Re: vc-rename-file doesn't work for CVS

[Aaron S. Hawley]

On Tue, 8 Nov 2005, Richard M. Stallman wrote:

> Thanks for pointing this out.
>
> To make this really clear, we need to tell the user how to recognize
> this situation, so that he knows it is necessary to use C-x v v that
> way.  Can anyone tell me the criterion or write further text saying
> it?

Unfortunately, the manual doesn't explain the "@@"  syntax that appears in
the mode line for files under VC (and using CVS?) that are uncommitted and
therefore lack a version number.  That's one item users could use to help
"recognize this situation" and to know what to do next. It could be
mentioned either in the manual section titled "VC Mode Line" or the
"Registering" subsection under "Secondary VC Commands".

I'd have to investigate all the backends to see how they respond to
`vc-rename-file', but my guess is only CVS acts this way.  Below is a
draft check list based on what I know.  Perhaps, others could contribute
more based on what they know.

 * RCS, CSSC - renames working and master files at filesystem level
 * CVS, Meta-CVS(?) - requires commit after renaming
 * Arch(?), Svn(?) - the backend supports renaming

For those who wish to test VC mode with CVS, I've tried to document on the
Emacs Wiki how to initialize a minimal CVS repository:

<http://www.emacswiki.org/cgi-bin/emacs-en/ConcurrentVersionsSystem>

/a