[sane-devel] CVS write access, CVS lock files and ChangeLog entries

[Henning Meier-Geinitz]

Hi developers,

Some topics concerning CVS write access:

* Getting write access to the CVS servers
  The details of getting write access to the CVS server are mentioned 
  on our CVS page: http://www.sane-project.org/cvs.html
  Just some more comments:

  * Once you have been added, it will take some time until CVS write
    access actually works.
  * Every developer is also able to modify the bug tracker, i.g. to
    change priorities and assignments of bugs
  * You don't need to be a backend developer to get CVS access. If you
    regularily update documentation or translations that's ok, too.
  * If someone isn't interested in CVS access but wants to handle bugs
    in the bug tracker, we can set up an account also.  

* CVS lock files: When you get messages like that:
  "cvs server: [11:38:14] waiting for anoncvs's lock in ..."
  while committing a file to CVS you've found a stale lockfile.
  Well, at least if that lock stays for longer than a few minutes.

  This has happened three or four times in the last few weeks.  

  If this happens, use ssh to log into your account at alioth (ssh
  login at sane.alioth.debian.org), 
  cd /var/lib/gforge/chroot/cvsroot/sane/  
  cd sane-backends (or sane-frontends or wherever)
  cd to the directory where the lock is located
  ls -l "#cvs*"
  If that lock is from anoncvs and older than some minutes, remove
  (rm) it. If it's from a developer, ask him what he is doing
  currently. If he isn't using CVS currently, remove the lock also.

* ChangeLog entries
  Most developers already know about that topic but as there are some
  new ones, here is a quote from our CVS web page. I've just added
  some comments about ChangeLog entries (mostly stolen from Petter
  Reinholdtsen's CVS page):

  "When doing changes (commits) to sane-backends or sane-frontends,
  make sure you remember to include an entry in the ChangeLog file.
  The format is simple, with the date the change was committed to CVS,
  the name and email address of the one doing the commit, the list of
  files changed (ignoring ChangeLog itself), and a description of the
  change. Example: 

  2000-03-06  Petter Reinholdtsen 
  	* configure.in configure: New version is 1.0.2.

  You can use the same descriptions in the ChangeLog and the commit
  messages. The ChangeLog file is used in addition to the commit
  messages because it's available even when there is no access to the
  CVS server. If you intend to change more than one file in CVS, it's ok
  to add all the entries to the ChangeLog only once per day. "


Bye,
  Henning