Getting started with WinCvs 2.0.2.4 B4

[Adam Sandler]

Hello,

I have a question about WinCvs 2.0.2.4 B4.  In past lives, I've used
big, expensive, commercial source control applications.  The project
I'm currently on has no such resources and I'm trying to take WinCvs
out for a spin to see if it can help us out with versioning and source
control.

I've tried to read as much of the documentation as I can find but it
hasn't completely helped.  For one thing, the documentation the WinCvs
ships with is the same unix documentation that is found on sourceforge.
 While I know enough about unix to be dangerous, we develop projects
for Windows and as such I need a Windows solution.  There's not a 100%
equivalent of performing an action between both OSes.  And the message
windows which pop up in WinCvs are not always entirely accurate either
(e.g., the dialog describing the syntax of setting the root is
incorrect in WinCvs).

At any rate, I've successfully set the root as c:\cvsroot and then
created a new repository.  That action put another folder called
cvsroot in the c:\cvsroot directory.

If I try to import the current location of a project, it copies
existing folder into c:\cvsroot\cvsroot.  This is where I really get
confused... shouldn't importing just create a reference to a location,
why does it physically copy/move the files?  If I try to check out that
project, a form appears which asks for the output location?  Why
can't I just work in the repository area?  Why does the app ask for
an output location?  So do I have three areas on the file system now
with three separate copies of the same project?

The documentation I've read doesn't clear this up at all.  Either
directions to relevant docs or if anyone can shed some light on how
they check stuff in and out on a daily basis using WinCvs is greatly
appreciated.

Thanks!