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USAGE

Except when requesting general help with cvs _H, you must specify a cvs_command to cvs to select a specific release control function to perform. Each cvs command accepts its own collection of options and arguments. However, many options are available across several commands. You can display a usage summary for each command by specifying the _H option with the command.

CVS STARTUP FILE

Normally, when cvs starts up, it reads the .cvsrc file from the home directory of the user reading it. This startup procedure can be turned off with the _f flag.

The .cvsrc file lists cvs commands with a list of arguments, one command per line. For example, the following line in .cvsrc: 


diff _c

will mean that the cvs diff command will always be passed the _c option in addition to any other options that are specified in the command line (in this case, it will have the effect of producing context sensitive diffs for all executions of cvs diff ).

CVS COMMAND SUMMARY

Here are brief descriptions of all the cvs commands:

add Add a new file or directory to the repository, pending a cvs commit on the same file. Can only be done from within sources created by a previous cvs checkout invocation. Use cvs import to place whole new hierarchies of sources under cvs control. (Does not directly affect repository; changes working directory.)
admin Execute RCS control functions on the source repository. (Changes repository directly; uses working directory without changing it.)
checkout Make a working directory of source files for editing. (Creates or changes working directory.)
commit Apply to the source repository changes, additions, and deletions from your working directory. (Changes repository.)
diff Show differences between files in working directory and source repository, or between two revisions in source repository. (Does not change either repository or working directory.)
export Prepare copies of a set of source files for shipment off site. Differs from cvs checkout in that no cvs administrative directories are created (and therefore cvs commit cannot be executed from a directory prepared with cvs export), and a symbolic tag must be specified. (Does not change repository; creates directory similar to working directories).
history Show reports on cvs commands that you or others have executed on a particular file or directory in the source repository. (Does not change repository or working directory.) History logs are kept only if enabled by creation of the $CVSROOT/CVSROOT/history file; see cvs(5).
import Incorporate a set of updates from off-site into the source repository, as a "vendor branch." (Changes repository.)
log Display RCS log information. (Does not change repository or working directory.)
rdiff Prepare a collection of diffs as a patch file between two releases in the repository. (Does not change repository or working directory.)
release Cancel a cvs checkout, abandoning any changes. (Can delete working directory; no effect on repository.)
remove Remove files from the source repository, pending a cvs commit on the same files. (Does not directly affect repository; changes working directory.)
rtag Explicitly specify a symbolic tag for particular revisions of files in the source repository. See also cvs tag. (Changes repository directly; does not require or affect working directory.)
status Show current status of files: latest version, version in working directory, whether working version has been edited and, optionally, symbolic tags in the RCS file. (Does not change repository or working directory.)

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tag Specify a symbolic tag for files in the repository. By default, tags the revisions that were last synchronized with your working directory. (Changes repository directly; uses working directory without changing it.)
update Bring your working directory up to date with changes from the repository. Merges are performed automatically when possible; a warning is issued if manual resolution is required for conflicting changes. (Changes working directory; does not change repository.)

COMMON COMMAND OPTIONS

This section describes the command_options that are available across several cvs commands. 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 count on the same meaning for the option as in other commands. (Other command options, which are listed with the individual commands, may have different meanings from one cvs command to another.)

WARNING
The history command is an exception; it supports many options that conflict even with these standard options.

_D date Use the most recent revision no later than date_spec (a single argument, date description specifying a date in the past). A wide variety of date formats are supported by the underlying RCS facilities, similar to those described in co(1), but not exactly the same. The date_spec is interpreted as being in the local time zone, unless a specific time zone is specified. 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 (unless you explicitly override it; see the description of the update command). _D is available with the checkout, diff, history, export, rdiff, rtag, and update commands. Examples of valid date specifications include the following:
1 month ago
2 hours ago
400000 seconds ago
last year
last Monday
yesterday
a fortnight ago
3/31/92 10:00:07 PST
January 23, 1987 10:05pm
22:00 GMT
_f When you specify a particular date or tag to cvs commands, they normally ignore files that do not contain the tag (or did not exist on 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 version is used in this situation.) _f is available with these commands: checkout, export, rdiff, rtag, and update.
_H Help; describe the options available for this command. This is the only option supported for all cvs commands.
_k kflag Alter the default RCS processing of keywords; all the _k options described in co(1) are available. The _k option is available with the add, checkout, diff, export, rdiff, and update commands. Your kflag specification is "sticky" when you use it to create a private copy of a source file; that is, when you use this option with the checkout or update commands, cvs associates your selected kflag with the file, and continues to use it with future update commands on the same file until you specify otherwise. Some of the more useful kflags are _ko and _kb (for binary files, only compatible with RCS version 5.7 or later), and _kv, which is useful for an export where you wish to retain keyword information after an import at some other site.

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