                        LibCVS Perl Version 1.00.02 (1.0002_0)

This is alpha software.  Use at your own risk. 

Copyright (c) 2003,2004,2005 Alexander Taler (dissent@0--0.org)

All rights reserved. This program is free software; you can redistribute it
and/or modify it under the same terms as Perl itself.


DESCRIPTION

LibCVS Perl provides access to CVS working directories and repositories.  See
http://www.nongnu.org/libcvs-perl/.  If you are using LibCVS please let us
know, we are keen to help.

It also ships with three useful scripts: lcvs-logsummary which transforms CVS
commit logs into ChangeLog format, grouping multiple file commits into a single
entry; lcvs-tagbase which tags the base revision of a branch for specified
files; lcvs-st which prints out an exhaustive status of files in a working
directory.

To learn how to write scripts with LibCVS, you can start with the documentation
or the example script examples/lcvs-example.  A lot of effort has been put into
the pod documentation, so please use it.  If something isn't clear in the docs,
please report it, so it can be fixed.


MAJOR LIMITATIONS

The current version provides almost no write access, it won't modify your
working directory, nor your repository, except that it can apply tags.
Subsequent releases will include functionality for modifying both the
repository and the working directory.

The tests are not yet thorough, they only cover the lcvs-st script.

Performance is poor.

The interface _will_ change, but changes will be detailed in this README and
the ChangeLog.  I will add and remove objects, change their names, change
function names and function signatures.


PREREQUISITES

* You will need Perl installed.  I've developed with Perl 5.6.1 and 5.8.*, but
  it will probably work with others too.

* For remote repository access, CVS is not required.  For local access it is.
  I've developed with CVS 1.10.8, 1.11.1p1, 1.11.11+ and 1.12.9+, but it will
  probably work with others too.  (http://www.cvshome.org/)


INSTALLATION

    $ ./Makefile.PL

    $ make test

    # make install

Or, possibly, use the CPAN shell:

  # perl -MCPAN -e shell
  cpan> install VCS::LibCVS


CHANGES

This section includes changes that may affect users since the last release,
both to the library interface, and internal changes.  For a complete list of
changes since the previous release, look in the ChangeLog-* file.  Also see the
bug tracker at https://savannah.nongnu.org/projects/libcvs-perl/.

API changes:

  * Added VCS::LibCVS::Slice, which can be used to apply tags.

  * Remove Sticky* classes which were useless and just cluttered the code.

  * Indicate internal routies using an _ prefix.

  * Added get_branch().

Non-API changes:

  * Added new script lcvs-tagbase, which is used to apply tags to the base of
    existing branches.

  * Better parsing of CVSROOTs.

  * Better parsing for confusing log files.

  * More flexibility when testing repositories for multiple command support.

  * Fix a broken case in get_file_branch() if the branch had no revisions.

  * WorkingUnmanagedFile->is_in_the_way() supports being in the way of 
    directory now.

TODO

Lots!  For the next release I want to deal with all of the major limitations
listed above.  Also check the bug tracker at Savannah.

