In CSC223, we will use CVS (the concurrent versioning system) for sharing
files in projects. This document is intended to give you a quick introduction
to using CVS in CS223. There are many other potential references on CVS,
most of which you can find with a smart google search (or by starting at
). This document gives you some guidance in
In CVS you need a central CVS repository in which the shared
files are stored. For CS223 Labs, you can find the repository in
/home/rebelsky/Web/Courses/CS223/2004F/cvsroot. Once you've checked out a
project, CVS should remember where the original repository is.
You can check out a project with
cvs -d dir checkout files-or-directories
For example,
cvs -d /home/rebelsky/Web/Courses/CS223/2004F/cvsroot checkout Test
will check out the test directory (used for this document).
If you get sick of typing the -d dir
,
you can add the following line to your .bashrc or type it
at the command line:
export CVSROOT=/home/rebelsky/Web/Courses/CS223/2004F/cvsroot
Once you have checked out a project, you can feel free to modify the
files in the project, to add new files, and to make a note of files
you'd like to delete. When you've made a working change to
the project, you need to insert your changes into the shared repository.
If you've added a new file to the project, you should tell CVS about
it with
cvs add file
If you're following along, you might want to work in the Test project
and create a file with your name. You can then add it. I used
cvs add samr
Note that this does not immediately add the file to the central
repository. Rather, it schedules the file for addition.
If you've noted that a file needs to be removed, you can use
cvs remove file
Again, this does not immediately remove the file, but schedules the
file for "removal". (It is never completely removed in case you
later decide you need it.)
When you've made all your changes, you can use
cvs commit
This will then ask you to enter comments about the changes you've made.
These comments might help your colleagues as they make subsequent changes.
If you only want to commit changes to one file, you can use
cvs commit filename
You've made changes to some files in a project. Your colleagues may
also have made changes. How do you know? You can ask CVS to tell you
about the differences between your files and the committed changes with
cvs diff
You can ask CVS to load the newest versions with
cvs update
Warning! When you update a file you've modified and
someone else has modified, CVS will try to merge in the differences.
However, it doesn't always succeed. If it fails, it leaves some evidence
in the file that you must fix before committing your
changes.
When you want to add a new project to the CS223 repository (and not
just a few files to an existing project), you need to use a special
command that's a little more complicated than I'd like. Please
add new projects with caution. In many cases, it makes sense to
extend an existing project.
First, switch to the directory that contains the project files.
Next, issue the following command
cvs -d cvs-directory import -m comment directory cs223 start
For example, to create the Test project, I used
cvs -d /home/rebelsky/Web/Courses/CS223/2004F/cvsroot import -m "For Playing with CVS" Test cs223 start
I hope that you'll evetually want to use CVS for something other than
just your work for CS223. In that case, you should probably create
your own repository. You can do so with
cvs -d directory init
I believe that by default, cvs gives access to anyone in the Unix group
associated with that directory. You can change the group associated
with that directory with
chgrp -R group directory
For example, I created the CS223 CVS directory with
cvs -d /home/rebelsky/Web/Courses/CS223/200FF/cvsroot init
If there were a cs223 group (there's not), I'd then use
chgrp -R cs223 /home/rebelsky/Web/Courses/CS223/200FF/cvsroot
Since there's not a cs223 group, I used the hack of
chmod -R a+rwx /home/rebelsky/Web/Courses/CS223/200FF/cvsroot
Instead of creating your own repository, you might also consider using
the MathLAN CVS server. Chat with Mr. Stone about this option.
;
Check with Bobby