kk -u -r 1.14 -r 1.19 backend.c




       Suppose the experimental branch EXPR1 was based on a set of files tagged RELEASE_1_0.  To see
       what has happened on that branch, the following can be used:


         $ cvs diff -r RELEASE_1_0 -r EXPR1




       A command like this can be used to produce a context diff between two releases:


         $ cvs diff -c -r RELEASE_1_0 -r RELEASE_1_1 > diffs




       If you are maintaining ChangeLogs, a command like the following just before you  commit  your
       changes  may  help  you write the ChangeLog entry.  All local modifications that have not yet
       been committed will be printed.


         $ cvs diff -u | less





export, history, diff, CVS commands
   export——Export sources from CVS, similar to checkout
       • Synopsis: export [-flNnR] (-r rev[:date] | -D date) [-k subst] [-d dir] module...

       • Requires: repository.

       • Changes: current directory.

         This command is a variant of checkout; use it when you want a copy of the source for module
         without  the  cvs administrative directories.  For example, you might use export to prepare
         source for shipment off-site.  This command requires that you specify a date or  tag  (with
         -D  or -r), so that you can count on reproducing the source you ship to others (and thus it
         always prunes empty directories).

         One often would like to use -kv with cvs export.  This causes any keywords to  be  expanded
         such that an import done at some other site will not lose the keyword revision information.
         But be aware that doesn't handle an export containing  binary  files  correctly.   Also  be
         aware that after having used -kv, one can no longer use the ident command (which is part of
         the rcs suite—see ident(1)) which looks for keyword strings.  If you want to be able to use
         ident you must not use -kv.


export options
       These  standard options are supported by export (see node 'Common options' in the CVS manual,
       for a complete description of them):



       -D date

         Use the most recent revision no later than date.



       -f

         If no matching revision is found, retrieve the most recent revision  (instead  of  ignoring
         the file).



       -l

         Local; run only in current working directory.



       -n

         Do not run any checkout program.



       -R

         Export directories recursively.  This is on by default.



       -r tag[:date]

         Export  the  revision  specified by tag or, when date is specified and tag is a branch tag,
         the version from the branch tag as it existed on date.  See node 'Common  options'  in  the
         CVS manual.

         In addition, these options (that are common to checkout and export) are also supported:



       -d dir

         Create a directory called dir for the working files, instead of using the module name.  See
         node 'checkout options' in the CVS manual, for complete details on  how  cvs  handles  this
         flag.



       -k subst

         Set keyword expansion mode (see node 'Substitution modes' in the CVS manual).



       -N

         Only  useful together with -d dir.  See node 'checkout options' in the CVS manual, for com‐
         plete details on how cvs handles this flag.


history, import, export, CVS commands
   history——Show repository access history
       • Synopsis:     history [-report] [-flags] [-options args] [files...]

       • Requires: the file $CVSROOT/CVSROOT/history

       • Changes: nothing.

         cvs can keep a history log that tracks each use of most cvs commands.  You can use  history
         to display this information in various formats.

         To  enable  logging,  the LogHistory config option must be set to some value other than the
         empty string and the history file specified by the HistoryLogPath option must  be  writable
         by all users who may run the cvs executable (see node 'config' in the CVS manual).

         To  enable  the history command, logging must be enabled as above and the HistorySearchPath
         config option (see node 'config' in the CVS manual) must be set to specify some  number  of
         the  history  logs  created thereby and these files must be readable by each user who might
         run the history command.

         Creating a repository via the cvs init command will enable logging of all  possible  events
         to a single history log file ($CVSROOT/CVSROOT/history) with read and write permissions for
         all users (see node 'Creating a repository' in the CVS manual).

         Note: history uses -f, -l, -n, and -p in ways that conflict with the normal use inside  cvs
         (see node 'Common options' in the CVS manual).


history options
       Several options (shown above as -report)  control  what kind of report is generated:



       -c

         Report on each time commit was used (i.e., each time the repository was modified).



       -e

         Everything  (all  record  types).   Equivalent  to specifying -x with all record types.  Of
         course, -e will also include record types which are added in a future version  of  cvs;  if
         you are writing a script which can only handle certain record types, you'll want to specify
         -x.



       -m module

         Report on a particular module.  (You can meaningfully use -m more than once on the  command
         line.)



       -o

         Report on checked-out modules.  This is the default report type.



       -T

         Report on all tags.



       -x type

         Extract  a  particular  set of record types type from the cvs history.  The types are indi‐
         cated by single letters, which you may specify in combination.

         Certain commands have a single record type:


         F

           release

         O

           checkout

         E

           export

         T

           rtag

           One of five record types may result from an update:


         C

           A merge was necessary but collisions were detected (requiring manual merging).

         G

           A merge was necessary and it succeeded.

         U

           A working file was copied from the repository.

         P

           A working file was patched to match the repository.

         W

           The working copy of a file was deleted during update (because it was gone from the repos‐
           itory).

           One of three record types results from commit:


         A

           A file was added for the first time.

         M

           A file was modified.

         R

           A file was removed.

           The options shown as -flags constrain or expand the report without requiring option argu‐
           ments:



       -a

         Show data for all users (the default is to show data only for the user executing history).



       -l

         Show last modification only.



       -w

         Show only the records for modifications done from the same working directory where  history
         is executing.

         The options shown as -options args constrain the report based on an argument:



       -b str

         Show  data  back  to  a record containing  the  string str  in  either the module name, the
         file name, or the repository path.



       -D date

         Show data since date.  This is slightly different from the normal use of -D date, which se‐
         lects the newest revision older than date.



       -f file

         Show  data  for  a  particular file (you can specify several -f options on the same command
         line).  This is equivalent to specifying the file on the command line.



       -n module

         Show data for a particular module (you can specify several -n options on the  same  command
         line).



       -p repository

         Show  data  for  a particular source repository  (you can specify several -p options on the
         same command line).



       -r rev

         Show records referring to revisions since the revision or tag named rev appears in individ‐
         ual rcs files.  Each rcs file is searched for the revision or tag.



       -t tag

         Show  records  since  tag tag was last added to the history file.  This differs from the -r
         flag above in that it reads only the history file, not the rcs files, and is much faster.



       -u name

         Show records for user name.



       -z timezone

         Show times in the selected records using the specified time zone instead of UTC.


import, log, history, CVS commands
   import——Import sources into CVS, using vendor branches
       • Synopsis: import [-options] repository vendortag releasetag...

       • Requires: Repository, source distribution directory.

       • Changes: repository.

         Use import to incorporate an entire source distribution from an  outside  source  (e.g.,  a
         source  vendor)  into  your source repository directory.  You can use this command both for
         initial creation of a repository, and for wholesale updates to the module from the  outside
         source.  See node 'Tracking sources' in the CVS manual, for a discussion on this subject.

         The  repository  argument  gives  a directory name (or a path to a directory) under the cvs
         root directory for repositories; if the directory did not exist, import creates it.

         When you use import for updates to source that has been modified in your source  repository
         (since  a  prior import), it will notify you of any files that conflict in the two branches
         of development; use checkout -j to reconcile the differences, as import  instructs  you  to
         do.

         If  cvs  decides a file should be ignored (see node 'cvsignore' in the CVS manual), it does
         not import it and prints I  followed by the filename (see node 'import output' in  the  CVS
         manual, for a complete description of the output).

         If  the file $CVSROOT/CVSROOT/cvswrappers exists, any file whose names match the specifica‐
         tions in that file will be treated as packages and the appropriate filtering will  be  per‐
         formed on the file/directory before being imported.  See node 'Wrappers' in the CVS manual.

         The  outside source is saved in a first-level branch, by default 1.1.1.  Updates are leaves
         of this branch; for example, files from the first imported collection of source will be re‐
         vision  1.1.1.1, then files from the first imported update will be revision 1.1.1.2, and so
         on.

         At least three arguments are required.  repository is needed to identify the collection  of
         source.  vendortag is a tag for the entire branch (e.g., for 1.1.1).  You must also specify
         at least one releasetag to uniquely identify the files at the leaves created each time  you
         execute  import.   The  releasetag should be new, not previously existing in the repository
         file, and uniquely identify the imported release,

         Note that import does not change the directory in which you invoke it.  In  particular,  it
         does  not  set  up  that directory as a cvs working directory; if you want to work with the
         sources import them first and then check them out into  a  different  directory  (see  node
         'Getting the source' in the CVS manual).


import options
       This standard option is supported by import (see node 'Common options' in the CVS manual, for
       a complete description):



       -m message

         Use message as log information, instead of invoking an editor.

         There are the following additional special options.



       -b branch

         See node 'Multiple vendor branches' in the CVS manual.



       -k subst

         Indicate the keyword expansion mode desired.  This setting will apply to all files  created
         during  the  import,  but  not to any files that previously existed in the repository.  See
         node 'Substitution modes' in the CVS manual, for a list of valid -k settings.



       -I name

         Specify file names that should be ignored during import.  You can use this  option  repeat‐
         edly.  To avoid ignoring any files at all (even those ignored by default), specify `-I !'.

         name  can  be  a  file name pattern of the same type that you can specify in the .cvsignore
         file.  See node 'cvsignore' in the CVS manual.



       -W spec

         Specify file names that should be filtered during import.  You can use this option  repeat‐
         edly.

         spec  can  be a file name pattern of the same type that you can specify in the .cvswrappers
         file. See node 'Wrappers' in the CVS manual.



       -X

         Modify the algorithm used by cvs when importing new files so that new files do not  immedi‐
         ately appear on the main trunk.

         Specifically,  this  flag  causes cvs to mark new files as if they were deleted on the main
         trunk, by taking the following steps for each file in addition to those normally  taken  on
         import: creating a new revision on the main trunk indicating that the new file is dead, re‐
         setting the new file's default branch, and placing the file in the Attic (see node  'Attic'
         in the CVS manual) directory.

         Setting the ImportNewFilesToVendorBranchOnly option in CVSROOT/config (see node 'config' in
         the CVS manual) forces use of this option on a repository-wide basis.


import output
       import keeps you informed of its progress by printing a line for each file, preceded  by  one
       character indicating the status of the file:



       U file

         The file already exists in the repository and has not been locally modified; a new revision
         has been created (if necessary).



       N file

         The file is a new file which has been added to the repository.



       C file

         The file already exists in the repository but has been locally modified; you will  have  to
         merge the changes.



       I file

         The file is being ignored (see node 'cvsignore' in the CVS manual).



       L file

         The  file  is a symbolic link; cvs import ignores symbolic links.  People periodically sug‐
         gest that this behavior should be changed, but if there is a consensus on what it should be
         changed to, it is not apparent.  (Various options in the modules file can be used to recre‐
         ate symbolic links on checkout, update, etc.; see node 'modules' in the CVS manual.)


import examples
       See node 'Tracking sources' in the CVS manual, and node 'From files' in the CVS manual.


log, ls & rls, import, CVS commands
   log——Print out history information for files
       • Synopsis: log [options] [files...]

         rlog [options] [files...]

       • Requires: repository, working directory.

       • Changes: nothing.

         Display log information for files.  log used to call the rcs utility rlog.   Although  this
         is  no longer true in the current sources, this history determines the format of the output
         and the options, which are not quite in the style of the other cvs commands.

         The output includes the location of the rcs file, the head revision (the latest revision on
         the  trunk), all symbolic names (tags) and some other things.  For each revision, the revi‐
         sion 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 typ‐
         ically specified in the $TZ environment variable, which can be set to govern how  log  dis‐
         plays dates.

         Note:  log uses -R in a way that conflicts with the normal use inside cvs (see node 'Common
         options' in the CVS manual).


log options
       By default, log prints all information that is available.  All  other  options  restrict  the
       output.   Note that the revision selection options (-d, -r, -s, and -w) have no effect, other
       than possibly causing a search for files in Attic directories, when used in conjunction  with
       the  options  that  restrict the output to only log header fields (-b, -h, -R, and -t) unless
       the -S option is also specified.



       -b

         Print information about the revisions on the default branch, normally the highest branch on
         the trunk.



       -d dates

         Print  information about revisions with a checkin date/time in the range given by the semi‐
         colon-separated list of dates.  The date formats accepted are those accepted by the -D  op‐
         tion  to  many other cvs commands (see node 'Common options' in the CVS manual).  Dates can
         be combined into ranges as follows:


         d1<d2



         d2>d1

           Select the revisions that were deposited between d1 and d2.


         <d



         d>

           Select all revisions dated d or earlier.


         d<



         >d

           Select all revisions dated d or later.


         d

           Select the single, latest revision dated d or earlier.

           The > or < characters may be followed by = to indicate an inclusive range rather than  an
           exclusive one.

           Note that the separator is a semicolon (;).



       -h

         Print  only  the name of the rcs file, name of the file in the working directory, head, de‐
         fault branch, access list, locks, symbolic names, and suffix.



       -l

         Local; run only in current working directory.  (Default is to run recursively).



       -N

         Do not print the list of tags for this file.  This option can be very useful when your site
         uses  a lot of tags, so rather than "more"'ing over 3 pages of tag information, the log in‐
         formation is presented without tags at all.



       -R

         Print only the name of the rcs file.



       -rrevisions

         Print information about revisions given in the comma-separated list revisions of  revisions
         and ranges.  The following table explains the available range formats:


         rev1:rev2

           Revisions rev1 to rev2 (which must be on the same branch).


         rev1::rev2

           The same, but excluding rev1.


         :rev



         ::rev

           Revisions from the beginning of the branch up to and including rev.


         rev:

           Revisions starting with rev to the end of the branch containing rev.


         rev::

           Revisions starting just after rev to the end of the branch containing rev.


         branch

           An argument that is a branch means all revisions on that branch.


         branch1:branch2



         branch1::branch2

           A range of branches means all revisions on the branches in that range.


         branch.

           The latest revision in branch.

           A bare -r with no revisions means the latest revision on the default branch, normally the
           trunk.  There can be no space between the -r option and its argument.



       -S

         Suppress the header if no revisions are selected.



       -s states

         Print information about revisions whose state attributes match one of the states  given  in
         the comma-separated list states.  Individual states may be any text string, though cvs com‐
         monly only uses two states, Exp and dead.  See node 'admin options' in the CVS  manual  for
         more information.



       -t

         Print the same as -h, plus the descriptive text.



       -wlogins

         Print  information  about  revisions  checked in by users with login names appearing in the
         comma-separated list logins.  If logins is omitted, the user's login is assumed.  There can
         be no space between the -w option and its argument.

         log  prints the intersection of the revisions selected with the options -d, -s, and -w, in‐
         tersected with the union of the revisions selected by -b and -r.


log examples
       Since log shows dates in local time, you might want to see them in Coordinated Universal Time
       (UTC)  or  some  other timezone.  To do this you can set your $TZ environment variable before
       invoking cvs:


         $ TZ=UTC cvs log foo.c
         $ TZ=EST cvs log bar.c




       (If you are using a csh-style shell, like tcsh, you would need to prefix the  examples  above
       with env.)


ls & rls
   List files in the repository
       • ls [-e | -l] [-RP] [-r tag[:date]] [-D date] [path...]

         rls [-e | -l] [-RP] [-r tag[:date]] [-D date] [path...]

       • Requires: repository for rls, repository & working directory for ls.

       • Changes: nothing.

       • Synonym: dir & list are synonyms for ls and rdir & rlist are synonyms for rls.

         The ls and rls commands are used to list files and directories in the repository.

         By  default  ls lists the files and directories that belong in your working directory, what
         would be there after an update.

         By default rls lists the files and directories on the tip of the trunk in the  topmost  di‐
         rectory of the repository.

         Both  commands accept an optional list of file and directory names, relative to the working
         directory for ls and the topmost directory of the repository for rls.  Neither is recursive
         by default.


ls & rls options
       These standard options are supported by ls & rls:



       -d

         Show dead revisions (with tag when specified).



       -e

         Display  in  CVS/Entries format.  This format is meant to remain easily parsable by automa‐
         tion.



       -l

         Display all details.



       -P

         Don't list contents of empty directories when recursing.



       -R

         List recursively.



       -r tag[:date]

         Show files specified by tag or, when date is specified and tag is a branch tag, the version
         from the branch tag as it existed on date.  See node 'Common options' in the CVS manual.



       -D date

         Show files from date.


rls examples
         $ cvs rls
         cvs rls: Listing module: `.'
         CVSROOT
         first-dir





         $ cvs rls CVSROOT
         cvs rls: Listing module: `CVSROOT'
         checkoutlist
         commitinfo
         config
         cvswrappers
         loginfo
         modules
         notify
         rcsinfo
         taginfo
         verifymsg






rdiff, release, ls & rls, CVS commands
   rdiff——Create 'patch' format diffs between revisions
       • rdiff [-flags] [-V vn] (-r tag1[:date1] | -D date1) [-r tag2[:date2] | -D date2] modules...

       • Requires: repository.

       • Changes: nothing.

       • Synonym: patch

         Builds  a  Larry  Wall  format patch(1) file between two releases, that can be fed directly
         into the patch program to bring an old release up-to-date with the new release.   (This  is
         one of the few cvs commands that operates directly from the repository, and doesn't require
         a prior checkout.) The diff output is sent to the standard output device.

         You can specify (using the standard -r and -D options) any combination of one or two  revi‐
         sions or dates.  If only one revision or date is specified, the patch file reflects differ‐
         ences between that revision or date and the current head revisions in the rcs file.

         Note that if the software release affected is contained in more than one directory, then it
         may  be  necessary  to  specify  the  -p  option to the patch command when patching the old
         sources, so that patch is able to find the files that are located in other directories.


rdiff options
       These standard options are supported by rdiff (see node 'Common options' in the  CVS  manual,
       for a complete description of them):



       -D date

         Use the most recent revision no later than date.



       -f

         If  no  matching  revision is found, retrieve the most recent revision (instead of ignoring
         the file).



       -k kflag

         Process keywords according to kflag.  See node 'Keyword substitution' in the CVS manual.



       -l

         Local; don't descend subdirectories.



       -R

         Examine directories recursively.  This option is on by default.



       -r tag

         Use the revision specified by tag, or when date is specified and tag is a branch  tag,  the
         version  from  the  branch tag as it existed on date.  See node 'Common options' in the CVS
         manual.

         In addition to the above, these options are available:



       -c

         Use the context diff format.  This is the default format.



       -p

         Show which C function each change is in.



       -s

         Create a summary change report instead of a patch.  The summary includes information  about
         files  that  were changed or added between the releases.  It is sent to the standard output
         device.  This is useful for finding out, for example, which files have changed between  two
         dates or revisions.



       -t

         A diff of the top two revisions is sent to the standard output device.  This is most useful
         for seeing what the last change to a file was.



       -u

         Use the unidiff format for the context diffs.  Remember that old versions of the patch pro‐
         gram  can't  handle  the  unidiff  format, so if you plan to post this patch to the net you
         should probably not use -u.



       -V vn

         Expand keywords according to the rules current in rcs  version  vn  (the  expansion  format
         changed with rcs version 5).  Note that this option is no longer accepted.  cvs will always
         expand keywords the way that rcs version 5 does.


rdiff examples
       Suppose you receive mail from foo AT example.net asking for an update from release 1.2 to 1.4 of
       the  tc  compiler.   You  have no such patches on hand, but with cvs that can easily be fixed
       with a command such as this:


         $ cvs rdiff -c -r FOO1_2 -r FOO1_4 tc | \
         $$ Mail -s 'The patches you asked for' foo AT example.net




       Suppose you have made release 1.3, and  forked  a  branch  called  R_1_3fix  for  bug  fixes.
       R_1_3_1 corresponds to release 1.3.1, which was made some time ago.  Now, you want to see how
       much development has been done on the branch.  This command can be used:


         $ cvs patch -s -r R_1_3_1 -r R_1_3fix module-name
         cvs rdiff: Diffing module-name
         File ChangeLog,v changed from revision 1.52.2.5 to 1.52.2.6
         File foo.c,v changed from revision 1.52.2.3 to 1.52.2.4
         File bar.h,v changed from revision 1.29.2.1 to 1.2





release, server & pserver, rdiff, CVS commands
   release——Indicate that a directory is no longer in use
       • release [-d] directories...

       • Requires: Working directory.

       • Changes: Working directory, history log.

         This command is meant to safely cancel the effect of cvs checkout.  Since cvs doesn't  lock
         files,  it isn't strictly necessary to use this command.  You can always simply delete your
         working directory, if you like; but you risk losing changes you may have forgotten, and you
         leave  no  trace  in  the cvs history file (see node 'history file' in the CVS manual) that
         you've abandoned your checkout.

         Use cvs release to avoid these problems.  This command checks that no  uncommitted  changes
         are  present; that you are executing it from immediately above a cvs working directory; and
         that the repository recorded for your files is the same as the repository  defined  in  the
         module database.

         If  all  these conditions are true, cvs release leaves a record of its execution (attesting
         to your intentionally abandoning your checkout) in the cvs history log.


release options
       The release command supports one command option:



       -d

         Delete your working copy of the file if the release succeeds.  If this flag  is  not  given
         your files will remain in your working directory.

         WARNING:   The release command deletes all directories and files recursively.  This has the
         very serious side-effect that any directory that you have created inside  your  checked-out
         sources, and not added to the repository (using the add command; see node 'Adding files' in
         the CVS manual) will be silently deletedeven if it is non-empty!


release output
       Before release releases your sources it will print a one-line message for any  file  that  is
       not up-to-date.



       U file




       P file

         There  exists  a  newer  revision of this file in the repository, and you have not modified
         your local copy of the file (U and P mean the same thing).



       A file

         The file has been added to your private copy of the sources, but has not yet been committed
         to the repository.  If you delete your copy of the sources this file will be lost.



       R file

         The  file  has been removed from your private copy of the sources, but has not yet been re‐
         moved from the repository, since you have not yet committed the removal.  See node 'commit'
         in the CVS manual.



       M file

         The  file  is modified in your working directory.  There might also be a newer revision in‐
         side the repository.



       ? file

         file is in your working directory, but does not correspond to anything in the source repos‐
         itory, and is not in the list of files for cvs to ignore (see the description of the -I op‐
         tion, and see node 'cvsignore' in the CVS manual).  If you  remove  your  working  sources,
         this file will be lost.


release examples
       Release the tc directory, and delete your local working copy of the files.


         $ cd ..         # You must stand immediately above the

                         # sources when you issue cvs release.
         $ cvs release -d tc
         You have [0] altered files in this repository.
         Are you sure you want to release (and delete) directory `tc': y
         $





server & pserver
   Act as a server for a client on stdin/stdout
       • pserver [-c path]

         server [-c path]

       • Requires: repository, client conversation on stdin/stdout

       • Changes: Repository or, indirectly, client working directory.

         The cvs server and pserver commands are used to provide repository access to remote clients
         and expect a client conversation on stdin & stdout.  Typically these commands are  launched
         from inetd or via ssh (see node 'Remote repositories' in the CVS manual).

         server  expects  that the client has already been authenticated somehow, typically via ssh,
         and pserver attempts to authenticate the client itself.

         Only one option is available with the server and pserver commands:



       -c path

         Load configuration from the given path rather than from the default location  $CVSROOT/CVS‐‐
         ROOT/config  (see node 'config' in the CVS manual).  path must be /etc/cvs.conf or prefixed
         by /etc/cvs/.  This option is supported beginning with cvs release 1.12.13.


suck, update, server & pserver, CVS commands
   suck——Download RCS ,v file raw
       • suck module/pa/th

       • Requires: repository

         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.


update, , suck, CVS commands
   update——Bring work tree in sync with repository
       • update [-ACdflPpR] [-I name] [-j rev [-j rev]] [-k kflag] [-r tag[:date]  |  -D  date]  [-W
         spec] files...

       • Requires: repository, working directory.

       • Changes: working directory.

         After you've run checkout to create your private copy of source from the common repository,
         other developers will continue changing the central source.  From time to time, when it  is
         convenient  in  your  development  process, you can use the update command from within your
         working directory to reconcile your work with any revisions applied to the  source  reposi‐
         tory since your last checkout or update.  Without the -C option, update will also merge any
         differences between the local copy of files and their base revisions into  any  destination
         revisions specified with -r, -D, or -A.


update options
       These  standard  options are available with update (see node 'Common options' in the CVS man‐
       ual, for a complete description of them):



       -D date

         Use the most recent revision no later than date.  This option is sticky,  and  implies  -P.
         See node 'Sticky tags' in the CVS manual, for more information on sticky tags/dates.



       -f

         Only  useful  with the -D or -r flags.  If no matching revision is found, retrieve the most
         recent revision (instead of ignoring the file).



       -k kflag

         Process keywords according to kflag.  See node 'Keyword substitution' in  the  CVS  manual.
         This  option  is sticky; future updates of this file in this working directory will use the
         same kflag.  The status command can be viewed to see the sticky options.  See node  'Invok‐
         ing CVS' in the CVS manual, for more information on the status command.



       -l

         Local;  run  only  in  current working directory.  See node 'Recursive behavior' in the CVS
         manual.



       -P

         Prune empty directories.  See node 'Moving directories' in the CVS manual.



       -p

         Pipe files to the standard output.



       -R

         Update directories recursively (default).  See node 'Recursive behavior' in the CVS manual.



       -r tag[:date]

         Retrieve the revisions specified by tag or, when date is specified and tag is a branch tag,
         the  version from the branch tag as it existed on date.  This option is sticky, and implies
         -P.  See node 'Sticky tags' in the CVS manual, for more information on  sticky  tags/dates.
         Also see node 'Common options' in the CVS manual.

         These special options are also available with update.



       -A

         Reset any sticky tags, dates, or -k options.  See node 'Sticky tags' in the CVS manual, for
         more information on sticky tags/dates.



       -C

         Overwrite locally modified files with clean copies from the repository (the  modified  file
         is saved in .#file.revision, however).



       -d

         Create any directories that exist in the repository if they're missing from the working di‐
         rectory.  Normally, update acts only on directories and files that were already enrolled in
         your working directory.

         This  is useful for updating directories that were created in the repository since the ini‐
         tial 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  com‐
         mand  line), then updating with -d will create those directories, which may not be what you
         want.



       -I name

         Ignore files whose names match name (in your working directory) during the update.  You can
         specify -I more than once on the command line to specify several files to ignore.  Use -I !
         to avoid ignoring any files at all.  See node 'cvsignore' in the CVS manual, for other ways
         to make cvs ignore some files.



       -Wspec

         Specify  file names that should be filtered during update.  You can use this option repeat‐
         edly.

         spec can be a file name pattern of the same type that you can specify in  the  .cvswrappers
         file. See node 'Wrappers' in the CVS manual.



       -jrevision

         With  two -j options, merge changes from the revision specified with the first -j option to
         the revision specified with the second j option, into the working directory.

         With one -j option, merge changes from the ancestor revision to the revision specified with
         the -j option, into the working directory.  The ancestor revision is the common ancestor of
         the revision which the working directory is based on, and the revision specified in the  -j
         option.

         Note  that using a single -j tagname option rather than -j branchname to merge changes from
         a branch will often not remove files which were removed on the branch.  See  node  'Merging
         adds and removals' in the CVS manual, for more.

         In  addition,  each  -j  option can contain an optional date specification which, when used
         with branches, can limit the chosen revision to one within a specific  date.   An  optional
         date is specified by adding a colon (:) to the tag: -jSymbolic_Tag:Date_Specifier.

         See node 'Branching and merging' in the CVS manual.



update output
       update  and  checkout  keep  you informed of their progress by printing a line for each file,
       preceded by one character indicating the status of the file:



       U file

         The file was brought up to date with respect to the repository.  This is done for any  file
         that  exists  in  the  repository but not in your working directory, and for files that you
         haven't changed but are not the most recent versions available in the repository.



       P file

         Like U, but the cvs server sends a patch instead of an entire file.  This accomplishes  the
         same thing as U using less bandwidth.



       A file

         The  file  has  been  added  to  your private copy of the sources, and will be added to the
         source repository when you run commit on the file.  This is a reminder to you that the file
         needs to be committed.



       R file

         The  file  has been removed from your private copy of the sources, and will be removed from
         the source repository when you run commit on the file.  This is a reminder to you that  the
         file needs to be committed.



       M file

         The file is modified in  your  working  directory.

         M can indicate one of two states for a file you're working on: either there were no modifi‐
         cations to the same file in the repository, so that your file remains as you last  saw  it;
         or there were modifications in the repository as well as in your copy, but they were merged
         successfully, without conflict, in your working directory.

         cvs will print some messages if it merges your work, and a backup copy of your working file
         (as  it looked before you ran update) will be made.  The exact name of that file is printed
         while update runs.



       C file

         A conflict was detected while trying to merge your changes to file with  changes  from  the
         source repository.  file (the copy in your working directory) is now the result of attempt‐
         ing to merge the two revisions; an unmodified copy of your file is also in your working di‐
         rectory,  with  the  name .#file.revision where revision is the revision that your modified
         file started from.  Resolve the conflict as described in node 'Conflicts  example'  in  the
         CVS  manual.   (Note that some systems automatically purge files that begin with .# if they
         have not been accessed for a few days.  If you intend to keep a copy of your original file,
         it  is a very good idea to rename it.)  Under vms, the file name starts with __ rather than
         .#.



       ? file

         file is in your working directory, but does not correspond to anything in the source repos‐
         itory, and is not in the list of files for cvs to ignore (see the description of the -I op‐
         tion, and see node 'cvsignore' in the CVS manual).

AUTHORS
       Dick Grune
              Original author of the cvs shell script version posted  to  comp.sources.unix  in  the
              volume6  release of December, 1986.  Credited with much of the cvs conflict resolution
              algorithms.

       Brian Berliner
              Coder and designer of the cvs program itself in April, 1989,  based  on  the  original
              work done by Dick.

       Jeff Polk
              Helped Brian with the design of the cvs module and vendor branch support and author of
              the checkin(1) shell script (the ancestor of cvs import).

       Larry Jones, Derek R. Price, and Mark D. Baushke
              Have helped maintain cvs for many years.

       And many others too numerous to mention here.

SEE ALSO
       The most comprehensive manual for CVS is Version Management with CVS by Per Cederqvist et al.
       (see NOTE at top).

       For  CVS  updates, more information on documentation, software related to CVS, development of
       CVS, and more, see:

           http://www.nongnu.org/cvs/

           ci(1), co(1), cvs(5), cvsbug(8), diff(1), grep(1), patch(1), rcs(1),  rcsdiff(1),  rcsin‐‐
           tro(1), rcsmerge(1), rlog(1), re_format(7).



                                                                                              CVS(1)

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