HowTo:Checkout CVS

Edit News

HowTos

Compiling with VCPP

---

So you want to see what all the fuss is about, with people on the forums talking about some 'CVS' version of Vega Strike? Well, you've come to the right place. Or if you already know what CVS is, but want to know how to get involved in the developmental side of Vega Strike, this document will also help you on your way.

What is CVS?

CVS is an acronym for Concurrent Versions System. Basically, it allows many people to access a program's sourcecode on a remote server location. Anyone granted access to the source can download, run, alter and upload the sourcecode.

So what's it mean for Vega Strike? With the right tool to access CVS, you can access the data files for the latest developmental version of the game, download and play it. You can download the latest sourcecode of the game files themselves, and compile the game from scratch - that is, making an absolute cutting edge version of Vega Strike to run on your computer.

So why don't we all do this? Because the CVS version is the developmental version of the game. Any and all bugs, problems, hassles and destructive input is included. CVS may well not work, or not work very well. The advantage, though, is it gives you a view at what the developers are currently working on - so you know what they're talking about in the forums.

If you don't want to risk having an 'unstable' version of the game on your system, likely crashing itself or your computer, only download the stable 'release' versions of the game, accessed from the files locations off the homepage. But with delays between releases, sometimes its nice to see what's under the hood of the next release...

Modules

Please follow the directions on this page pertaining to your Operating System to obtain copies of the various modules (components) that make up the developmental version of Vega Strike.

These modules are (name as per CVS repository):

• data4.x - Contains all gamedata required for Vega Strike. Also contains an unstable build of the Vega Strike engine and other associated program files.
• music - The Music of Vega Strike is located separately.
• vegastrike - The sourcecode to build your own copy of the Vega Strike engine.
• vssetup - GUI program to modify vegastrike.config file (See Manual Configuration)
• vega-vc7 - Contains the project files needed to get Vega Strike to compile in Microsoft Visual C++ 7.
• vega-proj - Contains the project files needed to get Vega Strike to compile in Microsoft Visual C++ 6.
• (other modules to be listed)

→Main article: Development:CVS Tree

Windows clients

Tortoise CVS

Website

http://www.tortoisecvs.org/

Description

TortoiseCVS lets you work with files under CVS version control directly from Windows Explorer. It's freely available under the GPL.

With TortoiseCVS you can directly check out modules, update, commit and see differences by right clicking on files and folders within Explorer. You can see the state of a file with overlays on top of the normal icons within Explorer. It even works from within the file open dialog.

We seriously recommend that you review the website and program information to obtain some familiarity with Tortoise CVS.

Usage

Please be aware that the initial checkout of a module requires the download of ALL files within that module, which could easily be several hundred Mb plus. It must also obtain all the CVS registry details for those files, adding additional download time to the initial checkout. Later, when updating information, it only downloads those files that your CVS registry notes as having been changed from your copy.

1. Download and Install Tortoise CVS;
2. Create a new folder in Windows Manager where you will download your modules (called Sandbox, CVS or similar working location name);
3. Within that folder, create another folder being the name of module you wish to checkout e.g. data4.x, music, vegastrike etc;
4. Right click on the folder created and select CVS Checkout. This brings up the checkout configuration screen;
5. Input the configuration information below into the screen;
6. Click OK to begin checkout of the module.

The CVSRoot line should look as follows:

:pserver:anonymous@cvs.sourceforge.net:/cvsroot/vegastrike

Once you have the module, create a new directory elsewhere to copy everything to. This new directory becomes your playing directory. Leave the original directory AS IS. The original will become your source for updating to new CVS data - it is very important that you do not modify anything in the original directory.

The above only checks out the latest 'unstable' version of the data and binaries for playing, and is dependant on the generosity of developers to continually upload a latest version of the binaries (.exes). If you want the latest binaries, you need to check out the other modules (.vegastrike etc) and compile them yourself - see other HowTos on how to do this.

To Update the information for a module:

1. Right click on your working folder;
2. Select CVS Update;
3. The program will examine the repository for any changes to the files you have, and only download those altered files. It does not pick up changes where you have modified your local copy - hence the reason why you make a copy for playing;
4. Recopy the directory to your play location.

Configuration

The following information should be input into the Graphical User Interface (GUI):

• Protocol: Password server (:pserver)
• Server: cvs.sourceforge.net
• Port: <leave blank>
• Repository Folder: /cvsroot/vegastrike
• Username: anonymous
• Module: <enter name of module as per Checkout CVS Vegastrike above.> E.g. data4.x

Cygwin CVS

Website

1. Get cygwin setup.exe from www.cygwin.com;
2. Start the setup.exe and install the default cygwin data. (Don't know for sure, but check if the cvs-package is selected);

Usage

1. Launch the cygwin shell;
2. Follow the CVS instructions on sourceforge as if you were under Linux.

NOTE: you may get the message "[update aborted]: end of file from server (consult above messages if any)" when trying to checkout/update the data. Just retry the procedure a few times.

Linux clients

LinCVS

I Ace123 have had troubles with this program because it seems to crash a lot for me. I use gCvs by the same people who make wincvs.

Website

• get LinCVS from its homepage (just select the non-linux newest release on the left)-> static binaries -> lincvs-1.x.x-x-Win32-static_bin.zip
• if you need the cvs.exe go here

Usage

1. Download and Install LinCVS
2. Start LinCVS
3. Open Options->Profiles
4. Enter the following data (examples):
   1. Name:VS
   2. User:anonymous
   3. CVS Server: cvs.sourceforge.net
   4. container: /cvsroot/vegastrike
   5. access: password
5. Choose ADD and OK
6. Open Project->Checkout
7. Enter the following data (examples):
   1. Profile: Select your Vegastrike Profile (ie "VS")
   2. Checkout To: select your vegastrike working directory (e.g. c:\cygwin\home\yourusername)
   3. CVS Module: <enter name of module as per Checkout CVS Vegastrike above.> E.g. data4.x, vegastrike etc;
8. Checkout As: whichever module selected;
9. choose OK.

To Update your CVS-data:

1. Select your project
2. Open directory->update

gCvs 1.0

I think CVS is installed by default on most linux systems.

Website

get gCvs at http://cvsgui.sourceforge.net/

You might need GTK (probably have it if you have gnome) and Tcl (Yuck)

Usage

1. Start gCvs;
2. Go to Preferences in the Admin menu;
3. In the General tab, type anonymous@cvs.sourceforge.net:/cvsroot/vegastrike
4. Set CVSROOT to be the same as the one below. (or else the menus will be grayed out and you can't do anything);
5. Click the button Password "pserver";
6. Click OK;
7. The log window should show NEW CVSROOT: anonymous@cvs.sourceforge.net:/cvsroot/vegastrike (password authentication);
8. Press Enter;
9. Go to Create->Checkout Module in one of the menus and fill out the boxes appropriately. Set the compression level to 9 where possible (compression is one of the new features, so it may not be there);
10. Click on OK;
11. Checkout Settings box - in the main field, first tab enter the name of module you wish to checkout;
12. Type your password if needed;
13. Open up a shell and type:

cd vegastrike; ./configure <SEE HowTo:Compile from Cvs FOR DETAILS>; make

Repeat process to checkout the data4.x module

Commandline CVS usage

For sourceforge users:

export CVSROOT=:ext:USERNAME@cvs.sourceforge.net:/cvsroot/vegastrike

For anonymous users who want 1-day old and unreliable cvs access (it is on the backup server, but we have no choice until sourceforge decides to make pserver reliable again.):

export CVSROOT=:pserver:anonymous@cvs.sourceforge.net:/cvsroot/vegastrike

run these commands:

1. mkdir vegastrike
2. cd vegastrike
3. cvs login
4. cvs -z9 co vegastrike
5. cvs -z9 co data4.x #(only if you want to play the game)
6. cvs -z9 co vssetup #(only if you want setup)

Mac clients

FIXME List of Mac CVS clients needed

• MacCVS Pro (GNU)
• MacCVS (GNU)
• MacCVSClient (GNU, For MacOS X, 9, and 8)

---

Edit News

HowTos

Compiling with VCPP