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- NAME
- rcs - change RCS file attributes
-
- SYNOPSIS
- rcs [ options ] file ...
-
- DESCRIPTION
- rcs creates new RCS files or changes attributes of existing
- ones. An RCS file contains multiple revisions of text, an
- access list, a change log, descriptive text, and some
- control attributes. For rcs to work, the caller's login
- name must be on the access list, except if the access list
- is empty, the caller is the owner of the file or the
- superuser, or the -i option is present.
-
- Pathnames matching an RCS suffix denote RCS files; all
- others denote working files. Names are paired as explained
- in ci(1). Revision numbers use the syntax described in
- ci(1).
-
- OPTIONS
- -i Create and initialize a new RCS file, but do not
- deposit any revision. If the RCS file has no path
- prefix, try to place it first into the subdirectory
- ./RCS, and then into the current directory. If the RCS
- file already exists, print an error message.
-
- -alogins
- Append the login names appearing in the comma-separated
- list logins to the access list of the RCS file.
-
- -Aoldfile
- Append the access list of oldfile to the access list of
- the RCS file.
-
- -e[logins]
- Erase the login names appearing in the comma-separated
- list logins from the access list of the RCS file. If
- logins is omitted, erase the entire access list.
-
- -b[rev]
- Set the default branch to rev. If rev is omitted, the
- default branch is reset to the (dynamically) highest
- branch on the trunk.
-
- -cstring
- sets the comment leader to string. The comment leader
- is printed before every log message line generated by
- the keyword $Log$ during checkout (see co(1)). This is
- useful for programming languages without multi-line
- comments. An initial ci , or an rcs -i without -c,
- guesses the comment leader from the suffix of the
- working file.
-
- -ksubst
- Set the default keyword substitution to subst. The
- effect of keyword substitution is described in co(1).
- Giving an explicit -k option to co, rcsdiff, and
- rcsmerge overrides this default. Beware rcs -kv,
- because -kv is incompatible with co -l. Use rcs -kkv
- to restore the normal default keyword substitution.
-
- -l[rev]
- Lock the revision with number rev. If a branch is
- given, lock the latest revision on that branch. If rev
- is omitted, lock the latest revision on the default
- branch. Locking prevents overlapping changes. A lock
- is removed with ci or rcs -u (see below).
-
- -u[rev]
- Unlock the revision with number rev. If a branch is
- given, unlock the latest revision on that branch. If
- rev is omitted, remove the latest lock held by the
- caller. Normally, only the locker of a revision may
- unlock it. Somebody else unlocking a revision breaks
- the lock. This causes a mail message to be sent to the
- original locker. The message contains a commentary
- solicited from the breaker. The commentary is
- terminated by end-of-file or by a line containing . by
- itself.
-
- -L Set locking to strict. Strict locking means that the
- owner of an RCS file is not exempt from locking for
- checkin. This option should be used for files that are
- shared.
-
- -U Set locking to non-strict. Non-strict locking means
- that the owner of a file need not lock a revision for
- checkin. This option should not be used for files that
- are shared. Whether default locking is strict is
- determined by your system administrator, but it is
- normally strict.
-
- -mrev:msg
- Replace revision rev's log message with msg.
-
- -M Do not send mail when breaking somebody else's lock.
- This option is not meant for casual use; it is meant
- for programs that warn users by other means, and invoke
- rcs -u only as a low-level lock-breaking operation.
-
- -nname[:[rev]]
- Associate the symbolic name name with the branch or
- revision rev. Delete the symbolic name if both : and
- rev are omitted; otherwise, print an error message if
- name is already associated with another number. If rev
- is symbolic, it is expanded before association. A rev
- consisting of a branch number followed by a . stands
- for the current latest revision in the branch. A :
- with an empty rev stands for the current latest
- revision on the default branch, normally the trunk.
- For example, rcs -nname: RCS/* associates name with the
- current latest revision of all the named RCS files;
- this contrasts with rcs -nname:$ RCS/* which associates
- name with the revision numbers extracted from keyword
- strings in the corresponding working files.
-
- -Nname[:[rev]]
- Act like -n, except override any previous assignment of
- name.
-
- -orange
- deletes ("outdates") the revisions given by range. A
- range consisting of a single revision number means that
- revision. A range consisting of a branch number means
- the latest revision on that branch. A range of the
- form rev1:rev2 means revisions rev1 to rev2 on the same
- branch, :rev means from the beginning of the branch
- containing rev up to and including rev, and rev: means
- from revision rev to the end of the branch containing
- rev. None of the outdated revisions may have branches
- or locks.
-
- -q Run quietly; do not print diagnostics.
-
- -I Run interactively, even if the standard input is not a
- terminal.
-
- -sstate[:rev]
- Set the state attribute of the revision rev to state.
- If rev is a branch number, assume the latest revision
- on that branch. If rev is omitted, assume the latest
- revision on the default branch. Any identifier is
- acceptable for state. A useful set of states is Exp
- (for experimental), Stab (for stable), and Rel (for
- released). By default, ci(1) sets the state of a
- revision to Exp.
-
- -t[file]
- Write descriptive text from the contents of the named
- file into the RCS file, deleting the existing text.
- The file pathname may not begin with -. If file is
- omitted, obtain the text from standard input,
- terminated by end-of-file or by a line containing . by
- itself. Prompt for the text if interaction is
- possible; see -I. With -i, descriptive text is
- obtained even if -t is not given.
-
- -t-string
- Write descriptive text from the string into the RCS
- file, deleting the existing text.
-
- -T Preserve the modification time on the RCS file unless a
- revision is removed. This option can suppress
- extensive recompilation caused by a make(1) dependency
- of some copy of the working file on the RCS file. Use
- this option with care; it can suppress recompilation
- even when it is needed, i.e. when a change to the RCS
- file would mean a change to keyword strings in the
- working file.
-
- -Vn Emulate RCS version n. See co(1) for details.
-
- -xsuffixes
- Use suffixes to characterize RCS files. See ci(1) for
- details.
-
- COMPATIBILITY
- The -brev option generates an RCS file that cannot be parsed
- by RCS version 3 or earlier.
-
- The -ksubst options (except -kkv) generate an RCS file that
- cannot be parsed by RCS version 4 or earlier.
-
- Use rcs -Vn to make an RCS file acceptable to RCS version n
- by discarding information that would confuse version n.
-
- RCS version 5.5 and earlier does not support the -x option,
- and requires a ,v suffix on an RCS pathname.
-
- FILES
- rcs accesses files much as ci(1) does, except that it uses
- the effective user for all accesses, it does not write the
- working file or its directory, and it does not even read the
- working file unless a revision number of $ is specified.
-
- ENVIRONMENT
- RCSINIT
- options prepended to the argument list, separated by
- spaces. See ci(1) for details.
-
- DIAGNOSTICS
- The RCS pathname and the revisions outdated are written to
- the diagnostic output. The exit status is zero if and only
- if all operations were successful.
-
- IDENTIFICATION
- Author: Walter F. Tichy.
- Revision Number: 5.8; Release Date: 1992/02/17.
- Copyright 1982, 1988, 1989 by Walter F. Tichy.
- Copyright 1990, 1991, 1992 by Paul Eggert.
-
- SEE ALSO
- co(1), ci(1), ident(1), rcsdiff(1), rcsintro(1),
- rcsmerge(1), rlog(1), rcsfile(5)
- Walter F. Tichy, RCS--A System for Version Control,
- Software--Practice & Experience 15, 7 (July 1985), 637-654.
-
- BUGS
- The separator for revision ranges in the -o option used to
- be - instead of :, but this leads to confusion when symbolic
- names contain -. For backwards compatibility rcs -o still
- supports the old - separator, but it warns about this
- obsolete use.
-
- Symbolic names need not refer to existing revisions or
- branches. For example, the -o option does not remove
- symbolic names for the outdated revisions; you must use -n
- to remove the names.
-