NAME

SYNOPSIS

cvs [ cvs_options ]

cvs_command [ command_options ] [ command_args ]

NOTE

CVS commands

Structure

Exit status

~/.cvsrc

Global options

--allow-root=rootdir

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

-a

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

-b bindir

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

-T tempdir

Use tempdir as the directory where temporary files are located.

The cvs client and server store temporary files in a temporary 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 `Environment variables' in the CVS manual).

• /tmp

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

-d cvs_root_directory

Use cvs_root_directory as the root directory pathname of the 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 see node `Committing your changes' in the CVS manual.

-f

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

-H

--help

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

-R

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

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

-n

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

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

-Q

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

-q

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

-r

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

-s variable=value

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

-t

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

-v

--version

Display version and copyright information for cvs.

-w

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

-x

Encrypt all communication between the client and the server. Only has an effect on the cvs client. As of this writing, this is only implemented when using a GSSAPI connection (see node `GSSAPI 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 using 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 compression), or 0 to disable compression (the default). Data sent to the server will be compressed at the requested level and the client will request the server use the same compression level for data returned. The server will use the closest level allowed by the server administrator to compress returned data. This option only has an effect when passed to the cvs client.

Common options

admin

admin options

-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 vendor's version when using vendor branches (see node `Reverting local changes' in the CVS manual). There can be no space between -b and its argument.

-cstring

Sets the comment leader to string. The comment leader is not used by current versions of cvs or rcs 5.7. Therefore, you can almost surely not worry about it. see node `Keyword substitution' in the CVS 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 initializes a new rcs file, without depositing a revision. 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 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 -n name: 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 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 $State$ keywords (see node `Keyword substitution' in the CVS manual). Note that cvs uses the dead state for its own purposes (see node `Attic' in the CVS manual); to take a file to or from the dead state use commands like cvs remove and cvs add (see node `Adding and removing' in the CVS manual), not cvs admin -s.

-t[file]

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

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

-t-string

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

-U

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

-u[rev]

See the option -l above, for a discussion of using this option with cvs. Unlock the revision with number rev. If a branch is given, unlock the latest revision on that branch. If rev is omitted, remove the latest lock held by the caller. Normally, only the locker of a revision may unlock it; somebody else unlocking a revision breaks the lock. This causes the original locker to be sent a commit 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 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.

annotate

annotate options

-l

Local directory only, no recursion.

-R

Process directories recursively.

-f

Use head revision if tag/date not found.

-F

Annotate binary files.

-r tag[:date]

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

-D date

Annotate file as of specified date.

annotate example

$ cvs annotate ssfile

Annotations for ssfile

***************

1.1 (mary 27-Mar-96): ssfile line 1

1.2 (joe 28-Mar-96): ssfile line 2

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

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

checkout

checkout options

-D date

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

-l

Local; run only in current working directory.

-n

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

-P

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

-p

Pipe files to the standard output.

-R

Checkout directories recursively. This option is on by default.

-r tag[:date]

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

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

-A

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

-c

Copy the module file, sorted, to the standard output, instead of 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 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

$ cvs checkout tc

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

$ cvs checkout -D yesterday tc

commit

commit options

-l

Local; run only in current working directory.

-R

Commit directories recursively. This is on by default.

-r revision

Commit to revision. revision must be either a branch, or a revision on the main trunk that is higher than any existing revision number (see node `Assigning revisions' in the CVS manual). You cannot 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 see node `Common options' in the CVS manual.

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

$ cvs commit -f file

$ cvs commit -r 1.8 file

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

-m message

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

commit examples

diff

diff options

-D date

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

-k kflag

Process keywords according to kflag. See see node `Keyword 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 context.

--changed-group-format=format

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

-d

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

-e

--ed

Make output that is a valid ed script.

--expand-tabs

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

-f

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

-F regexp

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

--forward-ed

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

-H

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

--horizon-lines=lines

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

-i

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

-N

--new-file

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

--new-group-format=format

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

--new-line-format=format

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

--old-group-format=format

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

--old-line-format=format

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

-p

Show which C function each change is in.

--rcs

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

--report-identical-files

-s

Report when two files are the same.

--show-c-function

Show which C function each change is in.

--show-function-line=regexp

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

--side-by-side

Use the side by side output format.

--speed-large-files

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

--suppress-common-lines

Do not print common lines in side by side format.

-t

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

-T

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

--text

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

-u

Use the unified output format.

--unchanged-group-format=format

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

-w

Ignore white space when comparing lines.

-W columns

--width=columns

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

-y

Use the side by side output format.

Line group formats

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

cvs diff \

--old-group-format='\begin{em}

%<\end{em}

' \

--new-group-format='\begin{bf}

%>\end{bf}

' \

myfile

The following command is equivalent to the above example, but it is a little more verbose, because it spells out the default line group 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 format that outputs the line group as-is.

--changed-group-format=format

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

--unchanged-group-format=format

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

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

%<

stands for the lines from the first file, including the trailing 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 specifying the minimum number of digits. For example, %5dN prints the number of new lines in the group in a field of width 5 characters, using the printf format "%5d".

(A=B?T:E)

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

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

Line formats

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

cvs diff \

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

' \

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

' \

--unchanged-line-format=' %l

' \

myfile

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

--old-line-format=format

formats lines just from the first file.

--new-line-format=format

formats lines just from the second file.

--unchanged-line-format=format

formats lines common to both files.

--line-format=format

formats all lines; in effect, it sets all three above options 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 format ignores whether the line is incomplete.

%L

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

$ 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

export options

-D date

Use the most recent revision no later than date.

-f

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

-l

Local; run only in current working directory.

-n

Do not run any checkout program.

-R

Export directories recursively. This is on by default.

-r tag[:date]

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

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

-d dir

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

-k subst

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

-N

Only useful together with -d dir. see node `checkout options' in the CVS manual, for complete details on how cvs handles this flag.

history

history options

-c

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

-e

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

-m module

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

-o

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

-T

Report on all tags.

-x type

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

Certain commands have a single record type:

F

release

O

checkout

E

export

T

rtag

One of five record types may result from an update:

C

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

One of three record types results from commit:

A

A file was added for the first time.

M

A file was modified.

R

A file was removed.

The options shown as -flags constrain or expand the report without requiring option arguments:

-a

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

-l

Show last modification only.

-w

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

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

-b str

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

-D date

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

-f file

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

-n module

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

-p repository

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

-r rev

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

-t tag

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

-u name

Show records for user name.

-z timezone

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

import

import options

-m message

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

There are the following additional special options.

-b branch

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

-k subst

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

-I name

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

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

-W spec

Specify file names that should be filtered during import. You can use this option repeatedly.

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

-X

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

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

Use of this option can be forced on a repository-wide basis by setting the ImportNewFilesToVendorBranchOnly option in CVSROOT/config (see node `config' in the CVS manual).

import output

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 suggest that this behavior should be changed, but if there is a consensus on what it should be changed to, it is not apparent. (Various options in the modules file can be used to recreate symbolic links on checkout, update, etc.; see node `modules' in the CVS manual.)

import examples

log

log options

-b

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

-d dates

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

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, default branch, access list, locks, symbolic names, and suffix.

-l

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

-N

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

-R

Print only the name of the rcs file.

-rrevisions

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

rev1:rev2

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

rev1::rev2

The same, but excluding rev1.

:rev

::rev

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

rev:

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

rev::

Revisions starting just after rev to the end of the branch 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 commonly only uses two states, Exp and dead. See see node `admin options' in the CVS manual for more information.

-t

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

-wlogins

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

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

log examples

$ 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

• ls [-e | -l] [-RP] [-r tag[:date]] [-D date] [path...]
• Requires: repository for rls, repository & working directory for ls.
• Changes: nothing.
• Synonym: dir & list are synonyms for ls and rdir & rlist are synonyms for rls.

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

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

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

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

ls & rls options

-d

Show dead revisions (with tag when specified).

-e

Display in CVS/Entries format. This format is meant to remain easily parsable by automation.

-l

Display all details.

-P

Don't list contents of empty directories when recursing.

-R

List recursively.

-r tag[:date]

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

-D date

Show files from date.

rls examples

$ cvs rls

cvs rls: Listing module: `.'

CVSROOT

first-dir

$ cvs rls CVSROOT

cvs rls: Listing module: `CVSROOT'

checkoutlist

commitinfo

config

cvswrappers

loginfo

modules

notify

rcsinfo

taginfo

verifymsg

rdiff

rdiff options

-D date

Use the most recent revision no later than date.

-f

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

-k kflag

Process keywords according to kflag. See see node `Keyword 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 see node `Common options' in the CVS manual.

In addition to the above, these options are available:

-c

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

-s

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

-t

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

-u

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

-V vn

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

rdiff examples

$ cvs rdiff -c -r FOO1_2 -r FOO1_4 tc | \

$$ Mail -s 'The patches you asked for' foo@example.net

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

$ cvs patch -s -r R_1_3_1 -r R_1_3fix module-name

cvs rdiff: Diffing module-name

File ChangeLog,v changed from revision 1.52.2.5 to 1.52.2.6

File foo.c,v changed from revision 1.52.2.3 to 1.52.2.4

File bar.h,v changed from revision 1.29.2.1 to 1.2

release

release options

-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 deleted—even if it is non-empty!

release output

U file

P file

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

A file

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

R file

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

M file

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

? file

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

release examples

$ 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

update

update options

-D date

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

-l

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

-P

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

-p

Pipe files to the standard output.

-R

Update directories recursively (default). see node `Recursive 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 see node `Sticky tags' in the CVS manual, for more information on sticky tags/dates. Also see see node `Common options' in the CVS manual.

These special options are also available with update.

-A

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

-C

Overwrite locally modified files with clean copies from the 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 directory. 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 initial checkout; but it has an unfortunate side effect. If you deliberately avoided certain directories in the repository when you created your working directory (either through use of a module name or by listing explicitly the files and directories you wanted on the command line), then updating with -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 repeatedly.

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

-jrevision

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

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

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

In addition, each -j option can contain an optional date 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

U file

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

P file

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

A file

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

R file

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

M file

The file is modified in your working directory.

M can indicate one of two states for a file you're working on: either there were no modifications to the same file in the repository, so that your file remains as you last saw it; or there were 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 attempting to merge the two revisions; an unmodified copy of your file is also in your working directory, with the name .#file.revision where revision is the revision that your modified file started from. Resolve the conflict as described in see node `Conflicts example' in the CVS manual. (Note that some systems automatically purge files that begin with .# if they have not been accessed for a few days. If you intend to keep a copy of your original file, it is a very good idea to rename it.) Under vms, the file name starts with __ rather than .#.

? file

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

AUTHORS

Dick Grune

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

Brian Berliner

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

Jeff Polk

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

Larry Jones, Derek R. Price, and Mark D. Baushke

Have helped maintain cvs for many years.

And many others too numerous to mention here.

SEE ALSO

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), rcsmerge(1), rlog(1).