Essential CVS

Updating Sandboxes

The cvs update command checks your sandbox against the repository and downloads any changed files to the sandbox. It complements the cvs commit command, which uploads changes from the sandbox to the repository. Use the -d command option to download new directories as well. Example 2-16 shows the use of cvs update.

Example 2-16. Updating the sandbox

$ cvs update -d
cvs update: Updating .
U file2 
cvs update: Updating directory
$ ls
CVS  directory  file1     file2

As with committing, you should not have to specify the repository; it should be stored in the special CVS subdirectory in the sandbox. You must run cvs update from within the sandbox, and it is best to run it from the root directory of the sandbox to ensure that it checks all the subdirectories.

Note that -d means two different things, depending on where it is in the command. Recall that CVS commands take the form:

 cvs [cvs-options] command [command-options]

As a CVS option, -d defines the directory path. As a command option to the update command, -d downloads directories and files. This is explained more in Chapter 3.

As the update command runs, it generates a list of files that are modified. To the immediate left of each filename, you will see a single uppercase letter. Those letters report the status of each file listed, and they have the following meanings:

U filename

Updated successfully. A newer version in the repository has replaced your sandbox version.

A filename

Marked for addition but not yet added to ...