This is monotone.info, produced by makeinfo version 4.11 from
monotone.texi.

INFO-DIR-SECTION Programming
START-INFO-DIR-ENTRY
* monotone: (monotone).         Monotone version control system
END-INFO-DIR-ENTRY


File: monotone.info,  Node: Top,  Next: Concepts,  Prev: (dir),  Up: (dir)

Top
***

Monotone is a distributed version control tool. It can help automate
many tedious and error-prone tasks in group software development.
   * Store multiple versions of files you are working on efficiently.

   * Transmit changes to files between you and your colleagues.

   * Merge changes you make with those your colleagues make.

   * Make notes about your opinion of the quality of versions of files.

   * Make decisions about using or ignoring versions, depending on the
     notes you receive from others.

   Please be aware that monotone is a slightly unorthodox version
control tool, and many of its concepts are similar -- but subtly or
significantly different -- from concepts with similar names in other
version control tools.

* Menu:

* Concepts::                    Taxonomy of monotone
* Tutorial::                    A detailed example of using monotone
* Advanced Uses::               Going beyond the basics
* CVS Phrasebook::              Transitional guide for CVS users
* Command Reference::           Details of each monotone command
* Hook Reference::              Functions which extend monotone
* Special Topics::              Extra explanations and details
* Default hooks::               The standard hook definitions
* General Index::               Index of concepts and functions

   Complete table of contents


File: monotone.info,  Node: Concepts,  Next: Tutorial,  Prev: Top,  Up: Top

1 Concepts
**********

This chapter should familiarize you with the concepts, terminology, and
behavior described in the remainder of the user manual.  Please take a
moment to read it, as later sections will assume familiarity with these
terms.

* Menu:

* Versions of files::           Tracking changes to single files
* Versions of trees::           Tracking changes to collections of files
* Historical records::          Tracking the history of changes
* Certificates::                Tracking extended information
* Storage and workflow::        Saving, sending, and receiving changes
* Forks and merges::            Managing divergence of code
* Branches::                    Intentional divergence and automatic merging


File: monotone.info,  Node: Versions of files,  Next: Versions of trees,  Prev: Concepts,  Up: Concepts

1.1 Versions of files
=====================

Suppose you wish to modify a file `file.txt' on your computer. You
begin with one version of the file, load it into an editor, make some
changes, and save the file again. Doing so produces a new version of
the file. We will say that the older version of the file was a
"parent", and the new version is a "child", and that you have performed
an "edit" between the parent and the child. We may draw the
relationship between parent and child using a graph, where the arrow in
the graph indicates the direction of the edit, from parent to child.

          +----------------+
          |                |
          | parent version |
          | of file.txt    |
          |                |
          +----------------+
                   |
                   |
                  \|/
                   V
          +----------------+
          |                |
          | child version  |
          | of file.txt    |
          |                |
          +----------------+

   We may want to identify the parent and the child precisely, for sake
of reference. To do so, we will compute a cryptographic hash function,
called SHA1, of each version. The details of this function are beyond
the scope of this document; in summary, the SHA1 function takes a
version of a file and produces a short string of 20 bytes, which we
will use to uniquely identify the version(1).  Now our graph does not
refer to some "abstract" parent and child, but rather to the exact edit
we performed between a specific parent and a specific child.

          +---------------------------------------------------+
          | parent version                                    |
          | of file.txt                                       |
          |                                                   |
          | SHA1 = 65f1bde1f38262034e7c3457301e8f736ba6381b   |
          +---------------------------------------------------+
                   |
                   |
                  \|/
                   V
          +---------------------------------------------------+
          | child version                                     |
          | of file.txt                                       |
          |                                                   |
          | SHA1 = a91566316d208dc405795904f8d67ae3a0e765cb   |
          +---------------------------------------------------+

   When dealing with versions of files, we will dispense with writing
out "file names", and identify versions purely by their SHA1 value,
which we will also refer to as their "file ID". Using IDs alone will
often help us accommodate the fact that people often wish to call files
by different names. So now our graph of parent and child is just a
relationship between two versions, only identified by ID.

          +---------------------------------------------------+
          | parent version                                    |
          | SHA1 = 65f1bde1f38262034e7c3457301e8f736ba6381b   |
          +---------------------------------------------------+
                   |
                   |
                  \|/
                   V
          +---------------------------------------------------+
          | child version                                     |
          | SHA1 = a91566316d208dc405795904f8d67ae3a0e765cb   |
          +---------------------------------------------------+

   Version control systems, such as monotone, are principally concerned
with the storage and management of multiple versions of some files.
One way to store multiple versions of a file is, literally, to save a
separate complete copy of the file, every time you make a change. When
necessary, monotone will save complete copies of your files, compressed
with the `zlib' compression format.

        +--------------+  +--------------+  +--------------+
        |              |  |              |  |              |
        | Hello        |  | Hello,       |  | Why, Hello   |
        |              |  | world!       |  | there world, |    . . .
        |              |  |              |  | how do you   |
        |              |  |              |  | do?          |
        |              |  |              |  |              |
        +--------------+  +--------------+  +--------------+

        \______  ______/  \______  ______/  \______  ______/
               \/                \/                \/
           1st version       2nd version      3rd version

   Often we find that successive versions of a file are very similar to
one another, so storing multiple complete copies is a waste of space.
In these cases, rather than store complete copies of each version of a
file, we store a compact description of only the changes which are made
between versions. Such a description of changes is called a "delta".

   Storing deltas between files is, practically speaking, as good as
storing complete versions of files. It lets you undo changes from a new
version, by applying the delta backwards, and lets your friends change
their old version of the file into the new version, by applying the
delta forwards. Deltas are usually smaller than full files, so when
possible monotone stores deltas, using a modified `xdelta' format. The
details of this format are beyond the scope of this document.

                             difference
                          between versions
                            _____/\____
        +--------------+   /           \    +--------------+
        |              |                    |              |
        | Hello        |    +[, world!]     | Hello,       |
        |              |                    | world!       |
        |              |                    |              |
        |              |                    |              |
        |              |                    |              |
        +--------------+                    +--------------+

        \______  ______/                    \______  ______/
               \/                                  \/
          1st version                         2nd version

   ---------- Footnotes ----------

   (1) We say SHA1 values are "unique" here, when in fact there is a
small probability of two different versions having the same SHA1 value.
This probability is very small, so we discount it.


File: monotone.info,  Node: Versions of trees,  Next: Historical records,  Prev: Versions of files,  Up: Concepts

1.2 Versions of trees
=====================

After you have made many different files, you may wish to capture a
"snapshot" of the versions of all the files in a particular collection.
Since files are typically collected into trees in a file system, we say
that you want to capture a version of your tree. Doing so will permit
you to undo changes to multiple files at once, or send your friend a
set of changes to many files at once.

   To make a snapshot of a tree, we begin by writing a special file
called a "manifest". In fact, monotone will write this file for us, but
we could write it ourselves too. It is just a plain text file, in a
structured but human-readable format used by several parts of monotone.
Each file entry of a manifest binds a specific name, as a full path from
the root of the workspace, to a specific file ID, as the hash of its
content.  In this way, the manifest collects together the snapshot of
the file names and contents you have at this point in time; other
snapshots with other manifests can use different names for the same
file, or different contents for the same name.

   Other entries in the manifest format name directories or store file
attrs, which we will cover later.


     +------------------------------------------------------+
     |                                                      |
     |  format_version "1"                                  |
     |                                                      |
     |  dir ""                                              |
     |                                                      |
     |  dir "fs"                                            |
     |                                                      |
     |     file "fs/readdir.c"                              |
     |  content [f2e5719b975e319c2371c98ed2c7231313fac9b5]  |
     |                                                      |
     |     file "fs/read_write.c"                           |
     |  content [81f0c9a0df254bc8d51bb785713a9f6d0b020b22]  |
     |                                                      |
     |     file "fs/pipe.c"                                 |
     |  content [943851e7da46014cb07473b90d55dd5145f24de0]  |
     |                                                      |
     |     file "fs/inode.c"                                |
     |  content [8ddcfcc568f33db6205316d072825d2e5c123275]  |
     |                                                      |
     +------------------------------------------------------+

     \_________________________  ___________________________/
                               \/
                           an example
                          manifest file

   Now we note that a manifest is itself a file. Therefore a manifest
can serve as input to the SHA1 function, and thus every manifest has an
ID of its own. By calculating the SHA1 value of a manifest, we capture
the state of our tree in a single "manifest ID". In other words, the ID
of the manifest essentially captures all the IDs and file names of
every file in our tree, combined. So we may treat manifests and their
IDs as snapshots of a tree of files, though lacking the actual contents
of the files themselves.

                         +--------------------------+
                         |   int readdir(...) {     |
                         |     ...                  |
                         |   }                      |
                         +--------------------------+

                         \____________  ____________/
                                      \/
                                     SHA1
                                      ||
     +--------------------------------||--------------------+
     |                       . . .    ||                    |
     |                                ||                    |
     |     file "fs/readdir.c"        \/                    |
     |  content [f2e5719b975e319c2371c98ed2c7231313fac9b5]  |
     |                                                      |
     |                       . . .
     +------------------------------------------------------+

     \_________________________  ___________________________/
                               \/
                              SHA1
                               ||
                               ||
                               \/
                          manifest ID:
            a2eeaa28574141a7d48fa1cc2802070150b93ec4

   As with versions of files, we may decide to store manifests in their
entirety, or else we may store only a compact description of changes
which occur between different versions of manifests. As with files,
when possible monotone stores compact descriptions of changes between
manifests; when necessary it stores complete versions of manifests.


File: monotone.info,  Node: Historical records,  Next: Certificates,  Prev: Versions of trees,  Up: Concepts

1.3 Historical records
======================

Suppose you sit down to edit some files. Before you start working, you
may record a manifest of the files, for reference sake. When you finish
working, you may record another manifest. These "before and after"
snapshots of the tree of files you worked on can serve as historical
records of the set of changes, or "changeset", that you made. In order
to capture a "complete" view of history - both the changes made and the
state of your file tree on either side of those changes - monotone
builds a special composite file called a "revision" each time you make
changes. Like manifests, revisions are ordinary text files which can be
passed through the SHA1 function and thus assigned a "revision ID".

     +-----------------------------------------------------------+
     |                                                           |
     |  format_version "1"                                       |
     |                                                           |
     |  new_manifest [83bc0a52da351cac950ac1c12d85be494fc21199]  |
     |                                                           |
     |  old_revision [75c9ffcab50c46e77e642751314b34a16fba36ff]  |
     |                                                           |
     |  add_file "include/foo.h"                                 |
     |   content [8ca6a9862bdeddfdb4b12248c075fa9570f45f6d]      |
     |                                                           |
     |  patch "include/bar.h"                                    |
     |   from [d624672a03e42d2172e56c4d54924af10ff8518d]         |
     |     to [2f58cfc4791aa1695b76c31c9cd1139b3d79ee1b]         |
     |                                                           |
     +-----------------------------------------------------------+

     \____________________________  _____________________________/
                                  \/
                                 SHA1
                                  ||
                                  \/
                             revision ID:
               1c83997e7ab40c0df47554c81b7d4e7ee691eb0d

   The content of a revision includes one or more changesets.  These
changesets make reference to file IDs, to describe how the tree changed.
The revision also contains manifest IDs, as another way of describing
the tree "before and after" the changeset -- storing this information
in two forms allows monotone to detect any bugs or corrupted data before
they can enter your history.  Finally and crucially, revisions also make
reference to other revision IDs. This fact - that revisions include the
IDs of other revisions - causes the set of revisions to join together
into a historical chain of events, somewhat like a "linked list".  Each
revision in the chain has a unique ID, which includes by reference all
the revisions preceding it. Even if you undo a changeset, and return to
a previously-visited manifest ID during the course of your edits, each
revision will incorporate the ID of its predecessor, thus forming a new
unique ID for each point in history.

     +-----------------------------------------------------------+
     |                                                           |
     |  format_version "1"                                       |
     |                                                           |
     |  new_manifest [dbd022dc423fd7f473e0fa79842cd9901cc2dd69] <-- manifest id
     |                                                           |
     |  old_revision: []                                         |
     |                                                           |
     |  ...                                                      |
     |                                                           |
     +-----------------------------------------------------------+

     \____________________________________  _____________________/
                                          \/
                                         SHA1
                                          ||
     +------------------------------------||---------------------+
     |                                    ||                     |
     |  format_version "1"                ||                     |
     |                                    ||                     |
     |  new_manifest [8a05c60422770bbf49a3||2c2367ddaa066538ca] <-- manifest id
     |                                    \/                     |
     |  old_revision [f45add3bfb21cb459d99b6a9c0111df75f6d9f85]  |
     |                                                           |
     |  ...                                                      |
     |                                                           |
     +-----------------------------------------------------------+

     \____________________________________  _____________________/
                                          \/
                                         SHA1
                                          ||
     +------------------------------------||---------------------+
     |                                    ||                     |
     |  format_version "1"                ||                     |
     |                                    ||                     |
     |  new_manifest [2027b4ab2febf98bd9a0||c000a69a8227cdaaf7] <-- manifest id
     |                                    \/                     |
     |  old_revision [1c83997e7ab40c0df47554c81b7d4e7ee691eb0d]  |
     |                                                           |
     |  ...                                                      |
     |                                                           |
     +-----------------------------------------------------------+

     \____________________________  _____________________________/
                                  \/
                                 SHA1
                                  ||
                                  \/
                             revision ID:
               1c83997e7ab40c0df47554c81b7d4e7ee691eb0d


File: monotone.info,  Node: Certificates,  Next: Storage and workflow,  Prev: Historical records,  Up: Concepts

1.4 Certificates
================

Often, you will wish to make a statement about a revision, such as
stating the reason that you made some changes, or stating the time at
which you made the changes, or stating that the revision passes a test
suite. Statements such as these can be thought of, generally, as a
bundle of information with three parts:

   * an ID, indicating which revision you are making a statement about

   * a name indicating the type of statement you are making, such as
     "changelog", "date" or "testresult"

   * a value indicating the remaining detail of the statement, such as
     "fixed a bug", "March 9th" or "1"

   For example, if you want to say that a particular revision was
composed on April 4, 2003, you might make a statement like this:

           +------------------------------------------------------+
           |  revision ID                                         |
           |  a2eeaa28574141a7d48fa1cc2802070150b93ec4            |
           +--------------------------+---------------------------+
           |  statement name          |  statement value          |
           |  "date"                  |  "2003-04-04T07:39:51"    |
           +--------------------------+---------------------------+

   In an ideal world, these are all the parts of a statement we would
need in order to go about our work. In the real world, however, there
are sometimes malicious people who would make false or misleading
statements; so we need a way to verify that a particular person made a
particular statement about a revision. We therefore will add two more
pieces of information to our bundle:

   * a key which identifies the person making a statement

   * a signature -- just a large number with particular properties --
     certifying the fact that the person made the statement

   When these 2 items accompany a statement, we call the total bundle of
5 items a "certificate", or cert. A cert makes a statement in a secure
fashion. The security of the signature in a cert is derived from the
RSA cryptography system, the details of which are beyond the scope of
this document.

           +------------------------------------------------------+
           |  revision ID                                         |
           |  a2eeaa28574141a7d48fa1cc2802070150b93ec4            |
           +--------------------------+---------------------------+
           |  cert name               |  cert value               |
           |  "date"                  |  "2003-04-04T07:39:51"    |
           +--------------------------+---------------------------+
           |  signed by key           |  signature                |
           |  "jrh@example.com"       |  "a02380def....0983fe90"  |
           +--------------------------+---------------------------+

   Monotone uses certs extensively. Any "extra" information which needs
to be stored, transmitted or retrieved -- above and beyond files,
manifests, and revisions -- is kept in the form of certs. This includes
change logs, time and date records, branch membership, authorship, test
results, and more. When monotone makes a decision about storing,
transmitting, or extracting files, manifests, or revisions, the
decision is often based on certs it has seen, and the trustworthiness
you assign to those certs.

   The RSA cryptography system -- and therefore monotone itself --
requires that you exchange special "public" numbers with your friends,
before they will trust certificates signed by you. These numbers are
called "public keys". Giving someone your public key does not give them
the power to impersonate you, only to verify signatures made by you.
Exchanging public keys should be done over a trusted medium, in person,
or via a trusted third party. Advanced secure key exchange techniques
are beyond the scope of this document.


File: monotone.info,  Node: Storage and workflow,  Next: Forks and merges,  Prev: Certificates,  Up: Concepts

1.5 Storage and workflow
========================

Monotone moves information in and out of four different types of
storage:

   * a keystore in your home directory

   * a workspace in the local file system

   * a local database in the local file system

   * a remote database elsewhere on the internet

   The "keystore" is a directory `.monotone/keys' in your home directory
which contains copies of all your private keys. Each key is stored in a
file whose name is the key identifier with some characters converted to
underscores.  When you use a key to sign a cert, the public half of
that key is copied into your local database along with the cert.

   All information passes _through_ your local database, en route to
some other destination. For example, when changes are made in a
workspace, you may save those changes to your database, and later you
may synchronize your database with someone else's. Monotone will not
move information directly between a workspace and a remote database, or
between workspaces. Your local database is always the "switching point"
for communication.

                  pull, push, sync
            (untrusted network exchanges)
                 _________/\________
                /                   \

         +-------------+      +------------+      +-------------+
         |             |      |            |      |             |
         |  remote db  | <==> |  local db  | <==> |  workspace  |
         |             |      |            |      |             |
         +-------------+      +------------+      +-------------+

                                     \________  _______/
                                              \/
                                       commit, update
                                 (certified local exchanges)

   A "workspace" is a tree of files in your file system, arranged
according to the list of file paths and IDs in a particular manifest. A
special directory called `_MTN' exists in the root of any workspace.
Monotone keeps some special files in the `_MTN' directory, in order to
track changes you make to your workspace.  If you ever want to know if
a directory is a monotone workspace, just look for this `_MTN'
directory.

   Aside from the special `_MTN' directory, a workspace is just a
normal tree of files. You can directly edit the files in a workspace
using a plain text editor or other program; monotone will automatically
notice when you make any changes. If you wish to add files, remove
files, or move files within your workspace, you must tell monotone
explicitly what you are doing, as these actions cannot be deduced.

   If you do not yet have a workspace, you can "check out" a workspace
from a database, or construct one from scratch and "add" it into a
database. As you work, you will occasionally "commit" changes you have
made in a workspace to a database, and "update" a workspace to receive
changes that have arrived in a database. Committing and updating take
place purely between a database and a workspace; the network is not
involved.

        -----------------     check out,      workspace
       (                 )    or update      +----------------
        -----------------     ---------->    |
       |                 |                   |  src/func.c
       |      local      |   <----------     |  src/func.h
       |     database    |    add,           |  src/main.c
       |                 |    or commit      |  Makefile
       \_________________/                   |  _MTN/
                                             |

   A "database" is a single, regular file. You can copy or back it up
using standard methods. Typically you keep a database in your home
directory. Databases are portable between different machine types. You
can have multiple databases and divide your work between them, or keep
everything in a single database if you prefer. You can dump portions of
your database out as text, and read them back into other databases, or
send them to your friends.  Underneath, databases are accessed using a
standard, robust data manager, which makes using even very large
databases efficient.  In dire emergencies, you can directly examine and
manipulate a database using a simple SQL interface.

   A database contains many files, manifests, revisions, and
certificates, some of which are not immediately of interest, some of
which may be unwanted or even false. It is a collection of information
received from network servers, workspaces, and other databases. You can
inspect and modify your databases without affecting your workspaces,
and vice-versa.

   Monotone knows how to exchange information in your database with
other remote databases, using an interactive protocol called "netsync".
It supports three modes of exchange: pushing, pulling, and
synchronizing. A "pull" operation copies data from a remote database to
your local database. A "push" operation copies data from your local
database to a remote database. A "sync" operation copies data both
directions. In each case, only the data missing from the destination is
copied. The netsync protocol calculates the data to send "on the fly"
by exchanging partial hash values of each database.

       -----------------                    -----------------
      (                 )                  (                 )
       -----------------    --- pull --->   -----------------
      |                 |                  |                 |
      |      remote     |  <--- sync --->  |      local      |
      |     database    |                  |     database    |
      |                 |  <--- push ---   |                 |
      \_________________/                  \_________________/

   In general, work flow with monotone involves 3 distinct stages:

   * When you commit changes from your workspace to your database, your
     database stores the changes but does not communicate with the
     network. Your commits happen immediately, without consulting any
     other party, and do not require network connectivity.

   * When you are ready to exchange work with someone else, you can
     push, pull, or sync with other databases on the network. When you
     talk to other servers on the network, your database may change,
     but your workspace will not. In fact, you do not need a workspace
     at all when exchanging work.

   * When you update your workspace, some (but not all) of the changes
     which your database received from the network are applied to your
     workspace. The network is not consulted during updates.

   The last stage of workflow is worth clarifying: monotone does _not_
blindly apply all changes it receives from a remote database to your
workspace.  Doing so would be very dangerous, because remote databases
are not always trustworthy systems. Rather, monotone evaluates the
certificates it has received along with the changes, and decides which
particular changes are safe and desirable to apply to your workspace.

   You can always adjust the criteria monotone uses to judge the
trustworthiness and desirability of changes in your database. But keep
in mind that it always uses _some_ criteria; receiving changes from a
remote server is a _different_ activity than applying changes to a
workspace. Sometimes you may receive changes which monotone judges to
be untrusted or bad; such changes may stay in your database but will
_not_ be applied to your workspace.

   Remote databases, in other words, are just untrusted "buckets" of
data, which you can trade with promiscuously. There is no trust implied
in communication.


File: monotone.info,  Node: Forks and merges,  Next: Branches,  Prev: Storage and workflow,  Up: Concepts

1.6 Forks and merges
====================

So far we have been talking about revisions as though each logically
follows exactly one revision before it, in a simple sequence of
revisions.

            +-----------------------+
            |  parent revision      |
            +-----------------------+
                     |
                     |
            +-----------------------+
            |  child revision       |
            +-----------------------+
                     |
                     |
            +-----------------------+
            |  grandchild revision  |
            +-----------------------+

   This is a rosy picture, but sometimes it does not work out this way.
Sometimes when you make new revisions, other people are simultaneously
making new revisions as well, and their revisions might be derived from
the same parent as yours, or contain different changesets. Without loss
of generality, we will assume simultaneous edits only happen
two-at-a-time; in fact many more edits may happen at once but our
reasoning will be the same.

   We call this situation of simultaneous edits a "fork", and will
refer to the two children of a fork as the left child and right child.
In a large collection of revisions with many people editing files,
especially on many different computers spread all around the world,
forks are a common occurrence.

                  +-----------------+
                  | parent revision |
                  +-----------------+
                         |   |
                +--------+   +---------+
                |                      |
          +-------------+     +--------------+
          | left child  |     | right child  |
          +-------------+     +--------------+

   If we analyze the changes in each child revision, we will often find
that the changeset between the parent and the left child are unrelated
to the changeset between the parent and the right child. When this
happens, we can usually "merge" the fork, producing a common grandchild
revision which contains both changesets.

                  +-----------------+
                  | parent revision |
                  +-----------------+
                         |   |
                +--------+   +---------+
                |                      |
          +-------------+     +--------------+
          | left child  |     | right child  |
          +-------------+     +--------------+
                |                      |
                +--------+   +---------+
                         |   |
                  +-----------------+
                  | merged revision |
                  +-----------------+


File: monotone.info,  Node: Branches,  Prev: Forks and merges,  Up: Concepts

1.7 Branches
============

Sometimes, people intentionally produce forks which are _not supposed
to be merged_; perhaps they have agreed to work independently for a
time, or wish to change their files in ways which are not logically
compatible with each other. When someone produces a fork which is
supposed to last for a while (or perhaps permanently) we say that the
fork has produced a new "branch". Branches tell monotone which
revisions you would like to merge, and which you would like to keep
separate.

   You can see all the available branches using `mtn list branches'.

   Branches are indicated with certs.  The cert name `branch' is
reserved for use by monotone, for the purpose of identifying the
revisions which are members of a branch. A `branch' cert has a symbolic
"branch name" as its value. When we refer to "a branch", we mean all
revisions with a common branch name in their `branch' certs.

   For example, suppose you are working on a program called "wobbler".
You might develop many revisions of wobbler and then decide to split
your revisions into a "stable branch" and an "unstable branch", to help
organize your work. In this case, you might call the new branches
"wobbler-stable" and "wobbler-unstable". From then on, all revisions in
the stable branch would get a cert with name `branch' and value
`wobbler-stable'; all revisions in the unstable branch would get a cert
with name `branch' and value `wobbler-unstable'. When a
`wobbler-stable' revision forks, the children of the fork will be
merged. When a `wobbler-unstable' revision forks, the children of the
fork will be merged. However, the `wobbler-stable' and
`wobbler-unstable' branches will not be merged together, despite having
a common ancestor.

                        +--------------------------+
                        | common ancestor revision |
                        +--------------------------+
                               |          |
                     +---------+          +---------+
                     |                              |
            +-----------------+            +-------------------+
            | stable revision |            | unstable revision |
            +-----------------+            +-------------------+
                   | |                               | |
           +-------+ +-------+               +-------+ +-------+
           |                 |               |                 |
     +-------------+ +--------------+  +---------------+ +----------------+
     | left stable | | right stable |  | left unstable | | right unstable |
     |   child     | |     child    |  |   child       | |     child      |
     +-------------+ +--------------+  +---------------+ +----------------+
           |                  |              |                  |
           +-------+ +--------+              +-------+ +--------+
                   | |                               | |
            +----------------+                +------------------+
            | merged stable  |                | merged unstable  |
            |   revision     |                |     revision     |
            +----------------+                +------------------+

     \_____________  _______________/  \_______________  _________________/
                   \/                                  \/
              stable branch                     unstable branch

   For each branch, the set of revisions with _no children_ is called
the "heads" of the branch. Monotone can automatically locate, and
attempt to merge, the heads of a branch. If it fails to automatically
merge the heads, it may ask you for assistance or else fail cleanly,
leaving the branch alone.

   For example, if a fork's left child has a child of its own (a "left
grandchild"), monotone will merge the fork's right child with the left
grandchild, since those revisions are the heads of the branch. It will
not merge the left child with the right child, because the left child
is not a member of the heads.

                    +-----------------+
                    | parent revision |
                    +-----------------+
                           |       |
                  +--------+       |
                  |                |
            +-------------+        |
            | left child  |        |
            +-------------+        |
                  |                |
     *************|****************|************
     *            |                |           *
     *  +-----------------+  +-------------+   *
     *  | left grandchild |  | right child |   *  the heads of the branch
     *  +-----------------+  +-------------+   *    (before the merge)
     *            |                |           *
     *************|****************|************
                  |                |
                  +--------+   +---+
                           |   |
                    +-----------------+
                    | merged revision |
                    +-----------------+

   When there is only one revision in the heads of a branch, we say that
the heads are merged, or more generally that the branch is merged,
since the heads is the logical set of candidates for any merging
activity. If there are two or more revisions in the heads of a branch,
and you ask to merge the branch, monotone will merge them two-at-a-time
until there is only one.

1.7.1 Branch Names
------------------

The branch names used in the above section are fine for an example, but
they would be bad to use in a real project.  The reason is, monotone
branch names must be _globally_ unique, over all branches in the world.
Otherwise, bad things can happen.  Fortunately, we have a handy source
of globally unique names -- the DNS system.

   When naming a branch, always prepend the reversed, fully qualified,
domain name of a host that you control or are otherwise authorized to
use.  For example, monotone development happens on the branch
`net.venge.monotone', because `venge.net' belongs to monotone's primary
author.  The idea is that this way, you can coordinate with other
people using a host to make sure there are no conflicts -- in the
example, monotone's primary author can be certain that no-one else
using `venge.net' will start up a different program named `monotone'.
If you work for Yoyodyne, Inc. (owners of yoyodyne.com), then all your
branch names should look like `com.yoyodyne._something_'.

   What the `_something_' part looks like is up to you, but usually the
first part is the project name (the `monotone' in
`net.venge.monotone'), and then possibly more stuff after that to
describe a particular branch.  For example, monotone's win32 support
was initially developed on the branch `net.venge.monotone.win32'.

   (For more information, see *note Naming Conventions::.)


File: monotone.info,  Node: Tutorial,  Next: Advanced Uses,  Prev: Concepts,  Up: Top

2 Tutorial
**********

This chapter illustrates the basic uses of monotone by means of an
example, fictional software project.

2.1 Issues
==========

Before we walk through the tutorial, there are two minor issues to
address: standard options and revision selectors.

2.1.1 Standard Options
----------------------

Before operating monotone, two important command-line options should be
explained.

   * Most commands operate on a database, which is selected with the
     `--db' option.

   * Many commands operate on a subset of the database, called a
     branch, which is selected with the `--branch' option.

   Monotone will cache the settings for these options in your
workspace, so ordinarily once you have checked out a project, you will
not need to specify them again.  We will therefore only mention these
arguments in the first example.

2.1.2 Revision Selectors
------------------------

Many commands require you to supply 40-character SHA1 values as
arguments, which identify revisions. These "revision IDs" are tedious
to type, so monotone permits you to supply "revision selectors" rather
than complete revision IDs. Selectors are a more "human friendly" way
of specifying revisions by combining certificate values into unique
identifiers. This "selector" mechanism can be used anywhere a revision
ID would normally be used. For details on selector syntax, see *note
Selectors::.

   We are now ready to explore our fictional project.

2.2 The Fictional Project
=========================

Our fictional project involves 3 programmers cooperating to write
firmware for a robot, the JuiceBot 7, which dispenses fruit juice. The
programmers are named Jim, Abe and Beth.

   * Jim lives in Japan, and owns JuiceBot Inc. You will know when
     we're talking about Jim, because everything he does involves the
     letter "j".

   * Abe lives in Australia and writes code related to apple juice. You
     will know when we're talking about Abe, because everything he does
     involves the letter "a".

   * Beth lives in Brazil and writes code related to banana juice. You
     will know when we're talking about Beth, because everything she
     does involves the letter "b".

   In our example the programmers work privately on laptops, and are
usually _disconnected_ from the network. They share no storage system.
Thus when each programmer enters a command, it affects only his or her
own computer, unless otherwise stated.

   In the following, our fictional project team will work through
several version control tasks. Some tasks must be done by each member
of our example team; other tasks involve only one member.

* Menu:

* Creating a Database::
* Generating Keys::
* Starting a New Project::
* Adding Files::
* Committing Work::
* Basic Network Service::
* Synchronising Databases::
* Making Changes::
* Dealing with a Fork::
* Branching and Merging::
* Network Service Revisited::


File: monotone.info,  Node: Creating a Database,  Next: Generating Keys,  Prev: Tutorial,  Up: Tutorial

2.3 Creating a Database
=======================

The first step Jim, Abe and Beth each need to perform is to create a
new database. This is done with the `mtn db init' command, providing a
`--db' option to specify the location of the new database. Each
programmer creates their own database, which will reside in their home
directory and store all the revisions, files and manifests they work
on. Monotone requires this step as an explicit command, to prevent
spurious creation of databases when an invalid `--db' option is given.

   In real life, most people prefer to keep one database for each
project they work on.  If we followed that convention here in the
tutorial, though, then all the databases would be called
`juicebot.mtn', and that would make things more confusing to read.  So
instead, we'll have them each name their database after themselves.

   Thus Jim issues the command:

     $ mtn db init --db=~/jim.mtn

   Abe issues the command:

     $ mtn db init --db=~/abe.mtn

   And Beth issues the command:

     $ mtn db init --db=~/beth.mtn


File: monotone.info,  Node: Generating Keys,  Next: Starting a New Project,  Prev: Creating a Database,  Up: Tutorial

2.4 Generating Keys
===================

Now Jim, Abe and Beth must each generate an RSA key pair for
themselves. This step requires choosing a key identifier. Typical key
identifiers are similar to email addresses, possibly modified with some
prefix or suffix to distinguish multiple keys held by the same owner.
Our example programmers will use their email addresses at the fictional
"juicebot.co.jp" domain name. When we ask for a key to be generated,
monotone will ask us for a passphrase. This phrase is used to encrypt
the key when storing it on disk, as a security measure.

   Jim does the following:

     $ mtn genkey jim@juicebot.co.jp
     mtn: generating key-pair 'jim@juicebot.co.jp'
     enter passphrase for key ID [jim@juicebot.co.jp] : <Jim enters his passphrase>
     confirm passphrase for key ID [jim@juicebot.co.jp]: <Jim confirms his passphrase>
     mtn: storing key-pair 'jim@juicebot.co.jp' in /home/jim/.monotone/keys

   Abe does something similar:

     $ mtn genkey abe@juicebot.co.jp
     mtn: generating key-pair 'abe@juicebot.co.jp'
     enter passphrase for key ID [abe@juicebot.co.jp] : <Abe enters his passphrase>
     confirm passphrase for key ID [abe@juicebot.co.jp]: <Abe confirms his passphrase>
     mtn: storing key-pair 'abe@juicebot.co.jp' in /home/abe/.monotone/keys

   as does Beth:

     $ mtn genkey beth@juicebot.co.jp
     mtn: generating key-pair 'beth@juicebot.co.jp'
     enter passphrase for key ID [beth@juicebot.co.jp] : <Beth enters her passphrase>
     confirm passphrase for key ID [beth@juicebot.co.jp]: <Beth confirms her passphrase>
     mtn: storing key-pair 'beth@juicebot.co.jp' in /home/beth/.monotone/keys

   Each programmer has now generated a key pair and placed it in their
keystore. Each can list the keys in their keystore, to ensure the
correct key was generated. For example, Jim might see this:

     $ mtn list keys

     [public keys]
     9e9e9ef1d515ad58bfaa5cf282b4a872d8fda00c jim@juicebot.co.jp   (*)
     (*) - only in /home/jim/.monotone/keys/


     [private keys]
     771ace046c27770a99e5fddfa99c9247260b5401 jim@juicebot.co.jp

   The hexadecimal string printed out before each key name is a
_fingerprint_ of the key, and can be used to verify that the key you
have stored under a given name is the one you intended to store.
Monotone will never permit one keystore to store two keys with the same
name or the same fingerprint.

   This output shows one private and one public key stored under the
name `jim@juicebot.co.jp', so it indicates that Jim's key-pair has been
successfully generated and stored. On subsequent commands, Jim will need
to re-enter his passphrase in order to perform security-sensitive tasks.

   Pretty soon Jim gets annoyed when he has to enter his passphrase
every time he invokes `mtn' (and, more importantly, it simplifies the
tutorial text to skip the passphrase prompts) so he decides to use
_ssh-agent_ to store his key. He does this by using the
`ssh_agent_export' command to export his key into a format that
ssh-agent can understand and adding it with `ssh-add'.

     $ mtn ssh_agent_export ~/.ssh/id_monotone
     enter passphrase for key ID [user@example.com]:
     enter new passphrase for key ID [user@example.com]:
     confirm passphrase for key ID [user@example.com]:
     $ chmod 600 ~/.ssh/id_monotone

   From now on, Jim just needs to add his key to ssh-agent when he logs
in and he will not need to enter his passphrase every time he uses
monotone.

     $ ssh-agent /bin/bash
     $ ssh-add ~/.ssh/id_monotone
     Enter passphrase for /home/user/.ssh/id_monotone:
     Identity added: /home/user/.ssh/id_monotone (/home/user/.ssh/id_monotone)
     $ mtn ci -m"Changed foo to bar"
     $ mtn push

   The following procedure is deprecated and not suggested for general
use as it is very insecure.

   Jim isn't very worried about security so he decides to store his
passphrase in his `monotonerc' file.  He does this by writing a _hook
function_ which returns the passphrase:

     $ mkdir ~/.monotone
     $ cat >>~/.monotone/monotonerc
     function get_passphrase(keypair_id)
       return "jimsekret"
     end
     ^D

   Now whenever monotone needs his passphrase, it will call this
function instead of prompting him to type it.  Note that we are
appending the new hook to the (possibly existing) file.  We do this to
avoid losing other changes by mistake; therefore, be sure to check that
no other `get_passphrase' function appears in the configuration file.

   Abe and Beth do the same, with their secret passphrases.


File: monotone.info,  Node: Starting a New Project,  Next: Adding Files,  Prev: Generating Keys,  Up: Tutorial

2.5 Starting a New Project
==========================

Before he can begin work on the project, Jim needs to create a
workspace -- a directory whose contents monotone will keep track of.
Often, one works on projects that someone else has started, and creates
workspaces with the `checkout' command, which you'll learn about later.
Jim is starting a new project, though, so he does something a little
bit different.  He uses the `mtn setup' command to create a new
workspace.

   This command creates the named directory (if it doesn't already
exist), and creates the `_MTN' directory within it.  The `_MTN'
directory is how monotone recognizes that a directory is a workspace,
and monotone stores some bookkeeping files within it.  For instance,
command line values for the `--db', `--branch' or `--key' options to
the `setup' command will be cached in a file called `_MTN/options', so
you don't have to keep passing them to monotone all the time.

   He chooses `jp.co.juicebot.jb7' as a branch name. (See *note Naming
Conventions:: for more information about appropriate branch names.)
Jim then creates his workspace:

     /home/jim$ mtn --db=jim.mtn --branch=jp.co.juicebot.jb7 setup juice
     /home/jim$ cd juice
     /home/jim/juice$

   Notice that Jim has changed his current directory to his newly
created workspace. For the rest of this example we will assume that
everyone issues all further monotone commands from their workspace
directories.


File: monotone.info,  Node: Adding Files,  Next: Committing Work,  Prev: Starting a New Project,  Up: Tutorial

2.6 Adding Files
================

Next Jim decides to add some files to the project. He writes up a file
containing the prototypes for the JuiceBot 7:

     $ mkdir include
     $ cat >include/jb.h
     /* Standard JuiceBot hw interface */

     #define FLOW_JUICE 0x1
     #define POLL_JUICE 0x2
     int spoutctl(int port, int cmd, void *x);

     /* JuiceBot 7 API */

     #define APPLE_SPOUT 0x7e
     #define BANANA_SPOUT 0x7f
     void dispense_apple_juice ();
     void dispense_banana_juice ();
     ^D

   Then adds a couple skeleton source files which he wants Abe and Beth
to fill in:

     $ mkdir src
     $ cat >src/apple.c
     #include "jb.h"

     void
     dispense_apple_juice()
     {
       /* Fill this in please, Abe. */
     }
     ^D
     $ cat >src/banana.c
     #include "jb.h"

     void
     dispense_banana_juice()
     {
       /* Fill this in please, Beth. */
     }
     ^D

   Now Jim tells monotone to add these files to its record of his
workspace.  He specifies one filename and one directory; monotone
recursively scans the directory and adds all its files.

     $ mtn add include/jb.h src
     mtn: adding include/jb.h to workspace manifest
     mtn: adding src/apple.c to workspace manifest
     mtn: adding src/banana.c to workspace manifest

   This command produces a record of Jim's intentions in a special file
called `_MTN/revision', stored in the workspace. The file is plain text:

     $ cat _MTN/revision

     format_version "1"

     new_manifest [2098eddbe833046174de28172a813150a6cbda7b]

     old_revision []

     add_file "include/jb.h"
      content [3b12b2d0b31439bd50976633db1895cff8b19da0]

     add_file "src/apple.c"
      content [2650ffc660dd00a08b659b883b65a060cac7e560]

     add_file "src/banana.c"
      content [e8f147e5b4d5667f3228b7bba1c5c1e639f5db9f]

   You will never have to look at this file, but it is nice to know that
it is there.

   Jim then gets up from his machine to get a coffee. When he returns
he has forgotten what he was doing. He asks monotone:

     $ mtn status
     Current branch: jp.co.juicebot.jb7
     Changes against parent :
       added   include/jb.h
       added   src/apple.c
       added   src/banana.c

   The output of this command tells Jim that his edits, so far,
constitute only the addition of some files.

   Jim wants to see the actual details of the files he added, however,
so he runs a command which prints out the status _and_ a GNU "unified
diff" of the patches involved in the changeset:

     $ mtn diff
     #
     # old_revision []
     #
     # add_file "include/jb.h"
     #  content [3b12b2d0b31439bd50976633db1895cff8b19da0]
     #
     # add_file "src/apple.c"
     #  content [2650ffc660dd00a08b659b883b65a060cac7e560]
     #
     # add_file "src/banana.c"
     #  content [e8f147e5b4d5667f3228b7bba1c5c1e639f5db9f]
     #
     ============================================================================
     --- include/jb.h
     +++ include/jb.h 3b12b2d0b31439bd50976633db1895cff8b19da0
     @ -0,0 +1,13 @
     +/* Standard JuiceBot hw interface */
     +
     +#define FLOW_JUICE 0x1
     +#define POLL_JUICE 0x2
     +#define SET_INTR 0x3
     +int spoutctl(int port, int cmd, void *x);
     +
     +/* JuiceBot 7 API */
     +
     +#define APPLE_SPOUT 0x7e
     +#define BANANA_SPOUT 0x7f
     +void dispense_apple_juice ();
     +void dispense_banana_juice ();
     ============================================================================
     --- src/apple.c
     +++ src/apple.c 2650ffc660dd00a08b659b883b65a060cac7e560
     @ -0,0 +1,7 @
     +#include "jb.h"
     +
     +void
     +dispense_apple_juice()
     +{
     +  /* Fill this in please, Abe. */
     +}
     ============================================================================
     --- src/banana.c
     +++ src/banana.c e8f147e5b4d5667f3228b7bba1c5c1e639f5db9f
     @ -0,0 +1,7 @
     +#include "jb.h"
     +
     +void
     +dispense_banana_juice()
     +{
     +  /* Fill this in please, Beth. */
     +}


File: monotone.info,  Node: Committing Work,  Next: Basic Network Service,  Prev: Adding Files,  Up: Tutorial

2.7 Committing Work
===================

Satisfied with the work he's done, Jim wants to save his changes.  He
then commits his workspace, which causes monotone to process the
`_MTN/revision' file and record the file contents, manifest, and
revision into the database. Since he provided a branch name when he ran
`setup', monotone will use this as the default branch name when he
commits.

     $ mtn commit --message="initial checkin of project"
     mtn: beginning commit on branch 'jp.co.juicebot.jb7'
     mtn: committed revision 2e24d49a48adf9acf3a1b6391a080008cbef9c21

   When monotone committed Jim's revision, it updated `_MTN/revision'
to record the workspace's new base revision ID. Jim can use this
revision ID in the future, as an argument to the `checkout' command, if
he wishes to return to this revision:

     $ mtn automate get_base_revision_id
     2e24d49a48adf9acf3a1b6391a080008cbef9c21

   Monotone also generated a number of certificates attached to the new
revision, and made sure that the database contained a copy of Jim's
public key. These certs store metadata about the commit. Jim can ask
monotone for a list of certs on this revision.

     $ mtn ls certs 2e24d49a48adf9acf3a1b6391a080008cbef9c21
     -----------------------------------------------------------------
     Key   : jim@juicebot.co.jp
     Sig   : ok
     Name  : branch
     Value : jp.co.juicebot.jb7
     -----------------------------------------------------------------
     Key   : jim@juicebot.co.jp
     Sig   : ok
     Name  : date
     Value : 2004-10-26T02:53:08
     -----------------------------------------------------------------
     Key   : jim@juicebot.co.jp
     Sig   : ok
     Name  : author
     Value : jim@juicebot.co.jp
     -----------------------------------------------------------------
     Key   : jim@juicebot.co.jp
     Sig   : ok
     Name  : changelog
     Value : initial checkin of project

   The output of this command has a block for each cert found. Each
block has 4 significant pieces of information. The first indicates the
signer of the cert, in this case `jim@juicebot.co.jp'. The second
indicates whether this cert is "ok", meaning whether the RSA signature
provided is correct for the cert data. The third is the cert name, and
the fourth is the cert value. This list shows us that monotone has
confirmed that, according to `jim@juicebot.co.jp', the revision
`2e24d49a48adf9acf3a1b6391a080008cbef9c21' is a member of the branch
`jp.co.juicebot.jb7', written by `jim@juicebot.co.jp', with the given
date and changelog.

   It is important to keep in mind that revisions are not "in" or "out"
of a branch in any global sense, nor are any of these cert values true
or false in any global sense. Each cert indicates that some person - in
this case Jim - would like to associate a revision with some value; it
is up to you to decide if you want to accept that association.

   Jim can now check the status of his branch using the "heads"
command, which lists all the head revisions in the branch:

     $ mtn heads
     branch 'jp.co.juicebot.jb7' is currently merged:
     2e24d49a48adf9acf3a1b6391a080008cbef9c21 jim@juicebot.co.jp 2004-10-26T02:53:08

   The output of this command tells us that there is only one current
"head" revision in the branch `jp.co.juicebot.jb7', and it is the
revision Jim just committed. A head revision is one without any
descendants. Since Jim has not committed any changes to this revision
yet, it has no descendants.


File: monotone.info,  Node: Basic Network Service,  Next: Synchronising Databases,  Prev: Committing Work,  Up: Tutorial

2.8 Basic Network Service
=========================

Jim now decides he will make his base revision available to his
employees.  To do this, he arranges for Abe and Beth to synchronise
their databases with his, over the network.  There are two
pre-requisites for this: first, he has to get a copy of each of their
public keys; then, he has to tell monotone that the holders of those
keys are permitted to access his database. Finally, with these
pre-requisites in place, he needs to tell monotone to provide network
access to his database.

   First, Abe exports his public key:

     $ mtn --db=~/abe.mtn pubkey abe@juicebot.co.jp >~/abe.pubkey

   His public key is just a plain block of ASCII text:

     $ cat ~/abe.pubkey
     [pubkey abe@juicebot.co.jp]
     MIGdMA0GCSqGSIb3DQEBAQUAA4GLADCBhwKBgQCbaVff9SF78FiB/1nUdmjbU/TtPyQqe/fW
     CDg7hSg1yY/hWgClXE9FI0bHtjPMIx1kBOig09AkCT7tBXM9z6iGWxTBhSR7D/qsJQGPorOD
     DO7xovIHthMbZZ9FnvyB/BCyiibdWgGT0Gtq94OKdvCRNuT59e5v9L4pBkvajb+IzQIBEQ==
     [end]

   Beth also exports her public key:

     $ mtn --db=~/beth.mtn pubkey beth@juicebot.co.jp >~/beth.pubkey

   Then Abe and Beth both send their keys to Jim.  The keys are not
secret, but the team members must be relatively certain that they are
exchanging keys with the person they intend to trust, and not some
malicious person pretending to be a team member. Key exchange may
involve sending keys over an encrypted medium, or meeting in person to
exchange physical copies, or any number of techniques. All that
matters, ultimately, is that Jim receives both Abe's and Beth's key in
a way that he can be sure of.

   So eventually, after key exchange, Jim has the public key files in
his home directory. He tells monotone to read the associated key packets
into his database:

     $ cat ~/abe.pubkey ~/beth.pubkey | mtn --db=~/jim.mtn read
     mtn: read 2 packets

   Now Jim's monotone is able to identify Beth and Abe, and he is ready
to give them permission to access his database.  He does this by
editing a pair of small files in his `~/.monotone' directory:

     $ cat >>~/.monotone/read-permissions
     pattern "*"
     allow "abe@juicebot.co.jp"
     allow "beth@juicebot.co.jp"
     ^D

     $ cat >>~/.monotone/write-permissions
     abe@juicebot.co.jp
     beth@juicebot.co.jp
     ^D

   These files are read by the default monotone hooks that will decide
whether remote monotone users will be allowed access to Jim's database,
identified by the named keys.

   Jim then makes sure that his TCP port 4691 is open to incoming
connections, adjusting his firewall settings as necessary, and runs the
monotone `serve' command:

     $ mtn --db=jim.mtn serve

   This command starts monotone listening on all network interfaces of
his laptop on the default port 4691, serving everything in his database.


File: monotone.info,  Node: Synchronising Databases,  Next: Making Changes,  Prev: Basic Network Service,  Up: Tutorial

2.9 Synchronising Databases
===========================

With Jim's server preparations done, now Abe is ready to fetch Jim's
code. To do this he issues the monotone `sync' command:

     $ mtn --db=abe.mtn sync jim-laptop.juicebot.co.jp "jp.co.juicebot.jb7*"
     mtn: setting default server to jim-laptop.juicebot.co.jp
     mtn: setting default branch include pattern to 'jp.co.juicebot.jb7*'
     mtn: setting default branch exclude pattern to ''
     mtn: connecting to jim-laptop.juicebot.co.jp
     mtn: first time connecting to server jim-laptop.juicebot.co.jp:4691
     mtn: I'll assume it's really them, but you might want to double-check
     mtn: their key's fingerprint: 9e9e9ef1d515ad58bfaa5cf282b4a872d8fda00c
     mtn: warning: saving public key for jim@juicebot.co.jp to database
     mtn: finding items to synchronize:
     mtn: bytes in | bytes out | revs in | revs out | revs written
     mtn:     2587 |      1025 |       1 |        0 |            1
     mtn: successful exchange with jim-laptop.juicebot.co.jp

   Abe now has, in his database, a copy of everything Jim put in the
branch. Therefore Abe can disconnect from the expensive network
connection he's on and work locally for a while. Remember that, in
monotone, work is done between workspaces in the filesystem and the
local database; network connectivity is necessary only when that work
is to be shared with others.

   As we follow the juicebot team through the next several steps, we'll
see them run the `sync' command again with Jim, and work will flow both
ways. The first time you `sync' a new database, monotone remembers the
server and branch patterns you use, and makes them the default for
future operations.

   At the end of each exchange, information about all changes in the
branch known to each database have been sent to the other party -
including the work of the third team member that had previously been
exchanged. As well as allowing each team member to learn about the
others' work, this also means that each party's laptop contains a
_backup_ of the others' work too.

   Jim, Abe and Beth will continue working like this while they're
getting started, and we'll revisit the issue of network service with
them a little later as the project grows.


File: monotone.info,  Node: Making Changes,  Next: Dealing with a Fork,  Prev: Synchronising Databases,  Up: Tutorial

2.10 Making Changes
===================

Abe decides to do some work on his part of the code. He has a copy of
Jim's database contents, but cannot edit any of that data yet.  He
begins his editing by checking out the head of the `jp.co.juicebot.jb7'
branch into a workspace, so he can edit it:

     $ mtn --db=abe.mtn --branch=jp.co.juicebot.jb7 checkout .

   Monotone unpacks the set of files in the head revision's manifest
directly into Abe's current directory.  (If he had specified something
other than `.' at the end, monotone would have created that directory
and unpacked the files into it.)  Abe then opens up one of the files,
`src/apple.c', and edits it:

     $ vi src/apple.c
     <Abe writes some apple-juice dispensing code>

   The file `src/apple.c' has now been _changed_. Abe gets up to answer
a phone call, and when he returns to his work he has forgotten what he
changed. He can ask monotone for details:

     $ mtn diff
     #
     # old_revision [2e24d49a48adf9acf3a1b6391a080008cbef9c21]
     #
     # patch "src/apple.c"
     #  from [2650ffc660dd00a08b659b883b65a060cac7e560]
     #    to [e2c418703c863eabe70f9bde988765406f885fd0]
     #
     ============================================================================
     --- src/apple.c 2650ffc660dd00a08b659b883b65a060cac7e560
     +++ src/apple.c e2c418703c863eabe70f9bde988765406f885fd0
     @ -1,7 +1,10 @
      #include "jb.h"

      void
      dispense_apple_juice()
      {
     -  /* Fill this in please, Abe. */
     +  spoutctl(APPLE_SPOUT, FLOW_JUICE, 1);
     +  while (spoutctl(APPLE_SPOUT, POLL_JUICE, 1) == 0)
     +    usleep (1000);
     +  spoutctl(APPLE_SPOUT, FLOW_JUICE, 0);
      }

   Satisfied with his day's work, Abe decides to commit.

     $ mtn commit
     mtn: beginning commit on branch 'jp.co.juicebot.jb7'

   Abe neglected to provide a `--message' option specifying the change
log on the command line and the file `_MTN/log' is empty because he did
not document his changes there.  Monotone therefore invokes an external
"log message editor" -- typically an editor like `vi' -- with an
explanation of the changes being committed and the opportunity to enter
a log message.

     polling implementation of src/apple.c
     MTN:
     MTN: ----------------------------------------------------------------------
     MTN: Enter Log.  Lines beginning with `MTN:' are removed automatically
     MTN:
     MTN: format_version "1"
     MTN:
     MTN: new_manifest [b33cb337dccf21d6673f462d677a6010b60699d1]
     MTN:
     MTN: old_revision [2e24d49a48adf9acf3a1b6391a080008cbef9c21]
     MTN:
     MTN: patch "src/apple.c"
     MTN: from [2650ffc660dd00a08b659b883b65a060cac7e560]
     MTN:   to [e2c418703c863eabe70f9bde988765406f885fd0]
     MTN:
     MTN: ----------------------------------------------------------------------
     MTN:

   Abe enters a single line above the explanatory message, saying
"polling implementation of src/apple.c". He then saves the file and
quits the editor. Monotone deletes all the lines beginning with "MTN:"
and leaves only Abe's short message. Returning to the shell, Abe's
commit completes:

     mtn: committed revision 70decb4b31a8227a629c0e364495286c5c75f979

   Abe then sends his new revision back to Jim:

     $ mtn sync
     mtn: connecting to jim-laptop.juicebot.co.jp
     mtn: finding items to synchronize:
     mtn:   certs |    keys | revisions
     mtn:       8 |       2 |         2
     mtn: bytes in | bytes out | revs in | revs out | revs written
     mtn:      615 |      2822 |       0 |        1 |            0
     mtn: successful exchange with jim-laptop.juicebot.co.jp

   Beth does a similar sequence. First she syncs her database with
Jim's:

     $ mtn --db=beth.mtn sync jim-laptop.juicebot.co.jp "jp.co.juicebot.jb7*"
     mtn: setting default server to jim-laptop.juicebot.co.jp
     mtn: setting default branch include pattern to 'jp.co.juicebot.jb7*'
     mtn: setting default branch exclude pattern to ''
     mtn: connecting to jim-laptop.juicebot.co.jp
     mtn: first time connecting to server jim-laptop.juicebot.co.jp:4691
     mtn: I'll assume it's really them, but you might want to double-check
     mtn: their key's fingerprint: 9e9e9ef1d515ad58bfaa5cf282b4a872d8fda00c
     mtn: warning: saving public key for jim@juicebot.co.jp to database
     mtn: finding items to synchronize:
     mtn: bytes in | bytes out | revs in | revs out | revs written
     mtn:     4601 |      1239 |       2 |        0 |            1
     mtn: verifying new revisions (this may take a while)
     mtn: bytes in | bytes out | revs in | revs out | revs written
     mtn:     4601 |      1285 |       2 |        0 |            2
     mtn: successful exchange with jim-laptop.juicebot.co.jp

   She checks out a copy of the tree from her database:

     $ mtn --db=beth.mtn --branch=jp.co.juicebot.jb7 checkout .

   She edits the file `src/banana.c':

     $ vi src/banana.c
     <Beth writes some banana-juice dispensing code>

   and logs her changes in `_MTN/log' right away so she does not forget
what she has done like Abe.

     $ vi _MTN/log
     * src/banana.c: Added polling implementation

   Later, she commits her work.  Monotone again invokes an external
editor for her to edit her log message, but this time it fills in the
messages she's written so far, and she simply checks them over one last
time before finishing her commit:

     $ mtn commit
     mtn: beginning commit on branch 'jp.co.juicebot.jb7'
     mtn: committed revision 80ef9c9d251d39074d37e72abf4897e0bbae1cfb

   And she syncs with Jim again:

     $ mtn sync
     mtn: connecting to jim-laptop.juicebot.co.jp
     mtn: finding items to synchronize:
     mtn:   certs |    keys | revisions
     mtn:      12 |       3 |         3
     mtn: bytes in | bytes out | revs in | revs out | revs written
     mtn:      709 |      2879 |       0 |        1 |            0
     mtn: successful exchange with jim-laptop.juicebot.co.jp


File: monotone.info,  Node: Dealing with a Fork,  Next: Branching and Merging,  Prev: Making Changes,  Up: Tutorial

2.11 Dealing with a Fork
========================

Careful readers will note that, in the previous section, the JuiceBot
company's work was perfectly serialized:

  1. Jim did some work

  2. Abe synced with Jim

  3. Abe did some work

  4. Abe synced with Jim

  5. Beth synced with Jim

  6. Beth did some work

  7. Beth synced with Jim

   The result of this ordering is that Jim's work entirely preceded
Abe's work, which entirely preceded Beth's work. Moreover, each worker
was fully informed of the "up-stream" worker's actions, and produced
purely derivative, "down-stream" work:

  1. Jim made revision 2e24d...

  2. Abe changed revision 2e24d... into revision 70dec...

  3. Beth derived revision 70dec... into revision 80ef9...

   This is a simple, but sadly unrealistic, ordering of events. In real
companies or work groups, people often work in parallel, _diverging_
from commonly known revisions and _merging_ their work together,
sometime after each unit of work is complete.

   Monotone supports this diverge/merge style of operation naturally;
any time two revisions diverge from a common parent revision, we say
that the revision graph has a "fork" in it. Forks can happen at any
time, and require no coordination between workers. In fact any
interleaving of the previous events would work equally well; with one
exception: if forks were produced, someone would eventually have to run
the `merge' command, and possibly resolve any conflicts in the fork.

   To illustrate this, we return to our workers Beth and Abe. Suppose
Jim sends out an email saying that the current polling juice dispensers
use too much CPU time, and must be rewritten to use the JuiceBot's
interrupt system. Beth wakes up first and begins working immediately,
basing her work off the revision 80ef9... which is currently in her
workspace:

     $ vi src/banana.c
     <Beth changes her banana-juice dispenser to use interrupts>

   Beth finishes and examines her changes:

     $ mtn diff
     #
     # old_revision [80ef9c9d251d39074d37e72abf4897e0bbae1cfb]
     #
     # patch "src/banana.c"
     #  from [7381d6b3adfddaf16dc0fdb05e0f2d1873e3132a]
     #    to [5e6622cf5c8805bcbd50921ce7db86dad40f2ec6]
     #
     ============================================================================
     --- src/banana.c 7381d6b3adfddaf16dc0fdb05e0f2d1873e3132a
     +++ src/banana.c 5e6622cf5c8805bcbd50921ce7db86dad40f2ec6
     @ -1,10 +1,15 @
      #include "jb.h"

     +static void
     +shut_off_banana()
     +{
     +  spoutctl(BANANA_SPOUT, SET_INTR, 0);
     +  spoutctl(BANANA_SPOUT, FLOW_JUICE, 0);
     +}
     +
      void
     -dispense_banana_juice()
     +dispense_banana_juice()
      {
     +  spoutctl(BANANA_SPOUT, SET_INTR, &shut_off_banana);
        spoutctl(BANANA_SPOUT, FLOW_JUICE, 1);
     -  while (spoutctl(BANANA_SPOUT, POLL_JUICE, 1) == 0)
     -    usleep (1000);
     -  spoutctl(BANANA_SPOUT, FLOW_JUICE, 0);
      }

   She commits her work:

     $ mtn commit --message="interrupt implementation of src/banana.c"
     mtn: beginning commit on branch 'jp.co.juicebot.jb7'
     mtn: committed revision 8b41b5399a564494993063287a737d26ede3dee4

   And she syncs with Jim:

     $ mtn sync

   Unfortunately, before Beth managed to sync with Jim, Abe had woken up
and implemented a similar interrupt-based apple juice dispenser, but
his workspace is 70dec..., which is still "upstream" of Beth's.

     $ vi apple.c
     <Abe changes his apple-juice dispenser to use interrupts>

   Thus when Abe commits, he unknowingly creates a fork:

     $ mtn commit --message="interrupt implementation of src/apple.c"

   Abe does not see the fork yet; Abe has not actually seen _any_ of
Beth's work yet, because he has not synchronized with Jim. Since he has
new work to contribute, however, he now syncs:

     $ mtn sync

   Now Jim and Abe will be aware of the fork. Jim sees it when he sits
down at his desk and asks monotone for the current set of heads of the
branch:

     $ mtn heads
     mtn: branch 'jp.co.juicebot.jb7' is currently unmerged:
     39969614e5a14316c7ffefc588771f491c709152 abe@juicebot.co.jp 2004-10-26T02:53:16
     8b41b5399a564494993063287a737d26ede3dee4 beth@juicebot.co.jp 2004-10-26T02:53:15

   Clearly there are two heads to the branch: it contains an un-merged
fork. Beth will not yet know about the fork, but in this case it
doesn't matter: anyone can merge the fork, and since there are no
conflicts Jim does so himself:

     $ mtn merge
     mtn: starting with revision 1 / 2
     mtn: merging with revision 2 / 2
     mtn: [source] 39969614e5a14316c7ffefc588771f491c709152
     mtn: [source] 8b41b5399a564494993063287a737d26ede3dee4
     mtn: common ancestor 70decb4b31a8227a629c0e364495286c5c75f979 abe@juicebot.co.jp  2004-10-26T:02:50:01 found
     mtn: trying 3-way merge
     mtn: [merged] da499b9d9465a0e003a4c6b2909102ef98bf4e6d
     mtn: your workspaces have not been updated

   The output of this command shows Jim that two heads were found,
combined via a 3-way merge with their ancestor, and saved to a new
revision. This happened automatically, because the changes between the
common ancestor and heads did not conflict. If there had been a
conflict, monotone would have invoked an external merging tool to help
resolve it.

   After merging, the branch has a single head again, and Jim updates
his workspace.

     $ mtn update
     mtn: selected update target da499b9d9465a0e003a4c6b2909102ef98bf4e6d
     mtn: updating src/apple.c to f088e24beb43ab1468d7243e36ce214a559bdc96
     mtn: updating src/banana.c to 5e6622cf5c8805bcbd50921ce7db86dad40f2ec6
     mtn: updated to base revision da499b9d9465a0e003a4c6b2909102ef98bf4e6d

   The update command selected an update target -- in this case the
newly merged head -- and performed an in-memory merge between Jim's
workspace and the chosen target. The result was then written to Jim's
workspace. If Jim's workspace had any uncommitted changes in it, they
would have been merged with the update in exactly the same manner as
the merge of multiple committed heads.

   Monotone makes very little distinction between a "pre-commit" merge
(an update) and a "post-commit" merge. Both sorts of merge use the
exact same algorithm. The major difference concerns the recoverability
of the pre-merge state: if you commit your work first, and merge after
committing, then even if the merge somehow fails (due to difficulty in a
manual merge step, for instance), your committed state is still safe.
If you update, on the other hand, you are requesting that monotone
directly modify your workspace, and while monotone will try hard not to
break anything, this process is inherently more open to error.  It is
therefore recommended that you commit your work _first_, before merging.

   If you have previously used another version control system, this may
at first seem surprising; there are some systems where you are
_required_ to update, and risk the above problems, before you can
commit.  Monotone, however, was designed with this problem in mind, and
thus _always_ allows you to commit before merging.  A good rule of
thumb is to only use `update' in workspaces with no local
modifications, or when you actually want to work against a different
base revision (perhaps because finishing your change turns out to
require some fixes made in another revision, or because you discover
that you have accidentally started working against a revision that
contains unrelated bugs, and need to back out to a working revision for
testing).


File: monotone.info,  Node: Branching and Merging,  Next: Network Service Revisited,  Prev: Dealing with a Fork,  Up: Tutorial

2.12 Branching and Merging
==========================

So by now you're familiar with making changes, sharing them with other
people, and integrating your changes with their changes.  Sometimes,
though, you may want to make some changes, and _not_ integrate them
with other people's -- or at least not right away.  One way to do this
would be to simply never run `mtn merge'; but it would quickly become
confusing to try and keep track of which changes were in which
revisions.  This is where _branches_ are useful.

   Continuing our example, suppose that Jim is so impressed by Beth's
work on banana juice support that he assigns her to work on the
JuiceBot 7's surprise new feature: muffins.  In the mean time, Abe will
continue working on the JuiceBot's basic juice-related functions.

   The changes required to support muffins are somewhat complicated, and
Beth is worried that her work might destabilize the program, and
interfere with Abe's work.  In fact, she isn't even sure her first
attempt will turn out to be the right approach; she might work on it for
a while and then decide it was a bad idea, and should be discarded.  For
all these reasons, she decides that she will work on a branch, and then
once she is satisfied with the new code, she will merge back onto the
mainline.

   She decides that since main development is in branch
`jp.co.juicebot.jb7', she will use branch `jp.co.juicebot.jb7.muffins'.
So, she makes the first few edits to the new muffins code, and commits
it on a new branch by simply passing `--branch' to commit:

     $ mtn commit --branch=jp.co.juicebot.jb7.muffins --message='autobake framework'
     mtn: beginning commit on branch 'jp.co.juicebot.jb7.muffins'
     mtn: committed revision d33caefd61823ecbb605c39ffb84705dec449857

   That's all there is to it -- there is now a
`jp.co.juicebot.jb7.muffins' branch, with her initial checkin on it.
She can make further checkins from the same workspace, and they will
automatically go to the muffins branch; if anyone else wants to help
her work on muffins, they can check out that branch as usual.

   Of course, while Beth is working on the new muffins code, Abe is
still making fixes to the main line.  Occasionally, Beth wants to
integrate his latest work into the muffins branch, so that her version
doesn't fall too far behind.  She does this by using the `propagate'
command:

     $ mtn propagate jp.co.juicebot.jb7 jp.co.juicebot.jb7.muffins
     mtn: propagating jp.co.juicebot.jb7 -> jp.co.juicebot.jb7.muffins
     mtn: [source] da003f115752ac6e4750b89aaca9dbba178ac80c
     mtn: [target] d0e5c93bb61e5fd25a0dadf41426f209b73f40af
     mtn: common ancestor 853b8c7ac5689181d4b958504adfb5d07fd959ab jim@juicebot.co.jp 2004-10-26T:12:44:23 found
     mtn: trying 3-way merge
     mtn: [merged] 89585b3c5e51a5a75f5d1a05dda859c5b7dde52f

   The `propagate' merges all of the new changes on one branch onto
another.

   When the muffins code is eventually stable and ready to be integrated
into the main line of development, she simply propagates the other way:

     $ mtn propagate jp.co.juicebot.jb7.muffins jp.co.juicebot.jb7
     mtn: propagating jp.co.juicebot.jb7.muffins -> jp.co.juicebot.jb7
     mtn: [source] 4e48e2c9a3d2ca8a708cb0cc545700544efb5021
     mtn: [target] bd29b2bfd07644ab370f50e0d68f26dcfd3bb4af
     mtn: common ancestor 652b1035343281a0d2a5de79919f9a31a30c9028 jim@juicebot.co.jp 2004-10-26T:15:25:05 found
     mtn: [merged] 03f7495b51cc70b76872ed019d19dee1b73e89b6

   Monotone always records the full history of all merges, and is
designed to handle an arbitrarily complicated graph of changes.  You
can make a branch, then branch off from that branch, propagate changes
between arbitrary branches, and so on; monotone will track all of it,
and do something sensible for each merge.  Of course, it is still
probably a good idea to come up with some organization of branches and
a plan for which should be merged to which other ones.  Monotone may
keep track of graphs of arbitrary complexity -- but you will have more
trouble.  Whatever arrangement of branches you come up with, though,
monotone should be able to handle it.

   If you are unsure of the name of a branch, you can list all branches
using the `ls branches' command.  This is very useful, but if you create
a lot of branches then the list can become very long and unwieldy.  To
help this monotone has the `suspend' command which partially hides
revisions/branches you are no longer using.  Further commits on hidden
branches will automatically unhide the branches.

   For example, if Beth is now finished with the muffins branch, she
can stop it from cluttering the list of branches by suspending the last
revision in that branch:

     $ mtn ls branches
     jp.co.juicebot.jb7
     jp.co.juicebot.jb7.muffins
     $ mtn heads
     mtn: branch 'jp.co.juicebot.jb7.muffins' is currently merged:
     4e48e2c9a3d2ca8a708cb0cc545700544efb5021 beth@juicebot.co.jp 2007-07-08T02:17:37
     $ mtn suspend 4e48e2c9a3d2ca8a708cb0cc545700544efb5021
     $ mtn ls branches
     jp.co.juicebot.jb7


File: monotone.info,  Node: Network Service Revisited,  Prev: Branching and Merging,  Up: Tutorial

2.13 Network Service Revisited
==============================

Up until now, Jim has been using his laptop and database as a sort of
"central server" for the company; Abe and Beth have been syncing with
Jim, and learning of each other's work via Jim's database.  This has
worked fine while the product has been in early development; Jim has
good network connectivity in Japan, and has been staying home
concentrating on programming.  He has been able to leave his laptop
connected and running all the time, while his employees in different
time-zones work and sync their databases.  This is now starting to
change, and two problems are starting to cause occasional difficulties.

   * First, Jim is finding that he has to spend more of his time
     travelling, demonstrating the new juicebot features to customers;
     thus his laptop is spending more time disconnected from the
     network, or connected at dynamic addresses where it's not
     convenient for Abe and Beth to find him and sync.

     This doesn't prevent them doing any work, but it does have some
     uncomfortable consequences: they're more likely to have to manually
     merge conflicting changes when they finally sync up and discover
     they've both come up with slightly different fixes for the same
     bug in the meantime, and they're more exposed to loss of work if
     one of them suffers a disk failure before they've had a chance to
     sync that work with another database.

   * Second, because Jim has been using the one database file both for
     his own local work, and for serving to the others in the team, he
     occasionally finds that the monotone serve process (busy syncing
     with Abe or Beth) has a lock on the database, while he's trying to
     do local work like updates or commits.

     The level of project activity is picking up, and there are more
     and more changes to be synced in the narrower window of time while
     Jim is connected. He finds he sometimes needs to take down the
     server process to do this local work, further exacerbating the
     first problem.

   The juicebot team are resourceful, and by now quite used to working
independently.  While Jim has been away travelling, Abe and Beth have
come up with their own solution to the first problem: they'll run
servers from their databases, setting them up just like Jim did
previously.  That way, if Jim's database is offline, either Beth or Abe
can run the `serve' command and provide access for the other to `sync'
with.  Beth also has the idea to create a second database for the
`serve' process, and to `sync' her development database with that
server locally, avoiding locking contention between multiple monotone
processes on the one database file.

   When Jim reappears, the next person to `sync' with him will often
pass him information about both employees' work that they've sync'ed
with each other in the meantime, just as he used to do. In fact, Jim
now finds it more convenient to initiate the sync with one of the other
servers when he has a spare moment and dynamic connectivity from a
hotel room or airport.  Changes will flow between servers automatically
as clients access them and trade with one another.

   This gets them by for a while, but there are still occasional
inconveniences.  Abe and Beth live in very different time-zones, and
don't always have reliable network connectivity, so sometimes Jim finds
that neither of them is online to sync with when he has the chance.  Jim
now also has several customers interested in beta-testing the new code,
and following changes as the bugs and issues they report are addressed.

   Jim decides it's time for a permanent server they can all sync with;
this way, everyone always knows where to go to get the latest changes,
and people can push their changes out without first calling their
friends and making sure that they have their servers running.

   Jim has rented some web server space on a service provider's shared
system for the JuiceBot Inc. public website, `www.juicebot.co.jp'; he
thinks this server will be a good place to host the central monotone
server too. He sets up a new monotone database on the server, generates
a new key specially for the server (so he doesn't have to expose his
own development private key on the shared system), and loads in the
team-members' keys:

     $ mtn --db=server.mtn db init
     $ mtn genkey monotone-server@www.juicebot.co.jp
     mtn: generating key-pair 'monotone-server@www.juicebot.co.jp'
     enter passphrase for key ID [monotone-server@www.juicebot.co.jp] : <Jim enters a new passphrase>
     confirm passphrase for key ID [monotone-server@www.juicebot.co.jp]: <Jim confirms the passphrase>
     mtn: storing key-pair 'monotone-server@www.juicebot.co.jp' in /home/jim/.monotone/keys
     $ cat abe.pubkey beth.pubkey jim.pubkey | mtn --db=server.mtn read
     mtn: read 3 packets

   For the team members, he sets up the permissions files on the server
much like before -- except that of course he needs to also grant his
`jim@juicebot.co.jp' key permission to access the new server.  For the
beta-testers, Jim wants to allow them read-only access just to the main
JuiceBot 7 development line, but not to any of the sub-branches where
other experimental development is going on. He adds some lines at the
top of the `~/.monotone/read-permissions' on the server, above the
broader permissions given to team-members. See the *note Hook
Reference:: for `get_netsync_read_permitted' for more details; the
resulting file looks like this:

     comment "Provide beta-testers with specific read-only access"
     pattern "jp.co.juicebot.jb7"
     allow "beta1@juicebot.co.jp"
     allow "beta2@juicebot.co.jp"
     continue "true"

     comment "Fall-through, and allow staff access to all branches"
     pattern "*"
     allow "abe@juicebot.co.jp"
     allow "beth@juicebot.co.jp"
     allow "jim@juicebot.co.jp"

   Jim could log in and start the monotone process manually from his
shell account on the server, perhaps under a program like screen to let
it stay running while he's away. This would be one way of giving it the
server-key's passphrase each startup, but he wants to make sure that the
server is up all the time; if the host reboots while he's travelling and
the monotone server is down until he next logs in, things aren't much
better than before.  For the server to start automatically each time,
he'll need to use the `get_passphrase' hook in the server's
`monotonerc' file again.

   Because he's running on a shared server, Jim needs to be a little
more restrictive about which interfaces and addresses his new server
process will listen on. He should only accept connections at the
address used for his website, because some of the provider's other
customers might also want to publish their own monotone projects on
this host.  Jim uses the `--bind=ADDRESS:PORT' argument like so:

     $ mtn --db=server.mtn --bind=www.juicebot.co.jp serve

   This will start monotone listening on the default port (4691), but
only on the IP address associated with `www.juicebot.co.jp'.  Jim can do
this because his hosting provider has given him a dedicated IP address
for his website.  If the hosting provider offered only a single shared
IP address belonging to the server, each customer could bind a different
port number on that address.

   While he's first testing the setup, Jim uses
`--bind=localhost:1234'. This causes the monotone process to listen
only to port 1234 on the loopback interface 127.0.0.1, which is not
accessible from the network, so Jim doesn't expose an open port to the
rest of the world until he's satisfied with the permissions
configuration.  You can cause monotone to listen on all interfaces on
port 1234 by leaving out the address part like `--bind=:1234'.

   When he's satisfied the server is set up correctly, Jim does an
initial `sync' with the new database, filling it with all the revision
history currently on his laptop. While Jim has been busy setting up the
server, Abe and Beth have kept working; the server will catch up with
their latest changes when they next sync, too.

   All of the team members now want to sync with the new monotone
server by default.  Previously, they had been syncing with Jim's laptop
by default, even if they occasionally specified another team-member's
server on the command line when Jim was away, because monotone had
remembered the first server and branch patterns used in database *note
Vars::.  These vars can be seen as follows:

     $ mtn list vars
     database: default-exclude-pattern
     database: default-include-pattern jp.co.juicebot.jb7*
     database: default-server jim-laptop.juicebot.co.jp
     known-servers: jim-laptop.juicebot.co.jp 9e9e9ef1d515ad58bfaa5cf282b4a872d8fda00c
     known-servers: abe-laptop.juicebot.co.jp a2bb16a183247af4133621f7f5aefb21a9d13855
     known-servers: www.juicebot.co.jp 120a99ch93b4f174432c13d3e3e9f2234aa92612

   The team members can reset their local database vars accordingly:

     $ mtn set database default-server www.juicebot.co.jp

   With their new server, the juicebot team have gained the convenience
of a readily available common point of reference for syncs.  However,
they also know that this is there only as a convenience, and doesn't
prevent them working as they did before:
   * The team members can still sync with each other if needed.

     Hopefully, their new server won't ever be down, but sometimes they
     might be working together while away from ready network access --
     fixing up the last few issues and finalising presentation
     materials while travelling to a sales conference, for example.
     The server will learn of these changes on the next sync.

   * The team members continue to discover multiple heads and changes
     that need merging, as before. Each team member can merge the
     heads, and will produce the same revision id if they merge to the
     same result.

     They now develop a new habit out of courtesy, though -- they try
     not to leave multiple heads and unmerged changes on the server, at
     least not for long. This saves them from repeating work, and also
     helps prevent confusion for the beta-testers.  When each team
     member is ready to `sync', they develop the habit of doing a
     `pull' from the server first.  If new revisions were received from
     the server, they first `merge' their new revisions with the
     head(s) from the server, and finally `sync' to publish their
     merged changes as one.  If the last `sync' happens to pull in new
     revisions again from the server, it means someone else has
     deposited new work at the same time, and another `merge' and
     `sync' would probably be polite.

   * Jim knows he doesn't have to keep a special backup of the new
     server's contents; if the server should fail, all the contents of
     its database can be found amongst the other team members
     (especially because no commits are done on the server itself).

     He does, however, take a copy of the server's private key, so he
     can restore that if necessary.

   * In fact, Jim realises that he can now commit a copy of the web
     site's current contents into monotone on a new branch,
     `jp.co.juicebot.www', and keep a backup of that content too.

     Now he can use monotone to work on the website offline, and let
     other team members add and edit the content; he can also preview
     changes locally before updating the production content.  He keeps
     a workspace checkout of this content in the webroot on the server,
     and runs a monotone `update' in there when he wants to bring the
     public web site up to date. Later, he'll think about using
     monotone's *note Quality Assurance:: mechanisms and Event
     Notification *note Hooks::, so that the web server can update
     itself automatically when appropriate new revisions are received.

   * Jim also knows that even if someone should break into the shared
     hosting server and tamper with the database, they won't be able to
     inject malicious code into the project, because all revisions are
     signed by the team members, and he has set his *note Trust
     Evaluation Hooks:: so he doesn't trust the server key for signing
     revisions.

     In monotone, the important trust consideration is on the _signed
     content_, rather than on the _replication path_ by which that
     content arrived in your database.


File: monotone.info,  Node: Advanced Uses,  Next: CVS Phrasebook,  Prev: Tutorial,  Up: Top

3 Advanced Uses
***************

This chapter covers slightly less common aspects of using monotone.
Some users of monotone will find these helpful, though possibly not
all. We assume that you have read through the taxonomy and tutorial,
and possibly spent some time playing with the program to familiarize
yourself with its operation.

* Menu:

* Other Transports::            Using netsync over SSH, or other transports.
* Selectors::                   Selecting revisions by certificate.
* Restrictions::                Limit workspace changes to specified files.
* Scripting::                   Running monotone from other programs.
* Inodeprints::                 Trading off safety for speed in your workspace.
* Merge Conflicts::             The various conflict types and how to resolve them.
* Workspace Collisions::        Workspace files that collide with new versioned files.
* Quality Assurance::           Integrating testing and review with development.
* Vars::                        Simple per-database configuration information.
* Reserved Files::              File names with special meanings.
* Reserved Certs::              Certificate names with special meanings.
* Naming Conventions::          Choosing appropriate names for keys and branches.
* File Attributes::             Marking files as executable, or other attributes.
* Merging::                     Merging with external tools, handling binary files.
* Migrating and Dumping::       Changing the underlying storage system.
* Importing from CVS::          Building a monotone database from a CVS repository.
* Using packets::               Transferring data ``by hand''.


File: monotone.info,  Node: Other Transports,  Next: Selectors,  Prev: Advanced Uses,  Up: Advanced Uses

3.1 Other Transports
====================

Monotone's database synchronization system is based on a protocol
called netsync. By default, monotone transports this protocol over a
plain TCP connection, but this is not the only transport monotone can
use. It can also transport netsync through SSH, or any program which
can provide a full-duplex connection over `stdio'.

   When a monotone client initiates a push, pull, or sync operation, it
parses the first command-line argument as a URI and calls a Lua hook to
convert that URI into a "connection command". If the Lua hook returns a
connection command, monotone spawns the command locally and speaks
netsync over a pipe connected to the command's standard I/O handles.

   If the Lua hook does not return a connection command, monotone
attempts to parse the command-line argument as a TCP address - a
hostname with an optional port number - connects a TCP socket the host
and port, and speaks netsync over the socket.

   By default, monotone understands two URI schemes:

  1. SSH URIs, of the form
     `ssh://[USER@]HOSTNAME[:PORT]/PATH/TO/DB.MTN',   to synchronize
     between private databases on hosts accessible only   through SSH.
     (These paths are absolute; to refer to a path relative   to a home
     directory, use   `ssh://HOST-PART/~/RELATIVE/PATH.MTN' or
     `ssh://HOST-PART/~USER/RELATIVE/PATH.MTN'.)

  2. File URIs, of the form   `file:/PATH/TO/DB.MTN', to synchronize
     between local databases.

   In the case of SSH URIs, the `ssh' program must be in your command
execution path, either $PATH on Unix-like systems or %PATH% on Windows
systems. Monotone will execute `ssh' as a subprocess, running `mtn
serve' on the other end of the SSH connection. You will need `mtn' to
be in the command execution path of the remote shell environment.

   In the case of File URIs, `mtn' is run locally, so must be in your
command execution path.

   In both cases, the database specified in the URI needs to exist
already, and will be locked for the duration of the synchronization
operation. Therefore, it must also be writable, even when monotone isn't
going to modify it, as it is the case for `pull'.  Also note that
monotone's default transport authentication is _disabled_ over these
transports, to reduce the complexity of configuration and eliminate
redundant protocol cost.

   Additional URI schemes can be supported by customization of the Lua
hooks `get_netsync_connect_command' and `use_transport_auth'. For
details on these hooks, see *note Netsync Transport Hooks::.


File: monotone.info,  Node: Selectors,  Next: Restrictions,  Prev: Other Transports,  Up: Advanced Uses

3.2 Selectors
=============

Revisions can be specified on the monotone command line, precisely, by
entering the entire 40-character hexadecimal SHA1 code. This can be
cumbersome, so monotone also allows a more general syntax called
"selectors" which is less precise but more "human friendly". Any
command which expects a precise revision ID can also accept a selector
in its place; in fact a revision ID is just a special type of selector
which is very precise.

Simple examples
===============

Some selector examples are helpful in clarifying the idea:

`a432'
     Revision IDs beginning with the string `a432'

`graydon@pobox.com/2004-04'
     Revisions written by `graydon@pobox.com' in April 2004.

`"jrh@example.org/2 weeks ago"'
     Revisions written by `jrh@example.org' 2 weeks ago.

`graydon/net.venge.monotone.win32/yesterday'
     Revisions in the `net.venge.monotone.win32' branch, written by
     `graydon', yesterday.

   A moment's examination reveals that these specifications are "fuzzy"
and indeed may return multiple values, or may be ambiguous. When
ambiguity arises, monotone will inform you that more detail is
required, and list various possibilities. The precise specification of
selectors follows.

Selectors in detail
===================

A selector is a combination of a selector type, which is a single ASCII
character, followed by a `:' character and a selector string. All
selectors strings except for selector type `c' are just values. The
value is matched against identifiers or certs, depending on its type,
in an attempt to match a single revision.  Selectors are matched as
prefixes. The current set of selection types are:

Generic cert selector
     Uses selector type `c'.  The selector string has the syntax NAME
     or NAME`='VALUE.  The former syntax will select any revision that
     has a cert with that name, regardless of value; the latter will
     match any revision that has a cert with that name and value.
     Values to match for can have shell wildcards.  For example,
     `c:tag' matches all revisions that have a tag, and
     `c:tag=monotone-0.25' will match the revision tagged
     `monotone-0.25'.  (See also the `t' selector below.)

Author selection
     Uses selector type `a'. For example, `a:graydon' matches `author'
     certs where the cert value contains `graydon'.

Branch selection
     Uses selector type `b'. For example, `b:net.venge.monotone' matches
     `branch' certs where the cert value is `net.venge.monotone'.
     Values to match for can have shell wildcards.  If you give a bare
     `b:' monotone will require you to be in a workspace, and will use
     the branch value recorded in your _MTN/options file.

Heads selection
     Uses selector type `h'. For example, `h:net.venge.monotone' matches
     `branch' certs where the cert value is `net.venge.monotone' and
     the associated revision is a head revision on that branch.  Values
     to match for can have shell wildcards like the branch selector.
     If you give a bare `h:' monotone will require you to be in a
     workspace, and use the branch recorded in your _MTN/options file.

Date selection
     Uses selector type `d'. For example, `d:2004-04' matches `date'
     certs where the cert value begins with `2004-04'. This selector
     also accepts expanded date syntax (see below).

"Earlier or equal than" selection
     Uses selector type `e'. For example, `e:2004-04-25' matches `date'
     certs where the cert value is less or equal than
     `2004-04-25T00:00:00'. If the time component is unspecified,
     monotone will assume 00:00:00. This selector also accepts expanded
     date syntax (see below)

"Later than" selection
     Uses selector type `l'. For example, `l:2004-04-25' matches `date'
     certs where the cert value is strictly greater than
     `2004-04-25T00:00:00'. If the time component is unspecified,
     monotone will assume 00:00:00. This selector also accepts expanded
     date syntax (see below)

Identifier selection
     Uses selector type `i'. For example, `i:0f3a' matches revision IDs
     which begin with `0f3a'.

Parent selection
     Uses selector type `p'. For example, `p:0f3a' matches the revision
     IDs which are the parent of the revision ID which begins with
     `0f3a'.

Tag selection
     Uses selector type `t'. For example, `t:monotone-0.11' matches
     `tag' certs where the cert value begins with `monotone-0.11'.
     Values to match for can have shell wildcards.

   Further selector types may be added in the future.

Composite selectors
===================

Selectors may be combined with the `/' character. The combination acts
as database intersection (or logical `and'). For example, the selector
`a:graydon/d:2004-04' can be used to select a revision which has an
`author' cert beginning with `graydon' _as well as_ a `date' cert
beginning with `2004-04'. The `/' character can be escaped using the
`\' character if necessary.

Selector expansion
==================

Before selectors are passed to the database, they are expanded using a
Lua hook: `expand_selector'. The default definition of this hook
attempts to guess a number of common forms for selection, allowing you
to omit selector types in many cases. For example, the hook guesses
that the typeless selector `jrh@example.org' is an author selector, due
to its syntactic form, so modifies it to read `a:jrh@example.org'. This
hook will generally assign a selector type to values which "look like"
partial hex strings, email addresses, branch names, or date
specifications. For the complete source code of the hook, see *note
Hook Reference::.

Expanding dates
===============

All date-related selectors (`d', `e', `l') support an English-like
syntax similar to CVS.  This syntax is expanded to the numeric format
by a Lua hook: `expand_date'.  The allowed date formats are:
now
     Expands to the current date and time.

today
     Expands to today's date. `e' and `l' selectors assume time 00:00:00

yesterday
     Expands to yesterday's date. `e' and `l' selectors assume time
     00:00:00

<number> {minute|hour} <ago>
     Expands to today date and time, minus the specified `number' of
     minutes|hours.

<number> {day|week|month|year} <ago>
     Expands to today date, minus the specified `number' of
     days|weeks|months|years. `e' and `l' selectors assume time 00:00:00

<year>-<month>[-day[Thour:minute:second]]
     Expands to the supplied year/month. The day and time component are
     optional. If missing, `e' and `l' selectors assume the first day
     of month and time 00:00:00.  The time component, if supplied, must
     be complete to the second.

   For the complete source code of the hook, see *note Hook Reference::.

Typeless selection
==================

If, after expansion, a selector still has no type, it is matched as a
special "unknown" selector type, which will match either a tag, an
author, or a branch. This costs slightly more database access, but
often permits simple selection using an author's login name and a date.
For example, the selector `graydon/net.venge.monotone.win32/yesterday'
would pass through the selector `graydon' as an unknown selector; so
long as there are no branches or tags beginning with the string
`graydon' this is just as effective as specifying `a:graydon'.


File: monotone.info,  Node: Restrictions,  Next: Scripting,  Prev: Selectors,  Up: Advanced Uses

3.3 Restrictions
================

Several monotone commands accept optional PATHNAME... arguments in
order to establish a "restriction".  Restrictions are used to limit the
files and directories these commands examine for changes when comparing
the workspace to the revision it is based on. Restricting a command to
a specified set of files or directories simply ignores changes to files
or directories not included by the restriction.

   The following commands all support restrictions using optional
PATHNAME... arguments:

   * `status'

   * `diff'

   * `revert'

   * `commit'

   * `list known'

   * `list unknown'

   * `list ignored'

   * `list missing'

   * `list changed'

   Including either the old or new name of a renamed file or directory
will cause both names to be included in a restriction. If in doubt, the
`status' command can be used to "test" a set of pathnames to ensure
that the expected files are included or excluded by a restriction.

   Commands which support restrictions also support the `--depth=N '
option, where N specifies the maximum number of directories to descend.
For example, N=0 disables recursion, N=1 means descend at most one
directory, and so on.

   The `update' command does not allow for updates to a restricted set
of files, which may be slightly different than other version control
systems. Partial updates don't really make sense in monotone, as they
would leave the workspace based on a revision that doesn't exist in the
database, starting an entirely new line of development.

Subdirectory restrictions
=========================

The restrictions facility also allows commands to operate from within a
subdirectory of the workspace.  By default, the entire workspace is
always examined for changes. However, specifying an explicit "."
pathname to a command will restrict it to the current subdirectory.
Note that this is quite different from other version control systems and
may seem somewhat surprising.

   The expectation is that requiring a single "." to restrict to the
current subdirectory should be simple to use. While the alternative,
defaulting to restricting to the current subdirectory, would require a
somewhat complicated ../../.. sequence to remove the restriction and
operate on the whole tree.

   This default was chosen because monotone versions whole project trees
and generally expects to commit all changes in the workspace as a
single atomic unit. Other version control systems often version
individual files or directories and may not support atomic commits at
all.

   When working from within a subdirectory of the workspace all paths
specified to monotone commands must be relative to the current
subdirectory.

Finding a workspace
===================

Monotone only stores a single `_MTN' directory at the root of a
workspace. Because of this, a search is done to find the `_MTN'
directory in case a command is executed from within a subdirectory of a
workspace. Before a command is executed, the search for a workspace
directory is done by traversing parent directories until an `_MTN'
directory is found or the filesystem root is reached. Upon finding an
`_MTN' directory, the `_MTN/options' file is read for default options.
The `--root' option may be used to stop the search early, before
reaching the root of the physical filesystem.

   Many monotone commands don't require a workspace and will simply
proceed with no default options if no `_MTN' directory is found.
However, some monotone commands do require a workspace and will fail if
no `_MTN' directory can be found.

   The `checkout', `clone' and `setup' commands create a new workspace
and initialize a new `_MTN/options' file based on their current option
settings.


File: monotone.info,  Node: Scripting,  Next: Inodeprints,  Prev: Restrictions,  Up: Advanced Uses

3.4 Scripting
=============

People often want to write programs that call monotone -- for example,
to create a graphical interface to monotone's functionality, or to
automate some task.  For most programs, if you want to do this sort of
thing, you just call the command line interface, and do some sort of
parsing of the output.  Monotone's output, however, is designed for
humans: it's localized, it tries to prompt the user with helpful
information depending on their request, if it detects that something
unusual is happening it may give different output in an attempt to make
this clear to the user, and so on.  As a result, it is not particularly
suitable for programs to parse.

   Rather than trying to design output to work for both humans and
computers, and serving neither audience well, we elected to create a
separate interface to make programmatically extracting information from
monotone easier.  The command line interface has a command `automate';
this command has subcommands that print various sorts of information on
standard output, in simple, consistent, and easily parseable form.

   For details of this interface, see *note Automation::.


File: monotone.info,  Node: Inodeprints,  Next: Merge Conflicts,  Prev: Scripting,  Up: Advanced Uses

3.5 Inodeprints
===============

Fairly often, in order to accomplish its job, monotone has to look at
your workspace and figure out what has been changed in it since your
last commit.  Commands that do this include `status', `diff', `update',
`commit', and others.  There are two different techniques it can use to
do this.  The default, which is sufficient for most projects, is to
simply read every file in the workspace, compute their SHA1 hash, and
compare them to the hashes monotone has stored.  This is very safe and
reliable, and turns out to be fast enough for most projects.  However,
on very large projects, ones whose source trees are many megabytes in
size, it can become unacceptably slow.

   The other technique, known as _inodeprints_, is designed for this
situation.  When running in inodeprints mode, monotone does not read the
whole workspace; rather, it keeps a cache of interesting information
about each file (its size, its last modification time, and so on), and
skips reading any file for which these values have not changed.  This is
inherently somewhat less safe, and, as mentioned above, unnecessary for
most projects, so it is disabled by default.

   If you do determine that it is necessary to use inodeprints with your
project, it is simple to enable them.  Simply run `mtn
refresh_inodeprints'; this will enable inodeprints mode and generate an
initial cache.  If you ever wish to turn them off again, simply delete
the file `_MTN/inodeprints'.  You can at any time delete or truncate
the `_MTN/inodeprints' file; monotone uses it only as a cache and will
continue to operate correctly.

   Normally, instead of enabling this up on a per-workspace basis, you
will want to simply define the `use_inodeprints' hook to return `true';
this will automatically enable inodeprints mode in any new workspaces
you create.  See *note Hook Reference:: for details.


File: monotone.info,  Node: Merge Conflicts,  Next: Workspace Collisions,  Prev: Inodeprints,  Up: Advanced Uses

3.6 Merge Conflicts
===================

Several different types of conflicts may be encountered when merging
two revisions using the database merge commands `merge',
`explicit_merge', `propagate' and `merge_into_dir' or when using the
workspace merge commands `update', `pluck' and `merge_into_workspace'.
The `show_conflicts' command can be used to list conflicts between
database revisions which would be encountered by the database merge
commands. Unfortunately, this command can't yet list conflicts between
a database revision and the current workspace revision which would be
encountered by the workspace merge commands.

3.6.1 Conflict Types
--------------------

Monotone versions both files and directories explicitly and it tracks
individual file and directory identity from birth to death so that name
changes throughout the full life-cycle can be tracked exactly.  Partly
because of these qualities, monotone also notices several types of
conflicts that other version control systems may not.

   The two most common conflicts are described first, then all other
possible conflicts.

File Content Conflict
---------------------

This type of conflict is generally the one encountered most commonly
and represents conflicting changes made to lines of text within two
versions of a single file.

   Monotone does not generally use CVS style conflict markers for
content conflicts. Instead it makes the content of both conflicting
files and the content of their common ancestor available for use with
your favorite merge tool. See the `merge3' hook for more information.

   Alternatively, rather than using a merge tool it is possible to make
further changes to one or both of the conflicting file versions so that
they will merge cleanly. This can also be a very helpful strategy if
the merge conflicts are due to sections of text in the file being moved
from one location to another. Rather than struggling to merge such
conflicting changes with a merge tool, similar rearrangements can be
made to one of the conflicting files before redoing the merge.

Duplicate Name Conflict
-----------------------

A duplicate name conflict occurs when two distinct files or directories
have been given the same name in the two merge parents.  This can occur
when each of the merge parents adds a new file or directory with the
conflicting name, or when one parent adds a new file or directory with
the conflicting name and the other renames an existing file or
directory to the conflicting name, or when both parents rename an
existing file or directory to the conflicting name.

   In earlier versions of monotone (before version 0.39) this type of
conflict was referred to as a _rename target conflict_ although it
doesn't necessarily have anything to do with renames.

   There are two main situations in which duplicate name conflicts
occur:

   * Two people both realize a new file should be added, and commit it.
     In this case, the files have the right name and the right
     contents, but monotone reports a conflict because they were added
     separately.

   * Two people each decide to add new files with different content, and
     accidently pick the same name.

   These conflicts are reported when someone tries to merge the two
revisions containing the new files.

Same file
.........

For the first case, the conflict is resolved by `drop'ing one file. The
contents should be manually merged first, in case they are slightly
different. Typically, a user will have one of the files in their
current workspace; the other can be retrieved via `automate
get_file_of'; the revision id is shown in the merge error message. The
process can be confusing; here's a detailed example.

   Suppose Beth and Abe each commit a new file `checkout.sh'. When Beth
attempts to merge the two heads, she gets a message like:

     mtn: 2 heads on branch 'testbranch'
     mtn: [left]  ae94e6677b8e31692c67d98744dccf5fa9ccffe5
     mtn: [right] dfdf50b19fb971f502671b0cfa6d15d69a0d04bb
     mtn: conflict: duplicate name 'checkout.sh'
     mtn: added as a new file on the left
     mtn: added as a new file on the right
     mtn: error: merge failed due to unresolved conflicts

   The file labeled `right' is the file in Beth's workspace. To
retrieve a copy of Abe's file, Beth executes:

     mtn automate get_file_of checkout.sh \
     --revision=ae94e6677b8e31692c67d98744dccf5fa9ccffe5 \
     > checkout.sh-merge

   Now Beth manually merges (using her favorite merge tool)
`checkout.sh' and `checkout.sh-merge', leaving the results in
`checkout.sh-merge' (_not_ in her copy).

   Then Beth drops her copy, and commits that change:

     mtn drop checkout.sh
     mtn commit --message "resolving conflicting 'checkout.sh'"

   Now Beth can merge the two heads, and update her workspace:

     mtn merge
     mtn update

   This leaves a copy of Abe's original `checkout.sh'. Beth overwrites
it with her merged version, and commits again:

     rm checkout.sh
     mv checkout.sh-merge checkout.sh
     mtn commit --message "resolving conflicting 'checkout.sh' - done"

   When Abe later syncs and updates, he will get the merged version.

Different files
...............

The second case, where two different files accidently have the same
name, is resolved by renaming one or both of them.

   Suppose Beth and Abe each start working on different thermostat
models (say Honeywell and Westinghouse), but they both name the file
`thermostat'. When Beth attempts to merge, she will get the same error
message as in the first case. When she retrieves Abe's file, she will
see that they should be different files. So she renames her file,
merges, and updates:

     mtn rename thermostat thermostat-honeywell
     mtn merge
     mtn update

   Now she has her file in `thermostat-honeywell', and Abe's in
`thermostat'. She may rename Abe's file to `thermostat-westinghouse',
or ask Abe to do that.

   If a project has a good file naming convention, this second case
should be rare.

Missing Root Conflict
---------------------

Monotone's merge strategy is sometimes referred to as _die-die-die_
merge, with reference to the fact that when a file or directory is
deleted there is no means of resurrecting it. Merging the deletion of a
file or directory will _always_ result in that file or directory being
deleted.

   A missing root conflict occurs when some directory has been moved to
the root directory in one of the merge parents and has been deleted in
the other merge parent. Because of die-die-die merge the result will
not contain the directory that has been moved to the root.

   Missing root conflicts should be very rare because it is unlikely
that a project's root directory will change. It is even more unlikely
that a project's root directory will be changed to some other directory
in one merge parent and that this directory will also be deleted in the
other merge parent. Even still, a missing root directory conflict can
be easily resolved by moving another directory to the root in the merge
parent where the root directory was previously changed. Because of
die-die-die merge, no change to resolve the conflict can be made to the
merge parent that deleted the directory which was moved to the root in
the other merge parent.

   See the `pivot_root' command for more information on moving another
directory to the project root.

Invalid Name Conflict
---------------------

Monotone reserves the name `_MTN' in a workspace root directory for
internal use and treats this name as _illegal_ for a versioned file or
directory in the project root. This name is _legal_ for a versioned
file or directory as long as it is not in the project root directory.

   An invalid name conflict occurs when some directory is moved to the
project root in one of the merge parents and a file or directory that
exists in this new root directory is renamed to `_MTN' or a new file or
directory is added with the name `_MTN' to this directory in the other
merge parent.

   Invalid name conflicts should be very rare because it is unlikely
that a project's root directory will change. It is even more unlikely
that a project's root directory will change and the new root directory
will contain a file or directory named `_MTN'. Even still, an invalid
name conflict can be easily resolved in several different ways. A
different root directory can be chosen, the offending `_MTN' file or
directory can be renamed or deleted, or it can be moved to some other
subdirectory in the project.

   See the `pivot_root' command for more information on moving another
directory to the project root.

Directory Loop Conflict
-----------------------

A directory loop conflict occurs when one directory is moved under a
second in one of the merge parents and the second directory is moved
under the first in the other merge parent.

   Directory loop conflicts should be rare but can be easily resolved by
moving one of the conflicting directories out from under the other.

Orphaned Node Conflict
----------------------

An orphaned node conflict occurs when a directory and all of its
contents are deleted in one of the merge parents and further files or
directories are added to this deleted directory, or renamed into it, in
the other merge parent.

   Orphaned node conflicts do happen occasionally but can be easily
resolved by renaming the orphaned files or directories out of the
directory that has been deleted and into another directory that exists
in both merge parents, or that has been added in the revision
containing the orphaned files or directories.

Multiple Name Conflict
----------------------

A multiple name conflict occurs when a single file or directory has
been renamed to two different names in the two merge parents.  Monotone
does not allow this and requires that each file and directory has
exactly one unique name.

   Multiple name conflicts do happen occasionally but can be easily
resolved by renaming the conflicting file or directory in one or both
of the merge parents so that both agree on the name.

   In earlier versions of monotone (those before version 0.39) this type
of conflict was referred to as a _name conflict_.

Attribute Conflict
------------------

An attribute conflict occurs when a versioned attribute on a file or
directory is set to two different values by the two merge parents or if
one of the merge parents changes the attribute's value and the other
deletes the attribute entirely.

   Attribute conflicts may happen occasionally but can be easily
resolved by ensuring that the attribute is set to the same value or is
deleted in both of the merge parents. Attributes are _not_ merged using
the die-die-die rules and may be resurrected by simply setting their
values.

3.6.2 Conflict Resolution
-------------------------

Resolving the different types of conflicts is accomplished by checking
out one of the conflicting revisions, making changes as described
above, committing these changes as a new revision and then running the
merge again using this new revision as one of the merge parents. This
process can be repeated as necessary to get two revisions into a state
where they will merge cleanly, or with a minimum of file content
conflicts.


File: monotone.info,  Node: Workspace Collisions,  Next: Quality Assurance,  Prev: Merge Conflicts,  Up: Advanced Uses

3.7 Workspace Collisions
========================

Sometimes when you work on a project, several people make similar
changes in parallel.  When these changes occur in an existing file that
is known to both sides, monotone can merge the edits when the two
revisions meet (possibly after getting help to resolve content
conflicts).  Other kinds of changes cannot be merged so readily,
especially ones that involve files in your workspace that are not
tracked by monotone.

   Workspace collisions can happen for many reasons; some examples
include:
   * You have a file in your workspace that is unknown to monotone (you
     have not `add'ed it).  Someone else has `add'ed and `commit'ed a
     different file with the same name.  If you try to `update' your
     workspace to their revision, the added file in the incoming
     revision will collide with your file over use of the name.

   * There is a directory which contains both versioned and unversioned
     files (perhaps versioned sources, and unversioned object files
     built from the sources).  Someone else `commit's a revision that
     `drop's the versioned files _and_ the containing directory.  If
     you try to `update' to this revision, your directory will still
     contain the untracked files, and therefore cannot be deleted.

   * You have an unversioned file in your workspace, and you're trying
     to `update' to a revision that `add's a directory with the same
     name.

   These examples describe collisions on `update'; the same kinds of
things can happen with other commands that can bring changes into your
workspace, such as `checkout' or `pluck' too.

   Monotone is careful to avoid hitting such collisions. Before changing
the workspace, it will try and detect the possibility of collisions, and
the command will fail, warning you about the names that collide.  The
file content in the database is safe and can be recovered at any time,
so monotone is conservative and will refuse to destroy the information
in your workspace contents.

   However, monotone cannot detect all kinds of failures and collisions
in your workspace. For example:
   * On some systems with case-insensitive and/or internationalised
     filesystems, names that look distinct to monotone may in fact be
     considered the same by the underlying platform.

   * If some other program is creating files in the workspace at the
     same time as monotone, the colliding file might be created after
     the collision check at the start.

   * Other kinds of unpredictable system errors, like permissions
     problems or disk full conditions, might cause failures when
     monotone is rearranging the workspace content.

   These are all hopefully very rare occurrences. If such a filesystem
error _does_ cause a failure part-way during a workspace alteration,
monotone will stop immediately rather than risk potentially doing
further damage, and your workspace may be left in an incomplete state.
If this happens, you will need to resolve the issue and clean up the
workspace manually.  If you need to do so, understanding how monotone
manipulates the workspace is helpful.

   When monotone applies renaming changes to the workspace, each file is
first "detached" from the workspace under its old name, then "attached"
under the new name. This is done by moving it to the `_MTN/detached'
directory. Newly added files are created here before being moved into
place, too.  While inside `_MTN/detached', the file or directory is
named as a simple integer (these numbers come from monotone's internal
identification of the node).  If the detached node is a directory, the
directory is moved with all of its contents (including unversioned
files); this can help identify which directory has been detached.

   If a previous workspace alteration failed part-way, the
`_MTN/detached' directory will still exist, and monotone will refuse to
attempt another alteration while the workspace is in this inconsistent
state. This also acts as a lock against multiple monotone processes
performing workspace alterations (but not other programs).

   The best way to avoid a messy recovery from such a failure is simply
to ensure that you always `commit' before trying to `update' (or
`pluck', etc) other changes from the database into your workspace. This
ensures that your current workspace contents are safely stored, and can
be retrieved later (such as with `revert').


File: monotone.info,  Node: Quality Assurance,  Next: Vars,  Prev: Workspace Collisions,  Up: Advanced Uses

3.8 Quality Assurance
=====================

Monotone was constructed to serve both as a version control tool and as
a quality assurance tool. The quality assurance features permit users
to ignore, or "filter out", versions which do not meet their criteria
for quality. This section describes the way monotone represents and
reasons about quality information.

   Monotone often views the collection of revisions as a directed graph,
in which revisions are the nodes and changes between revisions are the
edges. We call this the "revision graph". The revision graph has a
number of important subgraphs, many of which overlap. For example, each
branch is a subgraph of the revision graph, containing only the nodes
carrying a particular `branch' cert.

   Many of monotone's operations involve searching the revision graph
for the ancestors or descendants of a particular revision, or extracting
the "heads" of a subgraph, which is the subgraph's set of nodes with no
descendants. For example, when you run the `update' command, monotone
searches the subgraph consisting of descendants of the base revision of
the current workspace, trying to locate a unique head to update the
base revision to.

   Monotone's quality assurance mechanisms are mostly based on
restricting the subgraph each command operates on. There are two
methods used to restrict the subgraph:

   * By restricting the set of trusted `branch' certificates, you can
     require that specific code reviewers have approved of each edge in
     the subgraph you focus on.

   * By restricting the set of trusted `testresult' certificates, you
     can require that the _endpoints_ of an update operation have a
     certificate asserting that the revision in question passed a
     certain test, or testsuite.

   The evaluation of trust is done on a cert-by-cert basis by calling a
set of Lua hooks: `get_revision_cert_trust', `get_manifest_cert_trust'
and `get_file_cert_trust'. These hooks are only called when a cert has
at least one good signature from a known key, and are passed _all_ the
keys which have signed the cert, as well as the cert's ID, name and
value. The hook can then evaluate the set of signers, as a group, and
decide whether to grant or deny trust to the assertion made by the cert.

   The evaluation of testresults is controlled by the
`accept_testresult_change' hook. This hook is called when selecting
update candidates, and is passed a pair of tables describing the
`testresult' certs present on the source and proposed destination of an
update. Only if the change in test results are deemed "acceptable" does
monotone actually select an update target to merge into your workspace.

   For details on these hooks, see the *note Hook Reference::.


File: monotone.info,  Node: Vars,  Next: Reserved Files,  Prev: Quality Assurance,  Up: Advanced Uses

3.9 Vars
========

Every monotone database has a set of _vars_ associated with it.  Vars
are simple configuration variables that monotone refers to in some
circumstances; they are used for configuration that monotone needs to be
able to modify itself, and that should be per-database (rather than
per-user or per-workspace, both of which are supported by `monotonerc'
scripts).  Vars are local to a database, and never transferred by
netsync.

   A var is a _name_ = _value_ pairing inside a _domain_.  Domains
define what the vars inside it are used for; for instance, one domain
might contain database-global settings, and particular vars inside it
would define things like that database's default netsync server.
Another domain might contain key fingerprints for servers that monotone
has interacted with in the past, to detect man-in-the-middle attacks;
the vars inside this domain would map server names to their
fingerprints.

   You can set vars with the `set' command, delete them with the
`unset' command, and see them with the `ls vars' command.  See the
documentation for these specific commands for more details.

Existing vars
=============

There are several pre-defined domains that monotone knows about:

`database'
     Contains database-global configuration information.  Defined names
     are:
    `default-exclude-pattern'
          The default branch exclusion glob pattern for netsync
          operations to use. Automatically set by first use of netsync,
          and by any netsync that uses the `--set-default' option.

    `default-include-pattern'
          The default branch glob pattern for netsync operations to use.
          Automatically set by first use of netsync, and by any netsync
          that uses the `--set-default' option.

    `default-server'
          The default server for netsync operations to use.
          Automatically set by first use of netsync, and by any netsync
          that uses the `--set-default' option.

`known-servers'
     Contains key hashes for servers that we have netsynced with in the
     past.  Analogous to `ssh''s `known_hosts' file, this is needed to
     detect man-in-the-middle attacks.  Automatically set the first
     time you netsync with any given server.  If that server's key later
     changes, monotone will notice, and refuse to connect until you
     have run `mtn unset known-servers SERVER-NAME'.



File: monotone.info,  Node: Reserved Files,  Next: Reserved Certs,  Prev: Vars,  Up: Advanced Uses

3.10 Reserved Files
===================

A monotone workspace consists of control files and non-control files.
Each type of file can be versioned or non-versioned. These
classifications lead to four groups of files:

   * versioned control files

   * non-versioned control files

   * versioned non-control files

   * non-versioned non-control files

   Control files contain special content formatted for use by monotone.
Versioned files are recorded in a monotone database and have their
state tracked as they are modified.

   If a control file is versioned, it is considered _part of_ the state
of the workspace, and will be recorded as a manifest entry. If a
control file is not versioned, it is used to _manage_ the state of the
workspace, but it not considered an intrinsic part of it.

   Most files you manage with monotone will be versioned non-control
files. For example, if you keep source code or documents in a monotone
database, they are versioned non-control files. Non-versioned,
non-control files in your workspace are generally temporary or junk
files, such as backups made by editors or object files made by
compilers. Such files are ignored by monotone.

Identifying control files
=========================

Control files are identified by their names. Non-control files can have
any name _except_ the names reserved for control files. The names of
control files follow a regular pattern:

Versioned control files
     Any file name beginning with `.mtn-'

Non-versioned control files
     Any file in the directory `_MTN/'

   The general intention is that versioned control files are things that
you may want to edit directly.  In comparison, you should never have to
edit non-versioned control files directly; monotone should do that for
you whenever it is appropriate.  However, both are documented here,
just in case a situation arises where you need to go "under the hood".

Existing control files
======================

The following control files are currently used. More control files may
be added in the future, but they will follow the patterns given above.

`.mtn-ignore'
     Contains a list of regular expression patterns, one per line. If
     it exists, any file with a name matching one of these patterns is
     ignored. *Note Regexps::, for the syntax of these regular
     expressions.

`_MTN/wanted-testresults'
     Contains a list of testresult key names, one per line. If it
     exists, update will only select revisions that do not have
     regressions according to the given testresult keys.

`_MTN/revision'
     Contains the identity of the "base" revision of the workspace, and
     a list of additions, deletions, and renames which have occurred in
     the current workspace, relative to that version.

     Every workspace has a base revision, which is the revision that was
     originally checked out to create that workspace.  When the
     workspace is committed, the base revision is considered to be the
     ancestor of the committed revision.

`_MTN/options'
     Contains "sticky" command-line options such as `--db' or
     `--branch', such that you do not need to enter them repeatedly
     after checking out a particular workspace.

`_MTN/log'
     Contains log messages to append to the "changelog" cert upon
     commit. The user may add content to this file while they work.
     Upon a successful commit monotone will empty the file making it
     ready for the next edit/commit cycle.

`_MTN/inodeprints'
     If this file exists, monotone considers the directory to be in
     *note Inodeprints:: mode, and uses this file to cache the
     inodeprints.

`_MTN/debug'
     If monotone detects a bug in itself or crashes, then before
     exiting it dumps a log of its recent activity to this file, to aid
     in debugging.


File: monotone.info,  Node: Reserved Certs,  Next: Naming Conventions,  Prev: Reserved Files,  Up: Advanced Uses

3.11 Reserved Certs
===================

Every certificate has a name. Some names have meaning which is built in
to monotone, others may be used for customization by a particular user,
site, or community. If you wish to define custom certificates, you
should prefix such certificate names with `x-'. For example, if you
want to make a certificate describing the existence of security
vulnerabilities in a revision, you might wish to create a certificate
called `x-vulnerability'.  Monotone reserves all names which do not
begin with `x-' for possible internal use. If an `x-' certificate
becomes widely used, monotone will likely adopt it as a reserved cert
name and standardize its semantics.

   Most reserved certificate names have no meaning yet; some do. Usually
monotone is also responsible for _generating_ many of these certs as
part of normal operation, such as during a `commit'. Others will be
added explicitly via other commands, like `tag' or `approve'.

   As well as carrying other information, certs (and combinations of
certs) are useful for identifying revisions with *note Selectors::; in
particular, this is the primary purpose of the `tag' cert.

   The pre-defined, reserved certificate names are:

`author'
     This cert's value is the name of a person who committed the
     revision the cert is attached to. The cert is generated when you
     commit a revision. It is displayed by the `log' command.

`branch'
     This cert's value is the name of a branch. A `branch' cert
     associates a revision with a branch. The revision is said to be "in
     the branch" named by the cert. The cert is generated when you
     commit a revision, either directly with the `commit' command or
     indirectly with the `merge' or `propagate' commands. The `branch'
     certs are read and directly interpreted by _many_ monotone
     commands, and play a fundamental role in organizing work in any
     monotone database.

`changelog'
     This cert's value is the change log message you provide when you
     commit a revision. It is displayed by the `log' command.

`comment'
     This cert's value is an additional comment, usually provided after
     committing, about a revision. Certs with the name `comment' will be
     shown together with `changelog' certs by the `log' command.

`date'
     This cert's value is an ISO date string indicating the time at
     which a revision was committed. It is displayed by the `log'
     command, and may be used as an additional heuristic or selection
     criterion in other commands in the future.

`suspend'
     This cert's value is the name of a branch (see the `branch' cert).
     This cert is generated by the `suspend' command.  A suspended
     revision is removed from the list of head revisions of a branch in
     most cases.  A branch with all its heads suspended will not appear
     in the list of branches.  Suspended revisions can still have
     children, and those children are in no way affected by the suspend
     cert on their parent.

`tag'
     This cert's value is a symbolic name given to a revision, which
     may be used as a way of selecting the revision by name for later
     commands like `checkout', `log' or `diff'.

`testresult'
     This cert's value is interpreted as a boolean string, either `0'
     or `1'. It is generated by the `testresult' command and represents
     the results of running a particular test on the underlying
     revision. Typically you will make a separate signing key for each
     test you intend to run on revisions. This cert influences the
     `update' algorithm.



File: monotone.info,  Node: Naming Conventions,  Next: File Attributes,  Prev: Reserved Certs,  Up: Advanced Uses

3.12 Naming Conventions
=======================

Some names in monotone are private to your work, such as filenames.
Other names are potentially visible outside your project, such as RSA
key identifiers or branch names. It is possible that if you choose such
names carelessly, you will choose a name which someone else in the
world is using, and subsequently you may cause confusion when your work
and theirs is received simultaneously by some third party.

   We therefore recommend two naming conventions:

   * For RSA keys, use the name of an active email address you own.
     This will minimize conflicts, and also serves as a mnemonic to
     associate your personal _identity_ with signatures made with your
     key. For example, monotone's primary author uses the key identifier
     `graydon@pobox.com'.

   * For branch names, select any name you like but prefix it with the
     "inverted domain name" of a DNS domain you control or are otherwise
     authorized to use. This behavior mimics the package naming
     convention in the java programming language. For example, monotone
     itself is developed within the `net.venge.monotone' branch,
     because the author owns the DNS domain `venge.net'.


File: monotone.info,  Node: File Attributes,  Next: Merging,  Prev: Naming Conventions,  Up: Advanced Uses

3.13 File Attributes
====================

Monotone contains a support for storing "persistent attributes" on
files and directories, generally known as "attrs" for short.  An attr
associates a simple name/value pair with a file or directory, and is
stored in the manifest.  Attrs are first-class versioned data; they can
be changed in a workspace, and those changes will be saved when the
workspace is committed.  The merger knows how to intelligently merge
attrs.

   The attribute mechanism was originally motivated by the fact that
some people like to store executable programs in version control
systems, and would like the programs to remain executable when they
check out a workspace.  For example, the `configure' shell script
commonly shipped with many programs should be executable.  Similarly,
some people would like to store devices, symbolic links, read-only
files, and all manner of extra attributes of a file, not directly
related to a file's data content.

   Monotone comes with support for some attrs built-in; for instance, if
an executable file is given to `mtn add', then it will automatically
mark the new file with a `mtn:execute' attr, and when the file is
checked out later, the executable bit will be set automatically.  (Of
course, if it is checked out on Windows, which does not support the
executable bit, then the executable bit will not be set.  However,
monotone will still know that the attr is set, and Windows users can
view and modify the attr like anyone else.)

   Attrs in the current workspace can be seen and modified using the
`mtn attr' command; see *note Workspace::.  Attrs can also be found by
examining any manifest directly.

   You can tell monotone to automatically take actions based on these
attributes by defining hooks; see the `attr_functions' entry in *note
Hook Reference::.  Every time your workspace is written to, monotone
will run the corresponding hooks registered for each attr in your
workspace.  This way, you can extend the vocabulary of attrs understood
by monotone simply by writing new hooks.

   You can make up your own attrs for anything you find useful; the
mechanism is fully general.  (If you make up some particularly useful
ones, we may even be interested in adding support to monotone proper.)
We only ask that if you do use custom attrs, you use some prefix for
them besides `mtn:'; attrs beginning with `mtn:' are reserved for
monotone's own use.


File: monotone.info,  Node: Merging,  Next: Migrating and Dumping,  Prev: File Attributes,  Up: Advanced Uses

3.14 Merging
============

Monotone has two merging modes, controlled by the `manual_merge'
attribute.  By default all files are merged in automatic mode, unless
the `manual_merge' attribute for that file is present and `true'.  In
automatic mode files are merged without user intervention, using
monotone's internal three-way merging algorithm.  Only if there are
conflicts or an ancestor is not available monotone switches to manual
mode, essentially escalating the merging to the user.  When working in
manual mode, monotone invokes the `merge3' hook to start an user
defined external merge tool.  If the tool terminates without writing
the merged file, monotone aborts the merging, reverting any changes
made.  By redefining the aforementioned hooks the user can not only
choose a preferred merge tool, but even select different programs for
different file types.  For example, gimp for .png files, OpenOffice.org
for .doc, and so on.  Starting with monotone 0.20, the `manual_merge'
attribute is automatically set at add time for all "binary" files, i.e.
all files for which the `binary_file' hook returns true.  Currently,
this means all files with extension gif, jpeg, png, bz2, gz and zip,
plus files containing at least one of the following bytes:

     0x00 thru 0x06
     0x0E thru 0x1a
     0x1c thru 0x1f

   The attribute could also be manually forced or removed using the
appropriate monotone commands.  Remember that monotone switches to
manual merging even if only one of the files to be merged has the
`manual_merge' attribute set.


File: monotone.info,  Node: Migrating and Dumping,  Next: Importing from CVS,  Prev: Merging,  Up: Advanced Uses

3.15 Migrating and Dumping
==========================

While the state of your database is logically captured in terms of a
packet stream, it is sometimes necessary or desirable (especially while
monotone is still in active development) to modify the SQL table layout
or storage parameters of your version database, or to make backup
copies of your database in plain text. These issues are not properly
addressed by generating packet streams: instead, you must use
"migration" or "dumping" commands.

   The `mtn db migrate' command is used to alter the SQL schema of a
database. The schema of a monotone database is identified by a special
hash of its generating SQL, which is stored in the database's auxiliary
tables. Each version of monotone knows which schema version it is able
to work with, and it will refuse to operate on databases with different
schemas. When you run the `migrate' command, monotone looks in an
internal list of SQL logic which can be used to perform in-place
upgrades. It applies entries from this list, in order, attempting to
change the database it _has_ into the database it _wants_. Each step of
this migration is checked to ensure no errors occurred and the resulting
schema hashes to the intended value. The migration is attempted inside
a transaction, so if it fails -- for example if the result of migration
hashes to an unexpected value -- the migration is aborted.

   If more drastic changes to the underlying database are made, such as
changing the page size of SQLite, or if you simply want to keep a plain
text version of your database on hand, the `mtn db dump' command can
produce a plain ASCII SQL statement which generates the state of your
database. This dump can later be reloaded using the `mtn db load'
command.

   Note that when reloading a dumped database, the schema of the dumped
database is _included_ in the dump, so you should not try to `init'
your database before a `load'.


File: monotone.info,  Node: Importing from CVS,  Next: Using packets,  Prev: Migrating and Dumping,  Up: Advanced Uses

3.16 Importing from CVS
=======================

Monotone is capable of reading CVS files directly and importing them
into a database. This feature is still somewhat immature, but
moderately large "real world" CVS trees on the order of 1GB have
successfully been imported.

   Note however that the machine requirements for CVS trees of this size
are not trivial: it can take several hours on a modern system to
reconstruct the history of such a tree and calculate the millions of
cryptographic certificates involved. We recommend experimenting with
smaller trees first, to get a feel for the import process.

   We will assume certain values for this example which will differ in
your case:
   * Your domain name, `example.net' in this example.

   * Your key name, `import@example.net' in this example.

   * Your project name, `wobbler' in this example.

   * Your database name, `test.mtn' in this example.

   * Your CVS repository path, `/usr/local/cvsroot' in this example.

   * The CVS module name for your project, `wobbler' in this example.

   Accounting for these differences at your site, the following is an
example procedure for importing a CVS repository "from scratch", and
checking the resulting head version of the import out into a workspace:

     $ mtn --db=test.mtn db init
     $ mtn --db=test.mtn genkey import@example.net
     $ mtn --db=test.mtn --branch=net.example.wobbler cvs_import /usr/local/cvsroot/wobbler
     $ mtn --db=test.mtn --branch=net.example.wobbler checkout wobber-checkout


File: monotone.info,  Node: Using packets,  Prev: Importing from CVS,  Up: Advanced Uses

3.17 Using packets
==================

Suppose you made changes to your database, and want to send those
changes to someone else but for some reason you cannot use netsync.  Or
maybe you want to extract and inject individual revisions automatically
via an external program. In this case, you can convert the information
into packets. Packets are a convenient way to represent revisions and
other database contents as plain text with wrapped lines - just what
you need if you want to send them in the body of an email.

   This is a tutorial on how to transfer single revisions between
databases by dumping them from one database to a text file and then
reading the dump into a second database.

   We will create two databases, A and B, then create a few revisions in
A, and transfer part of them to B.

   First we initialize the databases:

     $ mtn -d A db init
     $ mtn -d B db init

   Now set up a branch in A:

     $ mtn -d A setup -b test test

   And let's put some revisions in that branch:

     $ cd test/
     $ cat > file
     xyz
     ^D
     $ mtn add file
     $ mtn ci -m "One"    You may need to select a key and type a passphrase here
     $ cat > file2
     file 2 getting in
     ^D
     $ cat > file
     ERASE
     ^D
     $ mtn add file2
     $ mtn ci -m "Two"
     $ cat > file
     THIRD
     ^D
     $ mtn ci -m "Three"

   OK, that's enough.  Let's see what we have:

     $ cd ..
     $ mtn -d A automate select i: | mtn -d A automate toposort -
     a423db0ad651c74e41ab2529eca6f17513ccf714
     d14e89582ad9030e1eb62f563c8721be02ca0b65
     151f1fb125f19ebe11eb8bfe3a5798fcbea4e736

   Three revisions! Let's transfer the first one to the database B.
First we get the meta-information on that revision:

     $ mtn -d A automate get_revision a423db0ad651c74e41ab2529eca6f17513ccf714
     format_version "1"

     new_manifest [b6dbdbbe0e7f41e44d9b72f9fe29b1f1a4f47f18]

     old_revision []

     add_dir ""

     add_file "file"
      content [8714e0ef31edb00e33683f575274379955b3526c]

   OK, one file was added in this revision. We'll transfer it. Now,
_ORDER MATTERS_!  We should transfer:

  1. The file data (fdata) and file deltas (fdeltas), if any

  2. The release data (rdata)

  3. The certs

   In that order. This is because certs make reference to release data,
and release data makes reference to file data and file deltas.

     mtn -d A automate packet_for_fdata 8714e0ef31edb00e33683f575274379955b3526c > PACKETS
     mtn -d A automate packet_for_rdata a423db0ad651c74e41ab2529eca6f17513ccf714 >> PACKETS
     mtn -d A automate packets_for_certs a423db0ad651c74e41ab2529eca6f17513ccf714 >> PACKETS
     mtn -d B read < PACKETS

   This revision (a423db0ad651c74e41ab2529eca6f17513ccf714) was already
sent to database B. You may want to check the PACKETS file to see what
the packets look like.

   Now let's transfer one more revision:

     mtn -d A automate get_revision d14e89582ad9030e1eb62f563c8721be02ca0b65
     format_version "1"

     new_manifest [48a03530005d46ed9c31c8f83ad96c4fa22b8b28]

     old_revision [a423db0ad651c74e41ab2529eca6f17513ccf714]

     add_file "file2"
      content [d2178687226560032947c1deacb39d16a16ea5c6]

     patch "file"
      from [8714e0ef31edb00e33683f575274379955b3526c]
        to [8b52d96d4fab6c1e56d6364b0a2673f4111b228e]

   From what we see, in this revision we have one new file and one
patch, so we do the same we did before for them:

     mtn -d A automate packet_for_fdata d2178687226560032947c1deacb39d16a16ea5c6 > PACKETS2
     mtn -d A automate packet_for_fdelta 8714e0ef31edb00e33683f575274379955b3526c 8b52d96d4fab6c1e56d6364b0a2673f4111b228e >> PACKETS2
     mtn -d A automate packet_for_rdata d14e89582ad9030e1eb62f563c8721be02ca0b65 >> PACKETS2
     mtn -d A automate packets_for_certs d14e89582ad9030e1eb62f563c8721be02ca0b65 >> PACKETS2
     mtn -d B read < PACKETS2

   Fine. The two revisions should be in the second database now.  Let's
take a look at what's in each database:

     $ mtn -d A automate select i: | mtn -d A automate toposort -
     a423db0ad651c74e41ab2529eca6f17513ccf714
     d14e89582ad9030e1eb62f563c8721be02ca0b65
     151f1fb125f19ebe11eb8bfe3a5798fcbea4e736

     $ mtn -d B automate select i: | mtn -d B automate toposort -
     a423db0ad651c74e41ab2529eca6f17513ccf714
     d14e89582ad9030e1eb62f563c8721be02ca0b65

   Good! B has the two first revisions (as expected), and A has all
three. However, a checkout of that branch on B will not work, because
the certificate signatures cannot be verified.  We need to transfer the
signatures too (suppose the key used had the ID `"johndoe@domain.com"'):

     mtn -d A pubkey johndoe@domain.com > KEY_PACKETS
     mtn -d B read < KEY_PACKETS

   Done.

     $ mtn -d B co -b test test-B
     $ ls test-B
     file2  _MTN  x
     $ more test-B/file2
     file 2 getting in

   And that's it! The revisions were successfully transferred.


File: monotone.info,  Node: CVS Phrasebook,  Next: Command Reference,  Prev: Advanced Uses,  Up: Top

4 CVS Phrasebook
****************

This chapter translates common CVS commands into monotone commands. It
is an easy alternative to reading through the complete command
reference.

Checking Out a Tree
===================

     $ CVSROOT=:pserver:cvs.foo.com/wobbler     $ mtn pull www.foo.com com.foo.wobbler*
     $ cvs -d $CVSROOT checkout -r 1.2     $ mtn checkout --revision=fe37 wobbler
The CVS command contacts a network server, retrieves a revision, and
stores it in your workspace. There are two cosmetic differences with
the monotone command: remote databases are specified by hostnames and
globs, and revisions are denoted by SHA1 values (or selectors).

   There is also one deep difference: pulling revisions into your
database is a separate step from checking out a single revision; after
you have pulled from a network server, your database will contain
_several_ revisions, possibly the entire history of a project. Checking
out is a separate step, after communication, which only copies a
particular revision out of your database and into a named directory.

Committing Changes
==================

     $ cvs commit -m "log message"     $ mtn commit --message="log message"
                                   $ mtn push www.foo.com com.foo.wobbler*
As with other networking commands, the communication step with monotone
is explicit: committing changes only saves them to the local database.
A separate command, `push', sends the changes to a remote database.

Undoing Changes
===============

     $ cvs update -C file          $ mtn revert file
Unlike CVS, monotone includes a separate `revert' command for undoing
local changes and restoring the workspace to the original contents of
the base revision. Because this can be dangerous, `revert' insists on
an explicit argument to name the files or directories to be reverted;
use the current directory "`.'" at the top of the workspace to revert
everything.  The `revert' command is also used to restore deleted files
(with a convenient `--missing' option for naming these files).

   In CVS, you would need to use `update' to restore missing or changed
files, and you might get back a newer version of the file than you
started with. In monotone, `revert' always takes you back to where you
started, and the `update' command is only used to move the workspace to
a different (usually newer) base revision.

Incorporating New Changes
=========================

     $ cvs update -d               $ mtn pull www.foo.com com.foo.wobbler*
                                   $ mtn merge
                                   $ mtn update
This command, like other networking commands, involves a separate
communication step with monotone. The extra command, `merge', ensures
that the branch your are working on has a unique head. You can omit the
`merge' step if you only want `update' to examine descendants of your
base revision, and ignore other heads on your branch.

Tagging Revisions
=================

     $ cvs tag FOO_TAG .           $ mtn tag h: FOO_TAG
With CVS, tags are placed on individual files, and the closest thing to
identifying a consistent repository-wide revision is a set of files with
the same tag.  In monotone, all changes are part of a repository-wide
revision, and some of those revisions may be tagged.  Monotone has no
partial tags that apply only to a subset of files.

Moving Workspace to Another Revision
====================================

     $ cvs update -r FOO_TAG -d     $ mtn update -r 830ac1a5f033825ab364f911608ec294fe37f7bc
                                   $ mtn update -r t:FOO_TAG
With a revision parameter, the `update' command operates similarly in
monotone and CVS. One difference is that a subsequent `commit' will be
based off the chosen revision in monotone, while a `commit' in the CVS
case is not possible without going back to the branch head again.  This
version of `update' can thus be very useful if, for example, you
discover that the tree you are working against is somehow broken -- you
can `update' to an older non-broken version, and continue to work
normally while waiting for the tree to be fixed.

Viewing Differences
===================

     $ cvs diff                    $ mtn diff
     $ cvs diff -r 1.2 -r 1.4 myfile     $ mtn diff -r 3e7db -r 278df myfile
Monotone's `diff' command is modeled on that of CVS, so the main
features are the same: `diff' alone prints the differences between your
workspace and its base revision, whereas `diff' accompanied by two
revision numbers prints the difference between those two revisions. The
major difference between CVS and monotone here is that monotone's
revision numbers are _revision IDs_, rather than file IDs.  If one
leaves off the file argument, then diff can print the difference
between two entire trees.

Showing Workspace Status
========================

     $ cvs status                  $ mtn status
This command operates similarly in monotone and CVS. The only major
difference is that monotone's `status' command always gives a status of
the whole tree, and outputs a more compact summary than CVS.

Adding Directories and Files to Workspace
=========================================

     $ cvs add dir                 $ mtn add dir/subdir/file.txt
     $ cvs add dir/subdir     
     $ cvs add dir/subdir/file.txt
Monotone does not explicitly store directories, so adding a file only
involves adding the file's complete path, including any directories.
Directories are created as needed, and empty directories are ignored.

Removing Directories and Files from Workspace
=============================================

     $ rm file.txt                 $ mtn drop file.txt
     $ cvs remove file.txt    
Monotone does not require that you erase a file from the workspace
before you drop it. Dropping a file both removes its entry in the
manifest of the current revision and removes it from the filesystem.

Viewing History
===============

     $ cvs log [file]              $ mtn log [file]
Unlike CVS log, monotone log can also be used without a workspace; but
in this case you must pass a `--from' revision argument to tell
monotone where to start displaying the log from.

Importing a New Project
=======================

     $ cvs import wobbler vendor start     $ mtn --db=/path/to/database.mtn --branch=com.foo.wobbler setup .
                                   $ mtn add .
                                   $ mtn commit
The `setup' command turns an ordinary directory into a monotone
workspace.  After that, you can add your files and commit them as usual.

Initializing a Repository
=========================

     $ cvs init -d /path/to/repository     $ mtn db init --db=/path/to/database.mtn
Monotone's "repository" is a single-file database, which is created and
initialized by this command. This file is only ever used by you, and
does not need to be in any special location, or readable by other users.


File: monotone.info,  Node: Command Reference,  Next: Hook Reference,  Prev: CVS Phrasebook,  Up: Top

5 Command Reference
*******************

Monotone has a large number of commands. To help navigate through them
all, commands are grouped into logical categories.

* Menu:

* Tree::                        Operations on tree states in your database
* Workspace::                   Operations on your workspace
* Network::                     Communication with the network
* Informative::                 Production of descriptive reports
* Key and Cert Trust::          Keys and Trust Evaluations based on them
* Certificate::                 Creation of certificates
* Packet I/O::                  Production or consumption of packets
* Database::                    Manipulation of your database as a whole
* Automation::                  Running monotone from other programs
* RCS::                         Importing legacy version control files


File: monotone.info,  Node: Tree,  Next: Workspace,  Prev: Command Reference,  Up: Command Reference

5.1 Tree
========

`mtn cat PATH'
`mtn cat --revision=ID PATH'
     Write the contents of a specific file PATH to standard output.

     Without a `--revision' argument, the command outputs the contents
     of PATH as found in the current revision. This requires the
     command be executed from within a workspace.

     With an explicit `--revision' argument, the command outputs
     contents of PATH at that revision.

`mtn checkout --revision=ID DIRECTORY'
`mtn co --revision=ID DIRECTORY'
`mtn --branch=BRANCHNAME checkout DIRECTORY'
`mtn --branch=BRANCHNAME co DIRECTORY'
     These commands copy a revision ID out of your database, recording
     the chosen revision (the "base revision") in the file
     `DIRECTORY/_MTN/revision'. These commands then copy every file
     version listed in the revision's manifest to paths under
     DIRECTORY. For example, if the revision's manifest contains these
     entries:

          dir ""

             file "Makefile"
          content [84e2c30a2571bd627918deee1e6613d34e64a29e]

             file "include/hello.h"
          content [c61af2e67eb9b81e46357bb3c409a9a53a7cdfc6]

             file "src/hello.c
          content [97dfc6fd4f486df95868d85b4b81197014ae2a84]

     Then the following files are created:
          DIRECTORY/
          DIRECTORY/Makefile
          DIRECTORY/include/hello.h
          DIRECTORY/src/hello.c

     If you wish to `checkout' in the current directory, you can supply
     the special name `.' (a single period) for DIRECTORY. When running
     `checkout' into an existing directory, it is sometimes possible
     for *note Workspace Collisions:: to occur.

     If no ID is provided, as in the latter two commands, you _must_
     provide a BRANCHNAME; monotone will attempt to infer ID as the
     unique head of BRANCHNAME if it exists.

`mtn clone --branch=BRANCHNAME ADDRESS DIRECTORY'
     The clone command is a helper command that performs the roles of a
     number of other commands all at once.  Firstly, it constructs a new
     database.  It then populates this database by `pull'ing any data
     in the branch BRANCHNAME from the remote database, ADDRESS.
     Finally, it copies the files out of the newly created database
     into a local directory, just as `checkout' would.  The created
     database is placed in the new workspace as `DIRECTORY/_MTN/mtn.db'.

`mtn disapprove ID'
     This command records a disapproval of the changes between ID's
     ancestor and ID. It does this by committing the inverse changes as
     a new revision descending from ID. The new revision will show up
     as a new head and thus a subsequent `merge' will incorporate the
     inverse of the disapproved changes in the other head(s).

     Conceptually, `disapprove's contract is that disapprove(A) gives a
     revision B such that whenever B is merged with a descendant D of A
     the merge will result in what D "would have looked like" if A had
     never happened.

     Note that as a consequence of this contract the `disapprove'
     command only works if ID has exactly one ancestor, since it hasn't
     been worked out how to generate such a descendant in the
     multi-ancestor case.

`mtn heads --branch=BRANCHNAME'
     This command lists the "heads" of BRANCHNAME.

     The "heads" of a branch is the set of revisions which are members
     of the branch, but which have no descendants. These revisions are
     generally the "newest" revisions committed by you or your
     colleagues, at least in terms of ancestry. The heads of a branch
     may not be the newest revisions, in terms of time, but
     synchronization of computer clocks is not reliable, so monotone
     usually ignores time.

`mtn merge [--branch=BRANCHNAME]'
     This command merges the "heads" of BRANCHNAME, if there are
     multiple heads, and commits the results to the database, marking
     the resulting merged revision as a member of BRANCHNAME. The merged
     revision will contain each of the head revision IDs as ancestors.

     Merging is performed by repeated pairwise merges: two heads are
     selected, then their least common ancestor is located in the
     ancestry graph and these 3 revisions are provided to the built-in
     3-way merge algorithm. The process then repeats for each
     additional head, using the result of each previous merge as an
     input to the next.

`mtn propagate SOURCEBRANCH DESTBRANCH'
     This command takes a unique head from SOURCEBRANCH and merges it
     with a unique head of DESTBRANCH, using the least common ancestor
     of the two heads for a 3-way merge. The resulting revision is
     committed to DESTBRANCH. If either SOURCEBRANCH or DESTBRANCH has
     multiple heads, `propagate' aborts, doing nothing.

     The purpose of `propagate' is to copy all the changes on
     SOURCEBRANCH, since the last `propagate', to DESTBRANCH. This
     command supports the idea of making separate branches for
     medium-length development activities, such as maintenance branches
     for stable software releases, trivial bug fix branches, public
     contribution branches, or branches devoted to the development of a
     single module within a larger project.

`mtn explicit_merge ID ID DESTBRANCH'
     This command merges exactly the two IDs you give it, and places
     the result in branch DESTBRANCH.  It is useful when you need more
     control over the merging process than `propagate' or `merge' give
     you.  For instance, if you have a branch with three heads, and you
     only want to merge two of them, you can use this command.  Or if
     you have a branch with two heads, and you want to propagate one of
     them to another branch, again, you can use this command.

`mtn merge_into_dir SOURCEBRANCH DESTBRANCH DIR'
     This command takes a unique head from SOURCEBRANCH and merges it
     into a unique head of DESTBRANCH, as a directory. The resulting
     revision is committed to DESTBRANCH. If either SOURCEBRANCH or
     DESTBRANCH has multiple heads, `merge_into_dir' aborts, doing
     nothing.

     The purpose of `merge_into_dir' is to permit a project to contain
     another project in such a way that `propagate' can be used to keep
     the contained project up-to-date. It is meant to replace the use
     of nested checkouts in many circumstances.

     Note that `merge_into_dir' _does not_ permit changes made to the
     contained project in DESTBRANCH to be propagated back to
     SOURCEBRANCH. Attempting this would lead to SOURCEBRANCH containing
     both projects nested as in DESTBRANCH instead of only the project
     originally in SOURCEBRANCH, which is almost certainly not what
     would be intended.

`mtn import --branch=BRANCH [--message=MESSAGE] [--dry-run] DIR'

`mtn import --revision=REVISION [--message=MESSAGE] [--dry-run] DIR'
     This command imports the contents of the given directory and
     commits it to the head of the given branch or as a child of the
     given revision (and consequently into the branch that revision
     resides in).

     If the given branch doesn't exist, it is created automatically.
     If the branch already exists, any missing files are dropped and
     any unknown files are added before committing.

     If `--dry-run' is given, no commit is done.


File: monotone.info,  Node: Workspace,  Next: Network,  Prev: Tree,  Up: Command Reference

5.2 Workspace
=============

`mtn setup [DIRECTORY]'
     This command prepares DIRECTORY as a monotone workspace, by
     creating and populating the `_MTN' directory with basic
     information.  This information must include at least the branch
     and the database to be used, both of which will be placed in the
     `_MTN/options' file.

     This can be used with an empty directory to start a new blank
     project, or within an existing directory full of files, prior to
     using `mtn commit'. If no directory is specified, the current
     directory is used.

`mtn add PATHNAME...'

`mtn add --unknown'
     This command places "add" entries for the paths specified in
     PATHNAME... in the workspace's "work list". The work list of your
     workspace is stored in `_MTN/revision', and is a list of explicit
     pathname changes you wish to commit at some future time, such as
     addition, removal or renaming of files.

     As a convenience, the `--unknown' option can be used; this option
     will cause all of the files listed by `mtn list unknown' to be
     added.

     While this command places an "add" entry on your work list, it does
     not immediately affect your database. When you `commit' your
     workspace, monotone will use the work list to build a new revision,
     which it will then commit to the database. The new revision will
     have any added entries inserted in its manifest.

`mtn [--no-respect-ignore] mkdir DIRECTORY...'
     This command creates a directory in the filesystem relative to your
     current location and adds it to your workspace's "work list".  The
     changes are not reflected in your database until such time as you
     perform a commit.  If you use the `--no-respect-ignore' flag,
     entries in .mtn-ignore will not be honored.

`mtn [--bookkeep-only] drop PATHNAME...'
`mtn drop --missing'
     This command places "drop" entries for the paths specified in
     PATHNAME... in the workspace's "work list" and deletes the file
     from the workspace. The work list of your workspace is stored in
     `_MTN/revision', and is a list of explicit pathname changes you
     wish to commit at some future time, such as addition, removal, or
     renaming of files.  This command also removes any attributes on
     PATHNAME; see *note File Attributes:: for more details.  If you
     use the `--missing' flag it will add drop entries for any paths
     that monotone is tracking for which you have already removed the
     files from the filesystem, in addition to all those specified in
     PATHNAME....

     While this command places a "drop" entry on your work list, it does
     not immediately affect your database. When you `commit' your
     workspace, monotone will use the work list to build a new revision,
     which it will then commit to the database. The new revision will
     have any dropped entries removed from its manifest.

     There are situations in which `drop' will tell monotone to remove
     the file from the revision at commit time, but where it will _not_
     to remove the file from the workspace immediately.  One is if the
     `--bookkeep-only' option is supplied.  Another is if a file has
     un-committed changes or if a directory is not empty.

`mtn [--bookkeep-only] rename SRC DST'

`mtn [--bookkeep-only] mv SRC DST'
`mtn [--bookkeep-only] rename SRC1 ... DST/'
`mtn [--bookkeep-only] mv SRC1 ... DST/'
     This command places "rename" entries for the paths specified in
     SRC and DST in the workspace's "work list". The second form
     renames a number of source paths to the given destination. The work
     list of your workspace is stored in `_MTN/revision', and is a list
     of explicit pathname changes you wish to commit at some future
     time, such as addition, removal, or renaming of files.  This
     command also moves any attributes on SRC to DST; see *note File
     Attributes:: for more details, and, unless the `--bookkeep-only'
     option is supplied, it will rename the files immediately in the
     filesystem.  In the case where DST must be a directory (multiple
     SRC items), exists physically in the filesystem as a directory or
     is specified as a directory by convention (a trailing /), it will
     be automatically added to the workspace if it is not already
     versioned.

`mtn commit'

`mtn ci'
`mtn commit --message=LOGMSG [--message=LOGMSG...]'
`mtn ci --message=LOGMSG [--message=LOGMSG...]'
`mtn commit --message-file=LOGFILE'
`mtn ci --message-file=LOGFILE'
`mtn commit PATHNAME...'
`mtn ci PATHNAME...'
`mtn commit --message=LOGMSG [--message=LOGMSG...] PATHNAME...'
`mtn ci --message=LOGMSG [--message=LOGMSG...] PATHNAME...'
`mtn commit --message-file=LOGFILE PATHNAME...'
`mtn ci --message-file=LOGFILE PATHNAME...'
     This command looks at your workspace, decides which files have
     changed, and saves the changes to your database. It does this by
     loading the revision named in `_MTN/revision', locating the base
     manifest for your workspace, applying any pathname changes
     described in `_MTN/revision', and then comparing the updated base
     manifest to the files it finds in your workspace, to determine
     which files have been edited.

     For each edited file, a delta is copied into the database. Then the
     newly constructed manifest is recorded (as a delta) and finally the
     new revision.  Once all these objects are recorded in you database,
     `commit' updates `_MTN/revision' to indicate that the base
     revision is now the newly created revision, and that there are no
     pathname changes to apply.

     Specifying pathnames to `commit' restricts the set of changes that
     are visible and results in only a partial commit of the workspace.
     Changes to files not included in the specified set of pathnames
     will be ignored and will remain in the workspace until they are
     included in a future commit. With a partial commit, only the
     relevant entries in `_MTN/revision' will be removed and other
     entries will remain for future commits.

     From within a subdirectory of the workspace the `commit' command
     will, by default, include _all changes_ in the workspace.
     Specifying only the pathname "." will restrict `commit' to files
     changed within the current subdirectory of the workspace.

     The `--message' and `--message-file' options are mutually
     exclusive.  Both provide a LOGMSG describing the commit.
     `--message-file' actually specifies the name of the file containing
     the log message, while `--message' provides it directly.

     Multiple `--message' options may be provided on the command line.
     The log message will be formed by concatenating the `--message'
     options provided, with each one starting at the beginning of a new
     line.

     The `_MTN/log' file can be edited by the user during their daily
     work to record the changes made to the workspace. When running the
     `commit' command without a LOGMSG supplied, the contents of the
     `_MTN/log' file will be read and passed to the Lua hook
     `edit_comment' as a second parameter named USER_LOG_CONTENT.  The
     log message will be prepended with a 'magic' string that must be
     removed to confirm the commit.  This allows the user to easily
     cancel a commit, without emptying the entire log message.  If the
     commit is successful, the `_MTN/log' file is cleared of all
     content making it ready for another edit/commit cycle.

     If a `--branch' option is specified, the `commit' command commits
     to this branch (creating it if necessary).  The branch becomes the
     new default branch of the workspace.

     The `commit' command also synthesizes a number of certificates,
     which it attaches to the new manifest version and copies into your
     database:
        * An `author' cert, indicating the person responsible for the
          changes leading to the new revision.  Normally this defaults
          to your signing key or the return value of the `get_author'
          hook; you may override this by passing the `--author' option
          to commit.  This is useful when committing a patch on behalf
          of someone else, or when importing "by hand" from another
          version control system.

        * A `branch' cert, indicating the branch the committed revision
          belongs to.

        * A `date' cert, indicating when the new revision was created.
          Normally this defaults to the current time; you may override
          this by passing the `--date' option to commit.  This is
          useful when importing "by hand" from another version control
          system.

        * A `changelog' cert, containing the "log message" for these
          changes.  If you provided LOGMSG on the command line, this
          text will be used, otherwise `commit' will run the Lua hook
          `edit_comment (COMMENTARY, USER_LOG_CONTENT)', which
          typically invokes an external editor program, in which you
          can compose and/or review your log message for the change.

`mtn revert PATHNAME...'
`mtn revert --missing PATHNAME...'
     This command changes your workspace, so that changes you have made
     since the last checkout or update are discarded. The command is
     restricted the set of files or directories given as arguments.  To
     revert the entire workspace, use `revert' "." in the top-level
     directory. Specifying "." in a subdirectory will restrict `revert'
     to files changed within the current subdirectory.

     If the flag `--missing' is given it reverts (ie, restores) any
     files which monotone has listed in its manifest, but which have
     been deleted from the workspace.  Only missing files matching the
     given file or directory arguments are reverted.

`mtn update'
`mtn update --revision=REVISION'
     Without a `--revision' argument, this command incorporates
     "recent" changes found in your database into your workspace. It
     does this by performing 3 separate stages. If any of these stages
     fails, the update aborts, doing nothing. The stages are:

        * Examine the ancestry graph of revisions in your database, and
          (subject to trust evaluation) select the set of all
          descendants of your workspace's base revision. Call this set
          the "candidates" of the update.

        * Remove any candidates which lack acceptable testresult
          certificates. From the remaining candidates, select the
          deepest child by ancestry and call it the "target" of the
          update.

        * Merge the target of the update with the workspace, in memory,
          and if the merge is successful, write the result over top of
          the workspace.

     With an explicit `--revision' argument, the command uses that
     revision as the update target instead of finding an acceptable
     candidate.

     The effect is always to take whatever changes you have made in the
     workspace, and to "transpose" them onto a new revision, using
     monotone's 3-way merge algorithm to achieve good results.  Note
     that with the explicit `--revision' argument, it is possible to
     update "backwards" or "sideways" in history -- for example,
     reverting to an earlier revision, or if your branch has two heads,
     updating to the other.  In all cases, the end result will be
     whatever revision you specified, with your local changes (and only
     your local changes) applied.

     If a `--branch' option is specified, the `update' command tries to
     select the revision to update to from this branch.  The branch
     becomes the new default branch of the workspace (even if you also
     specify an explicit `--revision' argument).

     When running `update', it is sometimes possible for *note
     Workspace Collisions:: to occur.

`mtn pluck --revision=TO'
`mtn pluck --revision=FROM --revision=TO'
     This command takes changes made at any point in history, and
     attempts to edit your current workspace to include those changes.
     The end result is identical to running `mtn diff `-r' FROM `-r' TO
     | patch `-p0'', except that this command uses monotone's merger,
     and thus intelligently handles renames, conflicts, and so on.

     If only one revision is given, applies the changes made in TO as
     compared with TO's parent.  If two revisions are given, applies
     the changes made to get from FROM to TO.

     Note that this is not a true cherrypick operation.  A true
     cherrypick, as that word is used in version control theory,
     involves applying some changes out of context, and then recording
     the identity between the original changes and the newly applied
     changes for the use of later merges.  This command does the first
     part, not the second.  As far as monotone is concerned, the
     changes made by `mtn pluck' are exactly like those made in an
     editor; the command is simply a convenient way to make certain
     edits quickly.  In practice, this is rarely a problem.  `mtn
     pluck' should almost always be used between branches that will
     never be merged -- for instance, backporting fixes from a
     development branch to a stable branch.

     When you use `pluck' you are going behind monotone's back, and
     reducing its ability to help you keep track of what has happened in
     your history.  Never use `pluck' where a true merging command like
     `merge', `propagate', or `explicit_merge' will do.  If you find
     yourself using `pluck' often, you should consider carefully
     whether there is any way to change your workflow to reduce your
     need for `pluck'ing.

     When running `pluck', it is sometimes possible for *note Workspace
     Collisions:: to occur.

`mtn refresh_inodeprints'
     This command puts the current workspace into *note Inodeprints::
     mode, if it was not already, and forces a full inodeprints cache
     refresh.  After running this command, you are guaranteed that your
     workspace is in inodeprints mode, and that the inodeprints cache
     is accurate and up to date.

`mtn pivot_root [--bookkeep-only] pivot_root NEW_ROOT PUT_OLD'
     Most users will never need this command.  It is primarily useful in
     certain tricky cases where one wishes to combine several projects
     into one, or split one project into several. See also
     `merge_into_dir'.

     Its effect is to rename the directory whose name is currently
     NEW_ROOT to become the root directory of the versioned tree, and
     to at the same time rename the directory that is currently the
     root of the versioned tree to have the name PUT_OLD.
     Conceptually, it is equivalent to executing the following commands
     in the root of the workspace:

          $ mtn rename . NEW_ROOT/PUT_OLD
          $ mtn rename NEW_ROOT .

     Except, of course, that these `rename' commands are illegal,
     because after the first command the tree has no root at all, and
     there is a directory loop.  This illegality is the only reason for
     `pivot_root''s existence; internally, the result is treated
     exactly like two renames, including with respect to merges and
     updates.

     The use of `--bookkeep-only' with this command is not recommended.
     It causes the changes to be made in monotone's records, but not in
     the filesystem itself.

     When running `pivot_root', it is sometimes possible for *note
     Workspace Collisions:: to occur.



File: monotone.info,  Node: Network,  Next: Informative,  Prev: Workspace,  Up: Command Reference

5.3 Network
===========

`mtn serve [--bind=[ADDRESS][:PORT]]'

`mtn serve --stdio [--no-transport-auth]'
`mtn pull [--set-default] [URI-OR-ADDRESS] [GLOB [...] [--exclude=EXCLUDE-GLOB]]]'
`mtn push [--set-default] [URI-OR-ADDRESS] [GLOB [...] [--exclude=EXCLUDE-GLOB]]]'
`mtn sync [--set-default] [URI-OR-ADDRESS] [GLOB [...] [--exclude=EXCLUDE-GLOB]]]'
     These commands operate the "netsync" protocol built into monotone.
     This is a custom protocol for rapidly synchronizing two monotone
     databases using a hash tree index. The protocol is "peer to peer",
     but requires one peer to listen for incoming connections (the
     server) and the other peer (the client) to connect to the server.
     When run with `--stdio', the server listens for a single connection
     then terminates. When run with `--bind', or with neither option,
     the server listens for TCP connections and serves them
     continuously, until it is shut down.

     The network ADDRESS given to `serve' as an argument to `--bind'
     should be a host name to listen on, optionally followed by a colon
     and a port number. The default port number is 4691. If no `--bind'
     option is given, the server listens on port 4691 of every network
     interface.

     If `serve' is run with `--stdio', a single netsync session is
     served over the `stdin' and `stdout' file descriptors. If
     `--no-transport-auth' is provided along with `--stdio', transport
     authentication and access control mechanisms are disabled. Only
     use `--no-transport-auth' if you are certain that the transport
     channel in use already provides sufficient authentication and
     authorization facilities.

     The URI-OR-ADDRESS arguments given to `push', `pull', and `sync'
     can be of two possible forms. If the argument is a URI, a Lua hook
     may transform the URI into a connection command, and execute the
     command as a transport channel for netsync. If the argument is a
     simple hostname (with optional port number), monotone will use a
     TCP socket to the specified host and port as a transport channel
     for netsync.

     The GLOB parameters indicate a set of branches to exchange.
     Multiple GLOB and `--exclude' options can be specified; every
     branch which matches a GLOB exactly, and does not match an
     EXCLUDE-GLOB, will be indexed and made available for
     synchronization.

     For example, perhaps Bob and Alice wish to synchronize their
     `net.venge.monotone.win32' and `net.venge.monotone.i18n' branches.
     Supposing Alice's computer has hostname `alice.someisp.com', then
     Alice might run:

          $ mtn --bind=alice.someisp.com serve

     And Bob might run

          $ mtn sync alice.someisp.com "net.venge.monotone*"

     When the operation completes, all branches matching
     `net.venge.monotone*' will be synchronized between Alice and Bob's
     databases.

     The `pull', `push', and `sync' commands only require you pass
     ADDRESS and GLOB the first time you use one of them; monotone will
     memorize this use and in the future default to the same server and
     glob.  For instance, if Bob wants to `sync' with Alice again, he
     can simply run:

          $ mtn sync

     Of course, he can still `sync' with other people and other
     branches by passing an address or address plus globs on the command
     line; this will not affect his default affinity for Alice.  If you
     ever do want to change your defaults, simply pass the
     `--set-default' option when connecting to the server and branch
     pattern that you want to make the new default.

     In the server, different permissions can be applied to each
     branch; see the hooks `get_netsync_read_permitted' and
     `get_netsync_write_permitted' (see *note Hook Reference::).

     If a `--pid-file' option is specified, the command `serve' will
     create the specified file and record the process identifier of the
     server in the file.  This file can then be read to identify
     specific monotone server processes.

     The syntax for patterns is very simple.  `*' matches 0 or more
     arbitrary characters.  `?' matches exactly 1 arbitrary character.
     `{foo,bar,baz}' matches "foo", or "bar", or "baz".  These can be
     combined arbitrarily.  A backslash, `\', can be prefixed to any
     character, to match exactly that character -- this might be useful
     in case someone, for some odd reason, decides to put a "*" into
     their branch name.



File: monotone.info,  Node: Informative,  Next: Key and Cert Trust,  Prev: Network,  Up: Command Reference

5.4 Informative
===============

`mtn status'
`mtn status PATHNAME...'
     This command prints a description of the "status" of your
     workspace.  In particular, it prints:
        * The branch currently selected in `_MTN/options' for the
          workspace.

        * The revision id of the "parent" revision of the workspace, on
          which your in-progress changes are based.

        * A list of logical changes between the base and current
          manifest versions, such as adds, drops, renames, and patches.

     Specifying optional PATHNAME... arguments to the `status' command
     restricts the set of changes that are visible and results in only
     a partial status of the workspace. Changes to files not included
     in the specified set of pathnames will be ignored.

     From within a subdirectory of the workspace the `status' command
     will, by default, include _all changes_ in the workspace.
     Specifying only the pathname "." will restrict `status' to files
     changed within the current subdirectory of the workspace.

`mtn log'
`mtn log [--last=N] [--next=N] [--from=ID [...]] [--to=ID [...]] [--brief] [--no-merges] [--no-files] [--diffs] [FILE [...]]'
     This command prints out a log, in reverse-ancestry order, of small
     history summaries.  Each summary contains author, date, changelog
     and comment information associated with a revision.

     If `--brief' is given, the output consists of one line per revision
     with the revision ID, the author, the date and the branches
     (separated with commas).

     If `--last='N is given, at most N log entries will be given.

     If `--next='N is given, at most N log entries towards the current
     head revision will be given from the workspace's base revision in
     forward-ancestry order.  This is useful to review changes that
     will be applied to the workspace when `update' is run.

     If `--from='ID is given, the command starts tracing back through
     history from these revisions, otherwise it starts from the base
     revision of your workspace.

     If `--to='ID is given, log will only print entries for revisions
     that would not also be printed when logging from the revisions
     specified in `--to'. This is useful for reviewing changes between
     two points in history.

     By default, the log entries for merge nodes are shown.  If
     `--no-merges' is given, the log entries for these nodes will be
     excluded.

     If `--no-files' is given, the log output excludes the list of
     files changed in each revision.

     Specifying `--diffs' causes the log output to include a unified
     diff of the changes in each revision.

     If one or more files are given, the command will only log the
     revisions where those files are changed.

`mtn annotate FILE'
`mtn annotate [--revision=ID] [--revs-only] FILE'
     Dumps an annotated copy of the file to stdout. The output is in
     the form <short revision id>.. by <author> <date>: <line> Only the
     first 8 characters of the revision id are displayed, the author
     cert value is truncated at the first `@' or space character and
     the date field is truncated to remove the time of day.

     If `--revs-only' is specified, each line of the file is translated
     to <revision id>: <line> in the output, where <revision id> is the
     revision in which that line of the file was last edited.

`mtn complete file PARTIAL-ID'
`mtn complete [--brief] key PARTIAL-ID'
`mtn complete [--brief] revision PARTIAL-ID'
     These commands print out all known completions of a partial SHA1
     value, listing completions which are `file', `manifest' or
     `revision' IDs depending on which variant is used. For example,
     suppose you enter this command and get this result:

          $ mtn complete revision fa36
          fa36deead87811b0e15208da2853c39d2f6ebe90
          fa36b76dd0139177b28b379fe1d56b22342e5306
          fa36965ec190bee14c5afcac235f1b8e2239bb2a

     Then monotone is telling you that there are 3 revisions it knows
     about, in its database, which begin with the 4 hex digits `fa36'.
     This command is intended to be used by programmable completion
     systems, such as those in `bash' and `zsh'.

     The complete command for keys and revisions have a `--verbose'
     option.  Programmable completion systems can use `--verbose'
     output to present users with additional information about each
     completion option.

     For example, verbose output for `revision' looks like this:
          $ mt complete revision 01f
          01f5da490941bee1f0000f0561fc62eabfb2fa23 graydon@dub.net 2003-12-03T03:14:35
          01f992577bd8bcdcade0f89e724fd5dc2d2bbe8a kinetik@orcon.nz 2005-05-11T05:19:29
          01faad191d8d0474777c70b4d606782942333a78 kinetik@orcon.nz 2005-04-11T04:24:01

`mtn diff [--unified] [--show-encloser]'
`mtn diff --context [--show-encloser]'
`mtn diff --external [--diff-args=ARGSTRING]'
`mtn diff PATHNAME...'
`mtn diff --revision=ID'
`mtn diff --revision=ID PATHNAME...'
`mtn diff --revision=ID1 --revision=ID2'
`mtn diff --revision=ID1 --revision=ID2 PATHNAME...'
     These commands print out GNU "unified diff format" textual
     difference listings between various manifest versions. With no
     `--revision' options, `diff' will print the differences between the
     base revision and the current revision in the workspace.

     With one `--revision' option, `diff' will print the differences
     between the revision ID and the current revision in the workspace.
     With two `--revision' options `diff' will print the differences
     between revisions ID1 and ID2, ignoring any workspace.

     In all cases, monotone will print a textual summary - identical to
     the summary presented by `mtn status' - of the logical differences
     between revisions in lines proceeding the diff. These lines begin
     with a single hash mark `#', and should be ignored by a program
     processing the diff, such as `patch'.

     Specifying pathnames to the `diff' command restricts the set of
     changes that are visible and results in only a partial diff between
     two revisions. Changes to files not included in the specified set
     of pathnames will be ignored.

     From within a subdirectory of the workspace the `diff' command
     will, by default, include _all changes_ in the workspace.
     Specifying only the pathname "." will restrict `diff' to files
     changed within the current subdirectory of the workspace.

     The output format of `diff' is controlled by the options
     `--unified', `--context', `--show-encloser', and `--external'.  By
     default, monotone uses its built-in diff algorithm to produce a
     listing in "unified diff" format (analogous to running the program
     `diff `-u''); you can also explicitly request this with
     `--unified'.  The built-in diff algorithm can also produce
     "context diff" format (analogous to `diff `-c''), which you
     request by specifying `--context'.  The short options that `diff'
     accepts for these modes, `-u' and `-c', also work.

     In either of these modes, you can request that monotone print the
     name of the top-level code construct that encloses each "hunk" of
     changes, with `--show-encloser'.  The options that `diff' accepts
     for this mode, `-p' and `--show-c-function', also work.  Monotone
     finds the enclosing construct by scanning backward from the first
     changed line in each hunk for a line that matches a regular
     expression.  The default regular expression is correct for many
     programming languages.  You can adjust the expression used with
     the Lua hook `get_encloser_pattern'; *note Hooks::.  For the
     regular expression syntax, *Note Regexps::.

     `--unified' requests the "unified diff" format, the default.
     `--context' requests the "context diff" format (analogous to
     running the program `diff `-c'').  Both of these formats are
     generated directly by monotone, using its built-in diff algorithm.

     Sometimes, you may want more flexibility in output formats; for
     these cases, you can use `--external', which causes monotone to
     invoke an external program to generate the actual output.  By
     default, the external program is `diff', and you can use the option
     `--diff-args' to pass additional arguments controlling formatting.
     The actual invocation of `diff', default arguments passed to it,
     and so on, are controlled by the hook `external_diff'; see *note
     Hooks:: for more details.

`mtn list certs ID'

`mtn ls certs ID'
     These commands will print out a list of certificates associated
     with a particular revision ID. Each line of the print out will
     indicate:
        * Whether the signature on the certificate is `ok' or `bad'

        * The key ID of the signer of the certificate

        * The name of the certificate

        * The value of the certificate

     For example, this command lists the certificates associated with a
     particular version of monotone itself, in the monotone development
     branch:

          $ mtn list certs 4a96
          mtn: expanding partial id '4a96'
          mtn: expanded to '4a96a230293456baa9c6e7167cafb3c5b52a8e7f'
          -----------------------------------------------------------------
          Key   : graydon@pobox.com
          Sig   : ok
          Name  : author
          Value : graydon@dub.venge.net
          -----------------------------------------------------------------
          Key   : graydon@pobox.com
          Sig   : ok
          Name  : branch
          Value : monotone
          -----------------------------------------------------------------
          Key   : graydon@pobox.com
          Sig   : ok
          Name  : date
          Value : 2003-10-17T03:20:27
          -----------------------------------------------------------------
          Key   : graydon@pobox.com
          Sig   : ok
          Name  : changelog
          Value : 2003-10-16  graydon hoare  <graydon@pobox.com>
                :
                :         * sanity.hh: Add a const version of idx().
                :         * diff_patch.cc: Change to using idx() everywhere.
                :         * cert.cc (find_common_ancestor): Rewrite to recursive
                :         form, stepping over historic merges.
                :         * tests/t_cross.at: New test for merging merges.
                :         * testsuite.at: Call t_cross.at.
                :

`mtn list keys'

`mtn ls keys'
`mtn list keys PATTERN'
`mtn ls keys PATTERN'
     These commands list RSA keys held in your keystore and current
     database.  They do not print out any cryptographic information;
     they simply list the names of public and private keys you have on
     hand.

     If PATTERN is provided, it is used as a glob to limit the keys
     listed. Otherwise all keys in your database are listed.

`mtn list branches'

`mtn ls branches'
     This command lists all known branches in your database.

`mtn list tags'

`mtn ls tags'
     This command lists all known tags in your database.

`mtn list vars'

`mtn ls vars'

`mtn list vars DOMAIN'

`mtn ls vars DOMAIN'
     This command lists all vars in your database, or all vars within a
     given DOMAIN.  See *note Vars:: for more information.

`mtn list known'

`mtn ls known'
`mtn list known PATHNAME...'
`mtn ls known PATHNAME...'
     This command lists all files which would become part of the
     manifest of the next revision if you committed your workspace at
     this point.

     Specifying pathnames to the `list known' command restricts the set
     of paths that are searched for manifest files. Files not included
     in the specified set of pathnames will not be listed.

     From within a subdirectory of the workspace the `list known'
     command will, by default, search the entire workspace.  Specifying
     only the pathname "." will restrict the search for known files to
     the current subdirectory of the workspace.

`mtn list unknown'

`mtn ls unknown'
`mtn list unknown PATHNAME...'
`mtn ls unknown PATHNAME...'
     This command lists all files in your workspace that monotone is
     either ignoring or knows nothing about.

     Specifying pathnames to the `list unknown' command restricts the
     set of paths that are searched for unknown files. Unknown files not
     included in the specified set of pathnames will not be listed.

     From within a subdirectory of the workspace the `list unknown'
     command will, by default, search the entire workspace.  Specifying
     only the pathname "." will restrict the search for unknown files
     to the current subdirectory of the workspace.

`mtn list ignored'

`mtn ls ignored'
`mtn list ignored PATHNAME...'
`mtn ls ignored PATHNAME...'
     This command lists all files in your workspace that monotone is
     intentionally ignoring, due to the results of the `ignore_file
     (FILENAME)' hook.

     Specifying pathnames to the `list ignored' command restricts the
     set of paths that are searched for ignored files. Ignored files not
     included in the specified set of pathnames will not be listed.

     From within a subdirectory of the workspace the `list ignored'
     command will, by default, search the entire workspace.  Specifying
     only the pathname "." will restrict the search for ignored files
     to the current subdirectory of the workspace.

`mtn list missing'

`mtn ls missing'
`mtn list missing PATHNAME...'
`mtn ls missing PATHNAME...'
     This command lists all files in your workspace's base manifest,
     which are not present in the workspace.

     Specifying pathnames to the `list missing' command restricts the
     set of paths that are searched for missing files. Missing files not
     included in the specified set of pathnames will not be listed.

     From within a subdirectory of the workspace the `list missing'
     command will, by default, search the entire workspace.  Specifying
     only the pathname "." will restrict the search for missing files
     to the current subdirectory of the workspace.

`mtn list changed'

`mtn ls changed'
`mtn list changed PATHNAME...'
`mtn ls changed PATHNAME...'
     This command lists all files in your workspace that have changed
     compared to the base revision, including files that are dropped,
     added or renamed.

     Specifying pathnames to the `list changed' command restricts the
     set of paths that are checked for changes. Files not included in
     the specified set of pathnames will not be listed.

     From within a subdirectory of the workspace the `list changed'
     command will, by default, search the entire workspace.  Specifying
     only the pathname "." will restrict the search for known files to
     the current subdirectory of the workspace.

`mtn show_conflicts REV REV'
     This command shows what conflicts would need to be resolved in
     order to merge the given revisions.


File: monotone.info,  Node: Key and Cert Trust,  Next: Certificate,  Prev: Informative,  Up: Command Reference

5.5 Key and Cert Trust
======================

`mtn genkey KEYID'
     This command generates an RSA public/private key pair, using a
     system random number generator, and stores it in your keystore
     under the key name KEYID.

     The private half of the key is stored in an encrypted form, so
     that anyone who can read your keystore cannot extract your private
     key and use it.  You must provide a passphrase for your key when
     it is generated, which is used to determine the encryption key. In
     the future you will need to enter this passphrase again each time
     you sign a certificate, which happens every time you `commit' to
     your database. You can tell monotone to automatically use a
     certain passphrase for a given key using the
     `get_passphrase(KEYPAIR_ID)', but this significantly increases the
     risk of a key compromise on your local computer. Be careful using
     this hook.

`mtn dropkey KEYID'
     This command drops the public and/or private key. If both exist,
     both are dropped, if only one exists, it is dropped. This command
     should be used with caution as changes are irreversible without a
     backup of the key(s) that were dropped.

`mtn passphrase ID'
     This command lets you change the passphrase of the private half of
     the key ID.

`mtn trusted ID CERTNAME CERTVAL SIGNERS'
     This command lets you test your revision trust hook
     `get_revision_cert_trust' (see *note Hook Reference::).  You pass
     it a revision ID, a certificate name, a certificate value, and one
     or more key IDs, and it will tell you whether, under your current
     settings, Monotone would trust a cert on that revision with that
     value signed by those keys.

`mtn ssh_agent_add'
     This command will add your monotone keys to your current ssh-agent
     session.  You will be asked for the passphrase for each of your
     monotone private keys and they will be added to the ssh-agent.
     Once this is done you should be able to type _ssh-add -l_ and see
     your monotone key listed. When you subsequently use these keys
     through monotone it will use ssh-agent for signing without asking
     your for your passphrase.

     This command is mainly for use in a session script as monotone
     will automatically add your keys to ssh-agent on first use if it
     is available. For example the following two examples are
     equivalent:

          $ mtn ssh_agent_add
          enter passphrase for key ID [user@example.com]:
          $ mtn ci -m"Changed foo to bar"
          $ mtn push -k user@example.com

          $ mtn ci -m"Changed foo to bar"
          enter passphrase for key ID [user@example.com]:
          $ mtn push -k user@example.com

     In the second example, monotone automatically added the key to
     ssh-agent, making entering the passphrase not needed during the
     push.

`mtn ssh_agent_export FILENAME'
     This command will export your private key in a format that
     ssh-agent can read (PKCS8, PEM). You will be asked for your
     current key's password and a new password to encrypt the key with.
     The key will be printed to stdout. Once you have put this key in a
     file simply add it to ssh-agent and you will only have to enter
     your key password once as ssh-agent will cache the key for you.

          $ mtn ssh_agent_export ~/.ssh/id_monotone
          enter passphrase for key ID [user@example.com]:
          enter new passphrase for key ID [user@example.com]:
          confirm passphrase for key ID [user@example.com]:
          $ chmod 600 ~/.ssh/id_monotone
          $ ssh-agent /bin/bash
          $ ssh-add ~/.ssh/id_monotone
          Enter passphrase for /home/user/.ssh/id_monotone:
          Identity added: /home/user/.ssh/id_monotone (/home/user/.ssh/id_monotone)
          $ mtn ci -m"Changed foo to bar"
          $ mtn push -k user@example.com

     You can also use the `--ssh-sign' option to control whether
     ssh-agent will be used for signing. If set to _yes_, ssh-agent
     will be used to sign. If your key has not been added to ssh-agent
     monotone will fall back to its internal signing code and ask you
     for your password. If set to _only_, monotone will sign only with
     ssh-agent. If set to _no_, monotone will always use its internal
     signing code even if ssh-agent is running and has your monotone
     key loaded. If set to _check_, monotone will sign with both
     ssh-agent (if your key is loaded into it) and monotone's internal
     signing code, then compare the results. _check_ will be removed at
     some future time as it is meant only for testing and will not work
     with all signing algorithms.



File: monotone.info,  Node: Certificate,  Next: Packet I/O,  Prev: Key and Cert Trust,  Up: Command Reference

5.6 Certificate
===============

`mtn cert ID CERTNAME'
`mtn cert ID CERTNAME CERTVAL'
     These commands create a new certificate with name CERTNAME, for a
     revision with version ID.  The ID argument can be a selector using
     certs already on the revision, such as `h:BRANCHNAME'.

     If CERTVAL is provided, it is the value of the certificate.
     Otherwise the certificate value is read from `stdin'.

`mtn approve ID'
     This command is a synonym for `mtn cert ID branch BRANCHNAME'
     where BRANCHNAME is the current branch name (either deduced from
     the workspace or from the `--branch' option).

`mtn comment ID'
`mtn comment ID COMMENT'
     These commands are synonyms for `mtn cert ID comment COMMENT'. If
     COMMENT is not provided, it is read from `stdin'.

`mtn suspend ID'
     This command is a synonym for `mtn cert ID suspend BRANCHNAME'
     where BRANCHNAME is the current branch name (either deduced from
     the workspace or from the `--branch' option).

`mtn tag ID TAGNAME'
     This command associates the symbolic name TAGNAME with the
     revision ID, so that symbolic name can later be used in *note
     Selectors:: for specifying revisions for commands like `update' or
     `diff'.

     This command is a synonym for `mtn cert ID tag TAGNAME'.

`mtn testresult ID 0'
`mtn testresult ID 1'
     These commands are synonyms for `mtn cert ID testresult 0' or `mtn
     cert ID testresult 1'.



File: monotone.info,  Node: Packet I/O,  Next: Database,  Prev: Certificate,  Up: Command Reference

5.7 Packet I/O
==============

Monotone can produce and consume data in a convenient, portable form
called "packets". A packet is a sequence of ASCII text, wrapped at
70-columns and easily sent through email or other transports. If you
wish to manually transmit a piece of information - for example a public
key - from one monotone database to another, it is often convenient to
read and write packets.

   _Note:_ earlier versions of monotone queued and replayed packet
streams for their networking system. This older networking system has
been removed, as the netsync protocol has several properties which make
it a superior communication system. However, the packet I/O facility
will remain in monotone as a utility for moving individual data items
around manually.

`mtn automate packets_for_certs ID'
     This command prints out an `rcert' packet for each cert in your
     database associated with ID. These can be used to transport
     certificates safely between monotone databases.  See *note
     Automation:: for details of this command.

`mtn automate packet_for_fdata ID'
`mtn automate packet_for_rdata ID'
     These commands print out an `fdata' or `rdata' packet for the
     file, manifest or revision ID in your database.  These can be used
     to transport files or revisions, in their entirety, safely between
     monotone databases.  See *note Automation:: for details of these
     commands.

`mtn automate packet_for_fdelta ID1 ID2'
     This command prints out an `fdelta' packet for the differences
     between file versions ID1 and ID2, in your database.  These can be
     used to transport file differences safely between monotone
     databases.  See *note Automation:: for details of this command.

`mtn privkey KEYID'
`mtn pubkey KEYID'
     These commands print out an `keypair' or `pubkey' packet for the
     RSA key KEYID. These can be used to transport public or private
     keys safely between monotone databases.

`mtn read'

`mtn read FILE1 FILE2...'
     This command reads packets from files or `stdin' and stores them
     in your database.



File: monotone.info,  Node: Database,  Next: Automation,  Prev: Packet I/O,  Up: Command Reference

5.8 Database
============

`mtn set DOMAIN NAME VALUE'
     Associates the value VALUE to NAME in domain DOMAIN.  See *note
     Vars:: for more information.

`mtn unset DOMAIN NAME'
     Deletes any value associated with NAME in DOMAIN.  See *note
     Vars:: for more information.

`mtn db init --db=DBFILE'
     This command initializes a new monotone database at DBFILE.

`mtn db info --db=DBFILE'
     This command prints information about the monotone database DBFILE,
     including its schema version and various table size statistics.

`mtn db version --db=DBFILE'
     This command prints out just the schema version of the monotone
     database DBFILE.

`mtn db dump --db=DBFILE'
     This command dumps an SQL statement representing the entire state
     of DBFILE to the standard output stream. It is a very low-level
     command, and produces the most "recoverable" dumps of your database
     possible. It is sometimes also useful when migrating databases
     between variants of the underlying SQLite database format.

`mtn db load --db=DBFILE'
     This command applies a raw SQL statement, read from the standard
     input stream, to the database DBFILE. It is most useful when
     loading a database dumped with the `dump' command.

     Note that when reloading a dumped database, the schema of the
     dumped database is _included_ in the dump, so you should not try to
     `init' your database before a `load'.

`mtn db migrate --db=DBFILE'
     This command attempts to migrate the database DBFILE to the newest
     schema known by the version of monotone you are currently running.
     If the migration fails, no changes should be made to the database.

     If you have important information in your database, you should
     back up a copy of it before migrating, in case there is an
     untrapped error during migration.

`mtn db check --db=DBFILE'
     Monotone always works hard to verify the data it creates and
     accesses.  For instance, if you have hard drive problems that
     corrupt data in monotone's database, and you attempt to retrieve
     this data, then monotone will notice the problem and stop, instead
     of silently giving you garbage data.

     However, it's also nice to notice such problems early, and in
     rarely used parts of history, while you still have backups.
     That's what this command is for.  It systematically checks the
     database DBFILE to ensure that it is complete and consistent. The
     following problems are detected:

        * missing files that are referenced by their SHA1 hash from
          some manifest but do not exist in the database.  This is a
          serious problem; it means that your history is not fully
          reconstructible.  You can fix it by finding the file with the
          given hash, and loading it into your database with `fload'.

        * unreferenced files that exist in the database but are not
          referenced by their SHA1 hash from any existing manifest.  In
          itself, this only indicates some wasted space, and is not a
          problem; it's possible it could arise under normal use (for
          instance, in some strange corner cases following an
          incomplete netsync).  It could also arise, though, as a
          symptom of some other more serious problem.

        * missing manifests that are referenced by their SHA1 hash from
          some revision but do not exist in the database.  This is a
          serious problem; it means that your history is not fully
          reconstructible.  You can fix it by finding a database
          containing the manifest, and using `mdata' on that database
          to create a manifest data packet, which can be loaded into
          your database with `read'.

        * unreferenced manifests that exist in the database but are not
          referenced by their SHA1 hash from any existing revision.  In
          itself, this only indicates some wasted space, and is not a
          problem; it's possible it could arise under normal use (for
          instance, if you have run `db kill_rev_locally', or in some
          strange-but-harmless corner cases following an incomplete
          netsync).  It could also arise, though, as a symptom of some
          other more serious problem.

        * incomplete manifests that exist in the database but contain
          references to files that do not exist in the database.  For
          diagnosis and solution, see "missing files" above.

        * missing revisions that are referenced by their SHA1 hash from
          some other revision or revision cert but do not exist in the
          database.  This may be a serious problem; it may indicate
          that your history is not fully reconstructible (if the
          reference is from another revision) or that someone is
          creating bogus certs (if the reference is from a cert).  You
          can fix it by finding a database containing the revision, and
          using `rdata' on that database to create a revision data
          packet, which can be loaded into your database with `read'.

        * incomplete revisions that exist in the database but contain
          references to missing manifests, incomplete manifests or
          missing revisions.  This always occurs with some more
          detailed error; see above.

        * revisions with mismatched parents that disagree with the
          cached revision ancestry on their parent revisions.  This may
          cause problems in using the database, and suggests the
          presence of a bug in monotone's caching system, but does not
          involve data loss.

        * revisions with mismatched children that disagree with the
          cached revision ancestry on their child revisions.  This may
          cause problems in using the database, and suggests the
          presence of a bug in monotone's caching system, but does not
          involve data loss.

        * revisions with bad history that exist in the database but
          fail monotone's normal sanity checks for consistent and
          correct history.  This is a serious problem; it indicates
          that your history record is somehow malformed.  This should
          not be possible, since monotone carefully checks every
          revision before storing it into the database, but if it does,
          then please request assistance on the monotone mailing list.
          Fixing this generally means you may lose some history -- for
          instance, renames may be degraded into delete/add pairs --
          but the actual contents of every revision will still be
          reproducible.

        * revisions with missing certs that exist in the database
          lacking at least one author, branch, changelog or date cert.
          All revisions are expected to have at least one of each of
          these certs.  In itself, this is not necessarily a problem,
          but it is peculiar, and some operations such as netsync may
          behave strangely.

        * revisions with mismatched certs that exist in the database
          with differing numbers of author, changelog and date certs.
          These certs are expected to appear together, as each revision
          committed should have an author, changelog and date associated
          with it.  In itself, this is not a problem, but it is
          peculiar.  All operations should behave normally.

        * missing keys that have been used to sign certs but do not
          exist in the database.  In itself, this is not a problem,
          except that monotone will ignore any certs signed by the
          missing key.  You can fix it by finding a database containing
          the key in question, and using `pubkey' on that database to
          create a public key packet, which can be loaded into your
          database with `read'.

        * certs with bad signatures that exist in the database with
          signatures that are invalid.  In itself, this is not a
          problem, except that monotone will ignore any such certs.
          You may also wish to find out who is creating certs with bad
          signatures; it may indicate some kind of security attack.

        * certs with unchecked signatures that exist in the database
          but cannot have their signatures checked because the signing
          key is missing.  In itself, this is not a problem, except
          that monotone will ignore any certs signed by the missing key.
          You can fix it by finding a database containing the key in
          question, and using `pubkey' on that database to create a
          public key packet, which can be loaded into your database
          with `read'.


     This command also verifies that the SHA1 hash of every file,
     manifest, and revision is correct.

`mtn db kill_rev_locally ID'
     This command "kills", i.e., deletes, a given revision, as well as
     any certs attached to it.  It has an ugly name because it is a
     dangerous command; it permanently and irrevocably deletes
     historical information from your database.  If you execute this
     command in a workspace, whose parent revision is the one you are
     about to delete, the killed revision is re-applied to this
     workspace which makes it possible for you to fix a problem and
     commit again later on easily. For this to work, the workspace may
     not have any changes and/or missing files.

     There are a number of other caveats with this command:
        * It can only be applied to revisions that have no descendants.
          If you want to kill a revision that has descendants, you must
          kill all of the descendants first.

        * It only removes the revision from your local database (hence
          the "locally" in the command name).  If you have already
          pushed this revision out to another database, then the next
          time you pull from that database it may come back again.
          There is no way to delete a revision from somebody else's
          database except to ask them to delete it for you.

        * It does not actually delete the revision's files or manifest
          from your database.  If you run this command, and then run
          `db check', it will note that you have an "unreferenced
          manifest".  If you wish to eliminate this data for good (and
          thus free up the space), you may use netsync to `pull' from
          your current database into a new database; this creates a
          copy of your old database, without the unreferenced data.
          However, having this data in your database will not cause any
          problems, and acts as a safety net; if you later realize that
          you do, after all, need to retrieve the data in ID, then `db
          check' will let you see which manifest it was, and with some
          work you can extract ID's data.

`mtn db kill_branch_certs_locally BRANCH'
     This command "kills" a branch by deleting all branch certs with
     that branch name. You should consider carefully whether you want
     to use it, because it can irrevocably delete important
     information. It does not modify or delete any revisions or any of
     the other certificates on revisions in the branch; it simply
     removes the branch certificates matching the given branch name.
     Because of this, it can leave revisions without any branch
     certificate at all. As with `db kill_rev_locally', it only deletes
     the information from your local database; if there are other
     databases that you sync with which have revisions in this branch,
     the branch certificates will reappear when you sync, unless the
     owners of those databases also delete those certificates locally.

`mtn db kill_tag_locally TAG'
     This command "kills" a tag by deleting all tag certs with that tag
     name. You should consider carefully whether you want to use it,
     because it can irrevocably delete important information. It does
     not modify or delete any revisions, or any of the other
     certificates on tagged revisions; it simply removes all tag
     certificates with the given name.  As with `db kill_rev_locally',
     it only deletes the information from your local database; if there
     are other databases that you sync with which have this tag, the
     tag certificates will reappear when you sync, unless the owners of
     those databases also delete those certificates locally.

`mtn db execute SQL-STATEMENT'
     This is a debugging command which executes SQL-STATEMENT against
     your database, and prints any results of the expression in a
     tabular form.  It can be used to investigate the state of your
     database, or help diagnose failures.



File: monotone.info,  Node: Automation,  Next: RCS,  Prev: Database,  Up: Command Reference

5.9 Automation
==============

This section contains subcommands of the `mtn automate' command, used
for scripting monotone.  All give output on `stdout'; they may also
give useful chatter on `stderr', including warnings and error messages.

`mtn automate interface_version'

    *Arguments:*
          None.

    *Added in:*
          0.0

    *Purpose:*
          Prints version of the automation interface.  Major number
          increments whenever a backwards incompatible change is made
          to the `automate' command; minor number increments whenever
          any change is made (but is reset when major number
          increments).

    *Sample output:*

          1.2

    *Output format:*
          A decimal number, followed by "." (full stop/period),
          followed by a decimal number, followed by a newline, followed
          by end-of-file.  The first decimal number is the major
          version, the second is the minor version.

    *Error conditions:*
          None.


`mtn automate heads [BRANCH]'

    *Arguments:*
          One branch name,  BRANCH. If none is given, the current
          default branch is used.

    *Added in:*
          0.0

    *Purpose:*
          Prints the heads of branch BRANCH.

    *Sample output:*

          28ce076c69eadb9b1ca7bdf9d40ce95fe2f29b61
          75156724e0e2e3245838f356ec373c50fa469f1f

    *Output format:*
          Zero or more lines, each giving the ID of one head of the
          given branch.  Each line consists of a revision ID, in
          hexadecimal, followed by a newline.  The lines are printed in
          alphabetically sorted order.

    *Error conditions:*
          If the given branch contains no members or does not exist,
          then no lines are printed.


`mtn automate ancestors REV1 [REV2 [...]]'

    *Arguments:*
          One or more revision IDs, REV1, REV2, etc.

    *Added in:*
          0.2

    *Purpose:*
          Prints the ancestors of one or more revisions.

    *Sample output:*

          28ce076c69eadb9b1ca7bdf9d40ce95fe2f29b61
          75156724e0e2e3245838f356ec373c50fa469f1f

    *Output format:*
          Zero or more lines, each giving the ID of one ancestor of the
          given revisions.  Each line consists of a revision ID, in
          hexadecimal, followed by a newline.  The lines are printed in
          alphabetically sorted order.

          The output does not include REV1, REV2, etc., except if REV2
          is itself an ancestor of REV1, then REV2 will be included in
          the output.

    *Error conditions:*
          If any of the revisions do not exist, prints nothing to
          stdout, prints an error message to stderr, and exits with
          status 1.


`mtn automate common_ancestors REV1 [REV2 [...]]'

    *Arguments:*
          One or more revision IDs, REV1, REV2, etc.

    *Added in:*
          2.1

    *Purpose:*
          Prints all revisions which are ancestors of all of the
          revisions given as arguments.

    *Sample output:*

          28ce076c69eadb9b1ca7bdf9d40ce95fe2f29b61
          75156724e0e2e3245838f356ec373c50fa469f1f

    *Output format:*
          Zero or more lines, each giving the ID of one common ancestor
          of all the given revisions.  Each line consists of a revision
          ID, in hexadecimal, followed by a newline.  The lines are
          printed in alphabetically sorted order.

          The output will include one of the argument revisions only if
          that revision is an ancestor of all other revisions given as
          arguments.

    *Error conditions:*
          If any of the revisions do not exist, prints nothing to
          stdout, prints an error message to stderr, and exits with
          status 1.


`mtn automate parents REV'

    *Arguments:*
          One revision ID, REV.

    *Added in:*
          0.2

    *Purpose:*
          Prints the immediate parents of a revision.  This is like a
          non-recursive version of `automate ancestors'.

    *Sample output:*

          28ce076c69eadb9b1ca7bdf9d40ce95fe2f29b61
          75156724e0e2e3245838f356ec373c50fa469f1f

    *Output format:*
          Zero or more lines, each giving the ID of one parent of the
          given revision.  Each line consists of a revision ID, in
          hexadecimal, followed by a newline.  The lines are printed in
          alphabetically sorted order.

    *Error conditions:*
          If the given revision REV does not exist, prints nothing to
          stdout, prints an error message to stderr, and exits with
          status 1.


`mtn automate descendents REV1 [REV2 [...]]'

    *Arguments:*
          One or more revision IDs, REV1, REV2, etc.

    *Added in:*
          0.1

    *Purpose:*
          Prints the descendants of one or more revisions.

    *Sample output:*

          28ce076c69eadb9b1ca7bdf9d40ce95fe2f29b61
          75156724e0e2e3245838f356ec373c50fa469f1f

    *Output format:*
          Zero or more lines, each giving the ID of one descendant of
          the given revisions.  Each line consists of a revision ID, in
          hexadecimal, followed by a newline.  The lines are printed in
          alphabetically sorted order.

          The output does not include REV1, REV2, etc., except that if
          REV2 is itself a descendant of REV1, then REV2 will be
          included in the output.

    *Error conditions:*
          If any of the revisions do not exist, prints nothing to
          stdout, prints an error message to stderr, and exits with
          status 1.


`mtn automate children REV'

    *Arguments:*
          One revision ID, REV.

    *Added in:*
          0.2

    *Purpose:*
          Prints the immediate children of a revision.  This is like a
          non-recursive version of `automate descendents'.

    *Sample output:*

          28ce076c69eadb9b1ca7bdf9d40ce95fe2f29b61
          75156724e0e2e3245838f356ec373c50fa469f1f

    *Output format:*
          Zero or more lines, each giving the ID of one child of the
          given revision.  Each line consists of a revision ID, in
          hexadecimal, followed by a newline.  The lines are printed in
          alphabetically sorted order.

    *Error conditions:*
          If the given revision REV does not exist, prints nothing to
          stdout, prints an error message to stderr, and exits with
          status 1.


`mtn automate graph'

    *Arguments:*
          None.

    *Added in:*
          0.2

    *Purpose:*
          Prints out the complete ancestry graph of this database.

    *Sample output:*

          0c05e8ec9c6af4224672c7cc4c9ef05ae8bdb794
          27ebcae50e1814e35274cb89b5031a423c29f95a 5830984dec5c41d994bcadfeab4bf1bf67747b89
          4e284617c80bec7da03925062a84f715c1b042bd 27ebcae50e1814e35274cb89b5031a423c29f95a 657c756d24fb65213d59f4ae07e117d830dcc95b

    *Output format:*
          Zero or more lines, each giving ancestry information for one
          revision.  Each line begins with a revision ID.  Following
          this are zero or more space-prefixed revision IDs.  Each
          revision ID after the first is a parent (in the sense of
          `automate parents') of the first.  For instance, in the above
          sample output, 0c05e8ec9c6af4224672c7cc4c9ef05ae8bdb794 is a
          root node, 27ebcae50e1814e35274cb89b5031a423c29f95a has one
          parent, and 4e284617c80bec7da03925062a84f715c1b042bd has two
          parents, i.e., is a merge node.

          The output as a whole is alphabetically sorted by line;
          additionally, the parents within each line are alphabetically
          sorted.

    *Error conditions:*
          None.


`mtn automate erase_ancestors [REV1 [REV2 [...]]]'

    *Arguments:*
          One or more revision IDs, REV1, REV2, etc.

    *Added in:*
          0.1

    *Purpose:*
          Prints all arguments, except those that are an ancestor of
          some other argument.  One way to think about this is that it
          prints the minimal elements of the given set, under the
          ordering imposed by the "child of" relation.  Another way to
          think of it is if the arguments formed a branch, then we
          would print the heads of that branch.  If there are no
          arguments, prints nothing.

    *Sample output:*

          28ce076c69eadb9b1ca7bdf9d40ce95fe2f29b61
          75156724e0e2e3245838f356ec373c50fa469f1f

    *Output format:*
          Zero or more lines, each giving the ID of one descendant of
          the given revisions.  Each line consists of a revision ID, in
          hexadecimal, followed by a newline.  The lines are printed in
          alphabetically sorted order.

    *Error conditions:*
          If any of the revisions do not exist, prints nothing to
          stdout, prints an error message to stderr, and exits with
          status 1.


`mtn automate toposort [REV1 [REV2 [...]]]'

    *Arguments:*
          One or more revision IDs, REV1, REV2, etc.

    *Added in:*
          0.1

    *Purpose:*
          Prints all arguments, topologically sorted.  I.e., if REV1 is
          an ancestor of REV2, then REV1 will appear before REV2 in the
          output; if REV2 is an ancestor of REV1, then REV2 will appear
          before REV1 in the output; and if neither is an ancestor of
          the other, then they may appear in either order.  If there
          are no arguments, prints nothing.

    *Sample output:*

          28ce076c69eadb9b1ca7bdf9d40ce95fe2f29b61
          75156724e0e2e3245838f356ec373c50fa469f1f

    *Output format:*
          A list of revision IDs, in hexadecimal, each followed by a
          newline.  Revisions are printed in topologically sorted order.

    *Error conditions:*
          If any of the revisions do not exist, prints nothing to
          stdout, prints an error message to stderr, and exits with
          status 1.


`mtn automate ancestry_difference NEW [OLD1 [OLD2 [...]]]'

    *Arguments:*
          A "new" revision ID NEW, followed by zero or more "old"
          revision IDs OLD1, OLD2, etc.

    *Added in:*
          0.1

    *Purpose:*
          Prints all ancestors of the revision NEW, that are not also
          ancestors of one of the old revisions.  For purposes of this
          command, "ancestor" is an inclusive term; for example, if NEW
          is an ancestor of OLD1, it will not be printed; but if NEW is
          not an ancestor of any of the "old" revisions, then it will
          be.  Similarly, OLD1 will never be printed, because it is
          considered to be an ancestor of itself.  The reason for the
          names is that if NEW a new revision, and OLD1, OLD2, etc. are
          revisions that you have processed before, then this command
          tells you which revisions are new since then.

    *Sample output:*

          28ce076c69eadb9b1ca7bdf9d40ce95fe2f29b61
          75156724e0e2e3245838f356ec373c50fa469f1f

    *Output format:*
          A list of revision IDs, in hexadecimal, each followed by a
          newline.  Revisions are printed in topologically sorted order.

    *Error conditions:*
          If any of the revisions do not exist, prints nothing to
          stdout, prints an error message to stderr, and exits with
          status 1.


`mtn automate leaves'

    *Arguments:*
          None.

    *Added in:*
          0.1

    *Purpose:*
          Prints the leaves of the revision graph, i.e. all revision
          that have no children.  This is similar, but not identical to
          the functionality of `heads', which prints every revision in
          a branch, that has no descendants in that branch.  If every
          revision in the database was in the same branch, then they
          would be identical.  Generally, every leaf is the head of
          some branch, but not every branch head is a leaf.

    *Sample output:*

          28ce076c69eadb9b1ca7bdf9d40ce95fe2f29b61
          75156724e0e2e3245838f356ec373c50fa469f1f

    *Output format:*
          Zero or more lines, each a leaf of the revision graph.  Each
          line consists of a revision ID, in hexadecimal, followed by a
          newline.  The lines are printed in alphabetically sorted
          order.

    *Error conditions:*
          None.


`mtn automate roots'

    *Arguments:*
          None.

    *Added in:*
          4.3

    *Purpose:*
          Prints the roots of the revision graph, i.e. all revisions
          that have no parents.

    *Sample output:*

          276264b0b3f1e70fc1835a700e6e61bdbe4c3f2f

    *Output format:*
          Zero or more lines, each a root of the revision graph.  Each
          line consists of a revision ID, in hexadecimal, followed by a
          newline.  The lines are printed in alphabetically sorted
          order.

    *Error conditions:*
          None.


`mtn automate branches'

    *Arguments:*
          None.

    *Added in:*
          2.2

    *Purpose:*
          Prints all branch certs present in the revision graph, that
          are not excluded by the Lua hook `ignore_branch'.

    *Sample output:*

          net.venge.monotone
          net.venge.monotone.win32

    *Output format:*
          Zero or more lines, each the name of a branch. The lines are
          printed in alphabetically sorted order.

    *Error conditions:*
          None.


`mtn automate tags [BRANCH_PATTERN]'

    *Arguments:*
          A branch pattern (optional).

    *Added in:*
          2.2

    *Purpose:*
          If a branch pattern is given, prints all tags that are
          attached to revisions on branches matched by the pattern;
          otherwise prints all tags of the revision graph.

          If a branch name is ignored by means of the Lua hook
          `ignore_branch', it is neither printed, nor can it be matched
          by a pattern.

    *Sample output:*

          format_version "1"

               tag "monotree-0.3"
          revision [35cff8e8ba14155f5f7ddf7965073f514fd60f61]
            signer "njs@pobox.com"
          branches "net.venge.monotone.contrib.monotree"

               tag "monotree-0.2"
          revision [5d288b39b49613b0d9dca8ece6b9a42c3773f35b]
            signer "njs@pobox.com"
          branches "net.venge.monotone.contrib.monotree"

               tag "monotree-0.1"
          revision [8a121346ce2920b6f85df68b3b620de96bd14a8d]
            signer "njs@pobox.com"
          branches "net.venge.monotone.contrib" "net.venge.monotone.contrib.monotree"

               tag "monotree-0.4"
          revision [f1afc520474f83c58262896ede027ef77226046e]
            signer "njs@pobox.com"
          branches "net.venge.monotone.contrib.monotree"

    *Output format:*
          There is one basic_io stanza for each tag.

          All stanzas are formatted by basic_io. Stanzas are separated
          by a blank line. Values will be escaped, '\' to '\\' and '"'
          to '\"'.

          Each stanza has exactly the following four entries:

         `'tag''
               the value of the tag cert, i.e. the name of the tag

         `'revision''
               the hexadecimal id of the revision the tag is attached to

         `'signer''
               the name of the key used to sign the tag cert

         `'branches''
               a (possibly empty) list of all branches the tagged
               revision is on

          Stanzas are printed in arbitrary order.

    *Error conditions:*
          A run-time exception occurs if an illegal branch pattern is
          specified.


`mtn automate select SELECTOR'

    *Arguments:*
          One selector (or combined selector).

    *Added in:*
          0.2

    *Purpose:*
          Print all revisions that match the given selector.

    *Sample output:*

          28ce076c69eadb9b1ca7bdf9d40ce95fe2f29b61
          75156724e0e2e3245838f356ec373c50fa469f1f

    *Output format:*
          Zero or more lines, each giving the ID of one revision that
          matches the given selector.  Each line consists of a revision
          ID, in hexadecimal, followed by a newline.  Revision ids are
          printed in alphabetically sorted order.

    *Error conditions:*
          None.


`mtn automate identify PATH'

    *Arguments:*
          A file path.

    *Added in:*
          4.2

    *Purpose:*
          Prints the file ID (aka hash) of the given file.

    *Sample output:*

          6265ab1312fbe38bdc3aafa92441139cb2b779b0

    *Output format:*
          A single line with the file's ID, in hexadecimal, followed by
          a newline.

    *Error conditions:*
          If the file does not exists, is a special file or not
          readable, prints an error message to stderr and exists with
          status 1. A single file path only consisting of "-" is
          disallowed since it collides with the UNIX stdin marker.


`mtn automate inventory [`options...'] [FILES...]'

    *Arguments:*
          One or more file paths (optional). If present, only show an
          inventory for the given files or directories (and their
          sub-directories).

         `--depth=N'
               Maximum number of directories to descend.

         `--exclude=EXCLUDE-GLOB'
               File or directory to exclude.

         `--no-ignored'
               Don't output ignored files or directories.

         `--no-unknown'
               Don't output unknown directories.

         `--no-unchanged'
               Don't output files that are known but not changed in any
               way.

         `--no-corresponding-renames'
               If restricted to a renamed path, do not output the
               corresponding old / new paths for this restriction.


    *Changes:*
             * 7.0 - added options `--no-ignored', `--no-unknown',
               `--no-unchanged' and `--no-corresponding-renames'

             * 6.0 - converted to basic_io format (restriction support,
               various fixes)

             * 1.0 - initial, line-based format

    *Purpose:*
          Prints the inventory of every file found in the workspace or
          its associated base and revision manifests. Each unique path
          is listed in a basic_io stanza. Stanzas are separated by
          blank lines.

    *Sample output:*
          All basic status cases:
              path "added"
          new_type "file"
           fs_type "file"
            status "added" "known"
           changes "content"

              path "attributes_altered"
          old_type "file"
          new_type "file"
           fs_type "file"
            status "known"
           changes "attrs"

              path "dropped"
          old_type "file"
           fs_type "none"
            status "dropped"

             path "ignored~"
          fs_type "file"
           status "ignored"

              path "missing"
          old_type "file"
          new_type "file"
           fs_type "none"
            status "missing"

              path "original"
          old_type "file"
          new_path "renamed"
           fs_type "none"
            status "rename_source"

              path "patched"
          old_type "file"
          new_type "file"
           fs_type "file"
            status "known"
           changes "content"

              path "patched_and_attributes_altered"
          old_type "file"
          new_type "file"
           fs_type "file"
            status "known"
           changes "content" "attrs"

              path "renamed"
          new_type "file"
          old_path "original"
           fs_type "file"
            status "rename_target" "known"

              path "unchanged"
          old_type "file"
          new_type "file"
           fs_type "file"
            status "known"

             path "unknown"
          fs_type "file"
           status "unknown"

          Two files swapped in both the revision manifest and the
          workspace:
              path "original"
          old_type "file"
          new_path "unchanged"
          new_type "file"
          old_path "unchanged"
           fs_type "file"
            status "rename_source" "rename_target" "known"

              path "unchanged"
          old_type "file"
          new_path "original"
          new_type "file"
          old_path "original"
           fs_type "file"
            status "rename_source" "rename_target" "known"

          Recorded in the revision manifest that two files were
          swapped, but they were not actually swapped in the workspace.
          Thus they both appear as patched:
              path "original"
          old_type "file"
          new_path "unchanged"
          new_type "file"
          old_path "unchanged"
           fs_type "file"
            status "rename_source" "rename_target" "known"
           changes "content"

              path "unchanged"
          old_type "file"
          new_path "original"
          new_type "file"
          old_path "original"
           fs_type "file"
            status "rename_source" "rename_target" "known"
           changes "content"

          Rename (in the manifest and the workspace) `foo' to `bar';
          add (in the manifest and the workspace) new file `foo':
              path "foo"
          old_type "file"
          new_path "bar"
          new_type "file"
           fs_type "file"
            status "rename_source" "added" "known"

              path "bar"
          new_type "file"
          old_path "foo"
           fs_type "file"
            status "rename_target" "known"

          Rotated files `foo' -> `bar' -> `baz' -> `foo' (in the
          manifest and the workspace):
              path "foo"
          old_type "file"
          new_path "bar"
          new_type "file"
          old_path "baz"
           fs_type "file"
            status "rename_source" "rename_target" "known"

              path "bar"
          old_type "file"
          new_path "baz"
          new_type "file"
          old_path "foo"
           fs_type "file"
            status "rename_source" "rename_target" "known"

              path "baz"
          old_type "file"
          new_path "foo"
          new_type "file"
          old_path "bar"
           fs_type "file"
            status "rename_source" "rename_target" "known"

          Recorded in the revison manifest the rotation of files `foo'
          -> `bar' -> `baz' -> `foo', but the actual files in the
          workspace were not moved, so monotone interprets all files as
          having been patched:
              path "foo"
          old_type "file"
          new_path "bar"
          new_type "file"
          old_path "baz"
           fs_type "file"
            status "rename_source" "rename_target" "known"
           changes "content"

              path "bar"
          old_type "file"
          new_path "baz"
          new_type "file"
          old_path "foo"
           fs_type "file"
            status "rename_source" "rename_target" "known"
           changes "content"

              path "baz"
          old_type "file"
          new_path "foo"
          new_type "file"
          old_path "bar"
           fs_type "file"
            status "rename_source" "rename_target" "known"
           changes "content"

          Dropped from the manifest but not removed in the workspace
          and thus unknown:
              path "dropped"
          old_type "file"
           fs_type "file"
            status "dropped" "unknown"

          Added in the manifest but not in the workspace, and thus
          missing:
              path "added"
          new_type "file"
           fs_type "none"
            status "added" "missing"

          Recorded a rename in the manifest, but not moved in the
          workspace, and thus unknown source and missing target:
              path "original"
          old_type "file"
          new_path "renamed"
           fs_type "file"
            status "rename_source" "unknown"

              path "renamed"
          new_type "file"
          old_path "original"
           fs_type "none"
            status "rename_target" "missing"

          Moved in the workspace but no rename recorded in the
          manifest, and thus missing source and unknown target:
              path "original"
          old_type "file"
          new_type "file"
           fs_type "none"
            status "missing"

             path "renamed"
          fs_type "file"
           status "unknown"

          Renamed in the manifest and the workspace and patched:
              path "original"
          old_type "file"
          new_path "renamed"
           fs_type "none"
            status "rename_source"

              path "renamed"
          new_type "file"
          old_path "original"
           fs_type "file"
            status "rename_target" "known"
           changes "content"

          Renamed and restricted to `original' or `renamed':
              path "original"
          old_type "file"
          new_path "renamed"
           fs_type "none"
            status "rename_source"

              path "renamed"
          new_type "file"
          old_path "original"
           fs_type "file"
            status "rename_target" "known"
           changes "content"

          Renamed and restricted to `original' with the
          `--no-corresponding-renames' option:
              path "original"
          old_type "file"
          new_path "renamed"
           fs_type "none"
            status "rename_source"

          Renamed and restricted to `renamed' with the
          `--no-corresponding-renames' option:
              path "renamed"
          new_type "file"
          old_path "original"
           fs_type "file"
            status "rename_target" "known"
           changes "content"

          File is missing, an unversioned directory is in the way:
              path "missing_file"
          old_type "file"
          new_type "file"
           fs_type "directory"
            status "invalid"
           changes "content"

          Directory is missing, an unversioned file is in the way:
              path "missing_directory"
          old_type "directory"
          new_type "directory"
           fs_type "file"
            status "invalid"

          Directory `source' renamed to `target', `target' is missing,
          an unversioned file is in the way:
              path "source"
          old_type "directory"
          new_path "target"
           fs_type "none"
            status "rename_source"

              path "source/a"
          old_type "file"
          new_path "target/a"
           fs_type "none"
            status "rename_source"

              path "target"
          new_type "directory"
          old_path "source"
           fs_type "file"
            status "rename_target" "invalid"

              path "target/a"
          new_type "file"
          old_path "source/a"
           fs_type "none"
            status "rename_target" "missing"

    *Output format:*
          Each path is printed in one basic_io stanza. Stanzas are
          separated by a blank line. Each stanza starts with a `path'
          line, and contains up to seven lines. The order of the lines
          is not important, and may change in future revisions, except
          that the first line will always be `path'.

         `path'
               The file or directory path, relative to the workspace
               root. The file either exists in the workspace, or is
               listed in the base or revision manifest.  `path' is
               always output.

         `old_type'
               The type of the node in the base manifest.  "type" is
               either `file' or `directory'.  `old_type' is output for
               all old nodes (i.e. unchanged or dropped paths and
               rename sources).

         `new_type'
               The type of the node in the revision manifest.  "type"
               is either `file' or `directory'.  `new_type' is output
               for all new nodes (i.e. unchanged or added paths and
               rename targets).

         `fs_type'
               The type of the node in the workspace (also called the
               filesystem).  "type" is either `file', `directory' or
               `none' (if the path does not exist in the file system).
               `fs_type' is always output.

         `old_path'
               The old path for the node, if it has been renamed in the
               revision manifest.  `old_path' is only output for rename
               targets.

         `new_path'
               The new path for the node, if it has been renamed in the
               revision manifest.  `new_path' is only output for rename
               sources.

         `status'
               `status' is always output. Its value is one or more of:

              `rename_source'
                    PATH is part of a rename and denotes the old name
                    of a renamed node.

              `rename_target'
                    PATH is part of a rename and denotes the new name
                    of a renamed node.

              `added'
                    PATH has been added in the revision manifest, but
                    not existent in the base manifest.

              `dropped'
                    PATH has been deleted in the revision manifest and
                    the workspace.

              `missing'
                    PATH has been deleted in the workspace, but still
                    exists in the revision manifest.

              `ignored'
                    PATH is ignored by monotone.

              `known'
                    PATH exists in the workspace, and in the revision
                    manifest.

              `unknown'
                    PATH exists in the workspace, but not in the
                    revision manifest, i.e.  is unversioned.

              `invalid'
                    PATH is versioned and exists in the workspace and
                    revision manifest, but with incompatible types (a
                    versioned missing file is replaced by an
                    unversioned directory and vice versa).

         `changes'

              `content'
                    The contents of a file have been changed.

              `attrs'
                    The attributes of a path (file or directory) have
                    been changed.


    *Error conditions:*
          When executed from outside of a workspace directory, prints
          an error message to stderr, and exits with status 1.


`mtn automate certs ID'

    *Arguments:*
          A revision ID ID, for which any certificates will be printed.

    *Added in:*
          1.0

    *Purpose:*
          Prints all certificates associated with the given revision ID.
          Each certificate is contained in a basic IO stanza. For each
          certificate, the following values are provided:
          'key'
                a string indicating the key used to sign this certificate.
          'signature'
                a string indicating the status of the signature. Possible
                values of this string are:
                      'ok'        : the signature is correct
                      'bad'       : the signature is invalid
                      'unknown'   : signature was made with an unknown key
          'name'
                the name of this certificate
          'value'
                the value of this certificate
          'trust'
                is this certificate trusted by the defined trust metric?
                Possible values of this string are:
                      'trusted'   : this certificate is trusted
                      'untrusted' : this certificate is not trusted

    *Sample output:*

                key "emile@alumni.reed.edu"
          signature "ok"
               name "author"
              value "emile@alumni.reed.edu"
              trust "trusted"

                key "emile@alumni.reed.edu"
          signature "ok"
               name "branch"
              value "net.venge.monotone"
              trust "trusted"

                key "emile@alumni.reed.edu"
          signature "ok"
               name "changelog"
              value "propagate from branch 'net.venge.monotone.annotate' (head 76a886ef7c8ae12a4bba5fc2bd252557bf863aff)
                      to branch 'net.venge.monotone' (head 2490479a4e4e99243fead6d627d78291fde592f0)
          "
              trust "trusted"

                key "emile@alumni.reed.edu"
          signature "ok"
               name "date"
              value "2005-05-20T20:19:25"
              trust "trusted"

    *Output format:*
          All stanzas are formatted by basic_io. Stanzas are separated
          by a blank line. Values will be escaped, '\' to '\\' and '"'
          to '\"'.

    *Error conditions:*
          If a certificate is signed with an unknown public key, a
          warning message is printed to stderr. If the revision
          specified is unknown or invalid prints an error message to
          stderr and exits with status 1.


`mtn automate stdio'

    *Arguments:*
          none

    *Changes:*
             * 3.1 - Added the 'o' item to the recognized input. This
               change should not break anything.

             * 1.0 - Initial version.

    *Purpose:*
          Allow multiple automate commands to be run from one instance
          of monotone.

    *Sample input:*

          l6:leavese
          l7:parents40:0e3171212f34839c2e3263e7282cdeea22fc5378e
          o3:key11:foo@bar.come l4:cert40:0e3171212f34839c2e3263e7282cdeea22fc53783:foo3:bare

    *Input format:*

          [ 'o' <string> <string> [ <string> <string> [ ... ] ] 'e' ]
          'l' <string> [ <string> [ ... ] ] 'e'

          The input is a series of commands. The command name plus
          arguments are provided as 'l' <string> [<string> ...] 'e',
          where <string> = <size> colon <data> . This may optionally be
          preceded by a set of key=value pairs (command options) as 'o'
          <string> <string> [<string> <string> ...] 'e', where strings
          come in pairs, key followed by value. For flag options that
          don't take values, specify the second string as zero length;
          `0:'.

          The space between the ending 'e' of one group of strings and
          the beginning 'l' or 'o' of the next is reserved. Any
          characters other than whitespace will cause an error.

    *Sample output:*

          0:0:l:205:0e3171212f34839c2e3263e7282cdeea22fc5378
          1f4ef73c3e056883c6a5ff66728dd764557db5e6
          2133c52680aa2492b18ed902bdef7e083464c0b8
          23501f8afd1f9ee037019765309b0f8428567f8a
          2c295fcf5fe20301557b9b3a5b4d437b5ab8ec8c
          1:0:l:41:7706a422ccad41621c958affa999b1a1dd644e79

    *Output format:*
          The output consists of one or more packets for each command.
          A packet looks like:

          <command number>:<err code>:<last?>:<size>:<output>

          <command number> is a decimal number specifying which command
          this output is from. It is 0 for the first command, and
          increases by one each time.

          <err code> is 0 for success, 1 for a syntax error, and 2 for
          any other error.

          <last?> is 'l' if this is the last piece of output for this
          command, and 'm' if there is more output to come.

          <size> is the number of bytes in the output.

          <output> is a piece of the output of the command.

          All but the last packet for a given command will have the
          <last?> field set to 'm'.

    *Error conditions:*
          If a badly formatted or invalid command is received, or a
          command is given with invalid arguments or options, prints an
          error message to standard error and exits with nonzero
          status. Errors in the commands run through this interface do
          not affect the exit status. Instead, the <err code> field in
          the output is set to 2, and the output of the command becomes
          whatever error message would have been given.


`mtn automate get_revision ID'

    *Arguments:*
          The argument ID specifies the revision id for which the
          changeset information should be printed.

    *Added in:*
          1.0

    *Changed in:*
          7.0 (ID is now mandatory)

    *Purpose:*
          Prints change information for the specified revision id.

    *Sample output:*

          format_version "1"

          new_manifest [bfe2df785c07bebeb369e537116ab9bb7a4b5e19]

          old_revision [429fea55e9e819a046843f618d90674486695745]

          patch "ChangeLog"
           from [7dc21d3a46c6ecd94685ab21e67b131b32002f12]
             to [234513e3838d423b24d5d6c98f70ce995c8bab6e]

          patch "std_hooks.lua"
           from [0408707bb6b97eae7f8da61af7b35364dbd5a189]
             to [d7bd0756c48ace573926197709e53eb24dae5f5f]

    *Output format:*
          There are several changes that are described; each of these
          is described by a different basic_io stanza. The first string
          pair of each stanza indicates the type of change represented.

          All stanzas are formatted by basic_io. Stanzas are separated
          by a blank line. Values will be escaped, '\' to '\\' and '"'
          to '\"'.

          Possible values of this first value are along with an ordered
          list of basic_io formatted stanzas that will be provided are:


          'format_version'
                used in case this format ever needs to change.
                format: ('format_version', the string "1")
                occurs: exactly once
          'new_manifest'
                represents the new manifest associated with the revision.
                format: ('new_manifest', manifest id)
                occurs: exactly one
          'old_revision'
                represents a parent revision.
                format: ('old_revision', revision id)
                occurs: either one or two times
          'delete
                represents a file or directory that was deleted.
                format: ('delete', path)
                occurs: zero or more times
          'rename'
                represents a file or directory that was renamed.
                format: ('rename, old filename), ('to', new filename)
                occurs: zero or more times
          'add_dir'
                represents a directory that was added.
                format: ('add_dir, path)
                occurs: zero or more times
          'add_file'
                represents a file that was added.
                format: ('add_file', path), ('content', file id)
                occurs: zero or more times
          'patch'
                represents a file that was modified.
                format: ('patch', filename), ('from', file id), ('to', file id)
                occurs: zero or more times
          'clear'
                represents an attr that was removed.
                format: ('clear', filename), ('attr', attr name)
                occurs: zero or more times
          'set'
                represents an attr whose value was changed.
                format: ('set', filename), ('attr', attr name), ('value', attr value)
                occurs: zero or more times

          These stanzas will always occur in the order listed here;
          stanzas of the same type will be sorted by the filename they
          refer to. The 'delete' and following stanzas will be grouped
          under the corresponding 'old_revision' one.

    *Error conditions:*
          If the revision specified is unknown or invalid prints an
          error message to stderr and exits with status 1.


`mtn automate get_current_revision [--exclude EXCL] [--depth=DEPTH] [PATH ...]'

    *Arguments:*
          One or more PATH arguments restrict the revision to these
          paths, otherwise all changes in workspace are taken into
          account.

          Options EXCL and DEPTH work just like in MTN COMMIT.

    *Added in:*
          7.0

    *Purpose:*
          Prints change information for the current workspace,
          optionally restricted by one or more paths.

    *Sample output:*
          See AUTOMATE GET_REVISION

    *Output format:*
          See AUTOMATE GET_REVISION

    *Error conditions:*
          If the command is executed outside of a workspace, there are
          no changes in the current workspace or the restriction is
          invalid or has no recorded changes, prints an error message
          to stderr and exits with status 1.


`mtn automate get_base_revision_id'

    *Arguments:*
          None.

    *Added in:*
          2.0

    *Purpose:*
          Prints the revision id the current workspace is based on.
          This is the "old_revision" value stored in `_MTN/revision'.

    *Sample output:*

          28ce076c69eadb9b1ca7bdf9d40ce95fe2f29b61

    *Output format:*
          One line containing the base revision ID of the current
          workspace.

    *Error conditions:*
          If no workspace book keeping _MTN directory is found, prints
          an error message to stderr, and exits with status 1.


`mtn automate get_current_revision_id'

    *Arguments:*
          None.

    *Added in:*
          2.0

    *Purpose:*
          Prints the revision id of the current workspace. This is the
          id of the revision that would be committed by an unrestricted
          commit in the workspace.

    *Sample output:*

          28ce076c69eadb9b1ca7bdf9d40ce95fe2f29b61

    *Output format:*
          One line containing the current revision id ID of the current
          workspace.

    *Error conditions:*
          If no workspace book keeping _MTN directory is found, prints
          an error message to stderr, and exits with status 1.


`mtn automate get_manifest_of'

`mtn automate get_manifest_of REVID'

    *Arguments:*
          Specifying the optional REVID argument outputs the manifest
          for the revision with the specified ID. Otherwise, outputs
          the manifest for the current workspace.  (You can think of
          leaving the argument blank as meaning "give me the manifest
          of THIS".)

    *Added in:*
          2.0

    *Purpose:*
          Prints the contents of the manifest associated with the given
          roster.

    *Sample output:*

          format_version "1"

          dir ""

             file ".htaccess"
          content [e3915658cb464d05f21332e03d30dca5d94fe776]

             file "AUTHORS"
          content [80d8f3f75c9b517ec462233e155f7dfb93379f67]

             file "ChangeLog"
          content [fc74a48c7f73eedcbe1ea709755fbe819b29736c]

             file "LICENSE"
          content [dfac199a7539a404407098a2541b9482279f690d]

             file "README"
          content [440eec971e7bb61ccbb61634deb2729bb25931cd]

             file "TODO"
          content [e0ea26c666b37c5f98ccf80cb933d021ee55c593]

             file "branch.psp"
          content [b28ece354969314ce996f3030569215d685973d6]

             file "common.py"
          content [1fdb62e05fb2a9338d2c72ddc58de3ab2b3976fe]

             file "config.py.example"
          content [64cb5898e3a026b4782c343ca4386585e0c3c275]

             file "error.psp"
          content [7152c3ff110418aca5d23c374ea9fb92a0e98379]

             file "fileinbranch.psp"
          content [5d8536100fdf51d505b6f20bc9c16aa78d4e86a8]

             file "headofbranch.psp"
          content [981df124a0b5655a9f78c42504cfa8c6f02b267a]

             file "help.psp"
          content [a43d0588a69e622b2afc681678c2a5c3b3b1f342]

             file "html.py"
          content [18a8bffc8729d7bfd71d2e0cb35a1aed1854fa74]

             file "index.psp"
          content [c621827db187839e1a7c6e51d5f1a7f6e0aa560c]

             file "monotone.py"
          content [708b61436dce59f47bd07397ce96a1cfabe81970]

             file "revision.psp"
          content [a02b1c161006840ea8685e461fd07f0e9bb145a3]

             file "rss_feed.gif"
          content [027515fd4558abf317d54c437b83ec6bc76e3dd8]

             file "tags.psp"
          content [638140d6823eee5844de37d985773be75707fa25]

             file "tarofbranch.psp"
          content [be83f459a152ffd49d89d69555f870291bc85311]

             file "test.py"
          content [e65aace9237833ec775253cfde97f59a0af5bc3d]
             attr "mtn:execute" "true"

             file "utility.py"
          content [fb51955563d64e628e0e67e4acca1a1abc4cd989]

             file "viewmtn.css"
          content [8d04b3fc352a860b0e3240dcb539c1193705398f]

             file "viewmtn.py"
          content [7cb5c6b1b1710bf2c0fa41e9631ae43b03424a35]

             file "wrapper.py"
          content [530290467a99ca65f87b74f653bf462b28c6cda9]

    *Output format:*
          There is one basic_io stanza for each file or directory in the
          manifest.

          All stanzas are formatted by basic_io. Stanzas are separated
          by a blank line. Values will be escaped, '\' to '\\' and '"'
          to '\"'.

          Possible values of this first value are along with an ordered
          list of basic_io formatted stanzas that will be provided are:


          'format_version'
                used in case this format ever needs to change.
                format: ('format_version', the string "1")
                occurs: exactly once
          'dir':
                represents a directory.  The path "" (the empty string) is used
                to represent the root of the tree.
                format: ('dir', pathname)
                occurs: one or more times
          'file':
                represents a file.
                format: ('file', pathname), ('content', file id)
                occurs: zero or more times

          In addition, 'dir' and 'file' stanzas may have attr
          information included.  These are appended to the stanza below
          the basic dir/file information, with one line describing each
          attr.  These lines take the form ('attr', attr name, attr
          value).

          Stanzas are sorted by the path string.

    *Error conditions:*
          If the revision ID specified is unknown or invalid prints an
          error message to stderr and exits with status 1.


`mtn automate get_attributes PATH'

    *Arguments:*
          The argument PATH determines which path's attributes should
          be printed.

    *Added in:*
          3.0

    *Renamed from `attributes' to `get_attributes' in:*
          5.0

    *Purpose:*
          Prints all attributes of the given file and the attribute
          states.

    *Sample output:*

          format_version "1"

           attr "foo" "bar"
          state "added"

           attr "baz" "bat"
          state "dropped"

           attr "foobar" "foobat"
          state "unchanged"

    *Output format:*
          There is one basic_io stanza for each attribute of the given
          file.

          All stanzas are formatted by basic_io. Stanzas are separated
          by a blank line and ordered by attribute name. Values will be
          escaped, '\' to '\\' and '"' to '\"'.

          Each attribute stanza also contains another entry which tells
          the status of attribute. This entry can have one of the
          following four values:

             * 'added': the attribute has just been added to the file

             * 'dropped': the attribute has just been dropped from the
               file

             * 'unchanged': the attribute has not been changed since
               the last revision

             * 'changed': the attribute has been changed since the last
               revision

          The status 'changed' can come up if an attribute foo has been
          dropped and added afterwards with another value, like


          $ mtn attr drop file.txt foo ; mtn attr set file.txt foo baz

          If an attribute has been dropped, the output will still
          return the previously set value of the dropped attribute for
          convenience (obviously this is no longer recorded in the
          current workspace).

          The complete format:


          'format_version'
                used in case this format ever needs to change.
                format: ('format_version', the string "1")
                occurs: exactly once
          'attr':
                represents an attribute.
                format: ('attr', key, value), ('state', [unchanged|changed|added|dropped])
                occurs: zero or more times

    *Error conditions:*
          If the path specified is unknown in the new workspace
          revision, prints an error message to stderr and exits with
          status 1.


`mtn automate set_attribute PATH KEY VALUE'

    *Arguments:*
          A path, an attribute key and an attribute value.

    *Added in:*
          5.0

    *Purpose:*
          Edits the current workspace revision and inserts the given
          attribute key and value for the specified path. Note that
          this change is not committed and therefor behaves exactly
          like `mtn attr set KEY VALUE'.

    *Output format:*
          This command does not print out anything if successful.

    *Error conditions:*
          If the path specified is unknown in the new workspace
          revision, prints an error message to stderr and exits with
          status 1.


`mtn automate drop_attribute PATH [KEY]'

    *Arguments:*
          A path and an attribute key (optional).

    *Added in:*
          5.0

    *Purpose:*
          Removes an attribute from the current workspace revision for
          the specified path.  If no attribute key is given, all
          attributes of this path are removed. Note that this change is
          not committed and therefor behaves exactly like `mtn attr
          drop PATH [KEY]'.

    *Output format:*
          This command does not print out anything if successful.

    *Error conditions:*
          If the path specified is unknown in the new workspace
          revision or the attribute key is not found for this path,
          prints an error message to stderr and exits with status 1.


`mtn automate content_diff [--revision=ID1 [--revision=ID2]] [FILES ...]'

    *Arguments:*
          One or more FILE arguments restrict the diff output to these
          files, otherwise all changed files in the given revision(s)
          and/or current workspace are considered.

          If zero or more revisions are given, the command behaves as
          follows:

             * no revision: the diff is done between the workspace
               revision and the parent (base) revision of this workspace

             * one revision: the diff is done between the workspace
               revision and the given revision `id1',

             * two revisions: the diff is done between `id1' and `id2';
               no workspace is needed in this case.

    *Added in:*
          4.0

    *Purpose:*
          Prints the content changes between two revisions or a
          revision and the current workspace. This command differs from
          `mtn diff' in that way that it only outputs content changes
          and keeps quite on renames or drops, as the header of `mtn
          diff' is omitted (this is what `mtn automate get_revision'
          already provides).

    *Sample output:*

          ============================================================
          --- guitone/res/i18n/guitone_de.ts      9857927823e1d6a0339b531c120dcaadd22d25e9
          +++ guitone/res/i18n/guitone_de.ts      0b4715dc296b1955b0707923d45d79ca7769dd3f
          @@ -1,6 +1,14 @@
           <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
           <!DOCTYPE TS><TS version="1.1">
           <context>
          +    <name>AncestryGraph</name>
          +    <message>
          [...]

    *Output format:*
          The GNU unified diff format. If there have been no content
          changes, the output is empty.

    *Error conditions:*
          If more than two revisions are given or a workspace is
          required, but not found, prints to stderr and exits with
          status 1. If one or more file restrictions can't be applied,
          the command prints to stderr and exits as well.


`mtn automate get_file ID'

    *Arguments:*
          The  ID argument specifies the file hash of the file to be
          output.

    *Added in:*
          1.0

    *Purpose:*
          Prints the contents of the specified file.

    *Sample output:*

          If you've downloaded a release, see INSTALL for installation
          instructions.  If you've checked this out, the generated files are not
          included, and you must use "autoreconf --install" to create them.

          "make html" for docs, or read the .info file and / or man page.

    *Output format:*
          The file contents are output without modification.

    *Error conditions:*
          If the file id specified is unknown or invalid prints an
          error message to stderr and exits with status 1.


`mtn automate get_file_of FILENAME [--revision=ID]'

    *Arguments:*
          The  FILENAME argument specifies the filename of the file to
          be output.

          If a revision ID is given, the file's contents in that
          specific revision are printed. If no revision is given, the
          workspace's revision is used.

    *Added in:*
          4.0

    *Purpose:*
          Prints the contents of the specified file.

    *Sample output:*

          If you've downloaded a release, see INSTALL for installation
          instructions.  If you've checked this out, the generated files are not
          included, and you must use "autoreconf --install" to create them.

          "make html" for docs, or read the .info file and / or man page.

    *Output format:*
          The file contents are output without modification.

    *Error conditions:*
          If the filename specified is unknown in the given revision or
          invalid, or if the given revision is unknown, prints an error
          message to stderr and exits with status 1.


`mtn automate get_option OPTION'

    *Arguments:*
          The OPTION argument specifies the option name of the option
          to be output.

    *Added in:*
          3.1

    *Purpose:*
          Prints an option from _MTN/option of the current workspace.

    *Sample output:*

          net.venge.monotone

    *Output format:*
          The option value is written out without modification.

    *Error conditions:*
          If the option is unknown, prints an error message to stderr
          and exits with status 1.


`mtn automate keys'

    *Arguments:*
          None.

    *Added in:*
          1.1

    *Purpose:*
          Print all keys in basic_io format.

    *Sample output:*

                      name "tbrownaw@gmail.com"
               public_hash [475055ec71ad48f5dfaf875b0fea597b5cbbee64]
              private_hash [7f76dae3f91bb48f80f1871856d9d519770b7f8a]
           public_location "database" "keystore"
          private_location "keystore"

                     name "tomfa@debian.org"
              public_hash [3ac4afcd86af28413b0a23b7d22b9401e15027fc]
          public_location "database"

                      name "underwater@fishtank.net"
               public_hash [115fdc73d87a5e9901d018462b21a1f53eca33a1]
              private_hash [b520d2cfe7d30e4ea1725fc4f34646fc5469b13d]
           public_location "keystore"
          private_location "keystore"

    *Output format:*
          For each key, a basic_io stanza is printed. The
          public_location and private_location items may have multiple
          values as shown above for public_location, one value for each
          place that the key is stored. If the private key does not
          exist, then the private_hash and private_location items will
          be absent. The keys are ordered alphabetically by name.

    *Error conditions:*
          None.


`mtn automate packet_for_rdata ID'

    *Arguments:*
          The ID specifies the revision to output an rdata packet for.

    *Added in:*
          2.0

    *Purpose:*
          Prints the revision data in packet format

    *Sample output:*

          [rdata bdf3b10b5df0f17cc6c1b4b3351d84701bda59ed]
          H4sIAAAAAAAA/0XQS27DMAwE0L1PIfgArb4kte62NzACg5SoJEBsF7aRurev0UVzgJl5mLas
          E+/jU9ftvsymd33Xzfo9Tjzfm267GSgGwVarz6Valx0KtFYwii9VqUFCqJQ5X7puedRx1ef9
          r2rwHlSbi+BUSrF4xn1p0RInkmxTbmwREp/BL97LzfQfN56v+rlc+860dZnMED01jhILkURJ
          Ul0KPpGN1ueUwDHyiXF66Ywx+2IGD+0Uqg8aCzikAEzZNRXPmJKlkhMxSHuNzrofx/uq2/J4
          6njV/bZsu/zMPOlbOY4XJSD5KOrwXGdwpDGdfotZayQHKTAi5fRPqUWKcAMMIQfAjOK0nkfm
          6tFacjYgBPV46X4BtlpiNYUBAAA=
          [end]

    *Output format:*
          Revision data in `monotone read' compatible packet format.

    *Error conditions:*
          If ID is unknown or invalid prints an error message to stderr
          and exits with status 1.


`mtn automate packet_for_certs ID'

    *Arguments:*
          The ID specifies the revision to output cert packets for.

    *Added in:*
          2.0

    *Purpose:*
          Prints the certs associated with a revision in packet format

    *Sample output:*

          [rcert bdf3b10b5df0f17cc6c1b4b3351d84701bda59ed
                 branch
                 njs@pobox.com
                 bmV0LnZlbmdlLm1vbm90b25l]
          K90i1XHHmaMEMuwbPifFweLThJl0m7jigh2Qq6Z7TBwNJ6IMOjXWCizv73cacZ1CtzxFDVwQ
          SlqhNWiPQWxdcMp+Uuo+V8IFMKmvxVSTuVDukLMuNAQqpGL5S+a+tEj68NMq+KLKuL8kAAPc
          RoFD7GQlTS35S3RHWA4cnvqn+8U=
          [end]
          [rcert bdf3b10b5df0f17cc6c1b4b3351d84701bda59ed
                 date
                 njs@pobox.com
                 MjAwNi0wNC0wOFQxMTo1MDowMA==]
          araz9A8x6AlK6m6UhwnhUhk7cdyxeE2nvzj2gwaDvkaBxOq4SN23/wnaPqUXx1Ddn8smzyRY
          HN08xloYc0yNChp3wjbqx20REcsTg3XE4rN/sgCbqqw5hVT22a5ZhqkfkDeoeJvan0R0UBax
          ngKYo9eLuABNlmFX2onca75JW1E=
          [end]
          [rcert bdf3b10b5df0f17cc6c1b4b3351d84701bda59ed
                 author
                 njs@pobox.com
                 bmpzQHBvYm94LmNvbQ==]
          BLPOYhgLsAN+w7CwOsv9GfXnG3u7RNF1DTrWdn0AnYE1e+ptgTeMVWUI18H4OGL0B7wm08rv
          Pxk/hvsb8fBn1Kf5HDDO2pbjJ0xVzI9+p+TR0y5jJNZlVSTj+nvtPgvK9NzsdooYWnwlWmJv
          bOkAzQcZb8NMh8pbQkdHbR5uzMo=
          [end]
          [rcert bdf3b10b5df0f17cc6c1b4b3351d84701bda59ed
                 changelog
                 njs@pobox.com
                 MjAwNi0wNC0wOCAgTmF0aGFuaWVsIFNtaXRoICA8bmpzQHBvYm94LmNvbT4KCgkqIG5ldHh4
          L3Jlc29sdmVfZ2V0aG9zdGJ5bmFtZS5jeHggKHJlc29sdmVfaG9zdG5hbWUpOiAjaWZkZWYg
          b3V0CglXaW4zMi1pbmNvbXBhdGlibGUgZXJyb3IgcmVwb3J0aW5nIGNhbGwuCg==]
          Ncl4L/oEPctzVQixTKA6FrLceeHnLiXfeyeFDNmtUFYg9BMUcjWkeyKmaWknLvOcHortxjto
          K6pQ9E8S7zI+TpzFAhssg5a///rFL0+2GJU3t6pcHs6LC0Q4tbqzwKd/5+8GwT1gphbM1wm7
          KuzKthwqD3pp49GbgTrp8iWMTr0=
          [end]

    *Output format:*
          Cert data in `monotone read' compatible packet format.

    *Error conditions:*
          If ID is unknown or invalid prints an error message to stderr
          and exits with status 1.


`mtn automate packet_for_fdata ID'

    *Arguments:*
          The ID specifies the file to output an fdata packet for.

    *Added in:*
          2.0

    *Purpose:*
          Prints the file data in packet format

    *Sample output:*

          [fdata 229c7f621b65f7e4970ae5aaec993812b9daa1d4]
          H4sIAAAAAAAA/z2OO27DMBBEe51ioMaNrJzBpQAjTXKBBTW0CJPcgFw6yO1DCkG62Q/em83j
          R9vlRez6naPKzh2CwkipXFBJbO8fn7f7HV4LQq4mMYoFzdMYSnMj1xXY/lnuoHt2kB2hQpst
          PREPZhaxvvchskIKkdU6xsXWvQsk76MOUquGVolZmmmh0+xxvf7JZ5jCFXbU4KZ1muYkT+Kw
          FOez5q6uLuh9+9eoQawhez3Fp+VtHJNkfMmDHfALzWYfcAgBAAA=
          [end]

    *Output format:*
          File data in `monotone read' compatible packet format.

    *Error conditions:*
          If ID is unknown or invalid prints an error message to stderr
          and exits with status 1.


`mtn automate packet_for_fdelta FROM-ID TO-ID'

    *Arguments:*
          The FROM-ID specifies the file to use as the base of the
          delta, and TO-ID specifies the file to use as the target of
          the delta.

    *Added in:*
          2.0

    *Purpose:*
          Prints the file delta in packet format

    *Sample output:*

          [fdelta 597049a62d0a2e6af7df0b19f4945ec7d6458727
                  229c7f621b65f7e4970ae5aaec993812b9daa1d4]
          H4sIAAAAAAAA/0WOy0oEMRBF9/mKS2/c9LQg4t5lw+BGf6BIKtNhkpSkKop/b9II7m49OOfu
          eHp5dnvEj/SHL0aQ75qFAgcQGmcm5RXKjP3t/eP1ekWUhlTVKGeyJNXNoXU/s27AP8sf7O8D
          ZEdSSLd1JMaNKzeysY8ps4Iao4oNjM99eFdQDbMOSldDV8ZC3aSxlxpxufzJF5jANx6oyS2b
          c0uhO+OwkpezZhCvK0bf8TVrMLZUo5zi0/I4j4UqPunGA+B+AfHvKEIPAQAA
          [end]

    *Output format:*
          File delta data in `monotone read' compatible packet format.

    *Error conditions:*
          If FROM-ID or TO-ID is unknown or invalid prints an error
          message to stderr and exits with status 1.


`mtn automate get_content_changed ID FILE'

    *Arguments:*
          The ID specifies a revision ID, from which content change
          calculations will be based.  and FILE specifies the file for
          which to calculate revisions in which it was last changed.

    *Added in:*
          3.2

    *Purpose:*
          Returns a list of revision IDs in which the content  was most
          recently changed, relative to the revision ID specified as
          ID. This equates to a content mark following the *-merge
          algorithm.

    *Sample output:*

            content_mark [276264b0b3f1e70fc1835a700e6e61bdbe4c3f2f]

    *Output format:*
          Zero or more basic_io stanzas, each specifying a revision ID
          in which a content mark is set.

          The complete format:
          'content_mark'
                   the hexadecimal id of the revision the content mark is attached to

    *Error conditions:*
          If ID or FILE is unknown or invalid prints an error message
          to stderr and exits with status 1.


`mtn automate get_corresponding_path SOURCE_ID FILE TARGET_ID'

    *Arguments:*
          The SOURCE_ID specifies a revision ID in which FILE is
          current extant.  and FILE specifies the file whose name in
          TARGET_ID is to be determined; TARGET_ID specifies a revision
          ID.

    *Added in:*
          3.2

    *Purpose:*
          Given a the file name FILE in the source revision SOURCE_ID,
          a filename will if possible be returned naming the file in
          the target revision TARGET_ID.  This allows the same file to
          be matched between revisions, accounting for renames and
          other changes.

    *Sample output:*

          file "foo"

    *Output format:*
          Zero or one basic_io stanzas. Zero stanzas will be output if
          the file does not exist within the target revision; this is
          not considered an error. If the file does exist in the target
          revision, a single stanza with the  following details is
          output.

          The complete format:
             'file'
                   the file name corresponding to "file name" (arg 2) in the target revision

    *Error conditions:*
          If the revision IDs SOURCE_ID or TARGET_ID are unknown or
          invalid prints an error message to stderr and exits with
          status 1. If the file path FILE does not exist in the
          revision SOURCE_ID or is invalid, prints an error message to
          stderr and exits with status 1. Note that FILE not existing
          in the revision TARGET_ID is not an error.


`mtn automate get_db_variables [DOMAIN]'

    *Arguments:*
          The optional DOMAIN restricts the output to variables only
          within this domain.

    *Changes:*
             * 7.0 - converted output to basic_io, renamed to
               'get_db_variables'

             * 4.1 - added as 'db_get'

    *Purpose:*
          Reads and outputs database variables. For more information
          about variables, see *note Vars::.

    *Sample output:*

          domain "database"
           entry "default-exclude-pattern" ""
           entry "default-include-pattern" "net.venge.monotone*"
           entry "default-server" "monotone.ca"

          domain "known-servers"
           entry "monotone.ca" "3e6f5225bc2fffacbc20c9de37ff2dae1e20892e"
           entry "monotone.mtn-host.prjek.net" "a52f85615cb2445989f525bf17a603250381a751"
           entry "venge.net" "70a0f283898a18815a83df37c902e5f1492e9aa2"

    *Output format:*
          basic_io-formatted stanzas. Each stanza starts with a
          'domain', followed by one or more 'entry' lines. Each 'entry'
          contains the NAME and the VALUE of the respective database
          variable.

    *Error conditions:*
          If the domain is unknown or no variables where found, prints
          an error message to stderr and exits with status 1.


`mtn automate set_db_variable DOMAIN NAME VALUE'

    *Arguments:*
          The DOMAIN and NAME specify the database variable which is
          changed to VALUE.

    *Changes:*
             * 7.0 - renamed to 'set_db_variable'

             * 4.1 - added as 'db_set'

    *Purpose:*
          Change a database variable, see also *note Vars::.

    *Sample usage:*

          mtn automate set_db_variable database default-server off.net

    *Output format:*
          No output.

    *Error conditions:*
          None.


`mtn automate drop_db_variables DOMAIN [NAME]'

    *Arguments:*
          The DOMAIN and NAME specify the database variable which
          should be dropped. If NAME is ommitted, all database
          variables in the DOMAIN are dropped.

    *Added in:*
          7.0

    *Purpose:*
          Drops one or more database variables, see also *note Vars::.

    *Sample usage:*

          mtn automate drop_db_variables known-servers

    *Output format:*
          No output.

    *Error conditions:*
          If the specific variable or any variables in the given domain
          are not found, prints to stderr and exits with status 1.


`mtn automate put_file [BASE-ID] CONTENTS'

    *Arguments:*
          The optional BASE-ID specifies a file-id on which the
          contents are based on. This is used for delta encoding.
          CONTENTS are the contents of the new file.

    *Added in:*
          4.1

    *Purpose:*
          Preparation of a workspace-less commit.  See also `automate
          put_revision'. Normally used via `automate stdio'.

    *Sample output:*

          70a0f283898a18815a83df37c902e5f1492e9aa2

    *Output format:*
          The sha1 sum of the contents, hex encoded.

    *Error conditions:*
          If the optional base id is unknown prints an error message to
          stderr and exits with status 1.


`mtn automate put_revision REVISION-DATA'

    *Arguments:*
          REVISION-DATA is the new revision. See example below.  Note
          that the new_manifest entry is ignored - `put_revision' will
          ignore whatever you put here and calculate the correct
          manifest id itself.  (However, for now, you must put 40 hex
          digits here - it's just that which particular digits you put
          are entirely irrelevant.  All zeros is a good choice.)
          Monotone will also canonicalize your whitespace
          automatically.  You do not need to worry about getting just
          the right amount of indentation in front of each line.
          However, everything else about your revision must be valid.

    *Added in:*
          4.1

    *Purpose:*
          Workspace-less commit. Normally used via `automate stdio'.

    *Sample argument:*
               format_version "1"

               new_manifest [0000000000000000000000000000000000000004]

               old_revision []

               add_dir ""

               add_file "foo"
               content [5bf1fd927dfb8679496a2e6cf00cbe50c1c87145]

    *Sample output:*

          4c2c1d846fa561601254200918fba1fd71e6795d

    *Output format:*
          The new revision id, hex encoded.

    *Error conditions:*
          If the changeset is invalid prints an error message to stderr
          and exits with status 1. May abort on invalid formats.  If
          the revision is already present in the database, prints a
          message to stderr noting this fact, but otherwise works as
          normal.


`mtn automate cert REVISION NAME VALUE'

    *Arguments:*
          REVISION is an existing revision, NAME is the certificate name
          and VALUE its value.

    *Added in:*
          4.1

    *Purpose:*
          `automate stdio' capable variant of `mtn cert'. To sign the
          cert with a specific private key, use `--key'.

    *Sample usage:*

          mtn automate cert 4c2c1d846fa561601254200918fba1fd71e6795d author tester@test.net

    *Output format:*
          No output.

    *Error conditions:*
          If the revision is invalid prints an error message to stderr
          and exits with status 1.



