Modelling clouds and climate

Commands and Terminology

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About CVS
  • Setting up CVS
  • Using the CVS Server
  • Commands and
      Terminology
  • pcl-cvs
    Using CVS
  • 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
  • Branches
    Spetial Topics
  • Writing Log
  • Handling Conflicts
    References



    Web Contact: Phil Austin
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    Last updated: Mar 13 2003

    • Commands and Terminology

    General pattern in CVS commands

    When you invoke CVS, you must specify which action you want to perform. The format of a CVS invocation is:

     $ cvs command
 
 For example, you can use 
 
 $ cvs update
 $ cvs diff
 $ cvs commit

    Both CVS and the command can take options. Options that affect the behavior of CVS, independently of the command being run, are called global options; command-specific options are just called command options. Global options always go to the left of the command; command options, to its right. So in 

     $ cvs -Q update -p

    -Q is a global option, and -p is a command option. (If you're curious, -Q means "quietly"-that is, suppress all diagnostic output, and print error messages only if the command absolutely cannot be completed for some reason; -p means to send the results of update to standard output instead of to files.)

    You can find more details by typing 
     $ cvs
    and searching through help topics

    Reading over the output of most of the CVS commands, you'll notice that CVS precedes each filename with a single letter. The use of a single letter on the left to indicate the status of a file is a general pattern in CVS command output. You'll see it in commands such as checkout and update.

    Terminology

  • The internal revision number that CVS keeps for each file is unrelated to the version number of the software product of which the files are part. The version number (or "release" number) has nothing to do with CVS's internal change tracking.