GRASS CVS Intro

GRASS: How can I download the latest source code version from CVS (yes, I am a newbie)? Perhaps I only have a modem connection to the internet!

Answer:

[The CVS is the Concurrent Versioning System which is used to maintain GRASS source code. It is nice as only new code is transfered over the network, which heavily reduces the traffic (and maybe phone costs).]

To access the latest GRASS source code from our CVS repository, do following (this assumes you want the latest source code to GRASS-cvs; see the page on CVS tags for more information on obtaining source for other versions:

1. To reduce download time, either get
   • the weekly 6.2-CVS snapshot (stable), or,
   • the weekly 6.3-CVS snapshot (development, more advanced).
   The snapshot contains the entire sources including the CVS subdirectories which you need to synchronize later again with CVS for updates.
2. Extract this package as described in the README from the source directory. The full sources of the GRASS Project require about 60 MB.
3. After extracting the sources, you have to login into the CVS. To set up your CVS client for read access, simply set the environment variable CVSROOT to:
   
   :pserver:grass-guest@intevation.de:/home/grass/grassrepository
   
   
(Consult your shell or cvs client on how to this. Example for unix bash:
      export CVSROOT=:pserver:grass-guest@intevation.de:/home/grass/grassrepository
or for csh or tcsh:
setenv CVSROOT :pserver:grass-guest@intevation.de:/home/grass/grassrepository

)
4. Then do a
   

 cvs login

 and type "grass" when you are asked for password (note: your system will remember this next time).
5. Now update the snapshot (as code updates may be available): By invoking
   
   
 cvs up -dP

 the local GRASS code on your machine is compared to that of the CVS server. Only new files will be transfered. This CVS command will update your GRASS source code. Note: This is rather fast and will take maybe 5-15min. depending on your modem/network speed.
6. To compile, see the local INSTALL file (even for code optimization or compilation of single modules).

Updating the GRASS code later on:

NOTE: The snapshot has to be transmitted only a single time. For future updates simply run the following command within the main GRASS source directory:
   cvs up -dP
This will update your source code again (and again and...).

Enjoy ongoing GRASS development!