Managing SuperMix Builds with CVS -- Concurrent Versions System

Initial set up
Using the system
Creating a release version
A GUI CVS control panel
Other resources

Initial Setup

The initial setup only needs to be done once. Although I have already gone through most of this setup, I am including the following instructions in this page for future reference.

WARNING: The repository has already been set up. Don't try to do it again!

Create a user and a group called supermix. All programmers who need write access to the library must be a member of the group.
Create a cvsroot directory with write permission for group supermix.

Initialize the repository:

cvs -d /home/moria/supermix/cvsroot init

Add the following line to all programmers' .cshrc files:
```
setenv CVSROOT /home/moria/supermix/cvsroot
```
Create a directory (it does not need to be in any particular place or account) with the initial version of the source code. Be sure to remove any binary files, object code, temporary files, etc. Be sure that the directory structure for the distribution is as close as possible to the final desired form, as it is difficult to change later on.
Add the initial source tree to the repository:
```
cvs import -m "Supermix microwave simulator" supermix caltech start
```
This assumes that the original source code was in the directory called "supermix," and gives the initial version a tag called "start."
Delete the initial source tree (after making a backup, of course!)
Place the file cvsignore in the directory cvsroot/CVSROOT if desired to tell cvs to ignore certain file names or patterns.

Using the system

The following brief instructions are to get programmers started who have never used CVS.

Before using cvs for the first time, a copy of the current version of the source code must be checked out:
```
cvs checkout supermix
```
If a version has already been checked out, it is important to occasionally update your working version with any changes made by other programmers. This can be done with the following command:
```
cvs update supermix
```
I recommend running this command once for each day that you work on the library, before modifying any source code.
Edit a file:
```
emacs nport.cc
```
When done, after making sure that the changes compile and don't introduce any bugs, commit with the command
```
cvs commit nport.cc
```
Adding a file: To add a new file, first create the file, for example, new.h. When it is ready to add to the repository, issue the commands
```
cvs add new.h
cvs commit new.h
```

Removing a file:

rm uselessfile.cc
cvs remove uselessfile.cc
cvs commit

Renaming a file:

mv oldname.cc newname.cc
cvs remove oldname.cc
cvs commit
cvs add newname.cc
cvs commit newname.cc

Ignoring files: If there are any files or directories that you want cvs to ignore automatically, you must add the filename or pattern to cvsroot/CVSROOT/cvsignore. Note that many common file patterns, such as *~, *.bak, *.o, and *.a are already ignored by default.
Finishing up: I recommend that every day that you work on SuperMix, when you are done or before going home, release your copy with the command
```
cvs release [-d] supermix
```
Note that the optional -d flag will delete the copy of the source tree in your home directory. Beware that when you release your source tree, you abandon any changes that haven't been committed.

Creating a Release Version

To create a release version, you must first tag the current version. When you are certain that everything is correct, go to the directory where the distribution is located and type

cvs tag release-1-0 supermix

to tag the current version as release 1.0. Then, any time you want a copy release 1.0 for distribution, type

cvs export -r release-1-0 supermix

This will extract a clean copy of version 1.0 without any CVS working directories. This copy would be ready to tar, gzip, and distribute. You can also checkout and editable version using

cvs checkout -r release-1-0 supermix

The export the current snapshot, try

cvs export -D now supermix

A GUI CVS control panel

If you prefer to use a graphical interface, try out tkcvs.

Other Resources