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(cvsbook.info)Changing A Log Message After Commit

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Changing A Log Message After Commit
===================================

Just in case someone does commit a regrettable log message, CVS enables
you to rewrite logs after they've been committed.  It's done with the -m
option to the admin command (this command is covered in more detail
later in this chapter) and allows you to change one log message (per
revision, per file) at a time.  Here's how it works:

     floss$ cvs admin -m 1.7:"Truncate four-digit years to two in input." date.c
     RCS file: /usr/local/newrepos/someproj/date.c,v
     done
     floss$

The original, offensive log message that was committed with revision 1.7
has been replaced with a perfectly innocent - albeit duller - message.
Don't forget the colon separating the revision number from the new log
message.

If the new log message consists of multiple lines, put it in a file and
do this:

     floss$ cvs admin -m 1.7:"`cat new-log-message.txt`" date.c

(This example was sent in by Peter Ross <peter.ross@miscrit.be>; note
that it only works for Unix users.)

If the bad message was committed into multiple files, you'll have to run
cvs admin separately for each one, because the revision number is
different for each file.  Therefore, this is one of the few commands in
CVS that requires you to pass a single file name as argument:

     floss$ cvs admin -m 1.2:"very boring log message" hello.c README.txt foo.gif
     cvs admin: while processing more than one file:
     cvs [admin aborted]: attempt to specify a numeric revision
     floss$

Confusingly, you get the same error if you pass no file names (because
CVS then assumes all the files in the current directory and below are
implied arguments):

     floss$ cvs admin -m 1.2:"very boring log message"
     cvs admin: while processing more than one file:
     cvs [admin aborted]: attempt to specify a numeric revision
     floss$

(As is unfortunately often the case with CVS error messages, you have to
see things from CVS's point of view before the message makes sense!)

Invoking `admin -m' actually changes the project's history, so use it
with care.  There will be no record that the log message was ever
changed - it will simply appear as if that revision had been originally
committed with the new log message.  No trace of the old message will be
left anywhere (unless you saved the original commit email).

Although its name might seem to imply that only the designated CVS
administrator can use it, in fact anyone can run `cvs admin', as long
as they have write access to the project in question.  Nevertheless, it
is best used with caution; the ability to change log messages is mild
compared with other potentially damaging things it can do.  See Note:
CVS Reference for more about `admin', as well as a way to restrict
its use.