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Arcv

License agreement

arcv can be used free of charge, but it is not a free software under permissive license. All rights reserved according the terms of the License terms below.

By downloading and using the arcv software, you agree with the terms of the License terms as described below.

Release history

Release tag Revision Log

R1.2.1

317

Significant check-in fixes (undetected permission-only changes for folders - not checked-in), changed binary files not reported at check-in - not displayed). Release hooks feature

R1.2.0

299

Critical fixes (SHA computing, permission-only changes), numerous new options/features, improved diffs handlings

R1.1.0

232

3rd release supplying 'rel', 'repo' and '-X' commands

R1.0.1

207

2nd release for hotfix

R1.0.0

187

First release

Full revision log page

Download

The following table lists all the downloadable versions from lastest to oldest:

Debian Package Zip Creation time

arcv_1.2-1_amd64.deb

arcv_1.2-1.zip

2026-09-06 23:55:09 +02 CEST

arcv_1.2-0_amd64.deb

arcv_1.2-0.zip

2026-08-28 12:12:21 +02 CEST

arcv_1.1-0_amd64.deb

arcv_1.1-0.zip

2026-08-13 12:42:05 +02 CEST

arcv_1.0-1_amd64.deb

arcv_1.0-1.zip

2026-07-26 13:11:25 +02 CEST

arcv_1.0-0_amd64.deb

arcv_1.0-0.zip

2026-07-23 13:39:51 +02 CEST

Download via script

The Debian packages can also be downloaded by script as follows (here for latest):

wget https://slashetc.fr/download/shell-api_1.1-3_amd64.deb
wget https://slashetc.fr/download/arcv_1.2-1_amd64.deb

The latest zip packages can be downloaded by script as follows:

wget https://slashetc.fr/download/shell-api_1.1-3.zip
wget https://slashetc.fr/download/arcv_1.2-1.zip

Auto-install of latest by script

For convenience, the script install_arcv.sh is supplied for an instant installation. This will install 2 debian packages arcv and shell-api.

Click to download and then run it:

sudo install_arcv.sh

If you prefer or if necessary in case of problem, you can go through the installation steps described below.

Installation by command line

A arcv Debian package can be installed by any user as follows, provided that user can run sudo.

Example for latest:

# shell-api must be installed beforehand
sudo dpkg -i shell-api_1.1-3_amd64.deb
sudo dpkg -i arcv_1.2-1_amd64.deb

Alternatively, a free installation inside a preselected folder can be carried out from the zip as follows:

unzip shell-api_1.1-3.zip
unzip arcv_1.2-1.zip

License terms

"arcv" SOFTWARE LICENSE

Copyright (c) 2024-2026 Michel Mehl.
All rights reserved - Tous droits réservés.

The arcv revision control tool, herein referred to as the 'Software', inclusive all executables,
configuration files, documentation, and related supplied tools, can be used free of charge
under the terms of this License and the provisions described therein.

THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED “AS IS”, WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR
IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY,
FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL
THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR
OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE,
ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR
OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.

Whilst the Software can be used free of charge, it remains the full ownership of the copyright holder (the Author).
No commercial distribution, no reselling, no sublicensing, no derived commercial work are allowed
to be made of the Software by the Licensee without an express written agreement with the copyright holder,
whatsoever it regards the Software itself or any source code, documentation, tools part of it.
The Software is allowed to be integrated into an automated process, provided :
a) a prior notification and description of the use case is sent by the requesting company or institution
 (the Requester) to the Author,
b) an express agreement is sent to the Requester by the Author.
Upon agreement, the Requester grants the Author to use its legal name along with the use made of the Software
for its promotion.

The Licensee may adapt the Software for its own personal or corporate use only, but it is not allowed to
make a new public release of the Software. All aforementioned restrictions remain applicable
in this case too.

This agreement is made and shall be construed in accordance with the laws of France.

Change log

1.2.0

  • New features

    • Random revision tagging: added command 'av pub TAG:REVISION' to create tags on a random revision

    • --from and --to options to select only a range of revision for the 'av log' command (history and files)

    • '-l' option for carrying out a dry check-in listing only updated files (like a git status)

    • Addons in changed file menu at check-in

      • 'diff' checking now also available on <ENTER> via menu at check-in when meld is not available: a terminal window is popping up showing the differences with git or diff. The popup is auto closed when then exiting menu. Smart diff with context and colors

      • 'diff' can also always be chosen explicitly instead of meld using 'd' key in menu (line-by-line diff)

      • '<r>estore' menu option, to checkout and restore a changed file

      • '<R>eset' menu option to reset current image to the head (like a git reset --hard)

    • In release list menu, added menu action 'w' to view matching log messages

    • --fmt=plain option for log and diff:

      • Enables to display history without text formatting

      • When diffing with the 'diff' tool, the configuration param 'plain-diff-args' is used instead of the 'diff-diff-args' to enable initial diff behavior in arcv (without popup , nor context and colors)

    • Via configuration:

      • ignore-special-perm-bits: enables to ignore specific permission flag like ACL for permission-only changes

    • Extended the list of information can be displayed with 'av repo':

      • releases : list of releases

      • latest-release-tag: latest release tag

      • latest-release-rev : revision number of latest release

      • exclude-file: exclusion file path in the repository

      • exclusions: list of patterns of excluded files

      • src-dir: root directory path for the source in the repository

      • rev-dir: directory path of current revision in the repository

      • rev-hashfilepath: : directory path of the hash file of the current revision in the repository

      • rev-hashfilename: hash file basename

      • head-dir: head directory path in the repository, which contains all information about the head

      • head-image-dir: directory path of the full head image

      • git-repo: directory path of the git repo in the repository, used to export source images

      • size: total size of the data occupied for the source in the repository

    • --fix to recompute hash for current image

  • Improvs

    • diff experience when using diff:

      • more git alike, using colors and context lines

      • configurable diff parameters: diff-diff-args diff-popup-xterm-args

    • Ergonomics of changed file menu for multipages (scrollbar mime, page/total)

    • At check-in and if there are changes, the screen is cleared prior to showing the menu

    • Explicit handling of any removed file which is a symlink

    • Enhanced SHA256 computing for a random folder by regarding applicable exclusions by detecting whether the folder relates to a known source in the repository basing on the following parameters in order of priority: explicit source specified, revision or release tag checkout detected from name (folder basename is <source>-<something> and 'source' is known), raw input folder basename.

    • Improved code modularity

    • Consistent implementations of 'log' command for file history and source history: with -y, shows a menu where diffs can be triggered. Without -y the full history is progressively displayed.

  • Fixes

    • Permission-only changes are now properly handled by the revision control system. Permission changes are now subject to a specific handling which enables to revision any file or dir which only permissions changed (and not its content)

    • change diff arguments order when checking current source with anything else so that addons appears as '+' and deletion as '-' with diff tool

    • Log commands can now be applied to a file by specifying its name in the current dir anywhere in the file tree without having to specify the relative path to the root source folder

    • Diffs launched in backgound from the changed file menu at check-in are not blocking the menu anymore. Diff processes are auto-terminated at arcv exit (except meld)

    • Several flaws in SHA256 computing algorithm:

      • The hash computation algorithm is now much more reliable across different systems, in particular it does not not rely anymore on any output order or sorting of ls

      • as legacy the function forces US/Pacific timezone for the internal 'ls' , but initial timezone was not restored properly. Even it does not affect the fingerprint itself, it affected the calling app

    • Now properly handling display of multi-page change menu at check-in

    • Changed files can now be diffed through the menu at check-in when there are more than 255 files

1.1.0

  • New features

    • 'av rel' command: to check release history, including interactive menu to diff with head or previous release

    • 'av destroy' command: Take folder out of revision control and delete all related file from repositiory

    • 'av repo [infoname]': provides the following information, resp for 'infoname': releases : show the release history message log. Same as 'av rel', except there’s no interactive menu exclude-file: file path where are stored the exclusion file patterns in the repositiory exclusions : list of exclusion file patterns for the source folder as stored in the repository src-dir : root directory of the source inside the repositoryq rev-dir : head revision directory of the source inside the repository head-dir : full head file tree inside the repository git-repo size: Size occupied by the source folder inside the repository Special values: (none): show all information listed below (any string not maching the above ones) : seeks a matching substring in the above info name and shows it when so. E.g. 'av excl' will show info for 'exclude-file' and 'exclusions' E.g. 'av dir' will show all info which name contains 'dir': src-dir, rev-dir etc.

    • 'av -X' : exclusion file patterns specified with '-W' can now be defined not only at repository creation

  • Improvs

    • revision history log now restricted in width with alternate colors for each entry

    • enabling using different versions of shell-api for other tools (like sumo): changed dependency handling of shell-api for arcv install: now arcv looks for a local shell-api dir which is a symbolic to a folder thereof whose name must hold the exact expected version

  • Bug fixes

    • fixed 'av repo' in non-revisioned folder asking to check in new folder

    • display error: depending on diff tool version, modified files could not be listed at all at check-in

1.0.1

  • Hot fix release

    • New features: added "repo" command to get information on repository. Currently, only "av repo git-repo" is available

    • Improvs: exclusion filters for temp nfs and swap files

    • Fixes:

  • HOT: removed folders were checked out (critical)

  • Makefile 'export target

  • There could be words in local language appearing in the generated man page (month at end of page)

1.0.0

  • First official, public release