1RCS(1)                      General Commands Manual                     RCS(1)
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NAME

6       rcs - change RCS file attributes
7

SYNOPSIS

9       rcs options file ...
10

DESCRIPTION

12       rcs  creates  new RCS files or changes attributes of existing ones.  An
13       RCS file contains multiple revisions of text, an access list, a  change
14       log,  descriptive  text, and some control attributes.  For rcs to work,
15       the caller's login name must be on  the  access  list,  except  if  the
16       access  list is empty, the caller is the owner of the file or the supe‐
17       ruser, or the -i option is present.
18
19       Filenames matching an RCS suffix denote RCS files;  all  others  denote
20       working  files.  Names are paired as explained in ci(1).  Revision num‐
21       bers use the syntax described in ci(1).
22

OPTIONS

24       -i     Create and initialize a new RCS file, but  do  not  deposit  any
25              revision.   If the RCS file name has no directory component, try
26              to place it first into the subdirectory ./RCS, and then into the
27              current  directory.   If  the  RCS file already exists, print an
28              error message.
29
30       -alogins
31              Append the login names appearing  in  the  comma-separated  list
32              logins to the access list of the RCS file.
33
34       -Aoldfile
35              Append  the access list of oldfile to the access list of the RCS
36              file.
37
38       -e[logins]
39              Erase the login names  appearing  in  the  comma-separated  list
40              logins from the access list of the RCS file.  If logins is omit‐
41              ted, erase the entire access list.
42
43       -b[rev]
44              Set the default branch to rev.  If rev is omitted,  the  default
45              branch  is  reset  to  the  (dynamically)  highest branch on the
46              trunk.
47
48       -cstring
49              Set the comment leader to string.  An initial ci, or  an  rcs -i
50              without  -c,  guesses  the comment leader from the suffix of the
51              working file name.
52
53              This option is obsolescent, since RCS normally uses the  preced‐
54              ing $Log$ line's prefix when inserting log lines during checkout
55              (see co(1)).  However, older versions of  RCS  use  the  comment
56              leader  instead  of  the  $Log$ line's prefix, so if you plan to
57              access a file with both old and new versions of RCS,  make  sure
58              its comment leader matches its $Log$ line prefix.
59
60       -ksubst
61              Set  the  default  keyword substitution to subst.  The effect of
62              keyword substitution is described in co(1).  Giving an  explicit
63              -k  option  to co, rcsdiff, and rcsmerge overrides this default.
64              Beware rcs -kv, because -kv is  incompatible  with  co -l.   Use
65              rcs -kkv to restore the normal default keyword substitution.
66
67       -l[rev]
68              Lock  the  revision with number rev.  If a branch is given, lock
69              the latest revision on that branch.  If rev is omitted, lock the
70              latest  revision  on the default branch.  Locking prevents over‐
71              lapping changes.  If someone else already holds  the  lock,  the
72              lock is broken as with rcs -u (see below).
73
74       -u[rev]
75              Unlock  the  revision  with  number  rev.  If a branch is given,
76              unlock the latest revision on that branch.  If rev  is  omitted,
77              remove  the  latest lock held by the caller.  Normally, only the
78              locker of a revision can unlock it.  Somebody else  unlocking  a
79              revision  breaks the lock.  If RCS was configured --with-mailer,
80              then this causes a mail message  to  be  sent  to  the  original
81              locker.   The  message  contains a commentary solicited from the
82              breaker.  The commentary is terminated by end-of-file  or  by  a
83              line containing . by itself.
84
85       -L     Set  locking  to strict.  Strict locking means that the owner of
86              an RCS file is not exempt from locking for checkin.  This option
87              should be used for files that are shared.
88
89       -U     Set  locking  to  non-strict.  Non-strict locking means that the
90              owner of a file need not lock  a  revision  for  checkin.   This
91              option  should  not  be used for files that are shared.  Whether
92              default locking is strict is determined by your system  adminis‐
93              trator, but it is normally strict.
94
95       -mrev:[msg]
96              Replace revision rev's log message with msg.  If msg is omitted,
97              it defaults to "*** empty log message ***".
98
99       -M     Do not send mail  when  breaking  somebody  else's  lock.   This
100              option  is  not  meant  for casual use; it is meant for programs
101              that warn users by other means, and invoke rcs -u only as a low-
102              level lock-breaking operation.
103
104       -nname[:[rev]]
105              Associate  the  symbolic  name  name with the branch or revision
106              rev.  Delete the symbolic name if both : and  rev  are  omitted;
107              otherwise,  print an error message if name is already associated
108              with another number.  If rev is symbolic, it is expanded  before
109              association.   A rev consisting of a branch number followed by a
110              . stands for the current latest revision in  the  branch.   A  :
111              with  an empty rev stands for the current latest revision on the
112              default   branch,   normally   the    trunk.     For    example,
113              rcs -nname: RCS/*  associates name with the current latest revi‐
114              sion  of  all  the  named  RCS  files;   this   contrasts   with
115              rcs -nname:$ RCS/*  which associates name with the revision num‐
116              bers extracted from keyword strings in the corresponding working
117              files.
118
119       -Nname[:[rev]]
120              Act like -n, except override any previous assignment of name.
121
122       -orange
123              deletes (“outdates”) the revisions given by range.  A range con‐
124              sisting of a single revision  number  means  that  revision.   A
125              range consisting of a branch number means the latest revision on
126              that branch.  A range of the form rev1:rev2 means revisions rev1
127              to rev2 on the same branch, :rev means from the beginning of the
128              branch containing rev up to and including rev,  and  rev:  means
129              from revision rev to the end of the branch containing rev.  None
130              of the outdated revisions can have branches or locks.
131
132       -q     Run quietly; do not print diagnostics.
133
134       -I     Run interactively, even if the standard input is not a terminal.
135
136       -sstate[:rev]
137              Set the state attribute of the revision rev to state.  If rev is
138              a  branch number, assume the latest revision on that branch.  If
139              rev is omitted,  assume  the  latest  revision  on  the  default
140              branch.   Any  identifier is acceptable for state.  A useful set
141              of states is Exp (for experimental), Stab (for stable), and  Rel
142              (for  released).  By default, ci(1) sets the state of a revision
143              to Exp.
144
145       -t[file]
146              Write descriptive text from the contents of the named file  into
147              the  RCS file, deleting the existing text.  The file name cannot
148              begin with -.  If file is omitted, obtain the text from standard
149              input,  terminated  by  end-of-file or by a line containing . by
150              itself.  Prompt for the text if interaction is possible; see -I.
151              With -i, descriptive text is obtained even if -t is not given.
152
153       -t-string
154              Write descriptive text from the string into the RCS file, delet‐
155              ing the existing text.
156
157       -T     Preserve the modification time on the RCS file unless a revision
158              is  removed.   This  option can suppress extensive recompilation
159              caused by a make(1) dependency of some copy of the working  file
160              on  the  RCS  file.   Use this option with care; it can suppress
161              recompilation even when it is needed, i.e. when a change to  the
162              RCS  file  would mean a change to keyword strings in the working
163              file.
164
165       -V     Print RCS's version number.
166
167       -Vn    Emulate RCS version n.  See co(1) for details.
168
169       -xsuffixes
170              Use suffixes to characterize RCS files.  See ci(1) for details.
171
172       -zzone Use zone as the default time zone.  This option has  no  effect;
173              it is present for compatibility with other RCS commands.
174
175       At  least  one  explicit  option must be given, to ensure compatibility
176       with future planned extensions to the rcs command.
177

COMPATIBILITY

179       The -brev option generates an RCS file that cannot  be  parsed  by  RCS
180       version 3 or earlier.
181
182       The  -ksubst  options (except -kkv) generate an RCS file that cannot be
183       parsed by RCS version 4 or earlier.
184
185       Use rcs -Vn to make an RCS file acceptable to RCS version n by discard‐
186       ing information that would confuse version n.
187
188       RCS  version  5.5  and  earlier  does  not  support  the -x option, and
189       requires a ,v suffix on an RCS file name.
190

FILES

192       rcs accesses files much as ci(1) does, except that it uses  the  effec‐
193       tive  user  for all accesses, it does not write the working file or its
194       directory, and it does not even read the working file unless a revision
195       number of $ is specified.
196

ENVIRONMENT

198       RCSINIT
199              Options  prepended to the argument list, separated by spaces.  A
200              backslash escapes spaces within an option.  The RCSINIT  options
201              are  prepended to the argument lists of most RCS commands.  Use‐
202              ful RCSINIT options include -q, -V, -x, and -z.
203
204       RCS_MEM_LIMIT
205              An integer lim, measured in kilobytes, specifying the  threshold
206              under which commands will try to use memory-based operations for
207              processing the RCS file.  (For RCS files of size  lim  kilobytes
208              or  greater,  RCS will use the slower standard input/output rou‐
209              tines.)  Default value is 256.
210
211       TMPDIR Name of the temporary directory.  If not  set,  the  environment
212              variables TMP and TEMP are inspected instead and the first value
213              found is taken; if  none  of  them  are  set,  a  host-dependent
214              default is used, typically /tmp.
215

DIAGNOSTICS

217       The  RCS  file name and the revisions outdated are written to the diag‐
218       nostic output.  The exit status is zero if and only if  all  operations
219       were successful.
220

IDENTIFICATION

222       Author: Walter F. Tichy.
223       Manual Page Revision: 5.9.0; Release Date: 2014-06-10.
224       Copyright © 2010-2013 Thien-Thi Nguyen.
225       Copyright © 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995 Paul Eggert.
226       Copyright © 1982, 1988, 1989 Walter F. Tichy.
227

SEE ALSO

229       co(1),  ci(1), ident(1), rcsclean(1), rcsdiff(1), rcsmerge(1), rlog(1),
230       rcsfile(5).
231
232       Walter F. Tichy, RCS--A System for Version Control,  Software--Practice
233       & Experience 15, 7 (July 1985), 637-654.
234
235       The  full  documentation for RCS is maintained as a Texinfo manual.  If
236       the info(1) and RCS programs are properly installed at your  site,  the
237       command
238
239              info rcs
240
241       should  give  you access to the complete manual.  Additionally, the RCS
242       homepage:
243
244              http://www.gnu.org/software/rcs/
245
246       has news and links to the latest release, development site, etc.
247

BUGS

249       A catastrophe (e.g. a system crash) can cause RCS  to  leave  behind  a
250       semaphore  file  that causes later invocations of RCS to claim that the
251       RCS file is in use.  To fix this, remove the semaphore file.   A  sema‐
252       phore file's name typically begins with , or ends with _.
253
254       The separator for revision ranges in the -o option used to be - instead
255       of :, but this leads to confusion when symbolic names contain  -.   For
256       backwards  compatibility rcs -o still supports the old - separator, but
257       it warns about this obsolete use.
258
259       Symbolic names need not refer to existing revisions or  branches.   For
260       example,  the -o option does not remove symbolic names for the outdated
261       revisions; you must use -n to remove the names.
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264
265GNU RCS 5.9.0                     2014-06-10                            RCS(1)
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