EDITOR Variable

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EDITOR Variable
Christopher Brooks, 27 Aug 1999
Last updated: 21 Oct 2002

When CVS commits a change, it needs a log message. One quick workaround is to use the -m "log message" option to commit:

cvs commit -m "Fixed off by one error" foo.java

If you do not use the -m option, then CVS will need a log message. When CVS needs a log message, it reads the EDITOR environment variable to determine which editor to startup.

If you set EDITOR to emacs, then each time CVS needs a log message it will start up an emacs. If you always have an emacs process running. Consider using emacsclient instead.

Edit your ~/.emacs file and add
```
(server-start)
```
to it
Edit your ~/.cshrc file and add
```
setenv EDITOR emacsclient
```

Now, when you CVS needs a log message, it will bring up a window in your emacs process. When you are done editing, type C-x #

For more information about emacsclient, start up emacs and type M-x info and search for the emacs online documentation.

There is an easier solution:
If you use emacs as your editor, then you can use C-x C-q to commit your change. After filling in the message, type C-c C-c to exit the log message editor window. For C-x C-q to work with CVS from a laptop you must have your laptop set up so that it does not require a password when committing a cvs change. See How do I use CVS without typing my password each time? for details.

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