How to use `hg cat` from an empty working directory?

Question

I have a repo located at x:/projects/repo1. The working directory has been emptied using hg update null. I want to extract the latest version of some files from there to a local directory.

I tried this:

x:\projects\repo1> hg cat -o c:\sql\%s scripts\*.sql -r tip

I get this error:

scripts\*.sql: No such file in rev 14f07c26178b

The same command works fine if the working directory is not empty. Is there a good reason why this does not work? Or do you know another way of extract some files from there to a local directory?

Answer 1

The hg cat command is for single files. If you want multiple files use the hg archive command, which makes zipfiles or directories full of files. Here's your command:

x:\projects\repo1> hg archive --include scripts\*.sql -r tip c:\sql

Answer 2

It seems that hg cat doesn't support wildcard symbols in paths. So you should use the full file name:

hg cat -r tip scripts/foo.sql

When your working copy is up to date with the tip revision, your shell does wildcard substitution for you.

The hg manifest command also might be helpful for getting tracked file listings.