[cvsnt] How to remove old revisions of files from CVS

[Oliver Giesen]

Jeffrey,

before I answer let me say that removing revisions in the way you intend is
not recommended practice. The whole point of version control is to be able
to trace ALL changes to the source code. If you remove the revisions or
complete modules in the way described below, they are lost forever and there
is no going back. Just be aware of this, before you proceed.


> We have a number of old revisions of a file that we would like to remove
from the
> repository.  What is the best way to do this.  IE remove all revisions
that do not
> have a tag assigned.

If you're using WinCvs you could conveniently do this using the Graph
Selection command. Just select the file and invoke Graph. In the resulting
tree view do a right click and choose "Select non significant" from the
context menu. This will select all untagged revisions. Then right click
again and choose "Admin options|Delete revisions...".

Without WinCvs, the command to remove revisions is cvs admin -o. You could
read up on the syntax in the Cederqvist:
http://www.cvshome.org/docs/manual/cvs_16.html#SEC120 .

Note that you'll need admin status on the CVS repository to do either of the
above.


> Also, is deleting a module directory from the repository using the file
system the
> best way to remove an entire module?

Can't say if it's the best way, but it's surely the most efficient and quick
way I know.


> I tried the cvs release –d module command, however the module did not get
removed
> from the repository.

Yes, because that's not what release is intended for. Read here:
http://www.cvshome.org/docs/manual/cvs_16.html#SEC119


Hope this helps.

Oliver
-----------------------
JID: ogiesen at jabber.org
ICQ: 18777742
Y! : ogiesen