Using WinCvs or TortoiseCVS to Work with Project Source Files

If you are using MS Windows, you can use the graphical client called WinCvs or TortoiseCVS to access a project's version controlled source code files. WinCvs looks and behaves similar to Windows Explorer. You can download WinCvs and install it on your machine.

Getting Started

After downloading and installing WinCvs or TortoiseCVS, make a new directory on your hard disk where you will store your working copy of the project's source files. A good name for this directory is the one-word name of the project files you need. If you are working on more than one project, you may wish to make a general "projects cvs " folder, and then create subfolders for each project by name.

Select the "project" directory in the WinCvs program's left-hand pane. (If you do not see your newly created projects directory right away, you may need to refresh your view.) If your project directory is on a different drive not displayed in the left-hand WinCvs pane, you will need to use the Browse Location>Change command under the View menu. Be sure to double click on the drive or directory you want before clicking OK.

More about setting a work area

Setting up CVSroot

First you must define the location of the WinCvs main repository, the CVSROOT. If you are only working on one project at a time, you only need to set up the cvsroot setup once, i.e. the first time you use WinCvs to access the project's source repository through this site.

1. On the Admin menu, select Login.
2. On the Login Settings tab, enter a path like this: [:pserver:username@projectname.domain.net:/cvs]. You can get this information from your network administrator. Click OK.

   Note: If you are using WinCvs 1.2 or earlier, select Preferences on the Admin menu and enter the CVS root in the CVS Root field on the General tab. For more information about using 1.2 and earlier versions, see this manual.

3. Follow the steps in the Login wizard to finish setting up WinCvs.

Now you are ready to begin Checking source files in and out of WinCvs

Installing TortoiseCVS

About TortoiseCVS

TortoiseCVS is a popular Concurrent Version Control client. It is software distributed under the General Public License (GPL).

TortoiseCVS is used to perform checkout, commits and other operations.

TortoiseCVS is integrated into Microsoft Windows Explorer. For more information go to http://www.tortoisecvs.org/support.shtml .

Downloading and installing TortoiseCVS

1. To download the software go to http://www.collab.net/developers/tools" and click on TortoiseCVS. You will see another page with different links to mirror download servers in various parts of the world.Click a file to download. You will see a small window asking you the location to download.
2. After the download is complete double click the installer icon. You will see a setup wizard. Click Next.
3. Select the location where you would like to install the software, for example C:\Program Files\TortoiseCVS and click Next.
4. Installation of the files will take place and after that you will see a window asking you if you would like to restart your computer at the same time or later.

You need to restart the system because Microsoft Windows Explorer has to integrate with TortoiseCVS.

You can view the help document at http://www.tortoisecvs.org/help.html. This site has sections for a User’s Guide, details about legal issues, a Change Log which has a list of changes made to the software and also a link which takes you back to TortoiseCVS.org.

If you have questions about the software, visit the Frequently Asked Questions site at http://www.tortoisecvs.org/faq.html.