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CVS(1)			    General Commands Manual			CVS(1)

NAME
       cvs - Concurrent	Versions System

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

NOTE
       This  manpage is	a summary of some of the features of cvs.  It is auto-
       generated from an appendix of the CVS manual.  For more in-depth	 docu-
       mentation,  please consult the Cederqvist manual	(via the info CVS com-
       mand or otherwise, as described in the SEE ALSO section	of  this  man-
       page).  Cross-references	in this	man page refer to nodes	in the same.

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).

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 see node `Password	authentication server' in  the
	 CVS manual & see node `Write proxies' in the CVS manual.

       -a

	 Authenticate  all  communication  between  the	client and the server.
	 Only has an effect on the cvs client.	As of this  writing,  this  is
	 only implemented when using a GSSAPI connection (see node `GSSAPI 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:

          The argument	to the global -T option.

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

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

          /tmp

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

       -d cvs_root_directory

	 Use cvs_root_directory	as the root directory pathname of the  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 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.

       -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 see node `commit
	 options'  in the CVS manual, and see node `Removing files' in the CVS
	 manual.

       -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 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,	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 see
	 node `Tags' in	the CVS	manual,	or the name of a branch, as  described
	 in  see  node `Branching and merging' in the CVS manual.  When	tag is
	 the name of a branch, some commands accept the	optional date argument
	 to specify the	revision as of the given date on the branch.   When  a
	 command  expects  a specific revision,	the name of a branch is	inter-
	 preted	as the most recent revision on that branch.

	 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
        Requires: repository, working directory.

        Changes: repository.

        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
	 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 initializes 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	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?
        Synopsis: annotate [options] files...

        Requires: repository.

        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.

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

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

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

        Requires: repository.

        Changes: working directory.

        Synonyms: co, get

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

	 The modules are either	symbolic names for some	collection  of	source
	 directories and files,	or paths to directories	or files in the	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 see node  `update
	 output' 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	see node `Sticky tags' in the CVS man-
	 ual, for more information on sticky tags/dates.

       -f

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

       -k kflag

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

       -l

	 Local;	run only in current working directory.

       -n

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

       -P

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

       -p

	 Pipe files to the standard output.

       -R

	 Checkout directories recursively.  This option	is on by default.

       -r tag[:date]

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

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

       -A

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

       -c

	 Copy the module file, sorted, to the standard output, instead of 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
        Synopsis: commit [-lnRf] [-m 'log_message' | -F file]	[-r  revision]
	 [files...]

        Requires: working directory, repository.

        Changes: repository.

        Synonym: ci

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

	 If you	don't specify particular files to commit, all of the files  in
	 your  working	current	 directory are examined.  commit is careful to
	 change	in the repository  only	 those	files  that  you  have	really
	 changed.   By	default	 (or if	you explicitly specify the -R option),
	 files in subdirectories are also examined and committed if they  have
	 changed; you can use the -l option to limit commit to the current 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 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.  The
	 commitid  can	be  retrieved with the log and status command; see see
	 node `log' in the CVS manual, see node	`File status' in the CVS  man-
	 ual.

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 see node `Common options' in the CVS manual.

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

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

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

       -m message

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

commit examples
   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
       utilize 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
        Synopsis: diff	[-lR] [-k kflag] [format_options] [(-r rev1[:date1]  |
	 -D date1) [-r rev2[:date2] | -D date2]] [files...]

        Requires: working directory, repository.

        Changes: nothing.

	 The  diff  command  is	 used to compare different revisions of	files.
	 The default action is to compare your working files  with  the	 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 see node `Keyword substitu-
	 tion' 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
        Synopsis: export [-flNnR] (-r rev[:date] | -D date)  [-k  subst]  [-d
	 dir] module...

        Requires: repository.

        Changes: current directory.

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

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

export options
       These  standard	options	 are supported by export (see node `Common 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 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	status of files	and users
        Synopsis:     history [-report] [-flags] [-options args] [files...]

        Requires: the file $CVSROOT/CVSROOT/history

        Changes: nothing.

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

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

	 To enable the history command,	logging	must be	enabled	as  above  and
	 the  HistorySearchPath	 config	 option	 (see node `config' in the CVS
	 manual) must be set to	specify	some number of the history  logs  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
        Synopsis: import [-options] repository	vendortag releasetag...

        Requires: Repository, source distribution directory.

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

       -k subst

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

       -I name

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

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

       -W spec

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

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

       -X

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

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

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

        Requires: repository, working directory.

        Changes: nothing.

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

	 The output includes the location of the rcs file, the	head  revision
	 (the  latest  revision	 on  the trunk), all symbolic names (tags) and
	 some other things.  For each revision,	the 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 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
        ls [-e	| -l] [-RP] [-r	tag[:date]] [-D	date] [path...]

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

        Changes: nothing.

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

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

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

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

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

ls & rls options
       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 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
   'patch' format diffs	between	releases
        rdiff	[-flags] [-V vn] (-r tag1[:date1] | -D date1) [-r tag2[:date2]
	 | -D date2] modules...

        Requires: repository.

        Changes: nothing.

        Synonym: patch

	 Builds	a Larry	Wall format patch(1) file between two  releases,  that
	 can  be  fed  directly	into the patch program to bring	an old release
	 up-to-date with the new release.  (This is one	of the	few  cvs  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 see node `Keyword substitu-
	 tion' in the CVS manual.

       -l

	 Local;	don't descend subdirectories.

       -R

	 Examine directories recursively.  This	option is on by	default.

       -r tag

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

	 In addition to	the above, these options are available:

       -c

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

       -s

	 Create	 a  summary change report instead of a patch.  The summary 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 Module is no	longer in use
        release [-d] directories...

        Requires: Working directory.

        Changes: Working directory, history log.

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

	 Use cvs release to avoid these	problems.  This	command	checks that no
	 uncommitted changes are present; that you are executing it from 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
        pserver [-c path]

	 server	[-c path]

        Requires: repository, client conversation on stdin/stdout

        Changes: Repository or, indirectly, client working directory.

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

	 server	 expects  that the client has already been authenticated 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.

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

        Requires: repository, working directory.

        Changes: working directory.

	 After you've run checkout to create your private copy of source  from
	 the  common  repository,  other developers will continue changing the
	 central source.  From time to time, when it is	convenient in your 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 see node `Sticky tags' in	the  CVS  man-
	 ual, for more information on sticky tags/dates.

       -f

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

       -k kflag

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

       -l

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

       -P

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

       -p

	 Pipe files to the standard output.

       -R

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

	 These special options are also	available with update.

       -A

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

       -C

	 Overwrite  locally  modified files with clean copies from the 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	see node `Conflicts example' in	the CVS	manual.	 (Note
	 that some systems automatically purge files that  begin  with	.#  if
	 they  have not	been accessed for a few	days.  If you intend to	keep a
	 copy of your original file, it	is a very good	idea  to  rename  it.)
	 Under vms, the	file name starts with __ rather	than .#.

       ? file

	 file  is  in  your working directory, but does	not correspond to 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.  Depending	on your	system,	you may	be able	to get
       it with the info	 CVS  command  or  it  may  be	available  as  cvs.pdf
       (Portable  Document  Format), cvs.ps (PostScript), cvs.texinfo (Texinfo
       source),	or cvs.html.

       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),	 rcsd-
 iff(1), rcsmerge(1), rlog(1).

									CVS(1)

NAME | SYNOPSIS | NOTE | CVS commands | Structure | Exit status | ~/.cvsrc | Global options | Common options | admin | admin options | annotate | annotate options | annotate example | checkout | checkout options | checkout examples | commit | commit options | commit examples | diff | diff options | Line group formats | Line formats | diff examples | export | export options | history | history options | import | import options | import output | import examples | log | log options | log examples | ls & rls | ls & rls options | rls examples | rdiff | rdiff options | rdiff examples | release | release options | release output | release examples | server & pserver | update | update options | update output | AUTHORS | SEE ALSO

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