Eclipse Platform - CVS FAQ (2024)

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CVS
platform cvs support

Last Modified: $Date: 2006/06/09 18:53:05 $

Getting started
1. How do I get a project into myworkspace from CVS?
2. How do I put a project into CVSfrom my workspace?
3. I already have a project checkedout from CVS with the command-line tool. How do I use it in Eclipsewithout having to check out the whole project again?
Browsing the Repository
1. Why don't my branches and versions showup when I am browsing?
2. Why do some modules defined inCVSROOT/modules appear empty in the CVS Repositories view?
3. When I expand HEAD in the CVSRepositories View, it is always empty even though I know the repositoryhas contents. Whats wrong?
Server Issues
1. What server versions of CVS are supported by Eclipse?
2. Why doesn't Eclipse 2.1.x work with CVS server versions 1.11.7 and beyond?
3. Why aren't older (pre 2.0.58d) CVSNT versions supported?
4. Where can I get CVS for UNIX or Windows?
5. Where can I find documentation on CVS?
6. When I perform a Replace With or Update operation, Eclipse tells me that option -C is not supported. What's wrong?
7. I performed a Replace With or Overrideand Update and one of the files involved ended up with strangecharacters in it. Why?
8. I got a "received broken pipe signal"error. What does it mean?
9. How do I use a local connection withEclipse?
10. With CVSNT, why do I get the error: "Error fetching file revisions"?
11. Why can't I get Eclipse to work withCVSNT and mapped network drives?
12. Using CVSNT, Why do I get the error "cvs[server aborted]: cannot find .: No such file or directory"?
13. Why do I get the error "Resource <name> is not a child of folder <folder>"?
14. Why can't I set the keyword substitution mode for CVSNT using Eclipse?
Using SSH with CVS
1. How do I use SSH to communicate with theserver?
2. What is the difference between ext andextssh?
3. My SSH server only support SSH2 protocol and I'm using Eclipse 2.1.x
4. How do I set up public-key authentication for use with an external SSH client?
5. When I try to connect using SSH, it tells me"Could not chdir to home directory /home/user/myname". What did I dowrong?
6. I got an 'Unknown response' while trying toperform CVS browsing. What went wrong?
7. I can't get keys generated using Putty to work with Eclipse
8. Why do CVS extssh connections fail on Fedora Core 4
9. Why does CVS extssh prompt for my password even when it is saved?
Upgrading from Eclipse 1.0
1. Is there anything I should do beforeupgrading from Eclipse 1.0 to 2.0?
2. I'm using a workspace from 1.0. Why does theTeam menu only contain "Share Project"?
3. Eclipse 1.0 created all my files as binary inthe repository. How do I fix this?
4. Is a Branch the same as a Stream? What aboutother 1.0 terminology?
5. I get a message saying the .vcm_meta file isobsolete and should be deleted. Should I really delete it?
Using Eclipse and CVS for Java development
1. When I check out a Java project from therepository, how do I make Eclipse aware it is a Java project?
2. What is the .classpath file? Should Irelease it to the repository?
3. In my CVS repository, there is a sourcedirectory in the repository root. How can I use this with Eclipse?
4. How do I check out a module definition as aJava project
5. Why does the bin directory keep appearingin the Synchronize view?
6. I ignored the bin directory but it appearsto be shared anyway. Why?
7. How do I use CVS keywords in Java templates?
8. I'm working with a virtual module definedin the CVSROOT/modules file. How do I commit the .project and/or.classpath file?
Compatibility Between CVS command-lineclient and Eclipse
1. Does Eclipse use [WinCVS|CVScommand-line client] to talk to the server?
2. The command-line CVS client storesinformation in CVS folders. Does Eclipse do the same thing? If so,where are the folders?
3. Is Eclipse compatible with thecommand-line CVS client?
4. Can I import a project into Eclipsethat was checked out using the command line?
5. Why does Eclipse corrupt my *.jar,*.zip, etc. files?
6. When I use the command-line CVS onmy project, why do the CVS folders sometimes appear in the NavigatorView?
7. When I use the command-line CVS onmy project, why go I get "resource out of sync" errors?
Working with Patches
1. How do I send someone a patch?
2. How do I apply a patch that someone sentme?
Linux Issues
1. On linux, using IBM JRE 1.3.0, I get atimeout when connecting to a repository. What's wrong?
2. On Red Hat 8, Eclipse fails to make acheckout but it works with other clients. Why?
Windows Issues
1. Eclipse crashed Windows 2000 (bluescreen) when performing a CVS operation. What happened?
2. Eclipse always times out when performinga Synchronize on one or two particular machines?
3. Why do CVS operations slow down when Iam connected to my network/dial-up?
4. Why do all my files show as outgoingchanges?
Miscellaneous
1. Is there any equivalent to CVS_CLIENT_LOGis Eclipse?
2. What is the .project file, and should Irelease it to CVS?
3. I don't have update access to the CVSrepository. Can I still check out a project with Eclipse?
4. What does "Terminated with fatal signal 10"mean?
5. I copied some folders from one CVS projectto another and the old CVS information remained. What happened?
6. I used Team > Share Project to connect alocal project to an existing project and it takes forwever. Why?
7. Does Eclipse support Watch/Edit?
8. Why do I get a "Pre-commit failed" errorwith no detailed error message?
9. Why can"t I get my pserver CVS proxy to work?

How do I get a project into myworkspace from CVS?
1. Window->Show View->Other. Select CVS->CVSRepositories.
2. Context Menu->New->Repository Location...
3. Fill in the location information identifying your repositoryand click Finish.
4. Expand the newly-created repository location.
5. Expand HEAD.
6. Find the module you are interested in.
7. Context Menu->Check Out As Project.
The project now exists in your workspace.
How do I put a project into CVSfrom my workspace?
1. Select the project in the Navigator or other view.
2. Context Menu->Team->Share Project...
3. Fill in the location information identifying your repositoryand click Finish.
4. The Synchronize view opens, showing all your outgoing changes.
5. Select the project in the Synchronize view.
6. Context Menu->Commit.
7. Answer yes when prompted to add new files to version control.
8. Supply a release comment if you like.
The project now exists in the repository.
I already have a project checkedout from CVS with the command-line tool. How do I use it in Eclipsewithout having to check out the whole project again?
1. Create a project in the workspace.
2. File->Import, select File System, locate your files, clickFinish.
3. Select the project in the Navigator or other view.
4. Context Menu->Team->Share Project...
5. The wizard should tell you that it found all the necessaryinformation. Click Finish.
Eclipse has now shared the project with the CVS repository.

Why don't my branches and versions showup when I am browsing?
When you are browsing in the CVS Repositories view, you mayexpect to see branch and version tags which you have previouslycreated. In CVS, such tags are stored on individual files rather thanon projects or folders. Rather than scan every file in the repository,Eclipse only scans one well-known file, .project, which should exist inevery Eclipse project. It is possible that you have other interestingtags that do not appear on .project but which you would like to show upin the CVS Repositories view.

To make these tags appear, do the following:
1. Open the CVS Repositories view.
2. Expand HEAD and select the project for which you want toconfigure tags.
3. Context Menu->Configure Branches and Versions...
4. In the "Browse files for tags" table, select one or morefiles that contain tags you would like to see.
5. Click "Add Selected Tags".
6. Click "OK".
The CVS Repositories view will now display the chosen tags under theBranches and Versions categories. In addition, these tags will show upin other tag-related operations, such as "Replace With->Branch orVersion...".
Why do some modules defined inCVSROOT/modules appear empty in the CVS Repositories view?
Some modules are not expandable because their definition iscomplex and difficult to parse on the client. These modules can stillbe checked out properly using the "Check Out Module" menu command fromthe module's context menu.
When I expand HEAD in the CVSRepositories View, it is always empty even though I know the repositoryhas contents. Whats wrong?
If you also see messages from the server like "-f server: ...",this indicates that your CVS server has not been configured properly.Here is the line as it should appear in the "/etc/inetd.conf" file(example from AIX but the problem has also been seen on Solaris):
- cvspserver stream tcp nowait root /usr/bin/cvs cvs -f--allow-root=/usr/cvsroot pserver
The key is the 2nd copy of "cvs". The online cvs book at http://cvsbook.red-bean.com/cvsbook.htmlhas it right (although I thought it was a typo so never tried it). Lookfor "The pserver access method is not working" section. Part of thereason I got this wrong is that the linux xinetd configurationdoes not duplicate the name of the program. At one point Ijust copied the fields from the linux config into the fields in the AIXinetd.conf file. Now that I know what to look for, the other entries inthe inetd.conf filehave the program name duplicated.

What server versions of CVS are supported by Eclipse?
In 3.0, Eclipse supports CVS version 1.11.1p1 or higher, running on a Linux or UNIX server and CVSNT 2.0.58d or later, when properly configured. Eclipse 2.1.2 and before does not work with CVS versions greater than 1.11.6 (see next point). CVSNT versions prior to 2.0.58d are not supported but some versions have been reported to work with few problems. There have also been some problems reported with HPUX and Solaris version (see above).

There are also cases where newer server versions are required for some functionality. For instance, incoming change sets in the synchronize view require CVS version 1.11.5 or beyond to work properly (see bug 81960)
Why doesn't Eclipse 2.1.x work with CVS server versions 1.11.7 and beyond?
Most of the interesting Eclipse CVS functionality relies on the format of the messages and the change in format made in 1.11.7 breaks the parsing in Eclipse versions prior to 2.1.3. Most of the incompatibilities for 1.11.x were addressed in 2.1.3. See bugs 46655 and 49056 for patches and workarounds for previous versions of Eclipse or remaining incompatibilities. As for 1.12.x releases of CVS, Eclipse 2.1.x is not compatible with this server version. Eclipse 3.0 is compatible with 1.12.7 but future releases of CVS may cause similar breakages. In such cases, Team>Update and Team>Commit should still work but the more advanced work flows (e.g. synchronizing) may not be reliable.
Why aren't older (pre 2.0.58d) CVSNT versions supported?
The reason older CVSNT versions aren't supported is because traditionally its development effort had been smaller and has lagged behind that of CVS Linux, thus its quality tends to be of issue. That has changed as of version 2.0.58d which is now supported (when properly configured) on Eclipse 3.0 and beyond.
Where can I get CVS for UNIX or Windows?
CVS for UNIX can be downloaded by going to http://www.cvshome.org. CVSNT can be downloaded by going to http://www.cvsnt.org.
Where can I find documentation on CVS?
The CVS manual can be found by going to http://www.cvshome.org.
When I perform a Replace With or Updateoperation, Eclipse tells me that option -C is not supported. What'swrong?
This error indicates that your server version is CVS 1.10 orbefore. The -C option was introduced in version 1.11. See above for supported CVS versions.
I performed a Replace With or Override andUpdate and one of the files involved ended up with strange charactersin it. Why?
This error indicates that your server version is CVS 1.11 whichhas a bug when replacing a locally dirty file. See abovefor supported CVS versions.
I got a "received broken pipe signal"error. What does it mean?
Eclipse sometime performs multiple commands within a singleconnection to the server. This may cause problems with CVS server thatare running server scripts in reponse to certain commands.
How do I use a local connection withEclipse?
Eclipse does not support the use of the local connection methodas this requires a CVS client that also includes the CVS server code init. Command line cvs uses the same executable for the client and theserver whereas Eclipse is a client only. Since the repository is on thesame machine as the client, you should be able to use pserver.
With CVSNT, why do I get the error: "Error fetching file revisions"?
This problem has several causes. One is the use of a backslash (\) in the repository path instead of a slash (/). Another can be a mismatch in the case of the letters in the repository path. See bug 56635 for more details.
Why can't I get Eclipse to work with CVSNTand mapped network drives?
The problem is that CVSNT (as of 1.11.1.3) only supports usingthe local connection method with network drives and Eclipse does notsupport this connection method (see above).
Using CVSNT, Why do I get the error "cvs[server aborted]: cannot find .: No such file or directory"?
I think the problem is that of user rights on the machine CVSNTis running on. You might try one or more of the following options:
See Also
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- create a group having full access rights to the CVSNTrepository directory structure plus the temp folder CVSNT is using.This is easiest if you specify a separate CVSNT temp directory such as"c:\cvstemp" using the Advanced tab in the
  CVSNT control panel. (The default temporary directories in"C:\WINNT\TEMP" and "C:\Documents and Settings" have accessrestrictions under Win2000 and WinXP).
- turn off impersonation in CVSNT
- add all CVS users to PowerUsers on the machine CVSNT isrunning on
Why do I get the error "Resource <name> is not a child of folder <folder>"?
CVSNT has a separate option called Emulate "-n checkout" bug that must be enabled for Eclipse to work properly. This is because the "bug" in question is the behavior of a 1.11.x server which Eclipse requires.
Why can't I set the keyword substitution mode for CVSNT using Eclipse?
CVSNT has a non-standard way of dealing with keyword substitution so you willneed to use a CVSNT specific client to modify the keyword substitution mode.

How do I use SSH to communicate with the server?
The pserver protocol sends passwords over the network in plaintext. Many people prefer to establish a secure connection using SSH. Eclipse supports two methods of connecting to CVS repositories using SSH.

To use the Eclipse's built-in SSH support, simply specify "extssh" as the connection method type when creating the repository connection.

To use SSH support from an external tool, you must:
1. Specify "ext" as the connection method type when creating the repository connection.
2. Window->Preferences->Team->CVS->Ext Connection Method. On this page, specify the name and location of your external ssh client. (For example, "C:\plink.exe" or "/usr/local/bin/ssh"). Also specify the name and location of the CVS binary on the server. The default value is often correct.
3. Ensure that you can log on to the server using the external SSH tool without specifying a password.
Note: In Eclipse 2.1, you can also specify (on the Ext Connection Method preference page) the parameters to be passed to the SSH client, including the password.
What is the difference between ext and extssh?
The extssh connection method uses a built-in SSH client. The ext connection method allows you to specify an external SSH client to use. For extssh to work with Eclipse 2.1.x and before, the server must be running an SSH server with SSH1 protocol compatibility. If extssh does not work, it is possible that the server is running only the SSH2 protocol. If this is the case, you must configure the ext connection method with an external SSH client. In Eclipse 3.0 and beyond, extssh does support SSH2.
My SSH server only support SSH2 protocol and I'm using Eclipse 2.1.x
Eclipse comes with a built-in SSH connection method called 'extssh'. Prior to Eclipse 3.0, this method only supported SSH1 servers. If your server is running SSH2 and you want to use Eclipse 2.1.x to connect to that server you have two options:
1. use a command line SSH client that supports SSH2 with the 'ext' connection method
2. download a plugin created by JCraft that provides a SSH2 connection method.
To use the 'ext' connection method, download and install an SSH command line client for your operating environment. In the Team > CVS > Ext Connection Method preference page, configure the location of the SSH executable and how the executable is to be called. For the ext method to work the CVS client on your server must support the server mode. You can verify this by running cvs --help-commands and ensure that the server command is supported.
How do I set up public-key authentication for an external SSH client?
The steps for setting up public-key authentication vary depending on your SSH client. However, they all follow this set of common steps:
1. Use the client program (or a utility that came with it) to generate a public/private key pair. This program might be called ssh-keygen or puttygen.exe.
2. Copy the public key to the server. This is often done by pasting the public key into the file /home/user/.ssh/authorized_keys.

When I try to connect using SSH, it tells me "Could not chdir to home directory /home/user/myname". What did I do wrong?
This often happens when using SourceForge projects for the first time, but may occur on other servers as well. You must manually log in to the server, using an interactive SSH session, in order to create your home directory for the first time. After this, you will be able to log in successfully.

Use your SSH client to connect to the server (e.g. cvs.sourceforge.net) and log in with your username and password. Your home directory will be created for you.
I got an 'Unknown response' while trying to perform CVS browsing. What went wrong?
A problem has been reported that involves the Cygwin SSH client (see bug 21180). Try using another SSH client such as Putty or OpenSSH.
I can't get keys generated using Putty to work with Eclipse
Putty's private key is encrypted by AES, but JCE (Java Crtptgraphy Extension) included in J2SE 1.4.x does not support AES. So, at present time, there is no plan to support it. Of course, JSch (the SSH2 client used in Eclipse) may support Putty's key by using the latest J2SE in the near future, but Eclipse 3.0/3.1 will not be able to use it because they must run on J2SE 1.4.0. This is explained more in bug https://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=84281.
Why do CVS extssh connections fail on Fedora Core 4
There is an issue with Sun's JDK 1.4.2 and Fedora Core 4 that causes extssh connections to fail with the message:
```
 CVS Communication error: org.eclipse.team.internal.ccvs.ssh2.CVSSSH2ServerConnection$SSH2IOException: Invalid argument or cannot assign requested address
```
The issue seems to be related to both IPv6 and IPv4 being available in FC4. Thesolution is to add
```
-Djava.net.preferIPv4Stack=true
```
with the -vmargs option when eclipse is started.
Why does CVS extssh prompt for my password even when it is saved?
This problem has been seen on servers that have a problems in a particular authentication method. This will cause extssh to believe that there has been an authentication failure which trigger a password prompt. See bug 119008 for details.

Is there anything I should do before upgradingfrom Eclipse 1.0 to 2.0?
IMPORTANT: Before upgrading from Eclipse 1.0 to 2.0, makesure you release all your changes to the repository using Eclipse 1.0.Although it is possible to submit the changes using Eclipse 2.0 afteryou upgrade, to do so is not straight forward due to a change in howthe synchronization information for each project is stored.
I'm using a workspace from 1.0. Why does theTeam menu only contain "Share Project"?
Team support changed drastically between Eclipse 1.0 and 2.0. Assuch, the method of sharing projects with the repository changed aswell. We have tried to make it relatively easy for you to migrate,however. You will notice that your previously shared projects only have"Share Project" in the Team menu. If you select that option, a wizardwill guide you through the migration process. When you are finished,your project will be shared and the Synchronize view will open. Youwill see conflicting changes on every file - this is due to changes inthe way sync information is stored between 1.0 and 2.0. If you do nothave any outgoing changes (which you shouldn't have if you committedall your outgoing changes before upgrading as recommended above), thenyou can simply select the project in the Synchronize view and select"Override and Update" which will load the current contents from theserver. If you do have outgoing changes, you can pull down the trianglemenu in the Synchronize view and select "Compare File Contents". Aftersome work, the Synchronize view will show you only the files which areactually different. You can then use the Synchronize view to resolvethese conflicts.
Eclipse 1.0 created all my files as binary inthe repository. How do I fix this?
Any file checked into a CVS repository from Eclipse 1.0 wasmarked as binary. This means that end-of-line conversions will notoccur on checkout, and some features of CVS (such as auto-mergeableconflicts) will not apply to these files. As such, it may be desirableto change some of these files from binary to text. To change the filetypes, do the following:
1. Make sure that all members of your team have saved andcommitted any changes to the affected files.
2. Select the resources you wish to change in the Navigator orother view.
3. Context Menu->Team->Set Keyword Substitution...
4. Select "Automatic" to use the recommended detection. ClickNext.
5. Select the checkbox labelled "Include files that are alreadyin the repository". Click Next.
6. Click Finish. All affected files will immediately be modifiedin the repository.
7. All other team members must now check out fresh copies of allaffected files.

Is a Branch the same as a Stream? What aboutother 1.0 terminology?

In an effort to move away from generic terminology that appliesto all repository providers, and toward provider-specific terminologiesand workflows, many terms, menu items and labels have changed in 2.0.Here is a brief list of some of the changes. For more detailedinformation, please see the Eclise CVS documentation.

Eclipse 1.0	Eclipse 2.0	Comments
Stream	Branch	The CVS terminology "Branch" replaces "Stream"
Catchup	Update	"Update" refers to the standard CVS method of retrievingremote contents. For more details on Update, see the Eclipse CVSdocumentation.
Release	Commit	These terms are equivalent.
Add to Workspace	Check Out as Project	The CVS terminology "Check Out" replaces "Add toWorkspace".
None	Tag	In CVS, a Tag refers to either a Branch Tag or a VersionTag. Branches and versions together are referred to as Tags.

I get a message saying the .vcm_meta file isobsolete and should be deleted. Should I really delete it?
In Eclipse 1.0, meta-information about a project was stored in.vcm_meta. In Eclipse 2.0, this mechanism was made more general and thedata was moved to the .project file. As such, the .vcm_meta file is nowunneeded. The Eclipse CVS client will warn you of this state by placinga warning in the task list. If you still have people on your team whoare using Eclipse 1.0 for development with your repository, then youshould not delete the .vcm_meta file. If all members of your team areusing Eclipse 2.0, then you can safely delete the .vcm_meta file andcommit the deletion to the repository.

When I check out a Java project from therepository, how do I make Eclipse aware it is a Java project?
Eclipse makes use of information in the .project file todetermine if a project is a Java project. If the project you havechecked out does not have a .project file, Eclipse will not mark itproperly. If you use "Checkout As..." instead of "Checkout As Project"in the Repositories view, then you will be given an opportunity tospecify Java as the project type and provide Java specificconfiguration information.
What is the .classpath file? Should I commitit to the repository?
Eclipse's Java development tools create and maintain a specialfile, .classpath, in the root of each Java project. This file containsinformation about the project's classpath, including references toother projects, external jars, and the project's own source path. Ifyou are working on a team with other developers that use Eclipse, youprobably want to commit this file to the repository so that others canbenefit from correct classpath settings. If the other developers onyour team do not use Eclipse, you may still want to commit the.classpath file so that your settings are persisted - this should notaffect the users that are not using Eclipse.
In my CVS repository, there is a sourcedirectory in the repository root. How can I use this with Eclipse?
If the name of the CVS module is part of the package name ofJava files, you will encounter problems. For example, if the module youcheck out is called "test", and it contains a folder called "code"which contains Java files that claim to be in the package "test.code",Eclipse will not be able to compile these Java classes. There areseveral solutions to this problem:
1. One solution is to move the top-level package folder ("test"in this case) to be a subfolder of the CVS module. In this case, createa folder called "test" in the project "test", and move "code" into it.Then commit your changes.
2. Another possible solution is to use modules definitions.Modules can be defined in the CVSROOT/modules file to include rootlevel projects as subfolders of the checked out folder stucture. Thesteps to get this to work for the above example are:
  1. Add the following two lines to the CVSROOT/modules file
    test &test
    MyProject &test
  2. In the CVS Repositories View, select the modules with thename matching the one defined in the CVSROOT/modules file (Note that inEclipse 2.0.x, you will need to switch to "Show Modules" mode using thedrop down menu in the title bar in order to see the module).
  3. Select "MyProject" and choose "Checkout Module" from thepopup menu.
  See the CVS documentation formore information on defining modules.
3. If you are using Eclipse 2.1, you can create a new JavaProject and then perform a "Checkout Into..." on the CVS Module. Thisoperation allows you to check out a CVS modules into an existingproject as a subfolder and configures that target project to be sharedwith CVS.
Source folders must always begin beneath the project, not aboveit. See the Eclipse Java Development Tools documentation for moreinformation on source folders.
How do I check out a module definition as aJava project?
To check out a module that is defined in the CVSROOT/modulesfile as a Java project, you may have to pre-create the target projectas a java project in the workspace before performing the "Check OutModule".
Why does the bin directory keep appearing inthe Synchronize view?
JDT marks most of its build output as being derived resources sothat CVS and other repository types can easily ignore these resourcesfrom version control. However, if you define custom source and buildoutput folders, the newly created build output folder will not bemarked as derived. In many cases the root build output folder is namedbin. To ignore this folder, select it in the navigator and choose Team> Add to .cvsignore, then commit the .cvsignore file to therepository so that the bin folder will be ignored at all times for thatproject.
I ignored the bin directory but it appearsto be shared anyway. Why?
If a resources whose name matches a pattern in the .cvsignorealso exists in the repository, then this resource is not ignored. Forthe case of the bin folder, chances are that the bin folder wascommitted to the repository at some point. The solution is to purgethis directory from the repository.
How do I use CVS keywords in Java templates?
Substitute the usual keyword (e.g. $Revision: 1.1 $) with the $escaped version (e.g. $$Revision: 1.1 $$).
I'm working with a virtual module defined inthe CVSROOT/modules file. How do I commit the .project and/or.classpath file?
The easiest way to address this problem is to create a projectin the repository whose purpose is to hold the .project and .classpathfiles for your module. For example, if your module definition is my-module&sub-dir1 &sub-dir2 you could change it to my-modulemy-module-project &sub-dir1 $sub-dir2 where my-module-projectis an new folder on the CVS server. Committing the .project and.classpath files would create the files in this folder.

Does Eclipse use [WinCVS|CVScommand-line client] to talk to the server?
No. Eclipse implements a CVS client in Java that talks directlyto the server using the documented CVS protocol. No external CVS clientis required.
The command-line CVS client storesinformation in CVS folders. Does Eclipse do the same thing? If so,where are the folders?
Eclipse stores CVS sync information in CVS/ folders in the sameway as the command-line CVS client does. However, you rarely see thesefolders within Eclipse. They are marked using a Core facility called"team-private" which causes them to be hidden from view. If you open a(non-Eclipse) file explorer you will see that these directories andtheir contents appear on the file system.
Is Eclipse compatible with thecommand-line CVS client?
Eclipse Team CVS stores its meta information in a format that iscompatible with the command-line CVS client. Thus you should be able touse a CVS command line client against Eclipse workspace files on disk.Please note that this support is experimental, and you may run intoproblems. However, we are very interested in making this work, soplease report any bugs you find.

Whenever you use external tools to modify workspace files, youmust perform a Refresh from within Eclipse to make the workspace awareof the changes.

You may encounter unexpected behaviour when using thecommand-line CVS client in conjunction with deleted folders. Eclipse'sCVS support keeps track of deleted folders and their contents so that,on the next synchronization, the Synchronize view can properly reporton the changes. This information is kept outside of the CVS meta folderstructure. This is because in CVS you normally inform the repository ofdeletions prior to deleting them locally, which is a different workflowthan we like to support in the Synchronization view. Thus it isrecommended that you do not use the command-line CVS client while youhave pending deletions to commit. In some circ*mstances it could causethe Synchronize view to display incorrect contents, although it shouldnot cause any lost work.
Can I import a project into Eclipsethat was checked out using the command line?
Yes you can. However, you may encounter errors from the builderrelated to the copying of the CVS folders. This can have two causes.The first is when the project is imported before the CVS plugin isloaded. To avoid this problem, make sure you open one of the CVS viewsbefore importing the project. The second is due to a "race" on importbetween the CVS plugin and other plugins that react to the import. Ifthe CVS plugin wins the race, then the CVS folders are hidden but ifanother plugin discovers the CVS folders first, it may cause theworkbench to "know" about them and perform inappropriate actions onthem. The best way to solve the problem is to run a Team>Updateon the project and then shutdown and restart Eclipse (although closingand reopening the view in which the CVS folders appear may work aswell). If this fails, you may need to check the projects out from yourrepository using Eclipse instead of the command line client.

There is a plugin named org.eclipse.team.cvs.deltaavailable on the DevelopmentResources page that loads on startup and ensures that CVS foldersare properly hidden. If you import CVS projects often, you may want touse this plugin.
Why does Eclipse corrupt my *.jar,*.zip, etc. files?
This problem is caused by the keyword substitution mode assignedto the file on the server. Any binary files must be marked as -kb. Thedefault for CVS is to mark unknown file types as text. CVS providescvswrappers and the cvs admin command to set file types.
When I use the command-line CVS on myproject, why do the CVS folders sometimes appear in the Navigator View?
There are some cases where CVS folders are not hidden from theUI as the user would expect. For instance, CVS folders will appear if auser imports a CVS project into Eclipse before the CVS plug-in isloaded. To avoid this, open the CVS Repositories view (thus loading theCVS plug-in) before importing CVS projects into Eclipse. There is alsoa plugin available herethat will ensure that the CVS folders are properly hidden even if theCVS plugin is not loaded.
When I use the command-line CVS on myproject, why go I get "resource out of sync" errors?
This occurs when files that are resources in Eclipse aremodified outside of Eclipse. One solution is to perform a refresh(available from a resource's popup menu) on any resources or projectsthat where modified outside of Eclipse. There is also an "auto-refresh"plugin available from Platform Core (click hereto go to there).

How do I send someone a patch?
If you have modified a project that you checked out from CVS,you may want to send those changes to someone else. This often occurswhen you do not have commit rights, but want to send the changes tosomeone who does. To create a patch file:
1. Select the changed project in the Navigator or other view.
2. Context Menu->Team->Create Patch...
3. Select a location for the patch.
4. Use E-mail or other delivery method to send the patch tosomeone else.
How do I apply a patch that someone sentme?
To apply a patch, such as one generated in the previous step, dothe following:
1. Select the changed project in the Navigator or other view.
2. Context Menu->Compare With->Patch...
3. Fill in the location of the patch file
4. Click Next. A summary of changed files will appear.
5. Click Finish. The changes are now merged into the workspace.
6. Context Menu->Team->Synchronize. You may now commit thechanges into the repository.

On linux, using IBM JRE 1.3.0, I get atimeout when connecting to a repository. What's wrong?
Problems have been reported in this area using IBM JRE 1.3.0 onLinux. The solution is to upgrade your JRE to version 1.3.1.
On Red Hat 8, Eclipse fails to make acheckout but it works with other clients. Why?
The problem may be the encoding in /etc/sysconfig/i18n file. Ifthe language encoding is
```
LANG="en_US.UTF-8"
```
changing it to
```
LANG="en_US"
```
should fix the problem.

Eclipse crashed Windows 2000 (blue screen)when performing a CVS operation. What happened?
Instances of this have been reported that involve the NDIS.sysdriver and particular brands of network cards (see bug 21276).
Eclipse always times out when performing aSynchronize on one or two particular machines?
Instances of this have been reported that involve the VIAon-board network cards (see bug 27077).Changing the network card fixed the problem.
Why do CVS operations slow down when I amconnected to my network/dial-up?
I have a large number of entries in my hosts file for anti-adsoftware - and when I'm connected, name resolution (even to localhost)slows to a crawl. When I'm not connected, localhost gets resolved atnormal speed. I think this might be a "feature" of 2000/XP - it didn'thappen in NT.
Why do all my files show as outgoingchanges?
The CVS plugin uses timestamps of the files on disk to track themodification state of versioned files. As a result, there are somecases where Windows users may find that as a result of either (1) anautomatic daylight savings change or (2) moving files between filesystems, that all the files show up as outgoing changes. See Bug 5337for an explanation of the problem and workarounds.
Thers is a utility action that will reset the timestamps so the files are in-sync with CVS. Be warned however that this utility resets the timestamps for any file whose timestamp differs from the sync timestamp by 1 hour. There is a possibility that this could reset a file that is really dirty. Use at your own risk.To use the action, install the plugin found here and them run the CVS Util/Fix Timestamps command available from the context menu of the Resource Navigator.

Is there any equivalent to CVS_CLIENT_LOG isEclipse?
Yes, there are tracing facilities in Eclipse that will allow youto see what messages are being communicated between the CVS client andserver. Here's how:
1. Create a file named ".options" in the directory you start Eclipse from (in most cases this is the directory that contains the executable but it may differ in some cases: for instance, if you use a shortcut in windows and specify a different starting directory) that contains the following 2 lines that enable CVS debugging.
```
org.eclipse.team.cvs.core/debug=true
org.eclipse.team.cvs.core/cvsprotocol=true
```
2. Start Eclipse with the following parameters tailored to youlocal setup (The below example is for windows). The important aspectsare the use of java.exe instead of javaw.exe and the inclusion of the-debug and -consolelog options. These will cause the debug console tobe visible and for debugging output to appear in the console.
```
C:\eclipse\eclipse.exe
 -vm C:\jre\bin\java.exe
 -data C:\eclipse\workspace
 -debug
 -consolelog
```
3. Inside Eclipse, create your repo location and expand it inthe repositories view (for example). The CVS command traffic in thedebug console should contains an invocation of the update command thatlooks something like (this is output from dev.eclipse.org):
```
CMD> cvs -n update -d "."
...
update
E cvs server: Updating .
E cvs server: New directory `CVSROOT' -- ignored
E cvs server: New directory `jdt-core-home' -- ignored
E cvs server: New directory `jdt-debug-home' -- ignored
...
```
What is the .project file, and should Irelease it to CVS?
The .project file is created and maintained by Eclipse. Itstores meta-information about the project, such as which projects itreferences and what type of project it is. If other members of yourteam will be using Eclipse to check out this project from CVS, youalmost certainly want to release the .project file to CVS. Even ifother members of your team are not using Eclipse, you may still want torelease the .project file so that the information is persisted for you.
I don't have update access to the CVSrepository. Can I still check out a project with Eclipse?
In some circ*mstances, depending on permissions on the server,you may not be able to browse the repository in the CVS Repositoriesview. In this case, it may still be possible to check out the projectyou want.
1. Create an empty project.
2. Context Menu->Team->Share Project...
3. Enter the repository information and click Finish
4. The Synchronize view appears. Update all incoming changes.
The project in your workspace is now shared with the CVSrepository, and contains the remote contents.
What does "Terminated with fatal signal 10"mean?
There is a bug in the CVS server related to some compressionlevels. If you get this error, change the compression level on the CVSpreferences page and see if that helps.
I copied some folders from one CVS project toanother and the old CVS information remained. What happened?
There is a bug in the CVS client in Eclipse 2.0 that will notpurge the CVS folders properly if a folder under CVS control is movedinto a folder that is not under CVS control. If this occurs, you willneed to delete the CVS folders manually.
I used Team > Share Project to connect alocal project to an existing project and it takes forwever. Why?
The particular method you have chosen to populate your workspace(i.e. create a new project and then sync against a large existing one)happens to be one of the most ineffiecient operations in the EclipseCVS client. The CVS protocol does not support this type of operationdirectly which results in the ineffiecient, communication intensiveoperation. The proper way to populate your workspace is to use"Checkout as Project" from the CVS Repositories view. Once the projectand its contents exists locally, the synchronize operatons should bemuch faster.

Does Eclipse support Watch/Edit?

Eclipse 2.1 supports CVS Edit/Unedit. In 2.0, you can use thefollowing workaround:

Run->External Tools->Configure...->New
Name: CVS Watchers
Tool Location: C:\cygwin\bin\cvs.exe
Tool arguments: watchers
Working directory: ${container_loc}
After running, refresh: Nothing
Check Show Execution Log on Console
OK
New
Name: CVS Edit
Tool Location: C:\cygwin\bin\cvs.exe
Tool arguments: edit ${resource_name}
Working directory: ${container_loc}
After running, refresh: Nothing
Check Show Execution Log on Console
OK

Unedit works the same as Edit, Editors works the same way asWatchers. To use the tools, highlight the file or directory on which toexecute the CVS command, then select Run->External Tools-> If you don't select the file/directory first, CVS willcomplain that the CVSROOT variable must be set first.

Why do I get a "Pre-commit failed" errorwith no detailed error message?
The problem is that the CVS server communicates the errordetails as M messages instead of E messages and so the error handlingin Eclipse doesn't display them. Eclipse has a CVS console which youcan open from the Window>Show View>Other menu command. If thisview is open and you run the failing commit, it will show you the errordetails.
Why can"t I get my pserver CVS proxy to work?
There are some quirks with some firewalls. See bug 133930 for details

Eclipse Platform - CVS FAQ (2024)

References