comparison man/vc2-xtra.texi @ 70467:b038397ebf74

(Version Backups, Local Version Control) (Making Snapshots, Change Logs and VC, Version Headers) (Customizing VC, CVS Options) [ifnottex]: Conditional xref's for on-line manual.

70466:adab6b63717c

interactions.

  The local copy of the unmodified file is called a @dfn{version
backup} to indicate that it corresponds exactly to a version that is
stored in the repository.  Note that version backups are not the same
as ordinary Emacs backup files (@pxref{Backup,,,emacs, the Emacs
Manual}).  But they follow a similar naming convention.

  For a file that comes from a remote CVS repository, VC makes a
version backup whenever you save the first changes to the file, and
removes it after you have committed your modified version to the
repository. You can disable the making of automatic version backups by
setting @code{vc-cvs-stay-local} to @code{nil} (@pxref{CVS Options}).

@cindex manual version backups
  The name of the automatic version backup for version @var{version}
of file @var{file} is @code{@var{file}.~@var{version}.~}.  This is
almost the same as the name used by @kbd{C-x v ~} (@pxref{Old
Versions,,,emacs, the Emacs Manual}), the only difference being
the additional dot (@samp{.})  after the version number.  This
similarity is intentional, because both kinds of files store the same
kind of information.  The file made by @kbd{C-x v ~} acts as a
@dfn{manual version backup}.

  All the VC commands that operate on old versions of a file can use
both kinds of version backups.  For instance, @kbd{C-x v ~} uses
either an automatic or a manual version backup, if possible, to get
the contents of the version you request.  Likewise, @kbd{C-x v =} and

disabled for RCS, so that editing under RCS works exactly as under
CVS.

When you are done with local editing, you can commit the final version
back to the CVS repository by typing @kbd{C-u C-x v v cvs @key{RET}}.
This initializes the log entry buffer (@pxref{Log Buffer,,,emacs, the
Emacs Manual}) to contain all the log entries you have recorded in the
RCS master; you can edit them as you wish, and then commit in CVS by
typing @kbd{C-c C-c}.  If the commit is successful, VC removes the RCS
master, so that the file is once again registered under CVS only.
(The RCS master is not actually deleted, just renamed by appending
@samp{~} to the name, so that you can refer to it later if you wish.)

While using local RCS, you can pick up recent changes from the CVS

prefix argument, it asks for the back end to use in the minibuffer.

Thus, if you are using local RCS, and you want to pick up some recent
changes in the file from remote CVS, first visit the file, then type
@kbd{C-x v b} to switch to CVS, and finally use @kbd{C-x v m
@key{RET}} to merge the news (@pxref{Merging,,,emacs, the Emacs
Manual}).  You can then switch back to RCS by typing @kbd{C-x v b}
again, and continue to edit locally.

But if you do this, the revision numbers in the RCS master no longer
correspond to those of CVS.  Technically, this is not a problem, but
it can become difficult to keep track of what is in the CVS repository
and what is not.  So we suggest that you return from time to time to

  A snapshot uses a very small amount of resources---just enough to record
the list of file names and which version belongs to the snapshot.  Thus,
you need not hesitate to create snapshots whenever they are useful.

  You can give a snapshot name as an argument to @kbd{C-x v =} or
@kbd{C-x v ~} (@pxref{Old Versions,,,emacs, the Emacs Manual}).
Thus, you can use it to compare a snapshot against the current files,
or two snapshots against each other, or a snapshot against a named
version.

@node Snapshot Caveats

@node Change Logs and VC
@subsubsection Change Logs and VC

  If you use RCS or CVS for a program and also maintain a change log
file for it (@pxref{Change Log,,,emacs, the Emacs Manual}), you
can generate change log entries automatically from the version control
log entries:

@table @kbd
@item C-x v a
@kindex C-x v a
@findex vc-update-change-log

  VC does not normally use the information contained in these headers.
The exception is RCS---with RCS, version headers are sometimes more
reliable than the master file to determine which version of the file
you are editing.  Note that in a multi-branch environment, version
headers are necessary to make VC behave correctly (@pxref{Multi-User
Branching,,,emacs, the Emacs Manual}).

  Searching for RCS version headers is controlled by the variable
@code{vc-consult-headers}.  If it is non-@code{nil} (the default),
Emacs searches for headers to determine the version number you are
editing.  Setting it to @code{nil} disables this feature.

The order of systems in the list is significant: when you visit a file
registered in more than one system (@pxref{Local Version Control}), VC
uses the system that comes first in @code{vc-handled-backends} by
default.  The order is also significant when you register a file for
the first time, @pxref{Registering,,,emacs, the Emacs Manual} for
details.

@menu
* General VC Options::  Options that apply to multiple back ends.
* RCS and SCCS::        Options for RCS and SCCS.
* CVS Options::         Options for CVS.

state (and possibly information returned by previous CVS commands).
One consequence of this is that when you have modified a file, and
somebody else has already checked in other changes to the file, you
are not notified of it until you actually try to commit.  (But you can
try to pick up any recent changes from the repository first, using
@kbd{C-x v m @key{RET}}, @pxref{Merging,,,emacs, the Emacs Manual}).

  When @code{vc-cvs-stay-local} is @code{t}, VC also makes local
version backups, so that simple diff and revert operations are
completely local (@pxref{Version Backups}).

70467:b038397ebf74

interactions.

  The local copy of the unmodified file is called a @dfn{version
backup} to indicate that it corresponds exactly to a version that is
stored in the repository.  Note that version backups are not the same
as ordinary Emacs backup files
@iftex
(@pxref{Backup,,,emacs, the Emacs Manual}).
@end iftex
@ifnottex
(@pxref{Backup}).
@end ifnottex
But they follow a similar naming convention.

  For a file that comes from a remote CVS repository, VC makes a
version backup whenever you save the first changes to the file, and
removes it after you have committed your modified version to the
repository. You can disable the making of automatic version backups by
setting @code{vc-cvs-stay-local} to @code{nil} (@pxref{CVS Options}).

@cindex manual version backups
  The name of the automatic version backup for version @var{version}
of file @var{file} is @code{@var{file}.~@var{version}.~}.  This is
almost the same as the name used by @kbd{C-x v ~}
@iftex
(@pxref{Old Versions,,,emacs, the Emacs Manual}),
@end iftex
@ifnottex
(@pxref{Old Versions}),
@end ifnottex
the only difference being the additional dot (@samp{.})  after the
version number.  This similarity is intentional, because both kinds of
files store the same kind of information.  The file made by @kbd{C-x v
~} acts as a @dfn{manual version backup}.

  All the VC commands that operate on old versions of a file can use
both kinds of version backups.  For instance, @kbd{C-x v ~} uses
either an automatic or a manual version backup, if possible, to get
the contents of the version you request.  Likewise, @kbd{C-x v =} and

disabled for RCS, so that editing under RCS works exactly as under
CVS.

When you are done with local editing, you can commit the final version
back to the CVS repository by typing @kbd{C-u C-x v v cvs @key{RET}}.
This initializes the log entry buffer
@iftex
(@pxref{Log Buffer,,,emacs, the Emacs Manual})
@end iftex
@ifnottex
(@pxref{Log Buffer})
@end ifnottex
to contain all the log entries you have recorded in the RCS master;
you can edit them as you wish, and then commit in CVS by typing
@kbd{C-c C-c}.  If the commit is successful, VC removes the RCS
master, so that the file is once again registered under CVS only.
(The RCS master is not actually deleted, just renamed by appending
@samp{~} to the name, so that you can refer to it later if you wish.)

While using local RCS, you can pick up recent changes from the CVS

prefix argument, it asks for the back end to use in the minibuffer.

Thus, if you are using local RCS, and you want to pick up some recent
changes in the file from remote CVS, first visit the file, then type
@kbd{C-x v b} to switch to CVS, and finally use @kbd{C-x v m
@key{RET}} to merge the news
@iftex
(@pxref{Merging,,,emacs, the Emacs Manual}).
@end iftex
@ifnottex
(@pxref{Merging}).
@end ifnottex
You can then switch back to RCS by typing @kbd{C-x v b} again, and
continue to edit locally.

But if you do this, the revision numbers in the RCS master no longer
correspond to those of CVS.  Technically, this is not a problem, but
it can become difficult to keep track of what is in the CVS repository
and what is not.  So we suggest that you return from time to time to

  A snapshot uses a very small amount of resources---just enough to record
the list of file names and which version belongs to the snapshot.  Thus,
you need not hesitate to create snapshots whenever they are useful.

  You can give a snapshot name as an argument to @kbd{C-x v =} or
@kbd{C-x v ~}
@iftex
(@pxref{Old Versions,,,emacs, the Emacs Manual}).
@end iftex
@ifnottex
(@pxref{Old Versions}).
@end ifnottex
Thus, you can use it to compare a snapshot against the current files,
or two snapshots against each other, or a snapshot against a named
version.

@node Snapshot Caveats

@node Change Logs and VC
@subsubsection Change Logs and VC

  If you use RCS or CVS for a program and also maintain a change log
file for it
@iftex
(@pxref{Change Log,,,emacs, the Emacs Manual}),
@end iftex
@ifnottex
(@pxref{Change Log}),
@end ifnottex
you can generate change log entries automatically from the version
control log entries:

@table @kbd
@item C-x v a
@kindex C-x v a
@findex vc-update-change-log

  VC does not normally use the information contained in these headers.
The exception is RCS---with RCS, version headers are sometimes more
reliable than the master file to determine which version of the file
you are editing.  Note that in a multi-branch environment, version
headers are necessary to make VC behave correctly
@iftex
(@pxref{Multi-User Branching,,,emacs, the Emacs Manual}).
@end iftex
@ifnottex
(@pxref{Multi-User Branching}).
@end ifnottex

  Searching for RCS version headers is controlled by the variable
@code{vc-consult-headers}.  If it is non-@code{nil} (the default),
Emacs searches for headers to determine the version number you are
editing.  Setting it to @code{nil} disables this feature.

The order of systems in the list is significant: when you visit a file
registered in more than one system (@pxref{Local Version Control}), VC
uses the system that comes first in @code{vc-handled-backends} by
default.  The order is also significant when you register a file for
the first time, see
@iftex
@ref{Registering,,,emacs, the Emacs Manual},
@end iftex
@ifnottex
@ref{Registering},
@end ifnottex
for details.

@menu
* General VC Options::  Options that apply to multiple back ends.
* RCS and SCCS::        Options for RCS and SCCS.
* CVS Options::         Options for CVS.

state (and possibly information returned by previous CVS commands).
One consequence of this is that when you have modified a file, and
somebody else has already checked in other changes to the file, you
are not notified of it until you actually try to commit.  (But you can
try to pick up any recent changes from the repository first, using
@kbd{C-x v m @key{RET}},
@iftex
@pxref{Merging,,,emacs, the Emacs Manual}).
@end iftex
@ifnottex
@pxref{Merging}).
@end ifnottex

  When @code{vc-cvs-stay-local} is @code{t}, VC also makes local
version backups, so that simple diff and revert operations are
completely local (@pxref{Version Backups}).