Switching Between Versions

If you want to go back to a previous version of a file or project, you can revert either a single file, a group of files, or the entire directory tree.

Using cvs update -r file(s) to a specific revision or tag. (Hence the emphasis on using tags.) Example:

$ cvs update -r Release-1-0
cvs update: Updating .
U README
U hello.py
$ cvs status hello.py
===================================================================
File: hello.py         	Status: Up-to-date

   Working revision:	1.4	Tue Jun 12 14:25:35 2001
   Repository revision:	1.4	/home/cvsroot/hello/hello.py,v
   Sticky Tag:		Release-1-0 (revision: 1.4)
   Sticky Date:		(none)
   Sticky Options:	(none)

$

Using -A option will update file(s) to the most recent version and without any options. Example:

$ cvs update -A
cvs update: Updating .
U README
U hello.py
$ cvs status hello.py
===================================================================
File: hello.py         	Status: Up-to-date

   Working revision:	1.7	Tue Jun 12 14:26:36 2001
   Repository revision:	1.7	/home/cvsroot/hello/hello.py,v
   Sticky Tag:		(none)
   Sticky Date:		(none)
   Sticky Options:	(none)

$

Note that instead of tags and revision numbers, you can use the cvs update -D command with a date. Tags are strongly recommended instead!