7.2 Code Management Mode

  The code management mode can by used to update, compare and insert files from/to a common code repository based on CVS[Gru92, Ced93]. This is one of the CASE functionalities of VMake. This mode is activated by the following command line options:

1. checkCVS compare the sources with the repository state. No changes are put back to the repository but all modified files and files which should be added or removed to/from the repository are listed.
2. commitCVS allows to update the repository from the local modified version by committing the changes. Files which are new and needed for building the project are automatically added to the repository. The user has to write a one line description for every new file. For modified files a multi line comment about the changes has to be given. The comment must be terminated with the system dependent EOF character. This is and underUNIX and and VMS. If the comment is missing, VMake terminates with an error condition if the command line option noexit is not used. The return value will reflect the error. It may be a dangerous to leave the repository in an inconsistent state and this should be immediately corrected. Files are only removed from the repository if the command line option removeCVS is given additionally. Again a comment must be specified why the file is no longer required in the project.
3. updateCVS updates the local sources from the repository and shows a list of all local modified files. For files with an update conflict due to changes of the same source code part locally and in the repository VMake will issue an warning. The conflicting section is marked by CVS in the source code file for later merging by the developer.

The interface to a common source code repository is very useful because VMake is able to check for the presence of all required file. VMake definitely prevents the user from checking in an incomplete project. This consistent state of the common code repository is also important for automatic testing through a special users account. This user can be used to build the last version of the common repository to check for inconsistences.