jCVS Common Problems

Here are some of the most common problems that people encounter when first getting jCVS up and running.

• The CVS Server is not correctly installed.

  Again, installing a cvs server is beyond the scope of this documentation. You can use a telnet connection (typically to port 2401) to see if the server is responding to you. Try typing 'noop' followed by the enter key. If the server is responding correctly, it should reply with 'ok'. If it is a password based server ('pserver'), then you should see some sort of error message.

• jCVS will not start 'class com.ice.jcvs.CVSApplication not found'.

  Java must have access to jCVS's classes, as well as the java library classes. Typically, the reason that jCVS will not run is that the classpath is not properly set. If you get any error that complains about not being able to find the class 'com.ice.jcvs.CVSApplication', try adding both the jCVS jar file and the Java classes.zip file to the classpath.

  Here is an example for Windows:
  

  java -classpath './jcvs.jar;C:/java/lib/classes.zip' CVSApplication

  Please note that the Jar file is referenced with the './' notation. You will need to be cd-ed into the directory containing the jcvs.jar file to run.

• The program hangs when I try to checkout a new project.

  The most common reason for this problem is that you are connecting to a cvs server that is not configured for passwords, yet you have indicated that you wish to use authentication. The most obvious indicator that you are having this problem is a project window displaying the progress message 'Authenticaing user...', with an hour glass cursor, and no response. If you see this, kill the program with 'Ctrl-C' in the console window, restart and do not check the Password Server checkbox the next time you attempt the checkout.

• Server connections are failing on port number.

  Wrong port number is being used for connecting to the server. jCVS uses properties to allow you to control the port number that is used when making cvs server connections. The mechanism allows you to specify a port number for each host, and for each service ('server' or 'pserver'). There are reasonable defaults, but if you are having trouble making the server connection, you might have a port number mismatch.

  Please refer to the 'Properties.txt' file for the comments on port number computations.

• Temporary directory is not properly set.

  To operate correctly, jCVS requires many temporary files. It uses a 'temporary directory' to store these files while they are in use. If the directory does not exist, or does not have enough disk space (at least a few 50% more than your largest file), things will fail.

  Be sure to check the property named 'jCVS.global.temporaryDirectory' in the 'Properties.txt' file to be certain that it names a directory that exists on your file system.

• Watch Stdout and Stderr.

  Currently, many errors are reported only to the stderr output. Thus, keep an eye on the console window in which you started jCVS for messages that may help indicate the nature of any problems you are experiencing. In fact, you should check this output periodically to see if there is any debugging output.