Modelling clouds and climate

Examining Changes

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About CVS
  • Setting up CVS
  • Using the CVS Server
  • Commands and
      Terminology
  • pcl-cvs
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  • How was SCM set up?
      (import)
  • Getting the ubcscm
      (checkout)
  • Making changes
      (update/diff)
  • Commiting your changes
      (commit)
  • Releasing you work
      (release)
    Other CVS Commands
  • Examining Changes
      (log)
  • Add and Delete Code
      (add/del)
  • Status/revisions
  • Tags
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    Spetial Topics
  • Writing Log
  • Handling Conflicts
    References



    Web Contact: Phil Austin
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    Last updated: Mar 13 2003

    • Examining changes

    cvs log

    If the project has undergone several changes and you're trying to get an overview of what has happened so far, you don't necessarily want to examine every diff in detail. Browsing the log messages would be ideal. The log output tends to be a bit verbose. Here is an example: 
     $ cvs log scm_parm.F
 
 RCS file: /nfs/roc/home/cvs/ubcscm/scm_parm.F,v
 Working file: scm_parm.F
 head: 1.1
 branch: 1.1.1
 locks: strict
 access list:
 symbolic names:
         start: 1.1.1.1
         phil: 1.1.1
 keyword substitution: kv
 total revisions: 2;     selected revisions: 2
 description:
 ----------------------------
 revision 1.1
 date: 2001/08/30 14:03:13;  author: phil;  state: Exp;
 branches:  1.1.1;
 Initial revision
 ----------------------------
 revision 1.1.1.1
 date: 2001/08/30 14:03:13;  author: phil;  state: Exp;  lines: +0 -0
 initial import into CVS
 =============================================================================
 $

    As usual, there's a lot of information at the top that you can just ignore. The good stuff comes after each line of dashes, in a format that is self-explanatory. The log entries appear in reverse chronological order, under the assumption that more recent changes are usually more interesting. Each entry describes one change to the file.

    The cvs log command can select log entries by date range, or by revision number; see the manual for details on this.

    If you would actually like to see the change in question, you can use the cvs diff command.

    When many files are sent in the same commit, they all share the same log message; a fact that can be useful in tracing changes. When you run cvs log on them, you'll see the shared message. From this output, you'll know that the two revisions were part of the same commit.

    Browsing log messages is a good way to get a quick overview of what's been going on in a project or to find out what happened to a specific file at a certain time.