Setting Up a Local CVS Repository

Before you can begin work on a development project using the CVS in the IDE, a CVS repository needs to be set up for that project. If command-line CVS is installed on your system, you can create a local CVS repository with the IDE's CVS Command-Line Client Support.

To set up a local CVS repository:

  1. On your system (outside of the IDE), create a directory or folder for the CVS repository.

    The CVS repository should be in a place accessible to all of the project's developers but relatively safe from accidental deletions.

  2. On your system (outside of the IDE), create a directory or folder for your CVS working directory. If you already have a directory with sources that you want to put under CVS control, you can skip this step.
  3. Choose Versioning Mount CVS from the main window to open the CVS Mount Wizard.
  4. In the Working Directory panel of the wizard, click Browse, navigate to and select the directory you want to use as your working directory, click Open to exit the file chooser, and click Next.
  5. In the CVS Connection Method panel, select the Local radio button.
  6. In the same panel, click the Browse button next to the Repository field and navigate to and select the directory you created to be your repository. Click Open to exit the file chooser and click Next.
  7. In the CVS Client panel, click the Command-Line Client Support radio button, and specify the path to the CVS executable by clicking Browse, navigating to the executable, clicking Open to exit the file chooser, and clicking Next. If your system's PATH environment variable already points toward CVS, you can continue without modifying this field.

    If you are running on Windows 95, Windows 98, or Windows ME, you also need to specify a command shell in the UNIX Shell field.

  8. In the Initial Checkout panel, leave the Perform the Initial Checkout checkbox unselected and click Finish.

    A new filesystem is mounted in the Explorer.

  9. Right-click the root node of the new filesystem and choose CVS Init from the contextual menu to initialize the repository.
  10. Right-click the root node of the new filesystem and choose CVS Checkout from the contextual menu to prepare your working directory for connection with the repository. Click OK to exit the CVS Checkout dialog box without filling in any of the fields.
  11. If your working directory has any directories in it, select each of these directories (while holding down the Ctrl key), right-click the selection, and choose CVS Add.

    The directories are marked to be added to the repository, and the [Local] status disappears from their nodes.

  12. If your working directory has any files in it, select each of these files (while holding down the Ctrl key), right-click the selection, and choose CVS Add.

    The files are marked to be added to the repository, and the status on their nodes changes to the [Locally Added].

    It is not possible to run the Add command on directories and files at the same time. Also, the Add command does not work recursively, so it is necessary to select each directory and file you want to add.

  13. Select the root node of the filesystem and choose CVS Commit to add the files to the repository. After the Commit command finishes, all of the files should have the [Up-to-date] status displayed next to their nodes.

    The files are now under CVS version control, and you can use CVS commands from the IDE to add and remove files, commit changes to files, view differences and file histories, and so on.

See also
Working With CVS
Mounting a CVS Filesystem
Setting a Relative Mount Point for a CVS Filesystem
VCS Support on Windows 95/98/ME
Calling CVS Commands
Reconfiguring a CVS Filesystem
CVS Commands

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