Essential CVS

Checking File Status

The cvs status command is a quick way to determine which files are up-to-date and which need to be committed or merged.

Files that have not been added to the repository are prefixed with a question mark (?). Files stored in CVS are shown with the filename, the current status, the working (or sandbox) revision, the revision currently stored in the repository and its location in the repository, and the sticky state of the file. Stickiness is explained in Chapter 4.

The syntax of cvs status is:

 cvs [cvs-options] status [command-options] [filename]

The status command has only three options:

-l

Perform local, nonrecursive operation on this directory only.

-R

Perform recursive operation on all subdirectories, as well as the current directory (default).

-v

Use verbose mode (display information about tags as well).

Example 3-5 shows the CVS status report for the wizzard.h file.

Example 3-5. Output from the cvs status command

=  =  =  =  =  =  =  =  =  =  =  =  =  =  =  =  =  =  =  =  =  =  =  =  =  =  =  = =  =
File: wizzard.h             Status: Up-to-date
   
   Working revision:    1.5
   Repository revision: 1.5     /var/lib/cvs/wizzard/src/wizzard.h,v
   Sticky Tag:          (none)
   Sticky Date:         (none)
   Sticky Options:      (none)

A file may be in one of the following states:

Up-to-date

The file in the sandbox is synchronized with the file in the repository.

Needs Checkout

The file does not exist in the sandbox; it exists only in the repository.

Needs Patch

The file in the sandbox has not been modified, and the file in the repository is more recent. ...