xref: /openbsd-src/gnu/usr.bin/cvs/doc/cvsclient.info-2 (revision 43c1707e6f6829177cb1974ee6615ce6c1307689)

This is cvsclient.info, produced by makeinfo version 4.0 from
cvsclient.texi.

INFO-DIR-SECTION Programming
START-INFO-DIR-ENTRY
* cvsclient: (cvsclient).      The CVS client/server protocol.
END-INFO-DIR-ENTRY


File: cvsclient.info,  Node: Requests,  Next: Response intro,  Prev: Request intro,  Up: Protocol

Requests
========

   Here are the requests:

`Root PATHNAME \n'
     Response expected: no.  Tell the server which `CVSROOT' to use.
     Note that PATHNAME is a local directory and _not_ a fully
     qualified `CVSROOT' variable.  PATHNAME must already exist; if
     creating a new root, use the `init' request, not `Root'.  PATHNAME
     does not include the hostname of the server, how to access the
     server, etc.; by the time the CVS protocol is in use, connection,
     authentication, etc., are already taken care of.

     The `Root' request must be sent only once, and it must be sent
     before any requests other than `Valid-responses',
     `valid-requests', `UseUnchanged', `Set', `Global_option', `init',
     `noop', or `version'.

`Valid-responses REQUEST-LIST \n'
     Response expected: no.  Tell the server what responses the client
     will accept.  request-list is a space separated list of tokens.
     The `Root' request need not have been previously sent.

`valid-requests \n'
     Response expected: yes.  Ask the server to send back a
     `Valid-requests' response.  The `Root' request need not have been
     previously sent.

`Directory LOCAL-DIRECTORY \n'
     Additional data: REPOSITORY \n.  Response expected: no.  Tell the
     server what directory to use.  The REPOSITORY should be a
     directory name from a previous server response.  Note that this
     both gives a default for `Entry' and `Modified' and also for `ci'
     and the other commands; normal usage is to send `Directory' for
     each directory in which there will be an `Entry' or `Modified',
     and then a final `Directory' for the original directory, then the
     command.  The LOCAL-DIRECTORY is relative to the top level at
     which the command is occurring (i.e. the last `Directory' which is
     sent before the command); to indicate that top level, `.' should
     be sent for LOCAL-DIRECTORY.

     Here is an example of where a client gets REPOSITORY and
     LOCAL-DIRECTORY.  Suppose that there is a module defined by

          moddir 1dir

     That is, one can check out `moddir' and it will take `1dir' in the
     repository and check it out to `moddir' in the working directory.
     Then an initial check out could proceed like this:

          C: Root /home/kingdon/zwork/cvsroot
          . . .
          C: Argument moddir
          C: Directory .
          C: /home/kingdon/zwork/cvsroot
          C: co
          S: Clear-sticky moddir/
          S: /home/kingdon/zwork/cvsroot/1dir/
          . . .
          S: ok

     In this example the response shown is `Clear-sticky', but it could
     be another response instead.  Note that it returns two pathnames.
     The first one, `moddir/', indicates the working directory to check
     out into.  The second one, ending in `1dir/', indicates the
     directory to pass back to the server in a subsequent `Directory'
     request.  For example, a subsequent `update' request might look
     like:

          C: Directory moddir
          C: /home/kingdon/zwork/cvsroot/1dir
          . . .
          C: update

     For a given LOCAL-DIRECTORY, the repository will be the same for
     each of the responses, so one can use the repository from whichever
     response is most convenient.  Typically a client will store the
     repository along with the sources for each LOCAL-DIRECTORY, use
     that same setting whenever operating on that LOCAL-DIRECTORY, and
     not update the setting as long as the LOCAL-DIRECTORY exists.

     A client is free to rename a LOCAL-DIRECTORY at any time (for
     example, in response to an explicit user request).  While it is
     true that the server supplies a LOCAL-DIRECTORY to the client, as
     noted above, this is only the default place to put the directory.
     Of course, the various `Directory' requests for a single command
     (for example, `update' or `ci' request) should name a particular
     directory with the same LOCAL-DIRECTORY.

     Each `Directory' request specifies a brand-new LOCAL-DIRECTORY and
     REPOSITORY; that is, LOCAL-DIRECTORY and REPOSITORY are never
     relative to paths specified in any previous `Directory' request.

     Here's a more complex example, in which we request an update of a
     working directory which has been checked out from multiple places
     in the repository.

          C: Argument dir1
          C: Directory dir1
          C: /home/foo/repos/mod1
          . . .
          C: Argument dir2
          C: Directory dir2
          C: /home/foo/repos/mod2
          . . .
          C: Argument dir3
          C: Directory dir3/subdir3
          C: /home/foo/repos/mod3
          . . .
          C: update

     While directories `dir1' and `dir2' will be handled in similar
     fashion to the other examples given above, `dir3' is slightly
     different from the server's standpoint.  Notice that module `mod3'
     is actually checked out into `dir3/subdir3', meaning that directory
     `dir3' is either empty or does not contain data checked out from
     this repository.

     The above example will work correctly in CVS 1.10.1 and later.  The
     server will descend the tree starting from all directories
     mentioned in `Argument' requests and update those directories
     specifically mentioned in `Directory' requests.

     Previous versions of CVS (1.10 and earlier) do not behave the same
     way.  While the descent of the tree begins at all directories
     mentioned in `Argument' requests, descent into subdirectories only
     occurs if a directory has been mentioned in a `Directory' request.
     Therefore, the above example would succeed in updating `dir1' and
     `dir2', but would skip `dir3' because that directory was not
     specifically mentioned in a `Directory' request.  A functional
     version of the above that would run on a 1.10 or earlier server is
     as follows:

          C: Argument dir1
          C: Directory dir1
          C: /home/foo/repos/mod1
          . . .
          C: Argument dir2
          C: Directory dir2
          C: /home/foo/repos/mod2
          . . .
          C: Argument dir3
          C: Directory dir3
          C: /home/foo/repos/.
          . . .
          C: Directory dir3/subdir3
          C: /home/foo/repos/mod3
          . . .
          C: update

     Note the extra `Directory dir3' request.  It might be better to use
     `Emptydir' as the repository for the `dir3' directory, but the
     above will certainly work.

     One more peculiarity of the 1.10 and earlier protocol is the
     ordering of `Directory' arguments.  In order for a subdirectory to
     be registered correctly for descent by the recursion processor,
     its parent must be sent first.  For example, the following would
     not work to update `dir3/subdir3':

          . . .
          C: Argument dir3
          C: Directory dir3/subdir3
          C: /home/foo/repos/mod3
          . . .
          C: Directory dir3
          C: /home/foo/repos/.
          . . .
          C: update

     The implementation of the server in 1.10 and earlier writes the
     administration files for a given directory at the time of the
     `Directory' request.  It also tries to register the directory with
     its parent to mark it for recursion.  In the above example, at the
     time `dir3/subdir3' is created, the physical directory for `dir3'
     will be created on disk, but the administration files will not
     have been created.  Therefore, when the server tries to register
     `dir3/subdir3' for recursion, the operation will silently fail
     because the administration files do not yet exist for `dir3'.

`Max-dotdot LEVEL \n'
     Response expected: no.  Tell the server that LEVEL levels of
     directories above the directory which `Directory' requests are
     relative to will be needed.  For example, if the client is
     planning to use a `Directory' request for `../../foo', it must
     send a `Max-dotdot' request with a LEVEL of at least 2.
     `Max-dotdot' must be sent before the first `Directory' request.

`Static-directory \n'
     Response expected: no.  Tell the server that the directory most
     recently specified with `Directory' should not have additional
     files checked out unless explicitly requested.  The client sends
     this if the `Entries.Static' flag is set, which is controlled by
     the `Set-static-directory' and `Clear-static-directory' responses.

`Sticky TAGSPEC \n'
     Response expected: no.  Tell the server that the directory most
     recently specified with `Directory' has a sticky tag or date
     TAGSPEC.  The first character of TAGSPEC is `T' for a tag, `D' for
     a date, or some other character supplied by a Set-sticky response
     from a previous request to the server.  The remainder of TAGSPEC
     contains the actual tag or date, again as supplied by Set-sticky.

     The server should remember `Static-directory' and `Sticky'
     requests for a particular directory; the client need not resend
     them each time it sends a `Directory' request for a given
     directory.  However, the server is not obliged to remember them
     beyond the context of a single command.

`Checkin-prog PROGRAM \n'
     Response expected: no.  Tell the server that the directory most
     recently specified with `Directory' has a checkin program PROGRAM.
     Such a program would have been previously set with the
     `Set-checkin-prog' response.

`Update-prog PROGRAM \n'
     Response expected: no.  Tell the server that the directory most
     recently specified with `Directory' has an update program PROGRAM.
     Such a program would have been previously set with the
     `Set-update-prog' response.

`Entry ENTRY-LINE \n'
     Response expected: no.  Tell the server what version of a file is
     on the local machine.  The name in ENTRY-LINE is a name relative
     to the directory most recently specified with `Directory'.  If the
     user is operating on only some files in a directory, `Entry'
     requests for only those files need be included.  If an `Entry'
     request is sent without `Modified', `Is-modified', or `Unchanged',
     it means the file is lost (does not exist in the working
     directory).  If both `Entry' and one of `Modified', `Is-modified',
     or `Unchanged' are sent for the same file, `Entry' must be sent
     first.  For a given file, one can send `Modified', `Is-modified',
     or `Unchanged', but not more than one of these three.

`Kopt OPTION \n'
     This indicates to the server which keyword expansion options to
     use for the file specified by the next `Modified' or `Is-modified'
     request (for example `-kb' for a binary file).  This is similar to
     `Entry', but is used for a file for which there is no entries line.
     Typically this will be a file being added via an `add' or `import'
     request.  The client may not send both `Kopt' and `Entry' for the
     same file.

`Checkin-time TIME \n'
     For the file specified by the next `Modified' request, use TIME as
     the time of the checkin.  The TIME is in the format specified by
     RFC822 as modified by RFC1123.  The client may specify any
     timezone it chooses; servers will want to convert that to their own
     timezone as appropriate.  An example of this format is:

          26 May 1997 13:01:40 -0400

     There is no requirement that the client and server clocks be
     synchronized.  The client just sends its recommendation for a
     timestamp (based on file timestamps or whatever), and the server
     should just believe it (this means that the time might be in the
     future, for example).

     Note that this is not a general-purpose way to tell the server
     about the timestamp of a file; that would be a separate request
     (if there are servers which can maintain timestamp and time of
     checkin separately).

     This request should affect the `import' request, and may optionally
     affect the `ci' request or other relevant requests if any.

`Modified FILENAME \n'
     Response expected: no.  Additional data: mode, \n, file
     transmission.  Send the server a copy of one locally modified
     file.  FILENAME is a file within the most recent directory sent
     with `Directory'; it must not contain `/'.  If the user is
     operating on only some files in a directory, only those files need
     to be included.  This can also be sent without `Entry', if there
     is no entry for the file.

`Is-modified FILENAME \n'
     Response expected: no.  Additional data: none.  Like `Modified',
     but used if the server only needs to know whether the file is
     modified, not the contents.

     The commands which can take `Is-modified' instead of `Modified'
     with no known change in behavior are: `admin', `diff' (if and only
     if two `-r' or `-D' options are specified), `watch-on',
     `watch-off', `watch-add', `watch-remove', `watchers', `editors',
     `log', and `annotate'.

     For the `status' command, one can send `Is-modified' but if the
     client is using imperfect mechanisms such as timestamps to
     determine whether to consider a file modified, then the behavior
     will be different.  That is, if one sends `Modified', then the
     server will actually compare the contents of the file sent and the
     one it derives from to determine whether the file is genuinely
     modified.  But if one sends `Is-modified', then the server takes
     the client's word for it.  A similar situation exists for `tag',
     if the `-c' option is specified.

     Commands for which `Modified' is necessary are `co', `ci',
     `update', and `import'.

     Commands which do not need to inform the server about a working
     directory, and thus should not be sending either `Modified' or
     `Is-modified': `rdiff', `rtag', `history', `init', and `release'.

     Commands for which further investigation is warranted are:
     `remove', `add', and `export'.  Pending such investigation, the
     more conservative course of action is to stick to `Modified'.

`Unchanged FILENAME \n'
     Response expected: no.  Tell the server that FILENAME has not been
     modified in the checked out directory.  The FILENAME is a file
     within the most recent directory sent with `Directory'; it must
     not contain `/'.

`UseUnchanged \n'
     Response expected: no.  To specify the version of the protocol
     described in this document, servers must support this request
     (although it need not do anything) and clients must issue it.  The
     `Root' request need not have been previously sent.

`Notify FILENAME \n'
     Response expected: no.  Tell the server that an `edit' or `unedit'
     command has taken place.  The server needs to send a `Notified'
     response, but such response is deferred until the next time that
     the server is sending responses.  The FILENAME is a file within
     the most recent directory sent with `Directory'; it must not
     contain `/'.  Additional data:
          NOTIFICATION-TYPE \t TIME \t CLIENTHOST \t
          WORKING-DIR \t WATCHES \n
     where NOTIFICATION-TYPE is `E' for edit, `U' for unedit, undefined
     behavior if `C', and all other letters should be silently ignored
     for future expansion.  TIME is the time at which the edit or
     unedit took place, in a user-readable format of the client's
     choice (the server should treat the time as an opaque string
     rather than interpreting it).  CLIENTHOST is the name of the host
     on which the edit or unedit took place, and WORKING-DIR is the
     pathname of the working directory where the edit or unedit took
     place.  WATCHES are the temporary watches, zero or more of the
     following characters in the following order: `E' for edit, `U' for
     unedit, `C' for commit, and all other letters should be silently
     ignored for future expansion.  If NOTIFICATION-TYPE is `E' the
     temporary watches are set; if it is `U' they are cleared.  If
     WATCHES is followed by \t then the \t and the rest of the line
     should be ignored, for future expansion.

     The TIME, CLIENTHOST, and WORKING-DIR fields may not contain the
     characters `+', `,', `>', `;', or `='.

     Note that a client may be capable of performing an `edit' or
     `unedit' operation without connecting to the server at that time,
     and instead connecting to the server when it is convenient (for
     example, when a laptop is on the net again) to send the `Notify'
     requests.  Even if a client is capable of deferring notifications,
     it should attempt to send them immediately (one can send `Notify'
     requests together with a `noop' request, for example), unless
     perhaps if it can know that a connection would be impossible.

`Questionable FILENAME \n'
     Response expected: no.  Additional data: no.  Tell the server to
     check whether FILENAME should be ignored, and if not, next time the
     server sends responses, send (in a `M' response) `?' followed by
     the directory and filename.  FILENAME must not contain `/'; it
     needs to be a file in the directory named by the most recent
     `Directory' request.

`Case \n'
     Response expected: no.  Tell the server that filenames should be
     matched in a case-insensitive fashion.  Note that this is not the
     primary mechanism for achieving case-insensitivity; for the most
     part the client keeps track of the case which the server wants to
     use and takes care to always use that case regardless of what the
     user specifies.  For example the filenames given in `Entry' and
     `Modified' requests for the same file must match in case
     regardless of whether the `Case' request is sent.  The latter
     mechanism is more general (it could also be used for 8.3
     filenames, VMS filenames with more than one `.', and any other
     situation in which there is a predictable mapping between
     filenames in the working directory and filenames in the protocol),
     but there are some situations it cannot handle (ignore patterns, or
     situations where the user specifies a filename and the client does
     not know about that file).

`Argument TEXT \n'
     Response expected: no.  Save argument for use in a subsequent
     command.  Arguments accumulate until an argument-using command is
     given, at which point they are forgotten.

`Argumentx TEXT \n'
     Response expected: no.  Append \n followed by text to the current
     argument being saved.

`Global_option OPTION \n'
     Response expected: no.  Transmit one of the global options `-q',
     `-Q', `-l', `-t', `-r', or `-n'.  OPTION must be one of those
     strings, no variations (such as combining of options) are allowed.
     For graceful handling of `valid-requests', it is probably better
     to make new global options separate requests, rather than trying
     to add them to this request.  The `Root' request need not have
     been previously sent.

`Gzip-stream LEVEL \n'
     Response expected: no.  Use zlib (RFC 1950/1951) compression to
     compress all further communication between the client and the
     server.  After this request is sent, all further communication
     must be compressed.  All further data received from the server
     will also be compressed.  The LEVEL argument suggests to the
     server the level of compression that it should apply; it should be
     an integer between 1 and 9, inclusive, where a higher number
     indicates more compression.

`Kerberos-encrypt \n'
     Response expected: no.  Use Kerberos encryption to encrypt all
     further communication between the client and the server.  This
     will only work if the connection was made over Kerberos in the
     first place.  If both the `Gzip-stream' and the `Kerberos-encrypt'
     requests are used, the `Kerberos-encrypt' request should be used
     first.  This will make the client and server encrypt the
     compressed data, as opposed to compressing the encrypted data.
     Encrypted data is generally incompressible.

     Note that this request does not fully prevent an attacker from
     hijacking the connection, in the sense that it does not prevent
     hijacking the connection between the initial authentication and the
     `Kerberos-encrypt' request.

`Gssapi-encrypt \n'
     Response expected: no.  Use GSSAPI encryption to encrypt all
     further communication between the client and the server.  This
     will only work if the connection was made over GSSAPI in the first
     place.  See `Kerberos-encrypt', above, for the relation between
     `Gssapi-encrypt' and `Gzip-stream'.

     Note that this request does not fully prevent an attacker from
     hijacking the connection, in the sense that it does not prevent
     hijacking the connection between the initial authentication and the
     `Gssapi-encrypt' request.

`Gssapi-authenticate \n'
     Response expected: no.  Use GSSAPI authentication to authenticate
     all further communication between the client and the server.  This
     will only work if the connection was made over GSSAPI in the first
     place.  Encrypted data is automatically authenticated, so using
     both `Gssapi-authenticate' and `Gssapi-encrypt' has no effect
     beyond that of `Gssapi-encrypt'.  Unlike encrypted data, it is
     reasonable to compress authenticated data.

     Note that this request does not fully prevent an attacker from
     hijacking the connection, in the sense that it does not prevent
     hijacking the connection between the initial authentication and the
     `Gssapi-authenticate' request.

`Set VARIABLE=VALUE \n'
     Response expected: no.  Set a user variable VARIABLE to VALUE.
     The `Root' request need not have been previously sent.

`expand-modules \n'
     Response expected: yes.  Expand the modules which are specified in
     the arguments.  Returns the data in `Module-expansion' responses.
     Note that the server can assume that this is checkout or export,
     not rtag or rdiff; the latter do not access the working directory
     and thus have no need to expand modules on the client side.

     Expand may not be the best word for what this request does.  It
     does not necessarily tell you all the files contained in a module,
     for example.  Basically it is a way of telling you which working
     directories the server needs to know about in order to handle a
     checkout of the specified modules.

     For example, suppose that the server has a module defined by

          aliasmodule -a 1dir

     That is, one can check out `aliasmodule' and it will take `1dir'
     in the repository and check it out to `1dir' in the working
     directory.  Now suppose the client already has this module checked
     out and is planning on using the `co' request to update it.
     Without using `expand-modules', the client would have two bad
     choices: it could either send information about _all_ working
     directories under the current directory, which could be
     unnecessarily slow, or it could be ignorant of the fact that
     `aliasmodule' stands for `1dir', and neglect to send information
     for `1dir', which would lead to incorrect operation.

     With `expand-modules', the client would first ask for the module to
     be expanded:

          C: Root /home/kingdon/zwork/cvsroot
          . . .
          C: Argument aliasmodule
          C: Directory .
          C: /home/kingdon/zwork/cvsroot
          C: expand-modules
          S: Module-expansion 1dir
          S: ok

     and then it knows to check the `1dir' directory and send requests
     such as `Entry' and `Modified' for the files in that directory.

`ci \n'
`diff \n'
`tag \n'
`status \n'
`admin \n'
`history \n'
`watchers \n'
`editors \n'
`annotate \n'
     Response expected: yes.  Actually do a cvs command.  This uses any
     previous `Argument', `Directory', `Entry', or `Modified' requests,
     if they have been sent.  The last `Directory' sent specifies the
     working directory at the time of the operation.  No provision is
     made for any input from the user.  This means that `ci' must use a
     `-m' argument if it wants to specify a log message.

`log \n'
     Response expected: yes.  Show information for past revisions.
     This uses any previous `Directory', `Entry', or `Modified'
     requests, if they have been sent.  The last `Directory' sent
     specifies the working directory at the time of the operation.
     Also uses previous `Argument''s of which the canonical forms are
     the following (CVS 1.10 and older clients sent what the user
     specified, but clients are encouraged to use the canonical forms
     and other forms are deprecated):

    `-b, -h, -l, -N, -R, -t'
          These options go by themselves, one option per `Argument'
          request.

    `-d DATE1<DATE2'
          Select revisions between DATE1 and DATE2.  Either date may be
          omitted in which case there is no date limit at that end of
          the range (clients may specify dates such as 1 Jan 1970 or 1
          Jan 2038 for similar purposes but this is problematic as it
          makes assumptions about what dates the server supports).
          Dates are in RFC822/1123 format.  The `-d' is one `Argument'
          request and the date range is a second one.

    `-d DATE1<=DATE2'
          Likewise but compare dates for equality.

    `-d SINGLEDATE'
          Select the single, latest revision dated SINGLEDATE or
          earlier.

          To include several date ranges and/or singledates, repeat the
          `-d' option as many times as necessary.

    `-rREV1:REV2'
    `-rBRANCH'
    `-rBRANCH.'
    `-r'
          Specify revisions (note that REV1 or REV2 can be omitted, or
          can refer to branches).  Send both the `-r' and the revision
          information in a single `Argument' request.  To include
          several revision selections, repeat the `-r' option.

    `-s STATE'
    `-w'
    `-wLOGIN'
          Select on states or users.  To include more than one state or
          user, repeat the option.  Send the `-s' option as a separate
          argument from the state being selected.  Send the `-w' option
          as part of the same argument as the user being selected.

`co \n'
     Response expected: yes.  Get files from the repository.  This uses
     any previous `Argument', `Directory', `Entry', or `Modified'
     requests, if they have been sent.  Arguments to this command are
     module names; the client cannot know what directories they
     correspond to except by (1) just sending the `co' request, and then
     seeing what directory names the server sends back in its
     responses, and (2) the `expand-modules' request.

`export \n'
     Response expected: yes.  Get files from the repository.  This uses
     any previous `Argument', `Directory', `Entry', or `Modified'
     requests, if they have been sent.  Arguments to this command are
     module names, as described for the `co' request.  The intention
     behind this command is that a client can get sources from a server
     without storing CVS information about those sources.  That is, a
     client probably should not count on being able to take the entries
     line returned in the `Created' response from an `export' request
     and send it in a future `Entry' request.  Note that the entries
     line in the `Created' response must indicate whether the file is
     binary or text, so the client can create it correctly.

`rannotate \n'
`rdiff \n'
`rlog \n'
`rtag \n'
     Response expected: yes.  Actually do a cvs command.  This uses any
     previous `Argument' requests, if they have been sent.  The client
     should not send `Directory', `Entry', or `Modified' requests for
     these commands; they are not used.  Arguments to these commands
     are module names, as described for `co'.

`init ROOT-NAME \n'
     Response expected: yes.  If it doesn't already exist, create a CVS
     repository ROOT-NAME.  Note that ROOT-NAME is a local directory
     and _not_ a fully qualified `CVSROOT' variable.  The `Root'
     request need not have been previously sent.

`update \n'
     Response expected: yes.  Actually do a `cvs update' command.  This
     uses any previous `Argument', `Directory', `Entry', or `Modified'
     requests, if they have been sent.  The last `Directory' sent
     specifies the working directory at the time of the operation.  The
     `-I' option is not used-files which the client can decide whether
     to ignore are not mentioned and the client sends the
     `Questionable' request for others.

`import \n'
     Response expected: yes.  Actually do a `cvs import' command.  This
     uses any previous `Argument', `Directory', `Entry', or `Modified'
     requests, if they have been sent.  The last `Directory' sent
     specifies the working directory at the time of the operation -
     unlike most commands, the repository field of each `Directory'
     request is ignored (it merely must point somewhere within the
     root).  The files to be imported are sent in `Modified' requests
     (files which the client knows should be ignored are not sent; the
     server must still process the CVSROOT/cvsignore file unless -I ! is
     sent).  A log message must have been specified with a `-m'
     argument.

`add \n'
     Response expected: yes.  Add a file or directory.  This uses any
     previous `Argument', `Directory', `Entry', or `Modified' requests,
     if they have been sent.  The last `Directory' sent specifies the
     working directory at the time of the operation.

     To add a directory, send the directory to be added using
     `Directory' and `Argument' requests.  For example:

          C: Root /u/cvsroot
          . . .
          C: Argument nsdir
          C: Directory nsdir
          C: /u/cvsroot/1dir/nsdir
          C: Directory .
          C: /u/cvsroot/1dir
          C: add
          S: M Directory /u/cvsroot/1dir/nsdir added to the repository
          S: ok

     You will notice that the server does not signal to the client in
     any particular way that the directory has been successfully added.
     The client is supposed to just assume that the directory has been
     added and update its records accordingly.  Note also that adding a
     directory is immediate; it does not wait until a `ci' request as
     files do.

     To add a file, send the file to be added using a `Modified'
     request.  For example:

          C: Argument nfile
          C: Directory .
          C: /u/cvsroot/1dir
          C: Modified nfile
          C: u=rw,g=r,o=r
          C: 6
          C: hello
          C: add
          S: E cvs server: scheduling file `nfile' for addition
          S: Mode u=rw,g=r,o=r
          S: Checked-in ./
          S: /u/cvsroot/1dir/nfile
          S: /nfile/0///
          S: E cvs server: use 'cvs commit' to add this file permanently
          S: ok

     Note that the file has not been added to the repository; the only
     effect of a successful `add' request, for a file, is to supply the
     client with a new entries line containing `0' to indicate an added
     file.  In fact, the client probably could perform this operation
     without contacting the server, although using `add' does cause the
     server to perform a few more checks.

     The client sends a subsequent `ci' to actually add the file to the
     repository.

     Another quirk of the `add' request is that with CVS 1.9 and older,
     a pathname specified in an `Argument' request cannot contain `/'.
     There is no good reason for this restriction, and in fact more
     recent CVS servers don't have it.  But the way to interoperate
     with the older servers is to ensure that all `Directory' requests
     for `add' (except those used to add directories, as described
     above), use `.' for LOCAL-DIRECTORY.  Specifying another string for
     LOCAL-DIRECTORY may not get an error, but it will get you strange
     `Checked-in' responses from the buggy servers.

`remove \n'
     Response expected: yes.  Remove a file.  This uses any previous
     `Argument', `Directory', `Entry', or `Modified' requests, if they
     have been sent.  The last `Directory' sent specifies the working
     directory at the time of the operation.

     Note that this request does not actually do anything to the
     repository; the only effect of a successful `remove' request is to
     supply the client with a new entries line containing `-' to
     indicate a removed file.  In fact, the client probably could
     perform this operation without contacting the server, although
     using `remove' may cause the server to perform a few more checks.

     The client sends a subsequent `ci' request to actually record the
     removal in the repository.

`watch-on \n'
`watch-off \n'
`watch-add \n'
`watch-remove \n'
     Response expected: yes.  Actually do the `cvs watch on', `cvs
     watch off', `cvs watch add', and `cvs watch remove' commands,
     respectively.  This uses any previous `Argument', `Directory',
     `Entry', or `Modified' requests, if they have been sent.  The last
     `Directory' sent specifies the working directory at the time of
     the operation.

`release \n'
     Response expected: yes.  Note that a `cvs release' command has
     taken place and update the history file accordingly.

`noop \n'
     Response expected: yes.  This request is a null command in the
     sense that it doesn't do anything, but merely (as with any other
     requests expecting a response) sends back any responses pertaining
     to pending errors, pending `Notified' responses, etc.  The `Root'
     request need not have been previously sent.

`update-patches \n'
     Response expected: yes.  This request does not actually do
     anything.  It is used as a signal that the server is able to
     generate patches when given an `update' request.  The client must
     issue the `-u' argument to `update' in order to receive patches.

`gzip-file-contents LEVEL \n'
     Response expected: no.  Note that this request does not follow the
     response convention stated above.  `Gzip-stream' is suggested
     instead of `gzip-file-contents' as it gives better compression; the
     only reason to implement the latter is to provide compression with
     CVS 1.8 and earlier.  The `gzip-file-contents' request asks the
     server to compress files it sends to the client using `gzip'
     (RFC1952/1951) compression, using the specified level of
     compression.  If this request is not made, the server must not
     compress files.

     This is only a hint to the server.  It may still decide (for
     example, in the case of very small files, or files that already
     appear to be compressed) not to do the compression.  Compression
     is indicated by a `z' preceding the file length.

     Availability of this request in the server indicates to the client
     that it may compress files sent to the server, regardless of
     whether the client actually uses this request.

`wrapper-sendme-rcsOptions \n'
     Response expected: yes.  Request that the server transmit mappings
     from filenames to keyword expansion modes in `Wrapper-rcsOption'
     responses.

`version \n'
     Response expected: yes.  Request that the server transmit its
     version message.  The `Root' request need not have been previously
     sent.

`OTHER-REQUEST TEXT \n'
     Response expected: yes.  Any unrecognized request expects a
     response, and does not contain any additional data.  The response
     will normally be something like `error  unrecognized request', but
     it could be a different error if a previous request which doesn't
     expect a response produced an error.

   When the client is done, it drops the connection.


File: cvsclient.info,  Node: Response intro,  Next: Response pathnames,  Prev: Requests,  Up: Protocol

Introduction to Responses
=========================

   After a command which expects a response, the server sends however
many of the following responses are appropriate.  The server should not
send data at other times (the current implementation may violate this
principle in a few minor places, where the server is printing an error
message and exiting--this should be investigated further).

   Any set of responses always ends with `error' or `ok'.  This
indicates that the response is over.

   The responses `Checked-in', `New-entry', `Updated', `Created',
`Update-existing', `Merged', and `Patched' are refered to as "file
updating" responses, because they change the status of a file in the
working directory in some way.  The responses `Mode', `Mod-time', and
`Checksum' are referred to as "file update modifying" responses because
they modify the next file updating response.  In no case shall a file
update modifying response apply to a file updating response other than
the next one.  Nor can the same file update modifying response occur
twice for a given file updating response (if servers diagnose this
problem, it may aid in detecting the case where clients send an update
modifying response without following it by a file updating response).


File: cvsclient.info,  Node: Response pathnames,  Next: Responses,  Prev: Response intro,  Up: Protocol

The "pathname" in responses
===========================

   Many of the responses contain something called PATHNAME.  The name
is somewhat misleading; it actually indicates a pair of pathnames.
First, a local directory name relative to the directory in which the
command was given (i.e. the last `Directory' before the command).  Then
a linefeed and a repository name.  Then a slash and the filename
(without a `,v' ending).  For example, for a file `i386.mh' which is in
the local directory `gas.clean/config' and for which the repository is
`/rel/cvsfiles/devo/gas/config':

     gas.clean/config/
     /rel/cvsfiles/devo/gas/config/i386.mh

   If the server wants to tell the client to create a directory, then it
merely uses the directory in any response, as described above, and the
client should create the directory if it does not exist.  Note that this
should only be done one directory at a time, in order to permit the
client to correctly store the repository for each directory.  Servers
can use requests such as `Clear-sticky', `Clear-static-directory', or
any other requests, to create directories.

   Some server implementations may poorly distinguish between a
directory which should not exist and a directory which contains no
files; in order to refrain from creating empty directories a client
should both send the `-P' option to `update' or `co', and should also
detect the case in which the server asks to create a directory but not
any files within it (in that case the client should remove the
directory or refrain from creating it in the first place).  Note that
servers could clean this up greatly by only telling the client to
create directories if the directory in question should exist, but until
servers do this, clients will need to offer the `-P' behavior described
above.