cvs

CVS(1)                      General Commands Manual                     CVS(1)

NAME
       cvs - Concurrent Versions System

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

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

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

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

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

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

           arrow keys
              to move on the page

           Tab
              to move to the next hyperlink

           Return
              to activate the hyperlink under the cursor

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

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

           p, n
              to  go to the previous (next) page on the current navigation hi-
              erarchy level

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

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

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

           q  to exit the info viewer

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

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

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

         cvs [ cvs_options ] cvs_command [ command_options ] [ command_args ]

       cvs

         The name of the cvs program.

       cvs_options

         Some options that affect all sub-commands  of  cvs.   These  are  de-
         scribed 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 ref-
         erence  manual for that command.  There are only two situations where
         you may omit cvs_command: cvs -H elicits a  list  of  available  com-
         mands, 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 com-
         mand_options.  When given as a cvs_option, some options  only  affect
         some  of  the commands.  When given as a command_option it may have a
         different meaning, and be accepted by more commands.  In other words,
         do not take the above categorization too seriously.  Look at the doc-
         umentation instead.

Exit status
   CVS's exit status
       cvs can indicate to the calling environment  whether  it  succeeded  or
       failed  by  setting its exit status.  The exact way of testing the exit
       status will vary from one operating system to another.  For example  in
       a  unix  shell script the $? variable will be 0 if the last command re-
       turned 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 suc-
       cessful status if it found no differences, or a failure status if there
       were  differences or if there was an error.  Because this behavior pro-
       vides 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.

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

       The ~/.cvsrc file is a way that you can add default options to cvs_com-
       mands 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 -uN
         rdiff -u
         update -Pd
         checkout -P
         release -d

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

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

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

         cvs -z6

       causes cvs to use compression level 6.

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

       --allow-root=rootdir

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

       -a

         Authenticate all communication between the  client  and  the  server.
         Only  has  an  effect on the cvs client.  As of this writing, this is
         only implemented when using a GSSAPI connection (see node 'GSSAPI au-
         thenticated'  in  the  CVS  manual).  Authentication prevents certain
         sorts of attacks involving hijacking the active tcp connection.   En-
         abling 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 direc-
         tory.  The path to this temporary directory is set via, in  order  of
         precedence:

       o   The argument to the global -T option.

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

       o   The contents of the $TMPDIR environment variable (%TMPDIR% on  Win-
           dows - see node 'Environment variables' in the CVS manual).

       o   /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  reposi-
         tory.   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 infor-
         mation, see node 'Committing your changes' in the CVS manual.

       -f

         Do not read the ~/.cvsrc file.  This option is most  often  used  be-
         cause  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.

       -g

         Forges group-writable permissions on files in the working copy.  This
         option is typically used when you have multiple users sharing a  sin-
         gle  checked  out  source tree, allowing them to operate their shells
         with a less dangerous umask at the expense of cvs security.   To  use
         this feature, create a directory to hold the checked-out source tree,
         set it to a private group, and set up the directory such  that  files
         created  under  it inherit the gid of the directory.  On BSD systems,
         this occurs automatically. On SYSV systems and  GNU/Linux,  the  sgid
         bit  must  be  set  on  the directory for this.  The users who are to
         share the checked out tree must be placed in that  group  which  owns
         the directory.

         Note  that  the  sharing  of a single checked-out source tree is very
         different from giving several users access to a  common  cvs  reposi-
         tory.   Access  to  a  common cvs repository already maintains shared
         group-write permissions and does not require this option.

         Due to the security implications, setting  this  option  globally  in
         your  .cvsrc  file  is  strongly discouraged; if you must, ensure all
         source checkouts are "firewalled" within a private group or a private
         mode 0700 directory.

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

       -H

       --help

         Display usage information about the specified cvs_command (but do not
         actually  execute the command).  If you don't specify a command name,
         cvs -H displays overall help for cvs, 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. Us-
         ing -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  re-
         quired 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 en-
         vironment 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 im-
         pact 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 de-
         fault, 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  authen-
         ticated'  in the CVS manual) or a Kerberos connection (see node 'Ker-
         beros 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  config-
         ure 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 com-
         pression (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 re-
         turned data.  This option only has an effect when passed to  the  cvs
         client.

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

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

       -D date_spec

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

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

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

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

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

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

       -f

         When you specify a particular date or tag to cvs commands, they  nor-
         mally  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 node 'commit op-
         tions'  in  the CVS manual, and node 'Removing files' in the CVS man-
         ual.

       -k kflag

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

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

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

       -l

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

         Available with the following commands:  annotate,  checkout,  commit,
         diff,  edit,  editors, 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 tag program.  (A program can be specified  to  run  in
         the modules database (see node 'modules' in the CVS manual); this op-
         tion bypasses it).

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

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

       -P

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

       -p

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

       -R

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

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

       -r tag

       -r tag[:date]

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

admin
   Administration front-end for RCS
       o Requires: repository, working directory.

       o Changes: repository.

       o Synonym: rcs

         This is the cvs  interface  to  assorted  administrative  facilities.
         Some  of them have questionable usefulness for cvs but exist for his-
         torical purposes.  Some of the questionable  options  are  likely  to
         disappear  in the future.  This command does work recursively, so ex-
         treme care should be used.

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

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

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

       -Aoldfile

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

       -alogins

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

       -b[rev]

         Set the default branch to rev.  In cvs, you normally do  not  manipu-
         late 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  man-
         ual.

       -e[logins]

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

       -I

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

       -i

         Useless with cvs.  This creates and initialises a new rcs file, with-
         out depositing a revision.  With cvs, add files with the cvs add com-
         mand (see node 'Adding files' in the CVS manual).

       -ksubst

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

       -l[rev]

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

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

       -L

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

       -mrev:msg

         Replace the log message of revision rev with msg.

       -Nname[:[rev]]

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

       -nname[:[rev]]

         Associate the symbolic name name with the branch or revision rev.  It
         is  normally  better  to use cvs tag or cvs rtag instead.  Delete the
         symbolic name if both : and rev are omitted; otherwise, print an  er-
         ror  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 re-
         vision in the branch.  A : with an empty rev stands for  the  current
         latest revision on the default branch, normally the trunk.  For exam-
         ple, cvs admin -nname: associates name with the current latest  revi-
         sion  of  all  the  RCS files; this contrasts with cvs admin -nname:$
         which associates name with the revision numbers extracted  from  key-
         word 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 re-
           trieve 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  be-
           cause  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 symbol-
           ically  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 re-
         leased).  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, un-
         lock 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 notifica-
         tion (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 specify-
         ing 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
   What revision modified each line of a file?
       o Synopsis: annotate [options] files...

         rannotate [options] files...

       o Requires: repository.

       o Changes: nothing.

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

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

       -b

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

       -l

         Local directory only, no recursion.

       -R

         Process directories recursively.

       -f

         Use head revision if tag/date not found.

       -F

         Annotate binary files.

       -r tag[:date]

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

       -D date

         Annotate file as of specified date.

annotate example
       For example:

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

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

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

checkout
   Check out sources for editing
       o Synopsis: checkout [options] modules...

       o Requires: repository.

       o Changes: working directory.

       o Synonyms: co, get

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

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

         Depending on the modules you specify, checkout may recursively create
         directories and 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  di-
         rectory  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 dif-
         ferent name, but you can be sure that it will be a sub-directory, and
         that  checkout will show the relative path leading to each file as it
         is extracted into your private work area (unless you specify  the  -Q
         global option).

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

         Note that running checkout on a directory that was already built by a
         prior checkout is also permitted.  This is similar to specifying  the
         -d  option  to  the  update command in the sense that new directories
         that have been created in the repository will  appear  in  your  work
         area.   However,  checkout takes a module name whereas update takes a
         directory name.  Also to use checkout this way it must  be  run  from
         the  top level directory (where you 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 node 'update out-
         put' in the CVS manual.

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

       -D date

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

       -f

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

       -k kflag

         Process keywords according to kflag.  See node 'Keyword substitution'
         in the CVS manual.  This option is sticky;  future  updates  of  this
         file  in  this working directory will use the same kflag.  The status
         command can be viewed to see the sticky options.  See node  '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 node 'Moving directories'  in  the  CVS
         manual.

       -p

         Pipe files to the standard output.

       -R

         Checkout directories recursively.  This option is on by default.

       -r tag[:date]

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

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

       -A

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

       -c

         Copy the module file, sorted, to the standard output, instead of cre-
         ating or modifying any files or directories in  your  working  direc-
         tory.

       -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 direc-
         tories.

         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  op-
         tion, 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 specifica-
         tion which, when used with branches, can limit the chosen revision to
         one  within a specific date.  An optional date is specified by adding
         a colon (:) to the tag: -jSymbolic_Tag:Date_Specifier.

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

       -N

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

       -s

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

checkout examples
       Get a copy of the module tc:

         $ cvs checkout tc

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

         $ cvs checkout -D yesterday tc

commit
   Check files into the repository
       o Synopsis:  commit  [-lnRf] [-m 'log_message' | -F file] [-r revision]
         [files...]

       o Requires: working directory, repository.

       o Changes: repository.

       o Synonym: ci

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

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

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

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

         At commit, a unique commitid is placed in the  rcs  file  inside  the
         repository.  All  files  committed  at  once get the same commitid, a
         string consisting only of hexadecimal digits (usually 16 in GNU  cvs,
         19  in  Debian and MirBSD cvs).  FSF GNU cvs 1.11 and OpenBSD OpenCVS
         do not support commitids yet.  The commitid can be retrieved with the
         log  and  status  command;  see node 'log' in the CVS manual and node
         'File status' in the CVS manual.

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

       -l

         Local; run only in current working directory.

       -R

         Commit directories recursively.  This is on by default.

       -r revision

         Commit  to revision.  revision must be either a branch, or a revision
         on the main trunk that is higher than any  existing  revision  number
         (see  node 'Assigning revisions' in the CVS manual).  You cannot com-
         mit 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 any-
         ways  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  de-
         fined in 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
   Committing to a branch
       You can commit to a branch revision (one that has  an  even  number  of
       dots)  with the -r option.  To create a branch revision, use the -b op-
       tion of the rtag or tag commands (see node 'Branching and  merging'  in
       the  CVS  manual).  Then, either checkout or update can be used to base
       your sources on the newly created branch.  From that point on, all com-
       mit  changes  made  within  these working sources will be automatically
       added to a branch revision, thereby not disturbing  main-line  develop-
       ment  in any way.  For example, if you had to create a patch to the 1.2
       version of the product, even though the 2.0 version  is  already  under
       development, you might do:

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

       This works automatically since the -r option is sticky.

   Creating the branch after editing
       Say  you  have  been  working  on some extremely experimental software,
       based on whatever revision you happened to checkout last week.  If oth-
       ers  in  your  group  would like to work on this software with you, but
       without disturbing main-line development, you could commit your  change
       to  a new branch.  Others can then checkout your experimental stuff and
       utilise the full benefit of  cvs  conflict  resolution.   The  scenario
       might look like:

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

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

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

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

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

         $ cvs checkout -r EXPR1 whatever_module

diff
   Show differences between revisions
       o Synopsis: diff [-lR] [-k kflag] [format_options] [(-r rev1[:date1]  |
         -D date1) [-r rev2[:date2] | -D date2]] [files...]

       o Requires: working directory, repository.

       o Changes: nothing.

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

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

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

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

       -D date

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

       -k kflag

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

       -l

         Local; run only in current working directory.

       -R

         Examine directories recursively.  This option is on by default.

       -r tag[:date]

         Compare with revision specified by tag or, when date is specified and
         tag is a branch tag, the version from the branch tag as it existed on
         date.  Zero, one or two -r options can be present.  With  no  -r  op-
         tion,  the  working  file  will  be compared with the revision it was
         based on.  With one -r, that revision will be compared to  your  cur-
         rent  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 spec-
         ify an output format by itself; it has no effect unless  it  is  com-
         bined 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  differ-
         ences.

       -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 equiv-
         alent.

       -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 for-
         mat.

       --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  man-
         ual.

       --unchanged-line-format=format

         Use format to output a line common to both files in if-then-else for-
         mat.  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
       Line group formats let you specify formats suitable for  many  applica-
       tions  that  allow  if-then-else input, including programming languages
       and text formatting languages.  A line group format specifies the  out-
       put format for a contiguous group of similar lines.

       For  example,  the  following command compares the TeX file myfile with
       the original version from the repository, and outputs a merged file  in
       which  old regions are surrounded by \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 for-
       mats.

         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 for-
         mat  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 new-
         line.  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 for-
         mat.

       %%

         stands for %.

       %c'C'

         where C is a single character, stands for C.  C may not  be  a  back-
         slash  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 char-
         acter with octal code O.  For example, %c'\0' stands for a null char-
         acter.

       Fn

         where F is a printf conversion specification and n is one of the fol-
         lowing 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, spec-
           ifying  decimal, octal, lower case hexadecimal, or upper case hexa-
           decimal 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 op-
           tional  integer specifying the minimum number of digits.  For exam-
           ple, %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 con-
         stant 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
       Line formats control how each line taken from an input file  is  output
       as part of a line group in if-then-else format.

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

         cvs diff \

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

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

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

            myfile

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

       --old-line-format=format

         formats lines just from the first file.

       --new-line-format=format

         formats lines just from the second file.

       --unchanged-line-format=format

         formats lines common to both files.

       --line-format=format

         formats all lines; in effect, it sets all three above options  simul-
         taneously.

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

       %l

         stands for the contents of the line, not counting its  trailing  new-
         line (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  incom-
         pleteness.

       %%

         stands for %.

       %c'C'

         where  C  is  a single character, stands for C.  C may not be a back-
         slash 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  char-
         acter with octal code O.  For example, %c'\0' stands for a null char-
         acter.

       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 char-
         acter), or you should use the -t or --expand-tabs option.

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

         cvs diff \

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

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

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

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

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

            --unchanged-group-format='' \

            myfile

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

         $ 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 fol-
       lowing 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 sources from CVS, similar to checkout
       o Synopsis: export [-flNnR] (-r rev[:date] | -D date)  [-k  subst]  [-d
         dir] module...

       o Requires: repository.

       o Changes: current directory.

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

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

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

       -D date

         Use the most recent revision no later than date.

       -f

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

       -l

         Local; run only in current working directory.

       -n

         Do not run any checkout program.

       -R

         Export directories recursively.  This is on by default.

       -r tag[:date]

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

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

       -d dir

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

       -k subst

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

       -N

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

history
   Show repository access history
       o Synopsis:     history [-report] [-flags] [-options args] [files...]

       o Requires: the file $CVSROOT/CVSROOT/history

       o Changes: nothing.

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

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

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

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

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

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

       -c

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

       -e

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

       -m module

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

       -o

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

       -T

         Report on all tags.

       -x type

         Extract a particular set of record types type from the  cvs  history.
         The  types  are 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  man-
           ual 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 sev-
         eral -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  in-
         stead of UTC.

import
   Import sources into CVS, using vendor branches
       o Synopsis: import [-options] repository vendortag releasetag...

       o Requires: Repository, source distribution directory.

       o Changes: repository.

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

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

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

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

         If the file $CVSROOT/CVSROOT/cvswrappers exists, any file whose names
         match the specifications in that file will be treated as packages and
         the appropriate filtering will be performed on the file/directory be-
         fore being imported.  See node 'Wrappers' in the CVS manual.

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

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

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

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

       -m message

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

         There are the following additional special options.

       -b branch

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

       -k subst

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

       -I name

         Specify file names that should be ignored during import.  You can use
         this  option  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, re-
         setting 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 set-
         ting the ImportNewFilesToVendorBranchOnly  option  in  CVSROOT/config
         (see node 'config' in the CVS manual).

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

       U file

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

       N file

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

       C file

         The  file already exists in the repository but has been locally modi-
         fied; 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.  Peo-
         ple periodically suggest that this behavior should be changed, but if
         there is a consensus on what it should be changed to, it is  not  ap-
         parent.  (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
       See node 'Tracking sources' in the CVS manual, and node 'From files' in
       the CVS manual.

log
   Print out history information for files
       o Synopsis: log [options] [files...]

         rlog [options] [files...]

       o Requires: repository, working directory.

       o Changes: nothing.

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

         The  output  includes the location of the rcs file, the head revision
         (the latest revision on the trunk), all  symbolic  names  (tags)  and
         some other things.  For each revision, the revision number, the date,
         the author, the number of lines added/deleted, the commitid  and  the
         log  message  are  printed.  All dates are displayed in local time at
         the client. This is typically specified in the $TZ environment  vari-
         able, which can be set to govern how log displays dates.

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

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

       -b

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

       -d dates

         Print information about revisions with a  checkin  date/time  in  the
         range  given by the semicolon-separated list of dates.  The date for-
         mats 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 re-
         cursively).

       -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 contain-
           ing 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  de-
           fault  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 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 op-
         tions -d, -s, and -w, intersected with the union of the revisions se-
         lected by -b and -r.

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

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

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

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

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

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

       o Changes: nothing.

       o 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
       These standard options are supported by ls & rls:

       -d

         Show dead revisions (with tag when specified).

       -e

         Display in CVS/Entries format.  This format is meant to remain easily
         parsable by 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 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
   Create 'patch' format diffs between revisions
       o rdiff  [-flags] [-V vn] (-r tag1[:date1] | -D date1) [-r tag2[:date2]
         | -D date2] modules...

       o Requires: repository.

       o Changes: nothing.

       o Synonym: patch

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

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

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

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

       -D date

         Use the most recent revision no later than date.

       -f

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

       -k kflag

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

       -l

         Local; don't descend subdirectories.

       -R

         Examine directories recursively.  This option is on by default.

       -r tag

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

         In addition to the above, these options are available:

       -c

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

       -p

         Show which C function each change is in.

       -s

         Create a summary change report instead of a patch.  The  summary  in-
         cludes 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  de-
         vice.   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 ver-
         sions 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
       Suppose you receive mail from foo@example.net asking for an update from
       release 1.2 to 1.4 of the tc compiler.  You have  no  such  patches  on
       hand,  but  with  cvs  that  can easily be fixed with a command such as
       this:

         $ cvs rdiff -c -r FOO1_2 -r FOO1_4 tc | \
         $$ Mail -s 'The patches you asked for' foo@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
   Indicate that a directory is no longer in use
       o release [-d] directories...

       o Requires: Working directory.

       o Changes: Working directory, history log.

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

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

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

release options
       The release command supports one command option:

       -d

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

         WARNING:  The release command deletes all directories and  files  re-
         cursively.   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
       Before release releases your sources it will print a  one-line  message
       for any file that is not up-to-date.

       U file

       P file

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

       A file

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

       R file

         The  file has been removed from your private copy of the sources, but
         has not yet been 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  any-
         thing  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
       Release the tc directory, and delete your local  working  copy  of  the
       files.

         $ cd ..         # You must stand immediately above the

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

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

         server [-c path]

       o Requires: repository, client conversation on stdin/stdout

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

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

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

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

       -c path

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

suck
   Download RCS ,v file raw
       o suck module/pa/th

       o Requires: repository

         Locates the file module/pa/th,v or module/pa/Attic/th,v and downloads
         it raw as RCS comma-v file.

         Output consists of the real pathname of the comma-v file, relative to
         the CVS repository, followed by a newline and the binary file content
         immediately thereafter.

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

       o Requires: repository, working directory.

       o Changes: working directory.

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

update options
       These  standard options are available with update (see node 'Common op-
       tions' in the CVS manual, for a complete description of them):

       -D date

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

       -f

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

       -k kflag

         Process keywords according to kflag.  See node 'Keyword substitution'
         in  the  CVS  manual.   This option is sticky; future updates of this
         file in this working directory will use the same kflag.   The  status
         command  can be viewed to see the sticky options.  See node '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 node 'Moving directories' in the CVS
         manual.

       -p

         Pipe files to the standard output.

       -R

         Update directories recursively (default).  See node 'Recursive behav-
         ior' 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  ex-
         isted  on  date.   This  option  is sticky, and implies -P.  See node
         'Sticky tags' in the CVS  manual,  for  more  information  on  sticky
         tags/dates. Also see node 'Common options' in the CVS manual.

         These special options are also available with update.

       -A

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

       -C

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

       -d

         Create  any directories that exist in the repository if they're miss-
         ing from the working directory.  Normally, update acts only on direc-
         tories  and  files  that were already enrolled in your working direc-
         tory.

         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  directo-
         ries you wanted on the command line), then updating with -d will cre-
         ate those directories, which may not be what you want.

       -I name

         Ignore files whose names match name (in your working directory)  dur-
         ing  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 op-
         tion, 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 specifica-
         tion which, when used with branches, can limit the chosen revision to
         one  within a specific date.  An optional date is specified by adding
         a colon (:) to the tag: -jSymbolic_Tag:Date_Specifier.

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

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

       U file

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

       P file

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

       A file

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

       R file

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

       M file

         The file is modified in  your  working  directory.

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

       ? file

         file is in your working directory, but does not  correspond  to  any-
         thing  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
       The most comprehensive manual for CVS is Version Management with CVS by
       Per Cederqvist et al. (see NOTE at top).

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

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

           ci(1),  co(1),  cvs(5),  cvsbug(8),  diff(1),  grep(1),   patch(1),
           rcs(1),  rcsdiff(1),  rcsintro(1),  rcsmerge(1),  rlog(1),  re_for-
           mat(7).

                                                                        CVS(1)
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