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CVS for Mac OS X

Abstract:
This document covers the platform and program-specific details of CVS clients for Mac OS X.
The scope is limited to native Mac OS X clients.

Assumptions:
A working understanding of cvs.

Audience:
Code and web contributors who use CVS in Mac OS X
You should be running Mac OS X 10.1.x or later.
If you want to build, you need Mac OS 10.2 or later.

"cvs" - command line client provided by Apple Computer
Where to get it:
Apple has provided Developer Tools for each major release of Mac OS X (10.0, 10.1, 10.2). The distribution has varied, most boxes seem to come with a developer disk, some upgrades might not.

For Mac OS X 10.1: Apple's Developer Tools CD (April 2002). This comes with many (but not all boxed releases and upgrades of Mac OS X 10.1.x) The disk image is also available online.

For Mac OS X 10.2, a Developer Tools CD was included.
Documentation:
Online: http://developer.apple.com/darwin/tools/cvs/
Mac OS 10.1.x: file:///Developer/Documentation/Commands/cvs/cvs_toc.html
Mac OS 10.2.x: file:///Developer/Documentation/DeveloperTools/cvs/cvsclient_toc.html
Where is goes:
cvs will be installed in /usr/bin/cvs
NOTE: Since, /bin/tcsh is the default shell for Mac OS X, we recommend adding CVSROOT to .tcshrc file.
~/.cvspass contains password, and is created by a successful cvs login.
Other help:
Common errors: https://www.cvshome.org/docs/manual/cvs-1.11.17/cvs_21.html#SEC185
Version:
cvs -v shows: "Concurrent Versions System (CVS) 1.10 `Halibut' (client/server)"

MacCvs - graphical client
Where to get it:
CvsGui has both Carbon and Mach-O versions. CvsGui has a WinCvs port of the same client, so if you work on both Mac OS X and Windows, you might use MacCvs and WinCvs for a consistent cvs platform.
Documentation:
http://cvsgui.sourceforge.net/doc.html
Local documentation as well.
Version:
MacCVS 3.2 uses "Concurrent Versions System (CVS) 1.11 (client/server)"
Default file permissions:
Checkouts are "read-only" by default. This is controlled in "Preferences | Global"
Stopping CVS activity
This version does not seem to have a "cancel" or "break" button, so be careful about pulling the entire tree.

MacCVSClient X - graphical client
Where to get it:
http://www.heilancoo.net/MacCVSClient/
Documentation:
http://www.heilancoo.net/MacCVSClient/MacCVSClientDoc/index.html
Version:
MacCvs Client Version 1.9 X
NOTE:
Each checkout must be placed into a separate folder (which is access via "File | Open Module...")

General notes about graphical CVS clients in Mac OS X:
Where should I install?
I put them into /Applications/Utilities, because I wanted it to be accessible by the Finder shortcut (command-A)
Alternatively, /Developer/Applications is another good location.
On editing files:
HTML files are opened via the Finder, and sent to IE by default. This is not the same setting as the default browser ("System Preferences | Internet | Web" in 10.2 or "Safari | Preferences | General" in 10.3). You can change individual HTML files (or all HTML file) by using "Finder | Show Info" on an HTML file. I have had some success with using drag and drop from the CVS viewers to editors.

Feedback: please add comments or suggestions to Bug 253365.