7.4.3 Copying the history file

This way also involves direct modifications to the repository. It is safe, but not without drawbacks.

# Copy the RCS file inside the repository $ cd $CVSROOT/dir $ cp old,v new,v $ cd ~/dir $ rm old $ cvs remove old $ cvs commit old $ cvs update new $ cvs log new # Remember the non-branch tag names $ cvs tag -d tag1 new $ cvs tag -d tag2 new ...

By removing the tags you will be able to check out old revisions.

Advantages:

• Checking out old revisions works correctly, as long as you use `-rtag' and not `-Ddate' to retrieve the revisions.

• The log of changes is maintained intact.

• The revision numbers are not affected.

Disadvantages:

• You cannot easily see the history of the file across the rename.