Browsing Changes in Technicolor

Sometimes you know a file was changed by another developer, but aren't sure exactly what has changed. cvsweb color-codes changes to files in a CVS site repository and displays the old and new versions side-by-side, line-by-line for easy comparison. cvsweb for our site repository begins via this URL address: http://interactivate.com/apps/cvs/

Figure 3: cvsweb shows the differences between two versions of an HTML file

cvsweb presents you with a web-based interface to browse any and all of the sites and projects we manage via CVS.¹¹ We've found cvsweb especially helpful for:

Visual Comparison

Compare the latest version of any file (web page, cgi script, .htaccess, etc.) to previous versions of the same file.

Reports and Invoices

Non-technical folks can use cvsweb to call up log messages that contain human-readable change notes from the developers, including the exact date and time that each site update was performed.

Which One?

Developers can use cvsweb to figure out exactly which version, branch, or tag of a project they want to work with. Some of our projects have sprouted multiple branches, each with similar files but personalized, per-customer content that must be checked in and out via its own tagged ``branch.''

Work Confirmation

Delivery of subcontracted work can be reviewed via cvsweb as soon as the developer commits their work to the repository. If you are active in a particular site or project, you should receive email each time a change is committed.

Figure 4: cvsweb lets non-technical users access human-readable log messages

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copyright  ©  September 02 2010 sean dreilinger url: http://durak.org/cvswebsites/howto-cvs/node32.html