3 Buffer contents

The display contains several columns, some of which are optional. These columns are, from left to right:

• Optionally, the head revision of the file. This is the latest version found in the repository. It might also contain (instead of the head revision) a sub status which typically gives further information about how we got to the current state, for example ‘patched’, ‘merged’, ...
• An asterisk when the file is marked (see Selected files).
• The actual status of the file wrt the repository. See below.
• Optionally, the base revision of the file. This is the version which the copy in your working directory is based upon.
• The file name.

The ‘file status’ field can have the following values:

‘Modified’

The file is modified in your working directory, and there was no modification to the same file in the repository. This status can have the following substatus:

‘merged’

The file was modified in your working directory, and there were modifications in the repository as well, but they were merged successfully, without conflict, in your working directory.

‘Conflict’

A conflict was detected while trying to merge your changes to file with changes from the repository. file (the copy in your working directory) is now the output of the rcsmerge command on the two versions; an unmodified copy of your file is also in your working directory, with the name .#file.version, where version is the RCS revision that your modified file started from. See Viewing differences, for more details.

A conflict can also come from a disagreement on the existence of the file rather than on its content. This case is indicated by the following possible substatus:

‘removed’

The file is locally removed but a new revision has been committed to the repository by someone else.

‘added’

The file is locally added and has also been added to the repository by someone else.

‘modified’

The file is locally modified but someone else has removed it from the repository.

‘Added’

The file has been added by you, but it still needs to be checked in to the repository.

‘Removed’

The file has been removed by you, but it still needs to be checked in to the repository. You can resurrect it by typing a (see Adding and removing files).

‘Unknown’

A file that was detected in your directory, but that neither appears in the repository, nor is present on the list of files that CVS should ignore.

‘Up-to-date’

The file is up to date with respect to the version in the repository. This status can have a substatus of:

‘added’

You have just added the file to the repository.

‘updated’

The file was brought up to date with respect to the repository. This is done for any file that exists in the repository but not in your source, and for files that you haven't changed but are not the most recent versions available in the repository.

‘patched’

The file was brought up to date with respect to the remote repository by way of fetching and applying a patch to the file in your source. This is equivalent to ‘updated’ except that CVS decided to use a hopefully more efficient method.

‘committed’

You just committed the file.

‘Need-Update’

Either a newer version than the one in your source is available in the repository and you have not modified your checked out version, or the file exists in the repository but not in your source. Use ‘cvs-mode-update’ bound to O to update the file.

‘Need-Merge’

You have modified the checked out version of the file, and a newer version is available in the repository. A merge will take place when you run a ‘cvs-update’.

‘Missing’

The file has been unexpectedly removed from your working directory although it has not been ‘cvs remove’d.