This is Info file cvs.info, produced by Makeinfo version 1.67 from the
input file ./cvs.texinfo.

   Copyright (C) 1992, 1993 Signum Support AB Copyright (C) 1993, 1994
Free Software Foundation, Inc.

   Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of this
manual provided the copyright notice and this permission notice are
preserved on all copies.

   Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified versions of
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that the section entitled "GNU General Public License" is included
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identical to this one.

   Permission is granted to copy and distribute translations of this
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versions, except that the section entitled "GNU General Public License"
and this permission notice may be included in translations approved by
the Free Software Foundation instead of in the original English.


File: cvs.info,  Node: commit files,  Next: commitinfo,  Prev: Wrappers,  Up: Administrative files

The commit support files
========================

   The `-i' flag in the `modules' file can be used to run a certain
program whenever files are committed (*note modules::.).  The files
described in this section provide other, more flexible, ways to run
programs whenever something is committed.

   There are three kind of programs that can be run on commit.  They
are specified in files in the repository, as described below.  The
following table summarizes the file names and the purpose of the
corresponding programs.

`commitinfo'
     The program is responsible for checking that the commit is
     allowed.  If it exits with a non-zero exit status the commit will
     be aborted.

`verifymsg'
     The specified program is used to evaluate the log message, and
     possibly verify that it contains all required fields.  This is
     most useful in combination with the `rcsinfo' file, which can hold
     a log message template (*note rcsinfo::.).

`editinfo'
     The specified program is used to edit the log message, and
     possibly verify that it contains all required fields.  This is
     most useful in combination with the `rcsinfo' file, which can hold
     a log message template (*note rcsinfo::.).  (obsolete)

`loginfo'
     The specified program is called when the commit is complete.  It
     receives the log message and some additional information and can
     store the log message in a file, or mail it to appropriate
     persons, or maybe post it to a local newsgroup, or...  Your
     imagination is the limit!

* Menu:

* syntax::                      The common syntax


File: cvs.info,  Node: syntax,  Up: commit files

The common syntax
-----------------

   The administrative files such as `commitinfo', `loginfo', `rcsinfo',
`verifymsg', etc., all have a common format.  The purpose of the files
are described later on.  The common syntax is described here.

   Each line contains the following:
   * A regular expression.  This is a basic regular expression in the
     syntax used by GNU emacs.

   * A whitespace separator--one or more spaces and/or tabs.

   * A file name or command-line template.

Blank lines are ignored.  Lines that start with the character `#' are
treated as comments.  Long lines unfortunately can *not* be broken in
two parts in any way.

   The first regular expression that matches the current directory name
in the repository is used.  The rest of the line is used as a file name
or command-line as appropriate.


File: cvs.info,  Node: commitinfo,  Next: verifymsg,  Prev: commit files,  Up: Administrative files

Commitinfo
==========

   The `commitinfo' file defines programs to execute whenever `cvs
commit' is about to execute.  These programs are used for pre-commit
checking to verify that the modified, added and removed files are really
ready to be committed.  This could be used, for instance, to verify
that the changed files conform to to your site's standards for coding
practice.

   As mentioned earlier, each line in the `commitinfo' file consists of
a regular expression and a command-line template.  The template can
include a program name and any number of arguments you wish to supply
to it.  The full path to the current source repository is appended to
the template, followed by the file names of any files involved in the
commit (added, removed, and modified files).

   The first line with a regular expression matching the relative path
to the module will be used.  If the command returns a non-zero exit
status the commit will be aborted.

   If the repository name does not match any of the regular expressions
in this file, the `DEFAULT' line is used, if it is specified.

   All occurances of the name `ALL' appearing as a regular expression
are used in addition to the first matching regular expression or the
name `DEFAULT'.

   Note: when CVS is accessing a remote repository, `commitinfo' will
be run on the *remote* (i.e., server) side, not the client side (*note
Remote repositories::.).


File: cvs.info,  Node: verifymsg,  Next: editinfo,  Prev: commitinfo,  Up: Administrative files

Verifying log messages
======================

   Once you have entered a log message, you can evaluate that message
to check for specific content, such as a bug ID.  Use the `verifymsg'
file to specify a program that is used to verify the log message.  This
program could be a simple script that checks that the entered message
contains the required fields.

   The `verifymsg' file is often most useful together with the
`rcsinfo' file, which can be used to specify a log message template.

   Each line in the `verifymsg' file consists of a regular expression
and a command-line template.  The template must include a program name,
and can include any number of arguments.  The full path to the current
log message template file is appended to the template.

   One thing that should be noted is that the `ALL' keyword is not
supported.  If more than one matching line is found, the first one is
used.  This can be useful for specifying a default verification script
in a module, and then overriding it in a subdirectory.

   If the repository name does not match any of the regular expressions
in this file, the `DEFAULT' line is used, if it is specified.

   If the verification script exits with a non-zero exit status, the
commit is aborted.

   Note that the verification script cannot change the log message; it
can merely accept it or reject it.

   The following is a little silly example of a `verifymsg' file,
together with the corresponding `rcsinfo' file, the log message
template and an verification  script.  We begin with the log message
template.  We want to always record a bug-id number on the first line
of the log message.  The rest of log message is free text.  The
following template is found in the file `/usr/cvssupport/tc.template'.

     BugId:

   The script `/usr/cvssupport/bugid.verify' is used to evaluate the
log message.

     #!/bin/sh
     #
     #       bugid.verify filename
     #
     #  Verify that the log message contains a valid bugid
     #  on the first line.
     #
     if head -1 < $1 | grep '^BugId:[ ]*[0-9][0-9]*$' > /dev/null; then
         exit 0
     else
         echo "No BugId found."
         exit 1
     fi

   The `verifymsg' file contains this line:

     ^tc     /usr/cvssupport/bugid.edit

   The `rcsinfo' file contains this line:

     ^tc     /usr/cvssupport/tc.template


File: cvs.info,  Node: editinfo,  Next: loginfo,  Prev: verifymsg,  Up: Administrative files

Editinfo
========

   *NOTE:* The `editinfo' feature has been rendered obsolete.  To set a
default editor for log messages use the `EDITOR' environment variable
(*note Environment variables::.) or the `-e' global option (*note
Global options::.).  See *Note verifymsg::, for information on the use
of the `verifymsg' feature for evaluating log messages.

   If you want to make sure that all log messages look the same way,
you can use the `editinfo' file to specify a program that is used to
edit the log message.  This program could be a custom-made editor that
always enforces a certain style of the log message, or maybe a simple
shell script that calls an editor, and checks that the entered message
contains the required fields.

   If no matching line is found in the `editinfo' file, the editor
specified in the environment variable `$CVSEDITOR' is used instead.  If
that variable is not set, then the environment variable `$EDITOR' is
used instead.  If that variable is not set a default will be used.  See
*Note Committing your changes::.

   The `editinfo' file is often most useful together with the `rcsinfo'
file, which can be used to specify a log message template.

   Each line in the `editinfo' file consists of a regular expression
and a command-line template.  The template must include a program name,
and can include any number of arguments.  The full path to the current
log message template file is appended to the template.

   One thing that should be noted is that the `ALL' keyword is not
supported.  If more than one matching line is found, the first one is
used.  This can be useful for specifying a default edit script in a
module, and then overriding it in a subdirectory.

   If the repository name does not match any of the regular expressions
in this file, the `DEFAULT' line is used, if it is specified.

   If the edit script exits with a non-zero exit status, the commit is
aborted.

   Note: when CVS is accessing a remote repository, or when the `-m' or
`-F' options to `cvs commit' are used, `editinfo' will not be consulted.
There is no good workaround for this; use `verifymsg' instead.

* Menu:

* editinfo example::            Editinfo example


File: cvs.info,  Node: editinfo example,  Up: editinfo

Editinfo example
----------------

   The following is a little silly example of a `editinfo' file,
together with the corresponding `rcsinfo' file, the log message
template and an editor script.  We begin with the log message template.
We want to always record a bug-id number on the first line of the log
message.  The rest of log message is free text.  The following template
is found in the file `/usr/cvssupport/tc.template'.

     BugId:

   The script `/usr/cvssupport/bugid.edit' is used to edit the log
message.

     #!/bin/sh
     #
     #       bugid.edit filename
     #
     #  Call $EDITOR on FILENAME, and verify that the
     #  resulting file contains a valid bugid on the first
     #  line.
     if [ "x$EDITOR" = "x" ]; then EDITOR=vi; fi
     if [ "x$CVSEDITOR" = "x" ]; then CVSEDITOR=$EDITOR; fi
     $CVSEDITOR $1
     until head -1|grep '^BugId:[ ]*[0-9][0-9]*$' < $1
     do  echo -n  "No BugId found.  Edit again? ([y]/n)"
         read ans
         case ${ans} in
             n*) exit 1;;
         esac
         $CVSEDITOR $1
     done

   The `editinfo' file contains this line:

     ^tc     /usr/cvssupport/bugid.edit

   The `rcsinfo' file contains this line:

     ^tc     /usr/cvssupport/tc.template


File: cvs.info,  Node: loginfo,  Next: rcsinfo,  Prev: editinfo,  Up: Administrative files

Loginfo
=======

   The `loginfo' file is used to control where `cvs commit' log
information is sent.  The first entry on a line is a regular expression
which is tested against the directory that the change is being made to,
relative to the `$CVSROOT'.  If a match is found, then the remainder of
the line is a filter program that should expect log information on its
standard input.

   If the repository name does not match any of the regular expressions
in this file, the `DEFAULT' line is used, if it is specified.

   All occurances of the name `ALL' appearing as a regular expression
are used in addition to the first matching regular expression or
`DEFAULT'.

   The first matching regular expression is used.

   *Note commit files::, for a description of the syntax of the
`loginfo' file.

   The user may specify a format string as part of the filter.  The
string is composed of a `%' followed by a space, or followed by a single
format character, or followed by a set of format characters surrounded
by `{' and `}' as separators.  The format characters are:

s
     file name

V
     old version number (pre-checkin)

v
     new version number (post-checkin)

   All other characters that appear in a format string expand to an
empty field (commas separating fields are still provided).

   For example, some valid format strings are `%', `%s', `%{s}', and
`%{sVv}'.

   The output will be a string of tokens separated by spaces.  For
backwards compatibility, the first token will be the repository name.
The rest of the tokens will be comma-delimited lists of the information
requested in the format string.  For example, if `/u/src/master' is the
repository, `%{sVv}' is the format string, and three files (ChangeLog,
Makefile, foo.c) were modified, the output might be:

     /u/src/master ChangeLog,1.1,1.2 Makefile,1.3,1.4 foo.c,1.12,1.13

   As another example, `%{}' means that only the name of the repository
will be generated.

   Note: when CVS is accessing a remote repository, `loginfo' will be
run on the *remote* (i.e., server) side, not the client side (*note
Remote repositories::.).

* Menu:

* loginfo example::             Loginfo example
* Keeping a checked out copy::  Updating a tree on every checkin


File: cvs.info,  Node: loginfo example,  Next: Keeping a checked out copy,  Up: loginfo

Loginfo example
---------------

   The following `loginfo' file, together with the tiny shell-script
below, appends all log messages to the file
`$CVSROOT/CVSROOT/commitlog', and any commits to the administrative
files (inside the `CVSROOT' directory) are also logged in
`/usr/adm/cvsroot-log'.

     ALL             /usr/local/bin/cvs-log $CVSROOT/CVSROOT/commitlog
     ^CVSROOT        /usr/local/bin/cvs-log /usr/adm/cvsroot-log

   The shell-script `/usr/local/bin/cvs-log' looks like this:

     #!/bin/sh
     (echo "------------------------------------------------------";
      echo -n $USER"  ";
      date;
      echo;
      sed '1s+'${CVSROOT}'++') >> $1


File: cvs.info,  Node: Keeping a checked out copy,  Prev: loginfo example,  Up: loginfo

Keeping a checked out copy
--------------------------

   It is often useful to maintain a directory tree which contains files
which correspond to the latest version in the repository.  For example,
other developers might want to refer to the latest sources without
having to check them out, or you might be maintaining a web site with
CVS and want every checkin to cause the files used by the web server to
be updated.

   The way to do this is by having loginfo invoke `cvs update'.  Doing
so in the naive way will cause a problem with locks, so the `cvs update'
must be run in the background.  Here is an example (this should all be
on one line):

     ^cyclic-pages		(date; cat; (sleep 2; cd /u/www/local-docs;
      cvs -q update -d) &) >> $CVSROOT/CVSROOT/updatelog 2>&1

   This will cause checkins to repository directories starting with
`cyclic-pages' to update the checked out tree in `/u/www/local-docs'.


File: cvs.info,  Node: rcsinfo,  Next: cvsignore,  Prev: loginfo,  Up: Administrative files

Rcsinfo
=======

   The `rcsinfo' file can be used to specify a form to edit when
filling out the commit log.  The `rcsinfo' file has a syntax similar to
the `verifymsg', `commitinfo' and `loginfo' files.  *Note syntax::.
Unlike the other files the second part is *not* a command-line
template.  Instead, the part after the regular expression should be a
full pathname to a file containing the log message template.

   If the repository name does not match any of the regular expressions
in this file, the `DEFAULT' line is used, if it is specified.

   All occurances of the name `ALL' appearing as a regular expression
are used in addition to the first matching regular expression or
`DEFAULT'.

   The log message template will be used as a default log message.  If
you specify a log message with `cvs commit -m MESSAGE' or `cvs commit -f
FILE' that log message will override the template.

   *Note verifymsg::, for an example `rcsinfo' file.

   When CVS is accessing a remote repository, the contents of `rcsinfo'
at the time a directory is first checked out will specify a template
which does not then change.  If you edit `rcsinfo' or its templates,
you may need to check out a new working directory.


File: cvs.info,  Node: cvsignore,  Next: history file,  Prev: rcsinfo,  Up: Administrative files

Ignoring files via cvsignore
============================

   There are certain file names that frequently occur inside your
working copy, but that you don't want to put under CVS control.
Examples are all the object files that you get while you compile your
sources.  Normally, when you run `cvs update', it prints a line for
each file it encounters that it doesn't know about (*note update
output::.).

   CVS has a list of files (or sh(1) file name patterns) that it should
ignore while running `update', `import' and `release'.  This list is
constructed in the following way.

   * The list is initialized to include certain file name patterns:
     names associated with CVS administration, or with other common
     source control systems; common names for patch files, object files,
     archive files, and editor backup files; and other names that are
     usually artifacts of assorted utilities.  Currently, the default
     list of ignored file name patterns is:

              RCS     SCCS    CVS     CVS.adm
              RCSLOG  cvslog.*
              tags    TAGS
              .make.state     .nse_depinfo
              *~      #*      .#*     ,*      _$*     *$
              *.old   *.bak   *.BAK   *.orig  *.rej   .del-*
              *.a     *.olb   *.o     *.obj   *.so    *.exe
              *.Z     *.elc   *.ln
              core

   * The per-repository list in `$CVSROOT/CVSROOT/cvsignore' is
     appended to the list, if that file exists.

   * The per-user list in `.cvsignore' in your home directory is
     appended to the list, if it exists.

   * Any entries in the environment variable `$CVSIGNORE' is appended
     to the list.

   * Any `-I' options given to CVS is appended.

   * As CVS traverses through your directories, the contents of any
     `.cvsignore' will be appended to the list.  The patterns found in
     `.cvsignore' are only valid for the directory that contains them,
     not for any sub-directories.

   In any of the 5 places listed above, a single exclamation mark (`!')
clears the ignore list.  This can be used if you want to store any file
which normally is ignored by CVS.

   Specifying `-I !' to `cvs import' will import everything, which is
generally what you want to do if you are importing files from a
pristine distribution or any other source which is known to not contain
any extraneous files.  However, looking at the rules above you will see
there is a fly in the ointment; if the distribution contains any
`.cvsignore' files, then the patterns from those files will be
processed even if `-I !' is specified.  The only workaround is to
remove the `.cvsignore' files in order to do the import.  Because this
is awkward, in the future `-I !' might be modified to override
`.cvsignore' files in each directory.


File: cvs.info,  Node: history file,  Next: Variables,  Prev: cvsignore,  Up: Administrative files

The history file
================

   The file `$CVSROOT/CVSROOT/history' is used to log information for
the `history' command (*note history::.).  This file must be created to
turn on logging.  This is done automatically if the `cvs init' command
is used to set up the repository (*note Creating a repository::.).

   The file format of the `history' file is documented only in comments
in the CVS source code, but generally programs should use the `cvs
history' command to access it anyway, in case the format changes with
future releases of CVS.


File: cvs.info,  Node: Variables,  Next: config,  Prev: history file,  Up: Administrative files

Expansions in administrative files
==================================

   Sometimes in writing an administrative file, you might want the file
to be able to know various things based on environment CVS is running
in.  There are several mechanisms to do that.

   To find the home directory of the user running CVS (from the `HOME'
environment variable), use `~' followed by `/' or the end of the line.
Likewise for the home directory of USER, use `~USER'.  These variables
are expanded on the server machine, and don't get any reasonable
expansion if pserver (*note Password authenticated::.) is in used;
therefore user variables (see below) may be a better choice to
customize behavior based on the user running CVS.

   One may want to know about various pieces of information internal to
CVS.  A CVS internal variable has the syntax `${VARIABLE}', where
VARIABLE starts with a letter and consists of alphanumberic characters
and `_'.  If the character following VARIABLE is a non-alphanumeric
character other than `_', the `{' and `}' can be omitted.  The CVS
internal variables are:

`CVSROOT'
     This is the value of the CVS root in use.  *Note Repository::, for
     a description of the various ways to specify this.

`RCSBIN'
     This is the value CVS is using for where to find RCS binaries.
     *Note Global options::, for a description of how to specify this.

`CVSEDITOR'
`VISUAL'
`EDITOR'
     These all expand to the same value, which is the editor that CVS
     is using.  *Note Global options::, for how to specify this.

`USER'
     Username of the user running CVS (on the CVS server machine).

   If you want to pass a value to the administrative files which the
user who is running CVS can specify, use a user variable.  To expand a
user variable, the administrative file contains `${=VARIABLE}'.  To set
a user variable, specify the global option `-s' to CVS, with argument
`VARIABLE=VALUE'.  It may be particularly useful to specify this option
via `.cvsrc' (*note ~/.cvsrc::.).

   For example, if you want the administrative file to refer to a test
directory you might create a user variable `TESTDIR'.  Then if CVS is
invoked as

     cvs -s TESTDIR=/work/local/tests

and the administrative file contains `sh ${=TESTDIR}/runtests', then
that string is expanded to `sh /work/local/tests/runtests'.

   All other strings containing `$' are reserved; there is no way to
quote a `$' character so that `$' represents itself.


File: cvs.info,  Node: config,  Prev: Variables,  Up: Administrative files

The CVSROOT/config configuration file
=====================================

   The administrative file `config' contains various miscellaneous
settings which affect the behavior of CVS.  The syntax is slightly
different from the other administrative files.  Variables are not
expanded.  Lines which start with `#' are considered comments.  Other
lines consist of a keyword, `=', and a value.  Note that this syntax is
very strict.  Extraneous spaces or tabs are not permitted.

   Currently defined keywords are:

`RCSBIN=BINDIR'
     Look for RCS programs in the directory BINDIR, like the `-b'
     global option.  It is not specified whether this setting overrides
     the `-b' global option or vice versa; the behavior with respect to
     overrides may change in the future.

`SystemAuth=VALUE'
     If VALUE is `yes', then pserver should check for users in the
     system's user database if not found in `CVSROOT/passwd'.  If it is
     `no', then all pserver users must exist in `CVSROOT/passwd'.  The
     default is `yes'.  For more on pserver, see *Note Password
     authenticated::.


File: cvs.info,  Node: Environment variables,  Next: Troubleshooting,  Prev: Administrative files,  Up: Top

All environment variables which affect CVS
******************************************

   This is a complete list of all environment variables that affect CVS.

`$CVSIGNORE'
     A whitespace-separated list of file name patterns that CVS should
     ignore. *Note cvsignore::.

`$CVSWRAPPERS'
     A whitespace-separated list of file name patterns that CVS should
     treat as wrappers. *Note Wrappers::.

`$CVSREAD'
     If this is set, `checkout' and `update' will try hard to make the
     files in your working directory read-only.  When this is not set,
     the default behavior is to permit modification of your working
     files.

`$CVSUMASK'
     Controls permissions of files in the repository.  See *Note File
     permissions::.

`$CVSROOT'
     Should contain the full pathname to the root of the CVS source
     repository (where the RCS history files are kept).  This
     information must be available to CVS for most commands to execute;
     if `$CVSROOT' is not set, or if you wish to override it for one
     invocation, you can supply it on the command line: `cvs -d cvsroot
     cvs_command...' Once you have checked out a working directory, CVS
     stores the appropriate root (in the file `CVS/Root'), so normally
     you only need to worry about this when initially checking out a
     working directory.

`$EDITOR'
`$CVSEDITOR'
     Specifies the program to use for recording log messages during
     commit.  `$CVSEDITOR' overrides `$EDITOR'.  See *Note Committing
     your changes::.

`$PATH'
     If `$RCSBIN' is not set, and no path is compiled into CVS, it will
     use `$PATH' to try to find all programs it uses.

`$RCSBIN'
     This is the value CVS is using for where to find RCS binaries.
     *Note Global options::, for a description of how to specify this.
     If not set, a compiled-in value is used, or your `$PATH' is
     searched.

`$HOME'
`$HOMEPATH'
     Used to locate the directory where the `.cvsrc' file is searched
     (`$HOMEPATH' is used for Windows-NT).  *note ~/.cvsrc::.

`$CVS_RSH'
     Specifies the external program which CVS connects with, when
     `:ext:' access method is specified.  *note Connecting via rsh::..

`$CVS_SERVER'
     Used in client-server mode when accessing a remote repository
     using RSH.  It specifies the name of the program to start on the
     server side when accessing a remote repository using RSH.  The
     default value is `cvs'.  *note Connecting via rsh::.

`$CVS_PASSFILE'
     Used in client-server mode when accessing the `cvs login server'.
     Default value is `$HOME/.cvspass'.  *note Password authentication
     client::.

`$CVS_CLIENT_PORT'
     Used in client-server mode when accessing the server via Kerberos.
     *note Kerberos authenticated::.

`$CVS_RCMD_PORT'
     Used in client-server mode.  If set, specifies the port number to
     be used when accessing the RCMD demon on the server side.
     (Currently not used for Unix clients).

`$CVS_CLIENT_LOG'
     Used for debugging only in client-server mode.  If set, everything
     send to the server is logged into ``$CVS_CLIENT_LOG'.in' and
     everything send from the server is logged into
     ``$CVS_CLIENT_LOG'.out'.

`$CVS_SERVER_SLEEP'
     Used only for debugging the server side in client-server mode.  If
     set, delays the start of the server child process the specified
     amount of seconds so that you can attach to it with a debugger.

`$CVS_IGNORE_REMOTE_ROOT'
     (What is the purpose of this variable?)

`$COMSPEC'
     Used under OS/2 only.  It specifies the name of the command
     interpreter and defaults to CMD.EXE.

`$TMPDIR'
`$TMP'
`$TEMP'
     Directory in which temporary files are located.  Those parts of
     CVS which are implemented using RCS inspect the above variables in
     the order they appear above and the first value found is taken; if
     none of them are set, a host-dependent default is used, typically
     `/tmp'.  The CVS server uses `TMPDIR'.  *Note Global options::,
     for a description of how to specify this.  Some parts of CVS will
     always use `/tmp' (via the `tmpnam' function provided by the
     system).

     On Windows NT, `TMP' is used (via the `_tempnam' function provided
     by the system).

     The `patch' program which is used by the CVS client uses `TMPDIR',
     and if it is not set, uses `/tmp' (at least with GNU patch 2.1).

   CVS invokes RCS to perform certain operations.  The following
environment variables affect RCS.  Note that if you are using the
client/server CVS, these variables need to be set on the server side
(which may or not may be possible depending on how you are connecting).
There is probably not any need to set any of them, however.

`$LOGNAME'
`$USER'
     If set, they affect who RCS thinks you are.  If you have trouble
     checking in files it might be because your login name differs from
     the setting of e.g.  `$LOGNAME'.

`$RCSINIT'
     Options prepended to the argument list, separated by spaces.  A
     backslash escapes spaces within an option.  The `$RCSINIT' options
     are prepended to the argument lists of most RCS commands.


File: cvs.info,  Node: Troubleshooting,  Next: Copying,  Prev: Environment variables,  Up: Top

Troubleshooting
***************

   If you are having trouble with CVS, this appendix may help.  If
there is a particular error message which you are seeing, then you can
look up the message alphabetically.  If not, you can look through the
section on other problems to see if your problem is mentioned there.

* Menu:

* Error messages::              Partial list of CVS errors
* Other problems::              Problems not readily listed by error message


File: cvs.info,  Node: Error messages,  Next: Other problems,  Up: Troubleshooting

Partial list of error messages
==============================

   Here is a partial list of error messages that you may see from CVS.
It is not a complete list--CVS is capable of printing many, many error
messages, often with parts of them supplied by the operating system,
but the intention is to list the common and/or potentially confusing
error messages.

   The messages are alphabetical, but introductory text such as `cvs
update: ' is not considered in ordering them.

   In some cases the list includes messages printed by old versions of
CVS (partly because users may not be sure which version of CVS they are
using at any particular moment).

`FILE:LINE: Assertion 'TEXT' failed'
     The exact format of this message may vary depending on your
     system.  It indicates a bug in CVS, which can be handled as
     described in *Note BUGS::.

`cannot change permissions on temporary directory'
          Operation not permitted
     This message has been happening in a non-reproducible, occasional
     way when we run the client/server testsuite, both on Red Hat Linux
     3.0.3 and 4.1.  We haven't been able to figure out what causes it,
     nor is it known whether it is specific to linux (or even to this
     particular machine!).  If the problem does occur on other unices,
     `Operation not permitted' would be likely to read `Not owner' or
     whatever the system in question uses for the unix `EPERM' error.
     If you have any information to add, please let us know as
     described in *Note BUGS::.  If you experience this error while
     using CVS, retrying the operation which produced it should work
     fine.

`cannot open CVS/Entries for reading: No such file or directory'
     This generally indicates a CVS internal error, and can be handled
     as with other CVS bugs (*note BUGS::.).  Usually there is a
     workaround--the exact nature of which would depend on the
     situation but which hopefully could be figured out.

`cvs [init aborted]: cannot open CVS/Root: No such file or directory'
     This message is harmless.  Provided it is not accompanied by other
     errors, the operation has completed successfully.  This message
     should not occur with current versions of CVS, but it is documented
     here for the benefit of CVS 1.9 and older.

`cvs [checkout aborted]: cannot rename file FILE to CVS/,,FILE: Invalid argument'
     This message has been reported as intermittently happening with
     CVS 1.9 on Solaris 2.5.  The cause is unknown; if you know more
     about what causes it, let us know as described in *Note BUGS::.

`cvs [COMMAND aborted]: cannot start server via rcmd'
     This, unfortunately, is a rather nonspecific error message which
     CVS 1.9 will print if you are running the CVS client and it is
     having trouble connecting to the server.  Current versions of CVS
     should print a much more specific error message.  If you get this
     message when you didn't mean to run the client at all, you
     probably forgot to specify `:local:', as described in *Note
     Repository::.

`ci: FILE,v: bad diff output line: Binary files - and /tmp/T2a22651 differ'
     This happens when trying to check in a binary file if RCS is not
     correctly installed.  Re-read the instructions that came with your
     RCS distribution and the INSTALL file in the CVS distribution.

`cvs checkout: could not check out FILE'
     With CVS 1.9, this can mean that the `co' program (part of RCS)
     returned a failure.  It should be preceded by another error
     message, however it has been observed without another error
     message and the cause is not well-understood.  With the current
     version of CVS, which does not run `co', if this message occurs
     without another error message, it is definitely a CVS bug (*note
     BUGS::.).

`cvs [update aborted]: could not patch FILE: No such file or directory'
     This means that there was a problem finding the `patch' program.
     Make sure that it is in your `PATH'.  Note that despite
     appearances the message is *not* referring to whether it can find
     FILE.  If both the client and the server are running a current
     version of CVS, then there is no need for an external patch
     program and you should not see this message.  But if either client
     or server is running CVS 1.9, then you need `patch'.

`cvs update: could not patch FILE; will refetch'
     This means that for whatever reason the client was unable to apply
     a patch that the server sent.  The message is nothing to be
     concerned about, because inability to apply the patch only slows
     things down and has no effect on what CVS does.

`dying gasps from SERVER unexpected'
     This message seems to be caused by a hard-to-track-down bug in CVS
     or the systems it runs on (we don't know--we haven't tracked it
     down yet!).  If you see it, you probably can just retry the
     operation which failed, or if you have discovered information
     concerning its cause, please let us know as described in *Note
     BUGS::.

`end of file from server (consult above messages if any)'
     The most common cause for this message is if you are using an
     external `rsh' program and it exited with an error.  In this case
     the `rsh' program should have printed a message, which will appear
     before the above message.  For more information on setting up a
     CVS client and server, see *Note Remote repositories::.

`cvs commit: Executing 'mkmodules''
     This means that your repository is set up for a version of CVS
     prior to CVS 1.8.  When using CVS 1.8 or later, the above message
     will be preceded by

          cvs commit: Rebuilding administrative file database

     If you see both messages, the database is being rebuilt twice,
     which is unnecessary but harmless.  If you wish to avoid the
     duplication, and you have no versions of CVS 1.7 or earlier in
     use, remove `-i mkmodules' every place it appears in your `modules'
     file.  For more information on the `modules' file, see *Note
     modules::.

`missing author'
     Typically this can happen if you created an RCS file with your
     username set to empty.  CVS will, bogusly, create an illegal RCS
     file with no value for the author field.  The solution is to make
     sure your username is set to a non-empty value and re-create the
     RCS file.

`*PANIC* administration files missing'
     This typically means that there is a directory named CVS but it
     does not contain the administrative files which CVS puts in a CVS
     directory.  If the problem is that you created a CVS directory via
     some mechanism other than CVS, then the answer is simple, use a
     name other than CVS.  If not, it indicates a CVS bug (*note
     BUGS::.).

`rcs error: Unknown option: -x,v/'
     This message will be followed by a usage message for RCS.  It
     means that you have an old version of RCS (probably supplied with
     your operating system).  CVS only works with RCS version 5 and
     later.

`cvs [server aborted]: received broken pipe signal'
     This message seems to be caused by a hard-to-track-down bug in CVS
     or the systems it runs on (we don't know--we haven't tracked it
     down yet!).  It seems to happen only after a CVS command has
     completed, and you should be able to just ignore the message.
     However, if you have discovered information concerning its cause,
     please let us know as described in *Note BUGS::.

`cvs commit: Up-to-date check failed for `FILE''
     This means that someone else has committed a change to that file
     since the last time that you did a `cvs update'.  So before
     proceeding with your `cvs commit' you need to `cvs update'.  CVS
     will merge the changes that you made and the changes that the
     other person made.  If it does not detect any conflicts it will
     report `M cacErrCodes.h' and you are ready to `cvs commit'.  If it
     detects conflicts it will print a message saying so, will report
     `C cacErrCodes.h', and you need to manually resolve the conflict.
     For more details on this process see *Note Conflicts example::.

`Usage:	diff3 [-exEX3 [-i | -m] [-L label1 -L label3]] file1 file2 file3'
          Only one of [exEX3] allowed
     This indicates a problem with the installation of `diff3' and
     `rcsmerge'.  Specifically `rcsmerge' was compiled to look for GNU
     diff3, but it is finding unix diff3 instead.  The exact text of
     the message will vary depending on the system.  The solution is to
     make sure `rcsmerge' finds GNU diff3.  Depending on how `rcsmerge'
     was compiled, it might be sufficient to place GNU diff3 in your
     `PATH', or it might be necessary to recompile `rcsmerge' or find a
     binary distribution of `rcsmerge' which looks in the `PATH'.

`cvs commit: warning: editor session failed'
     This means that the editor which CVS is using exits with a nonzero
     exit status.  Some versions of vi will do this even when there was
     not a problem editing the file.  If so, point the CVSEDITOR
     environment variable to a small script such as:

          #!/bin/sh
          vi $*
          exit 0


File: cvs.info,  Node: Other problems,  Prev: Error messages,  Up: Troubleshooting

Other common problems
=====================

   Here is a list of problems which cannot be readily looked up based
on an error message.  They are in no particular order.

   * If `cvs update' finds a conflict and tries to merge, as described
     in *Note Conflicts example::, but doesn't tell you there were
     conflicts, then you may have an old version of RCS.  For more
     information on how to set this up, see the `INSTALL' file in the
     CVS source distribution.

