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A. 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 section B. Quick reference to CVS commands).

A.1 Overall structure of CVS commands  
A.2 CVS's exit status  Indicating CVS's success or failure
A.3 Default options and the ~/.cvsrc file  Default options with the ~/.csvrc file
A.4 Global options  Options you give to the left of cvs_command
A.5 Common command options  Options you give to the right of cvs_command
A.6 admin--Administration  Administration
A.7 checkout--Check out sources for editing  Checkout sources for editing
A.8 commit--Check files into the repository  Check files into the repository
A.9 diff--Show differences between revisions  Show differences between revisions
A.10 export--Export sources from CVS, similar to checkout  Export sources from CVS, similar to checkout
A.11 history--Show status of files and users  Show status of files and users
A.12 import--Import sources into CVS, using vendor branches  Import sources into CVS, using vendor branches
A.13 log--Print out log information for files  Show log messages for files
A.14 rdiff---'patch' format diffs between releases  'patch' format diffs between releases
A.15 release--Indicate that a Module is no longer in use  Indicate that a directory is no longer in use
A.16 update--Bring work tree in sync with repository  Bring work tree in sync with repository


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A.1 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. `-l', when given as a cvs_option, only affects some of the commands. When it is given as a command_option is has a different meaning, and is accepted by more commands. In other words, do not take the above categorization too seriously. Look at the documentation instead.


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A.2 CVS's exit status

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

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


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A.3 Default options and the ~/.cvsrc file

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

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

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

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

 
log -N
diff -u
update -P
checkout -P

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 section A.4 Global options). For example the following line in `.cvsrc'

 
cvs -z6

causes CVS to use compression level 6.


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A.4 Global options

The available `cvs_options' (that are given to the left of `cvs_command') are:

--allow-root=rootdir
Specify legal CVSROOT directory. See 2.9.3.1 Setting up the server for password authentication.

-a
Authenticate all communication between the client and the server. Only has an effect on the CVS client. As of this writing, this is only implemented when using a GSSAPI connection (see section 2.9.4 Direct connection with GSSAPI). 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. Overrides the setting of the $TMPDIR environment variable and any precompiled directory. This parameter should be specified as an absolute pathname.

-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 section 2. The Repository.

-e editor
Use editor to enter revision log information. Overrides the setting of the $CVSEDITOR and $EDITOR environment variables. For more information, see 1.3.2 Committing your changes.

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

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

-l
Do not log the `cvs_command' in the command history (but execute it anyway). See section A.11 history--Show status of files and users, for information on command history.

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

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

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

-q
Cause the command to be somewhat quiet; informational messages, such as reports of recursion through subdirectories, are suppressed.

-r
Make new working files read-only. Same effect as if the $CVSREAD environment variable is set (see section D. All environment variables which affect CVS). The default is to make working files writable, unless watches are on (see section 10.6 Mechanisms to track who is editing files).

-s variable=value
Set a user variable (see section C.12 Expansions in administrative files).

-t
Trace program execution; display messages showing the steps of CVS activity. Particularly useful with `-n' to explore the potential impact of an unfamiliar command.

-v
--version
Display version and copyright information for CVS.

-w
Make new working files read-write. Overrides the setting of the $CVSREAD environment variable. Files are created read-write by default, unless $CVSREAD is set or `-r' is given.

-x
Encrypt all communication between the client and the server. Only has an effect on the CVS client. As of this writing, this is only implemented when using a GSSAPI connection (see section 2.9.4 Direct connection with GSSAPI) or a Kerberos connection (see section 2.9.5 Direct connection with kerberos). Enabling encryption implies that message traffic is also authenticated. Encryption support is not available by default; it must be enabled using a special configure option, `--enable-encryption', when you build CVS.

-z gzip-level
Set the compression level. Valid levels are 1 (high speed, low compression) to 9 (low speed, high compression), or 0 to disable compression (the default). Only has an effect on the CVS client.


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A.5 Common command options

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

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

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

The specification is sticky when you use it to make a private copy of a source file; that is, when you get a working file using `-D', CVS records the date you specified, so that further updates in the same directory will use the same date (for more information on sticky tags/dates, see section 4.9 Sticky tags).

`-D' is available with the checkout, diff, export, history, rdiff, rtag, and update commands. (The history command uses this option in a slightly different way; see section A.11.1 history options).

A wide variety of date formats are supported by CVS. The most standard ones are ISO8601 (from the International Standards Organization) and the Internet e-mail standard (specified in RFC822 as amended by RFC1123).

ISO8601 dates have many variants but a few examples are:

 
1972-09-24
1972-09-24 20:05

There are a lot more ISO8601 date formats, and CVS accepts many of them, but you probably don't want to hear the whole long story :-).

In addition to the dates allowed in Internet e-mail itself, CVS also allows some of the fields to be omitted. For example:

 
24 Sep 1972 20:05
24 Sep

The date is interpreted as being in the local timezone, unless a specific timezone is specified.

These two date formats are preferred. However, CVS currently accepts a wide variety of other date formats. They are intentionally not documented here in any detail, and future versions of CVS might not accept all of them.

One such format is month/day/year. This may confuse people who are accustomed to having the month and day in the other order; `1/4/96' is January 4, not April 1.

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

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

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

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

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

Warning: The commit and remove commands also have a `-f' option, but it has a different behavior for those commands. See A.8.1 commit options, and 7.2 Removing files.

-k kflag
Alter the default processing of keywords. See section 12. Keyword substitution, for the meaning of kflag. Your kflag specification is sticky when you use it to create a private copy of a source file; that is, when you use this option with the checkout or update commands, CVS associates your selected kflag with the file, and continues to use it with future update commands on the same file until you specify otherwise.

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

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

Warning: this is not the same as the overall `cvs -l' option, which you can specify to the left of a cvs command!

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

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

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

-n
Do not run any checkout/commit/tag program. (A program can be specified to run on each of these activities, in the modules database (see section C.1 The modules file); this option bypasses it).

Warning: this is not the same as the overall `cvs -n' 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 7.3 Removing directories.

-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 on by default.

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

-r tag
Use the revision specified by the tag argument instead of the default head revision. As well as arbitrary tags defined with the tag or rtag command, two special tags are always available: `HEAD' refers to the most recent version available in the repository, and `BASE' refers to the revision you last checked out into the current working directory.

The tag specification is sticky when you use this with checkout or update to make your own copy of a file: CVS remembers the tag and continues to use it on future update commands, until you specify otherwise (for more information on sticky tags/dates, see section 4.9 Sticky tags).

The tag can be either a symbolic or numeric tag, as described in 4.4 Tags--Symbolic revisions, or the name of a branch, as described in 5. Branching and merging.

Specifying the `-q' global option along with the `-r' command option is often useful, to suppress the warning messages when the RCS file does not contain the specified tag.

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

`-r' is available with the checkout, commit, diff, history, export, rdiff, rtag, and update commands.

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


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A.6 admin--Administration

This is the CVS interface to assorted administrative facilities. Some of them have questionable usefulness for CVS but exist for historical purposes. Some of the questionable options are likely to disappear in the future. This command does work recursively, so extreme care should be used.

On unix, if there is a group named cvsadmin, only members of that group can run cvs admin (except for the cvs admin -k command, which can be run by anybody). This 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.

A.6.1 admin options  


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A.6.1 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 section 4.9 Sticky tags) are a better way to decide which branch you want to work on. There is one reason to run cvs admin -b: to revert to the vendor's version when using vendor branches (see section 13.3 Reverting to the latest vendor release). 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 section 12. Keyword substitution.

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

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

-i
Useless with CVS. This creates and initializes a new RCS file, without depositing a revision. With CVS, add files with the cvs add command (see section 7.1 Adding files to a directory).

-ksubst
Set the default keyword substitution to subst. See section 12. Keyword substitution. 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 5.5 Magic branch numbers.

-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 numbers extracted from keyword strings in the corresponding working files.

-orange
Deletes (outdates) the revisions given by range.

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

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

Specify range in one of the following ways:

rev1::rev2
Collapse all revisions between rev1 and rev2, so that CVS only stores the differences associated with going from rev1 to rev2, not intermediate steps. For example, after `-o 1.3::1.5' one can retrieve revision 1.3, revision 1.5, or the differences to get from 1.3 to 1.5, but not the revision 1.4, or the differences between 1.3 and 1.4. Other examples: `-o 1.3::1.4' and `-o 1.3::1.3' have no effect, because there are no intermediate revisions to remove.

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

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

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

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

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

rev:
Delete revisions from revision rev, including rev itself, to the end of the branch containing rev.

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

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

Due to the way CVS handles branches rev cannot be specified symbolically if it is a branch. See section 5.5 Magic branch numbers, 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 section 5.8 Merging differences between any two revisions).

-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 section A.13 log--Print out log information for files), and in the `$'Log$ and `$'State$ keywords (see section 12. Keyword substitution). Note that CVS uses the dead state for its own purposes; to take a file to or from the dead state use commands like cvs remove and cvs add, 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 section A.13 log--Print out log information for files). There can be no space between `-t' and its argument.

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

-t-string
Similar to `-tfile'. Write descriptive text from the string into the RCS file, deleting the existing text. There can be no space between `-t' and its argument.

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

-u[rev]
See the option `-l' above, for a discussion of using this option with CVS. Unlock the revision with number rev. If a branch is given, unlock the latest revision on that branch. If rev is omitted, remove the latest lock held by the caller. Normally, only the locker of a revision may unlock it; somebody else unlocking a revision breaks the lock. This causes the original locker to be sent a commit notification (see section 10.6.2 Telling CVS to notify you). There can be no space between `-u' and its argument.

-Vn
In previous versions of CVS, this option meant to write an RCS file which would be acceptable to RCS version n, but it is now obsolete and specifying it will produce an error.

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


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A.7 checkout--Check out sources for editing

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 section C.1 The modules file.

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

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

The files created by checkout are created read-write, unless the `-r' option to CVS (see section A.4 Global options) is specified, the CVSREAD environment variable is specified (see section D. All environment variables which affect CVS), or a watch is in effect for that file (see section 10.6 Mechanisms to track who is editing files).

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

For the output produced by the checkout command see A.16.2 update output.

A.7.1 checkout options  
A.7.2 checkout examples  


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A.7.1 checkout options

These standard options are supported by checkout (see section A.5 Common command options, 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 4.9 Sticky tags, for more information on sticky tags/dates.

-f
Only useful with the `-D date' or `-r tag' 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 12. Keyword substitution. 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 B. Quick reference to CVS commands, 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 section C.1 The modules file).

-P
Prune empty directories. See 7.5 Moving and renaming directories.

-p
Pipe files to the standard output.

-R
Checkout directories recursively. This option is on by default.

-r tag
Use revision tag. This option is sticky, and implies `-P'. See 4.9 Sticky tags, for more information on sticky tags/dates.

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

-A
Reset any sticky tags, dates, or `-k' options. See 4.9 Sticky tags, for more information on sticky tags/dates.

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

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

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

For example, given a module `foo' that contains the file `bar.c', the command `cvs co -d dir foo' will create directory `dir' and place `bar.c' inside. Similarly, given a module `bar' which has subdirectory `baz' wherein there is a file `quux.c', the command `cvs -d dir co 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 section 5. Branching and merging.

-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 section C.1 The modules file, for info about the `-s' option that is used inside the modules file to set the module status.


[ < ] [ > ]   [ << ] [ Up ] [ >> ]         [Top] [Contents] [Index] [ ? ]

A.7.2 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


[ < ] [ > ]   [ << ] [ Up ] [ >> ]         [Top] [Contents] [Index] [ ? ]

A.8 commit--Check files into the repository

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 section A.16 update--Bring work tree in sync with repository). 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 section C.1 The modules file, and see section C.7 Loginfo) and placed in the RCS file inside the repository. This log message can be retrieved with the log command; see A.13 log--Print out log information for files. 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.

A.8.1 commit options  
A.8.2 commit examples  


[ < ] [ > ]   [ << ] [ Up ] [ >> ]         [Top] [Contents] [Index] [ ? ]

A.8.1 commit options

These standard options are supported by commit (see section A.5 Common command options, for a complete description of them):

-l
Local; run only in current working directory.

-n
Do not run any module program.

-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 section 4.3 Assigning revisions). You cannot commit to a specific revision on a branch.

commit also supports these options:

-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 A.5 Common command options.

Force CVS to commit a new revision even if you haven't made any changes to the file. If the current revision of file is 1.7, then the following two commands are equivalent:

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

The `-f' option disables recursion (i.e., it implies `-l'). To force CVS to commit a new revision for all files in all subdirectories, you must use `-f -R'.

-m message
Use message as the log message, instead of invoking an editor. <C.1 The modules file, for info about the `-s' option that is used inside the modules file to set the module status.


[ < ] [ > ]   [ << ] [ Up ] [ >> ]         [Top] [Contents] [Index] [ ? ]

A.7.2 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


[ < ] [ > ]   [ << ] [ Up ] [ >> ]         [Top] [Contents] [Index] [ ? ]

A.8 commit--Check files into the repository

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 section A.16 update--Bring work tree in sync with repository). 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 section C.1 The modules file, and see section C.7 Loginfo) and placed in the RCS file inside the repository. This log message can be retrieved with the log command; see A.13 log--Print out log information for files. 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.

A.8.1 commit options  
A.8.2 commit examples  


[ < ] [ > ]   [ << ] [ Up ] [ >> ]         [Top] [Contents] [Index] [ ? ]

A.8.1 commit options

These standard options are supported by commit (see section A.5 Common command options, for a complete description of them):

-l
Local; run only in current working directory.

-n
Do not run any module program.

-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 section 4.3 Assigning revisions). You cannot commit to a specific revision on a branch.

commit also supports these options:

-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 A.5 Common command options.

Force CVS to commit a new revision even if you haven't made any changes to the file. If the current revision of file is 1.7, then the following two commands are equivalent:

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

The `-f' option disables recursion (i.e., it implies `-l'). To force CVS to commit a new revision for all files in all subdirectories, you must use `-f -R'.

-m message
Use message as the log message, instead of invoking an editor. <C.1 The modules file, for info about the `-s' option that is used inside the modules file to set the module status.


[ < ] [ > ]   [ << ] [ Up ] [ >> ]         [Top] [Contents] [Index] [ ? ]

A.7.2 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


[ < ] [ > ]   [ << ] [ Up ] [ >> ]         [Top] [Contents] [Index] [ ? ]

A.8 commit--Check files into the repository

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 section A.16 update--Bring work tree in sync with repository). 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 section C.1 The modules file, and see section C.7 Loginfo) and placed in the RCS file inside the repository. This log message can be retrieved with the log command; see A.13 log--Print out log information for files. 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.

A.8.1 commit options  
A.8.2 commit examples  


[ < ] [ > ]   [ << ] [ Up ] [ >> ]         [Top] [Contents] [Index] [ ? ]

A.8.1 commit options

These standard options are supported by commit (see section A.5 Common command options, for a complete description of them):

-l
Local; run only in current working directory.

-n
Do not run any module program.

-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 section 4.3 Assigning revisions). You cannot commit to a specific revision on a branch.

commit also supports these options:

-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 A.5 Common command options.

Force CVS to commit a new revision even if you haven't made any changes to the file. If the current revision of file is 1.7, then the following two commands are equivalent:

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

The `-f' option disables recursion (i.e., it implies `-l'). To force CVS to commit a new revision for all files in all subdirectories, you must use `-f -R'.

-m message
Use message as the log message, instead of invoking an editor. <C.1 The modules file, for info about the `-s' option that is used inside the modules file to set the module status.


[ < ] [ > ]   [ << ] [ Up ] [ >> ]         [Top] [Contents] [Index] [ ? ]

A.7.2 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


[ < ] [ > ]   [ << ] [ Up ] [ >> ]         [Top] [Contents] [Index] [ ? ]

A.8 commit--Check files into the repository

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 section A.16 update--Bring work tree in sync with repository). 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 section C.1 The modules file, and see section C.7 Loginfo) and placed in the RCS file inside the repository. This log message can be retrieved with the log command; see A.13 log--Print out log information for files. 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.

A.8.1 commit options  
A.8.2 commit examples  


[ < ] [ > ]   [ << ] [ Up ] [ >> ]         [Top] [Contents] [Index] [ ? ]

A.8.1 commit options

These standard options are supported by commit (see section A.5 Common command options, for a complete description of them):

-l
Local; run only in current working directory.

-n
Do not run any module program.

-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 section 4.3 Assigning revisions). You cannot commit to a specific revision on a branch.

commit also supports these options:

-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 A.5 Common command options.

Force CVS to commit a new revision even if you haven't made any changes to the file. If the current revision of file is 1.7, then the following two commands are equivalent:

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

The `-f' option disables recursion (i.e., it implies `-l'). To force CVS to commit a new revision for all files in all subdirectories, you must use `-f -R'.

-m message
Use message as the log message, instead of invoking an editor. <C.1 The modules file, for info about the `-s' option that is used inside the modules file to set the module status.


[ < ] [ > ]   [ << ] [ Up ] [ >> ]         [Top] [Contents] [Index] [ ? ]

A.7.2 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


[ < ] [ > ]   [ << ] [ Up ] [ >> ]         [Top] [Contents] [Index] [ ? ]

A.8 commit--Check files into the repository

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 section A.16 update--Bring work tree in sync with repository). 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 section C.1 The modules file, and see section C.7 Loginfo) and placed in the RCS file inside the repository. This log message can be retrieved with the log command; see A.13 log--Print out log information for files. 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.

A.8.1 commit options  
A.8.2 commit examples  


[ < ] [ > ]   [ << ] [ Up ] [ >> ]         [Top] [Contents] [Index] [ ? ]

A.8.1 commit options

These standard options are supported by commit (see section A.5 Common command options, for a complete description of them):

-l
Local; run only in current working directory.

-n
Do not run any module program.

-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 section 4.3 Assigning revisions). You cannot commit to a specific revision on a branch.

commit also supports these options:

-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 A.5 Common command options.

Force CVS to commit a new revision even if you haven't made any changes to the file. If the current revision of file is 1.7, then the following two commands are equivalent:

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

The `-f' option disables recursion (i.e., it implies `-l'). To force CVS to commit a new revision for all files in all subdirectories, you must use `-f -R'.

-m message
Use message as the log message, instead of invoking an editor. <C.1 The modules file, for info about the `-s' option that is used inside the modules file to set the module status.


[ < ] [ > ]   [ << ] [ Up ] [ >> ]         [Top] [Contents] [Index] [ ? ]

A.7.2 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


[ < ] [ > ]   [ << ] [ Up ] [ >> ]         [Top] [Contents] [Index] [ ? ]

A.8 commit--Check files into the repository

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 section A.16 update--Bring work tree in sync with repository). 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 section C.1 The modules file, and see section C.7 Loginfo) and placed in the RCS file inside the repository. This log message can be retrieved with the log command; see A.13 log--Print out log information for files. 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.

A.8.1 commit options  
A.8.2 commit examples  


[ < ] [ > ]   [ << ] [ Up ] [ >> ]         [Top] [Contents] [Index] [ ? ]

A.8.1 commit options

These standard options are supported by commit (see section A.5 Common command options, for a complete description of them):

-l
Local; run only in current working directory.

-n
Do not run any module program.

-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 section 4.3 Assigning revisions). You cannot commit to a specific revision on a branch.

commit also supports these options:

-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 A.5 Common command options.

Force CVS to commit a new revision even if you haven't made any changes to the file. If the current revision of file is 1.7, then the following two commands are equivalent:

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

The `-f' option disables recursion (i.e., it implies `-l'). To force CVS to commit a new revision for all files in all subdirectories, you must use `-f -R'.

-m message
Use message as the log message, instead of invoking an editor. <C.1 The modules file, for info about the `-s' option that is used inside the modules file to set the module status.


[ < ] [ > ]   [ << ] [ Up ] [ >> ]         [Top] [Contents] [Index] [ ? ]

A.7.2 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


[ < ] [ > ]   [ << ] [ Up ] [ >> ]         [Top] [Contents] [Index] [ ? ]

A.8 commit--Check files into the repository

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 section A.16 update--Bring work tree in sync with repository). 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 section C.1 The modules file, and see section C.7 Loginfo) and placed in the RCS file inside the repository. This log message can be retrieved with the log command; see A.13 log--Print out log information for files. 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.

A.8.1 commit options  
A.8.2 commit examples  


[ < ] [ > ]   [ << ] [ Up ] [ >> ]         [Top] [Contents] [Index] [ ? ]

A.8.1 commit options

These standard options are supported by commit (see section A.5 Common command options, for a complete description of them):

-l
Local; run only in current working directory.

-n
Do not run any module program.

-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 section 4.3 Assigning revisions). You cannot commit to a specific revision on a branch.

commit also supports these options:

-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 A.5 Common command options.

Force CVS to commit a new revision even if you haven't made any changes to the file. If the current revision of file is 1.7, then the following two commands are equivalent:

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

The `-f' option disables recursion (i.e., it implies `-l'). To force CVS to commit a new revision for all files in all subdirectories, you must use `-f -R'.

-m message
Use message as the log message, instead of invoking an editor. <C.1 The modules file, for info about the `-s' option that is used inside the modules file to set the module status.


[ < ] [ > ]   [ << ] [ Up ] [ >> ]         [Top] [Contents] [Index] [ ? ]

A.7.2 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


[ < ] [ > ]   [ << ] [ Up ] [ >> ]         [Top] [Contents] [Index] [ ? ]

A.8 commit--Check files into the repository

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 section A.16 update--Bring work tree in sync with repository). 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 section C.1 The modules file, and see section C.7 Loginfo) and placed in the RCS file inside the repository. This log message can be retrieved with the log command; see A.13 log--Print out log information for files. 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.

A.8.1 commit options  
A.8.2 commit examples  


[ < ] [ > ]   [ << ] [ Up ] [ >> ]         [Top] [Contents] [Index] [ ? ]

A.8.1 commit options

These standard options are supported by commit (see section A.5 Common command options, for a complete description of them):

-l
Local; run only in current working directory.

-n
Do not run any module program.

-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 section 4.3 Assigning revisions). You cannot commit to a specific revision on a branch.

commit also supports these options:

-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 A.5 Common command options.

Force CVS to commit a new revision even if you haven't made any changes to the file. If the current revision of file is 1.7, then the following two commands are equivalent:

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

The `-f' option disables recursion (i.e., it implies `-l'). To force CVS to commit a new revision for all files in all subdirectories, you must use `-f -R'.

-m message
Use message as the log message, instead of invoking an editor. <C.1 The modules file, for info about the `-s' option that is used inside the modules file to set the module status.


[ < ] [ > ]   [ << ] [ Up ] [ >> ]         [Top] [Contents] [Index] [ ? ]

A.7.2 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


[ < ] [ > ]   [ << ] [ Up ] [ >> ]         [Top] [Contents] [Index] [ ? ]

A.8 commit--Check files into the repository

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 section A.16 update--Bring work tree in sync with repository). 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 section C.1 The modules file, and see section C.7 Loginfo) and placed in the RCS file inside the repository. This log message can be retrieved with the log command; see A.13 log--Print out log information for files. 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.

A.8.1 commit options  
A.8.2 commit examples  


[ < ] [ > ]   [ << ] [ Up ] [ >> ]         [Top] [Contents] [Index] [ ? ]

A.8.1 commit options

These standard options are supported by commit (see section A.5 Common command options, for a complete description of them):

-l
Local; run only in current working directory.

-n
Do not run any module program.

-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 section 4.3 Assigning revisions). You cannot commit to a specific revision on a branch.

commit also supports these options:

-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 A.5 Common command options.

Force CVS to commit a new revision even if you haven't made any changes to the file. If the current revision of file is 1.7, then the following two commands are equivalent:

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

The `-f' option disables recursion (i.e., it implies `-l'). To force CVS to commit a new revision for all files in all subdirectories, you must use `-f -R'.

-m message
Use message as the log message, instead of invoking an editor. <C.1 The modules file, for info about the `-s' option that is used inside the modules file to set the module status.


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A.7.2 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


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A.8 commit--Check files into the repository

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 section A.16 update--Bring work tree in sync with repository). 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 section C.1 The modules file, and see section C.7 Loginfo) and placed in the RCS file inside the repository. This log message can be retrieved with the log command; see A.13 log--Print out log information for files. 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.

A.8.1 commit options  
A.8.2 commit examples  


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A.8.1 commit options

These standard options are supported by commit (see section A.5 Common command options, for a complete description of them):

-l
Local; run only in current working directory.

-n
Do not run any module program.

-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 section 4.3 Assigning revisions). You cannot commit to a specific revision on a branch.

commit also supports these options:

-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 A.5 Common command options.

Force CVS to commit a new revision even if you haven't made any changes to the file. If the current revision of file is 1.7, then the following two commands are equivalent:

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

The `-f' option disables recursion (i.e., it implies `-l'). To force CVS to commit a new revision for all files in all subdirectories, you must use `-f -R'.

-m message
Use message as the log message, instead of invoking an editor. <C.1 The modules file, for info about the `-s' option that is used inside the modules file to set the module status.


[ < ] [ > ]   [ << ] [ Up ] [ >> ]         [Top] [Contents] [Index] [ ? ]

A.7.2 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


[ < ] [ > ]   [ << ] [ Up ] [ >> ]         [Top] [Contents] [Index] [ ? ]

A.8 commit--Check files into the repository

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