Re: cvs commandline - best way to see what's modified before commiting? + new questions...

[Martin Jørgensen]

Jim Hyslop wrote:
-snip-

> I use 'cvs -nq update'. Note that the options precede the command. -n
> tells CVS not to actually do anything, but simply to report what it
> _would_ do if you let it. -q suppresses the 'Processing directory
> foo...' output. The command will generate a list of files that are not
> under CVS control, locally modified files, and files which need to be
> updated from the repository.

Great! Just what I wanted... I don't have to commit in "two steps" like 
I've done before...

Before I did a 1) "cvs commit", 2) cvs update, 3) cvs add + cvs remove 
whatever I forgot... (then I usually did one more cvs update, just to 
make sure everything is okay).

This looks like a much better method, so I can commit everything in one 
step...

> > Is cvs update absolutely safe in that, it doesn't overwriting anything
> > newer? Because I think that would do the trick...
> >
> > I'm just a bit paranoid if it some day overwrites my new files with cvs
> > update, before I commited them...
>
>
> As Todd says, CVS won't overwrite existing files. It's always best to
> make sure your local copy is up to date before committing. First, if
> someone else has modified the same file, CVS won't let you commit until
> you've updated. Second, if someone else modifies a different file in a
> way that's incompatible with your changes, you could break the build.

"Break the build" - you mean a confict, I assume...

> Breaking the build is a major faux pas. So, whenever I'm about to
> commit, my steps are:
>
> 1) run 'cvs -nq update'
> 2) For each file that is unknown (preceded by '?'), do one of:
>   a) delete the file
>   b) add the file to .cvsignore
>   c) 'cvs add' the file

Nice - thanks.

> 3) If step 1 indicated NO updates or merges were required, commit;
> otherwise:
> 4) run 'cvs update'
> 5) resolve any conflicts that may have occurred
> 6) go through the entire build process again
> 7) go back to step 1
-snip-

Thanks - this looks *EXACTLY* like what I needed to know... I'll try it 
later...


BTW: Another newbie question:

This is actually both a tortoisecvs and command-line-cvs question:

Today I accidentally deleted a file which I however don't need to modify 
and didn't modify.

If you can't remember the exact filename (it was cast1.dat or something) 
and you *ONLY* want to retrieve this individual file without touching or 
updating anything else...

What's the best way?


Because the problem is that it's easy to do a cvs update on a whole 
directory... But how do I update only a single file even though a lot 
else has changed in the current directory?

Hints for both command-line and tortoisecvs will be appreciated...


My last concern is... Do you always update with -A (to remove sticky 
bit) ? I think I should try to remember that... Or else I might find 
myself looking at, and modifying, an old file suddenly... ?



Best regards / Med venlig hilsen
Martin Jørgensen

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