CVS source file history

JOOP, I use Eclipse as a front end to CVS, but am not familiar with differential history. How do I access this functionality?

Just to make sure we are on the same page, what I am looking to do is copy a file from one project to another, and then access the history of the original file in the new project. So when modifications are made to the file in the new project, and I access the history of the file, the history will include both the history of the original file and the history of the new file.

What you're doing sounds dangerous if not confusing. it sounds like you need some component in two different projects. For example, projectB needs an XML converter from projectA and your wanting to share the source from the component between two projects and use CVS to keep them in sync so that any updates to either copy will automatically propogate to the other. Source control doesn't work that way. There's a better option. Pull the common code into it's own project and create a dependency from the first two to the new project. You can also allow projectA to use a more recent copy of the component than projectB if you wish. if you want to fork the source from the shared scomponent you can use CVS to create a branch. If what I think is correct then take my advice or else you're creating much more of a mess than what you'd want to deal with.

Yes, dangerous!
It would imply using symbolic links or such on the target system corrupting the CVS status.
Don't do it.
;JOOP!

Clarification. The copy of the file in the new project to which I refer is intended to be the new master copy. In other words, the original file is not to be changed anymore, only the new file. In addition, the copy is to take place at one point in time, so at the time of copy the new file is given the complete history, and the new file is also the file which stores the new history. The original file is not to be used anymore. I am not talking about shared files - the new file is to replace the original file - I just want to be able to access the complete history. If complete history is not accessible via the new file, it will look as though the file was created from scratch when in fact it was not.

Does this make sense? If so, do you still consider this operation dangerous? And whether or not you consider this dangerous, how can one perform this operation? The only method I have read about so far is by performing direct modifications to the actual repository files, which I would rather not do, especially because I cannot find any good examples of how to do this from one CVS project to another. My problem seems simple enough, but it does not seem like there is a simple way to resolve it - essentially, all I want to do is create a new project, similar to the original project, with the same files and a different directory structure (I do not want to refactor the original project).

Thanks again. Points are waiting for anyone who can help me out on this.

Oh, I see. The original project is dead and you want to resurrect some of its source without using the entire project. I can see where that makes sense. I've no experience with CVS (we use Perforce here) so I'll shutup now...

None of the feedback I received here is especially insightful, but I have decided to award points nonetheless, splitting up the points amongst the two most prolific posters.