--- mitgcm.org/front_content/using_cvs.xml	2010/01/22 01:03:02	1.13
+++ mitgcm.org/front_content/using_cvs.xml	2011/05/11 17:45:01	1.14
@@ -34,12 +34,12 @@
       mechanism for "committing" or "checking in" changes (please see below).
       Using CVS pserver from the command line requires just a three commands.
       Using a Bourne, "bash", or "sh-compatible" shell they are:</p>
-    
+
 <pre>
   $ export CVSROOT=':pserver:cvsanon@mitgcm.org:/u/gcmpack'
-  $ cvs login 
+  $ cvs login
     ( enter the CVS password: "cvsanon" )
-  $ cvs co MITgcm
+  $ cvs co -P MITgcm
 </pre>
 
     <p>Using a "C", "csh", or "tcsh" shell the commands are:</p>
@@ -48,22 +48,26 @@
   $ setenv CVSROOT ':pserver:cvsanon@mitgcm.org:/u/gcmpack'
   $ cvs login
     ( enter the CVS password: "cvsanon" )
-  $ cvs co MITgcm
+  $ cvs co -P MITgcm
 </pre>
 
-    <p>A large amount of additional (optional!) content can be obtained from the
-      MITgcm_contrib directory that can be checked out using:
+    <p>using the "-P" option to check-out ("<i>cvs co -P</i>") prevents
+    to download unnecessary empty directories.</p>
+
+    <p>A large amount of additional (optional!) content is available
+    from the <i>MITgcm_contrib</i> directory; much of it is specific to certain
+    setups (eg. high-res setups, in-development material that is not yet part
+    of the "main" code, etc ...).
+    But rather than checking out the full content of MITgcm_contrib
+    ("<i>cvs co -P MITgcm_contrib</i>"), which takes a long time to download
+    (particularly from remote locations), we recommend to download only the
+    specific part of interest, e.g.: "<i>submesoscale</i>" directory,
+    which can be checked out using:</p>
 
 <pre>
-  $ cvs co MITgcm_contrib
+  $ cvs co -P MITgcm_contrib/submesoscale
 </pre>
 
-      In general, we do not recommend checking out all of MITgcm_contrib since
-      it takes a long time to download (particularly from remote locations) and
-      much of it is specific to certain setups (eg. high-res setups,
-      in-development material that is not yet part of the "main" code,
-      etc.).</p>
-
     <p>Note that you will only need to perform the "cvs login" once.  And for
       convenience, you may want to add the CVSROOT variable to your shell's
       environment (that is, define it within your "~/.bashrc" or "~/.chsrc"
@@ -73,12 +77,12 @@
     <h4>Getting Parts of the Source "Tree"</h4>
 
     <p>The above commands demonstrate how to check out all of the MITgcm code
-      and the "contributed" (that is, unsupported by occasionally useful)
-      information within the "MITgcm_contrib" directory.  In many cases, this is
-      overkill and can result in long download times.  To reduce the volume of
-      information downloaded and thereby speedup the download times, one can
-      select one of the following pre-defined "aliases" that will provide a
-      sub-set of the entire MITgcm source "tree":</p>
+      and the "contributed" (that is, unsupported but occasionally useful)
+      information within the "<i>MITgcm_contrib</i>" directory. In many cases,
+      this is overkill and can result in long download times.
+      To reduce the volume of information downloaded and thereby speedup the
+      download times, one can select one of the following pre-defined "aliases"
+      that will provide a sub-set of the entire MITgcm source "tree":</p>
 
     <table align="center" border="0" cellpadding="10" width="90%" summary="CVS
       aliases">
@@ -130,7 +134,7 @@
       directories they create can be changed to a different name following the
       check-out:</p>
 <pre>
-  $ cvs co MITgcm_verif_basic
+  $ cvs co -P MITgcm_verif_basic
   $ mv MITgcm MITgcm_verif_basic
 </pre>
 
@@ -148,8 +152,8 @@
       option such as: </p>
 
 <pre>
-  $ cvs co -r release1_p5 MITgcm
-  $ cvs co -r checkpoint52a_post MITgcm
+  $ cvs co -P -r release1_p5 MITgcm
+  $ cvs co -P -r checkpoint52a_post MITgcm
 </pre>
 
     <p>By default (that is, when no tag is specified), CVS will retrieve the