1RCS(1) General Commands Manual RCS(1)
2
6 rcs - change RCS file attributes
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9 rcs options file ...
10
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 Pathnames 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
24 -i Create and initialize a new RCS file, but do not deposit any
25 revision. If the RCS file has no path prefix, try to place it
26 first into the subdirectory ./RCS, and then into the current
27 directory. If the RCS file already exists, print an error mes‐
28 sage.
29 -alogins
31 Append the login names appearing in the comma-separated list
32 logins to the access list of the RCS file.
33 -Aoldfile
35 Append the access list of oldfile to the access list of the RCS
36 file.
37 -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 -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 -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 filename.
52 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 -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 -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 -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. This causes a mail message to be sent
80 to the original locker. The message contains a commentary
81 solicited from the breaker. The commentary is terminated by
82 end-of-file or by a line containing . by itself.
83 -L Set locking to strict. Strict locking means that the owner of
85 an RCS file is not exempt from locking for checkin. This option
86 should be used for files that are shared.
87 -U Set locking to non-strict. Non-strict locking means that the
89 owner of a file need not lock a revision for checkin. This
90 option should not be used for files that are shared. Whether
91 default locking is strict is determined by your system adminis‐
92 trator, but it is normally strict.
93 -mrev:msg
95 Replace revision rev's log message with msg.
96 -M Do not send mail when breaking somebody else's lock. This
98 option is not meant for casual use; it is meant for programs
99 that warn users by other means, and invoke rcs -u only as a low-
100 level lock-breaking operation.
101 -nname[:[rev]]
103 Associate the symbolic name name with the branch or revision
104 rev. Delete the symbolic name if both : and rev are omitted;
105 otherwise, print an error message if name is already associated
106 with another number. If rev is symbolic, it is expanded before
107 association. A rev consisting of a branch number followed by a
108 . stands for the current latest revision in the branch. A :
109 with an empty rev stands for the current latest revision on the
110 default branch, normally the trunk. For example,
111 rcs -nname: RCS/* associates name with the current latest revi‐
112 sion of all the named RCS files; this contrasts with
113 rcs -nname:$ RCS/* which associates name with the revision num‐
114 bers extracted from keyword strings in the corresponding working
115 files.
116 -Nname[:[rev]]
118 Act like -n, except override any previous assignment of name.
119 -orange
121 deletes (“outdates”) the revisions given by range. A range con‐
122 sisting of a single revision number means that revision. A
123 range consisting of a branch number means the latest revision on
124 that branch. A range of the form rev1:rev2 means revisions rev1
125 to rev2 on the same branch, :rev means from the beginning of the
126 branch containing rev up to and including rev, and rev: means
127 from revision rev to the end of the branch containing rev. None
128 of the outdated revisions can have branches or locks.
129 -q Run quietly; do not print diagnostics.
131 -I Run interactively, even if the standard input is not a terminal.
133 -sstate[:rev]
135 Set the state attribute of the revision rev to state. If rev is
136 a branch number, assume the latest revision on that branch. If
137 rev is omitted, assume the latest revision on the default
138 branch. Any identifier is acceptable for state. A useful set
139 of states is Exp (for experimental), Stab (for stable), and Rel
140 (for released). By default, ci(1) sets the state of a revision
141 to Exp.
142 -t[file]
144 Write descriptive text from the contents of the named file into
145 the RCS file, deleting the existing text. The file pathname
146 cannot begin with -. If file is omitted, obtain the text from
147 standard input, terminated by end-of-file or by a line contain‐
148 ing . by itself. Prompt for the text if interaction is possi‐
149 ble; see -I. With -i, descriptive text is obtained even if -t
150 is not given.
151 -t-string
153 Write descriptive text from the string into the RCS file, delet‐
154 ing the existing text.
155 -T Preserve the modification time on the RCS file unless a revision
157 is removed. This option can suppress extensive recompilation
158 caused by a make(1) dependency of some copy of the working file
159 on the RCS file. Use this option with care; it can suppress
160 recompilation even when it is needed, i.e. when a change to the
161 RCS file would mean a change to keyword strings in the working
162 file.
163 -V Print RCS's version number.
165 -Vn Emulate RCS version n. See co(1) for details.
167 -xsuffixes
169 Use suffixes to characterize RCS files. See ci(1) for details.
170 -zzone Use zone as the default time zone. This option has no effect;
172 it is present for compatibility with other RCS commands.
173 At least one explicit option must be given, to ensure compatibility
175 with future planned extensions to the rcs command.
176
178 The -brev option generates an RCS file that cannot be parsed by RCS
179 version 3 or earlier.
180 The -ksubst options (except -kkv) generate an RCS file that cannot be
182 parsed by RCS version 4 or earlier.
183 Use rcs -Vn to make an RCS file acceptable to RCS version n by discard‐
185 ing information that would confuse version n.
186 RCS version 5.5 and earlier does not support the -x option, and
188 requires a ,v suffix on an RCS pathname.
189
191 rcs accesses files much as ci(1) does, except that it uses the effec‐
192 tive user for all accesses, it does not write the working file or its
193 directory, and it does not even read the working file unless a revision
194 number of $ is specified.
195
197 RCSINIT
198 options prepended to the argument list, separated by spaces.
199 See ci(1) for details.
200
202 The RCS pathname and the revisions outdated are written to the diagnos‐
203 tic output. The exit status is zero if and only if all operations were
204 successful.
205
207 Author: Walter F. Tichy.
208 Manual Page Revision: 5.13; Release Date: 1995/06/05.
209 Copyright © 1982, 1988, 1989 Walter F. Tichy.
210 Copyright © 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995 Paul Eggert.
211
213 rcsintro(1), co(1), ci(1), ident(1), rcsclean(1), rcsdiff(1),
214 rcsmerge(1), rlog(1), rcsfile(5)
215 Walter F. Tichy, RCS--A System for Version Control, Software--Practice
216 & Experience 15, 7 (July 1985), 637-654.
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219 A catastrophe (e.g. a system crash) can cause RCS to leave behind a
220 semaphore file that causes later invocations of RCS to claim that the
221 RCS file is in use. To fix this, remove the semaphore file. A sema‐
222 phore file's name typically begins with , or ends with _.
223 The separator for revision ranges in the -o option used to be - instead
225 of :, but this leads to confusion when symbolic names contain -. For
226 backwards compatibility rcs -o still supports the old - separator, but
227 it warns about this obsolete use.
228 Symbolic names need not refer to existing revisions or branches. For
230 example, the -o option does not remove symbolic names for the outdated
231 revisions; you must use -n to remove the names.
232GNU 1995/06/05 RCS(1)