Running CVS as a client on Win95/NT

1. Download and install the command-line CVS client s/w on the PC.

I'll assume you know much more than I do about 95/NT software installation! The command line stuff is available from www.cyclic.com. The zipped file produces an executable - cvs.exe. I will assume this is now on your path so the command 'cvs' works from anywhere on the system. If not, you'll need to type the full path to execute, for eg:

$ c:\cvsdir\cvs
 

2. Set up the enviroment variables.

The two basic ones are $HOMEDRIVE and $HOMEPATH. So in the dos window type (say):

$ set HOMEDRIVE=c:
$ set HOMEPATH=/user/cvsdir

/user/cvsdir is the directory on the local PC disk where temporary files are stored, including the .cvspass password file (notice the forward slashes!). It is not necessarily the directory where the checked-out data will appear. You can set more enviroment variables for this, and indeed for the $CVSROOT directory on the remote machine where the repository is stored.
 

3. Move to where you want the data to go and log in to the server.


$ cd c:\user\cvsdir
$ cvs -d :pserver:user@derwent:/share/nlp/src/CVS_Repository login

where 'user' is your unix username. The system should respond with a request for your CVS password. Type this in and if all is well you'll simply get the DOS prompt back. Your CVS password has now been stored in a trivially encrypted form in c:/user/cvsdir/.cvspass so that you can carry out further tasks on the server without needing your password. Once you have checked out an archive you can dispense with these long commands, since CVS will store all the relevant details in the CVS subdirectory of your checked-out archive.
 

4. Check out data.

$ cvs -d :pserver:user@derwent:/share/nlp/src/CVS_Repository co archive

should check out 'archive' (lets say aventinus) into c:/user/cvsdir/aventinus. You can now work on this with your favourite editors, tools and what-have-you.
 

5. Check in data (or carry out other CVS commands).

$ cvs ci -m 'checking in my changes to data' archive
 

6. Finally, log off the server.

cvs -d :pserver:user@derwent:/share/nlp/src/CVS_Repository logout

This is important as it empties the c:/user/cvsdir/.cvspass file.