Re: binutils+gdb CVS module

[Stephen Biggs <xyzzy@hotpop.com>]

Hi Michael,

On Mon, 2003-08-18 at 12:04, Michael Elizabeth Chastain wrote:
> Hi Stephen,
> 
> > (is this the same as gdb+binutils??)
> 
> Yes, gdb+binutils and binutils+gdb are identical.
> You can check out 'modules' and look in the modules list if you like.
> 
> > Yesterday, after the update, there were the directories libgloss, sid,
> > tcl, and quite a few others which messed up my build because the target
> > I am trying to develop has no idea about these things.
> 
> Sounds like you did "cvs update -d" instead of "cvs update".

Yes, exactly.

> 
> This is a known deficiency with cvs.  When you do the initial checkout
> of binutils+gdb, you get only the files and directories that are part
> of this module.  But the name "binutils+gdb" is not recorded anywhere.
> 
> When you do "cvs update", your cvs client program doesn't know about
> "binutils+gdb" any more.  It knows that you have a restricted subset of
> the files and dirs from the server, but it doesn't know *which* subset.
> So ... for all the files and dirs on the server which you *don't*
> already have ... "cvs update" doesn't know whether you need them for
> the module you checked out, because "cvs checkout" did not record the
> name of the module that it checked out.
> 
> So there are two modes, both a little deficient.  In the plain "cvs
> update" mode, cvs will update the top-level files and dirs that you
> already have, but it won't create any new ones.  This correctly handles
> all the files and dirs on the server that you don't want to see, like
> libgloss, sid, and tcl.  But if someone actually DOES create a new file
> at the top level, and the new file really IS part of binutils+gdb, cvs
> won't fetch it.
> 
> In the "cvs update -d" mode, cvs will update everything, including
> creating new files.  That's probably what happened to your work area.
> Hundreds of megabytes of extra stuff show up, and your build breaks.
> On the plus side, if someone created a new top-level file that you
> needed, you did get it.
> 
> The normal workaround is to do "cvs update" almost all of the time, with
> no "-d", and to handle new top-level files and directories specially.
> Fortunately they don't appear very often (a few times a year).

How does one know when there is something new?  Add a watch via email? 
Is that even allowed with this repository?

> 
> That's issue as I understand it.  If someone who knows more wants to
> correct me, just jump in.
> 

Thanks very much for the concise and informative reply.

> Michael C
>