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(cvs.info.gz) Common options

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 A.5 Common command options
 ==========================
 
 This section describes the `command_options' that are available across
 several CVS commands.  These options are always given to the right of
 `cvs_command'. Not all commands support all of these options; each
 option is only supported for commands where it makes sense.  However,
 when a command has one of these options you can almost always count on
 the same behavior of the option as in other commands.  (Other command
 options, which are listed with the individual commands, may have
 different behavior from one CVS command to the other).
 
    *Note_ the `history' command is an exception; it supports many-NEWLINE- options that conflict even with these standard options.*
 
 `-D DATE_SPEC'
      Use the most recent revision no later than DATE_SPEC.  DATE_SPEC
      is a single argument, a date description specifying a date in the
      past.
 
      The specification is "sticky" when you use it to make a private
      copy of a source file; that is, when you get a working file using
      `-D', CVS records the date you specified, so that further updates
      in the same directory will use the same date (for more information
      on sticky tags/dates,  Sticky tags).
 
      `-D' is available with the `annotate', `checkout', `diff',
      `export', `history', `ls', `rdiff', `rls', `rtag', `tag', and
      `update' commands.  (The `history' command uses this option in a
      slightly different way;  history options).
 
      For a complete description of the date formats accepted by CVS,
       Date input formats.
 
      Remember to quote the argument to the `-D' flag so that your shell
      doesn't interpret spaces as argument separators.  A command using
      the `-D' flag can look like this:
 
           $ cvs diff -D "1 hour ago" cvs.texinfo
 
 `-f'
      When you specify a particular date or tag to CVS commands, they
      normally ignore files that do not contain the tag (or did not
      exist prior to the date) that you specified.  Use the `-f' option
      if you want files retrieved even when there is no match for the
      tag or date.  (The most recent revision of the file will be used).
 
      Note that even with `-f', a tag that you specify must exist (that
      is, in some file, not necessary in every file).  This is so that
      CVS will continue to give an error if you mistype a tag name.
 
      `-f' is available with these commands: `annotate', `checkout',
      `export', `rdiff', `rtag', and `update'.
 
      *WARNING:  The `commit' and `remove' commands also have a `-f'
      option, but it has a different behavior for those commands.  See
       commit options, and  Removing files.*
 
 `-k KFLAG'
      Override the default processing of RCS keywords other than `-kb'.
       Keyword substitution, for the meaning of KFLAG.  Used with
      the `checkout' and `update' commands, your KFLAG specification is
      "sticky"; that is, when you use this option with a `checkout' or
      `update' command, CVS associates your selected KFLAG with any files
      it operates on, and continues to use that KFLAG with future
      commands on the same files until you specify otherwise.
 
      The `-k' option is available with the `add', `checkout', `diff',
      `export', `import' and `update' commands.
 
      *WARNING: Prior to CVS version 1.12.2, the `-k' flag overrode the
      `-kb' indication for a binary file.  This could sometimes corrupt
      binary files.   Merging and keywords, for more.*
 
 `-l'
      Local; run only in current working directory, rather than
      recursing through subdirectories.
 
      Available with the following commands: `annotate', `checkout',
      `commit', `diff', `edit', `editors', `export', `log', `rdiff',
      `remove', `rtag', `status', `tag', `unedit', `update', `watch',
      and `watchers'.
 
 `-m MESSAGE'
      Use MESSAGE as log information, instead of invoking an editor.
 
      Available with the following commands: `add', `commit' and
      `import'.
 
 `-n'
      Do not run any tag program.  (A program can be specified to run in
      the modules database ( modules); this option bypasses it).
 
      *Note_ this is not the same as the `cvs -n' program option, which
      you can specify to the left of a cvs command!*
 
      Available with the `checkout', `commit', `export', and `rtag'
      commands.
 
 `-P'
      Prune empty directories.  See  Removing directories.
 
 `-p'
      Pipe the files retrieved from the repository to standard output,
      rather than writing them in the current directory.  Available with
      the `checkout' and `update' commands.
 
 `-R'
      Process directories recursively.  This is the default for all CVS
      commands, with the exception of `ls' & `rls'.
 
      Available with the following commands: `annotate', `checkout',
      `commit', `diff', `edit', `editors', `export', `ls', `rdiff',
      `remove', `rls', `rtag', `status', `tag', `unedit', `update',
      `watch', and `watchers'.
 
 `-r TAG'
 
 `-r TAG[:DATE]'
      Use the revision specified by the TAG argument (and the DATE
      argument for the commands which accept it) instead of the default
      "head" revision.  As well as arbitrary tags defined with the `tag'
      or `rtag' command, two special tags are always available: `HEAD'
      refers to the most recent version available in the repository, and
      `BASE' refers to the revision you last checked out into the
      current working directory.
 
      The tag specification is sticky when you use this with `checkout'
      or `update' to make your own copy of a file: CVS remembers the tag
      and continues to use it on future update commands, until you
      specify otherwise (for more information on sticky tags/dates,
       Sticky tags).
 
      The tag can be either a symbolic or numeric tag, as described in
       Tags, or the name of a branch, as described in 
      Branching and merging.  When TAG is the name of a branch, some
      commands accept the optional DATE argument to specify the
      revisions as of the given date on the branch.
 
      Specifying the `-q' global option along with the `-r' command
      option is often useful, to suppress the warning messages when the
      RCS file does not contain the specified tag.
 
      *Note_ this is not the same as the overall `cvs -r' option, which
      you can specify to the left of a CVS command!*
 
      `-r TAG' is available with the `commit' and `history' commands.
 
      `-r TAG[:DATE]' is available with the `annotate', `checkout',
      `diff', `export', `rdiff', `rtag', and `update' commands.
 
 `-W'
      Specify file names that should be filtered.  You can use this
      option repeatedly.  The spec can be a file name pattern of the
      same type that you can specify in the `.cvswrappers' file.
      Available with the following commands: `import', and `update'.
 
 
    * getdate.texi file.   *  * *** DO NOT EDIT THIS FILE DIRECTLY ***  *
 * Edit getdate.texi instead.   */
 
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