1.) cvs get official_ntuple 2.) --> add your changes to this directory. 3.) compile & test the code in this subdirectory. very important step -- you don't want to be the guy who checks in code that won't compile! 4.) after verifying that the changes you made work correctly and it compiles, etc., then do: cvs update. it will give you a list of files that are modified from the official versions (marked by M, I think), and it will put a '?' next to any new files that it doesn't know about. 5.) For each file with a '?', you need to do "cvs add file" (it might allow you to do all at once, but I'm not sure...) 6.) make sure your environment variable EDITOR is set to whatever your favorite editor is... (e.g., 'setenv EDITOR emacs') 7.) do 'cvs commit' -- this will spit some transactions on the screen, and open your editor so that you can add your commit message, which should be something informative like: "Added module to fill upmu variables. K. Connolly, 2008-Feb" When you save and exit the editor, this message, along with the changes/additions will be added to CVS.