Checklist for the impatient reader

CVS is a complex system. You will need to read the manual to be able to use all of its capabilities. There are dangers that can easily be avoided if you know about them, and this manual tries to warn you about them. This checklist is intended to help you avoid the dangers without reading the entire manual. If you intend to read the entire manual you can skip this table.

Binary files

CVS can handle binary files, but you must have RCS release 5.5 or later and a release of GNU diff that supports the `-a' flag (release 1.15 and later are OK). You must also configure both RCS and CVS to handle binary files when you install them. Keword substitution can be a source of trouble with binary files. See section Keyword substitution, for solutions.

The admin command

Careless use of the admin command can cause CVS to cease working. See section admin--Administration front end for rcs, before trying to use it.