Version Management With CVS

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Version Management With CVS

• University of Maryland

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Version Management

• Keep all changes of files.
• Keep a log of changes (hopefully marked with
  developer contents).
• Macro-undo for all time.

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RCS

• A common Unix utility to do version management.
• A set of commands to keep fname,v files in an RCS
  subdirectory
• ci to check out files.
• ci to check files in to the repository.
• rcsdiff and rlog to view change histories.
• rcsmerge to merge two versions of the same file

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RCS Difficulties

• Keeps repository in working directories.
• It is difficult for more than one developer to
  work on a file at a time.
• Must be connected to the file system.
• No support for Microsoft platforms.

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CVS

• Uses RCS as a backend.
• Originally, a bunch of scripts that kept RCS
  directories in a separate location.
• Includes a network protocol.
• Allows multiple authors by default.

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CVS Commands

• cvs co (cvs checkout)
• cvs ci (cvs commit)
• cvs up (cvs update)
• cvs add
• cvs log
• cvs diff

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CVS Difficulties

• pserver sends passwords in clear text.
• Moving directories is difficult.
• Be careful with binary files.
• Care must be taken when working with others.
• Always run update and rerun tests before
  committing.
• Make sure to check for and resolve conflicts.
• Be a good citizen and check in your changes
  regularly if they are small, and branch if things
  are really hairy.

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Some Commands

• All commands start with cvs
• checkout
• cvs d /fs/lamp/Projects/cvs checkout viper
• update
• cvs up
• add
• cvs add file.txt
• cvs add kb binary.jpg
• commit
• cvs ci -mlog message file
• diff, log

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CVS on lampsmb

• Eclipse and NetBeans both support CVS out of the
  box.
• Most other IDEs can support CVS through
  installation of a command line client.
• Alternatively, get WinCVS from http//www.wincvs.o
  rg/

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Labeling

• By labeling, you can have specific builds that
  you can recall directly.

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More Information

• http//www.cvshome.org/docs/manual/
• http//www.wincvs.org/