CI(1)CI(1)NAMEci - check in RCS revisions
SYNOPSISci [options] file ...
DESCRIPTIONci stores new revisions into RCS files. Each file name ending in ,v is
taken to be an RCS file. All others are assumed to be working files
containing new revisions. ci deposits the contents of each working file
into the corresponding RCS file. If only a working file is given, ci
tries to find the corresponding RCS file in an RCS subdirectory and then
in the working file's directory. For more details, see FILE NAMING
below.
For ci to work, the caller's login must be on the access list, except if
the access list is empty or the caller is the superuser or the owner of
the file. To append a new revision to an existing branch, the tip revi-
sion on that branch must be locked by the caller. Otherwise, only a new
branch can be created. This restriction is not enforced for the owner
of the file if non-strict locking is used (see rcs(1)). A lock held by
someone else may be broken with the rcs command.
Normally, ci checks whether the revision to be deposited is different
from the preceding one. If it is not different, ci aborts the deposit,
asking beforehand if possible. A deposit can be forced with the -f
option.
For each revision deposited, ci prompts for a log message. The log mes-
sage should summarize the change and must be terminated by end-of-file
or by a line containing . by itself. If several files are checked in ci
asks whether to reuse the previous log message. If the standard input
is not a terminal, ci suppresses the prompt and uses the same log mes-
sage for all files. See also -m.
The number of the deposited revision can be given by any of the options
-f, -I, -k, -l, -q, -r, or -u.
If the RCS file does not exist, ci creates it and deposits the contents
of the working file as the initial revision (default number: 1.1). The
access list is initialized to empty. Instead of the log message, ci
requests descriptive text (see -t below).
OPTIONS
-r[rev]
assigns the revision number rev to the checked-in revision,
releases the corresponding lock, and deletes the working file.
This is the default. rev may be symbolic, numeric, or mixed.
If rev is a revision number, it must be higher than the latest
one on the branch to which rev belongs, or must start a new
branch.
If rev is a branch rather than a revision number, the new
revision is appended to that branch. The level number is
obtained by incrementing the tip revision number of that branch.
If rev indicates a non-existing branch, that branch is created
with the initial revision numbered rev.1.
If rev is omitted, ci tries to derive the new revision number
from the caller's last lock. If the caller has locked the tip
revision of a branch, the new revision is appended to that
branch. The new revision number is obtained by incrementing the
tip revision number. If the caller locked a non-tip revision, a
new branch is started at that revision by incrementing the high-
est branch number at that revision. The default initial branch
and level numbers are 1.
If rev is omitted and the caller has no lock, but owns the file
and locking is not set to strict, then the revision is appended
to the default branch (normally the trunk; see the -b option of
rcs(1)).
Exception: On the trunk, revisions can be appended to the end,
but not inserted.
-f[rev]
forces a deposit; the new revision is deposited even it is not
different from the preceding one.
-k[rev]
searches the working file for keyword values to determine its
revision number, creation date, state, and author (see co(1)),
and assigns these values to the deposited revision, rather than
computing them locally. It also generates a default login mes-
sage noting the login of the caller and the actual checkin date.
This option is useful for software distribution. A revision that
is sent to several sites should be checked in with the -k option
at these sites to preserve the original number, date, author, and
state. The extracted keyword values and the default log message
may be overridden with the options -d, -m, -s, -w, and any option
that carries a revision number.
-l[rev]
works like -r, except it performs an additional co -l for the
deposited revision. Thus, the deposited revision is immediately
checked out again and locked. This is useful for saving a revi-
sion although one wants to continue editing it after the checkin.
-u[rev]
works like -l, except that the deposited revision is not locked.
This lets one read the working file immediately after checkin.
-q[rev]
quiet mode; diagnostic output is not printed. A revision that is
not different from the preceding one is not deposited, unless -f
is given.
-I[rev]
interactive mode; the user is prompted and questioned even if the
standard input is not a terminal.
-d[date]
uses date for the checkin date and time. The date is specified
in free format as explained in co(1). This is useful for lying
about the checkin date, and for -k if no date is available. If
date is empty, the working file's time of last modification is
used.
-mmsg uses the string msg as the log message for all revisions checked
in.
-nname assigns the symbolic name name to the number of the checked-in
revision. ci prints an error message if name is already assigned
to another number.
-Nname same as -n, except that it overrides a previous assignment of
name.
-sstate
sets the state of the checked-in revision to the identifier
state. The default state is Exp.
-tfile writes descriptive text from the contents of the named file into
the RCS file, deleting the existing text. The file name may not
begin with -.
-t-string
Write descriptive text from the string into the RCS file, delet-
ing the existing text.
The -t option, in both its forms, has effect only during an ini-
tial checkin; it is silently ignored otherwise.
During the initial checkin, if -t is not given, ci obtains the
text from standard input, terminated by end-of-file or by a line
containing . by itself. The user is prompted for the text if
interaction is possible; see -I.
For backward compatibility with older versions of RCS, a bare -t
option is ignored.
-wlogin
uses login for the author field of the deposited revision. Use-
ful for lying about the author, and for -k if no author is avail-
able.
-Vn Emulate RCS version n. See co(1) for details.
FILE NAMING
Pairs of RCS files and working files may be specified in three ways (see
also the example section of co(1)).
1) Both the RCS file and the working file are given. The RCS file name
is of the form path1/workfile,v and the working file name is of the form
path2/workfile where path1/ and path2/ are (possibly different or empty)
paths and workfile is a file name.
2) Only the RCS file is given. Then the working file is created in the
current directory and its name is derived from the name of the RCS file
by removing path1/ and the suffix ,v.
3) Only the working file is given. Then ci looks for an RCS file of the
form path2/RCS/workfile,v or path2/workfile,v (in this order).
If the RCS file is specified without a path in 1) and 2), then ci looks
for the RCS file first in the directory ./RCS and then in the current
directory.
FILE MODES
An RCS file created by ci inherits the read and execute permissions from
the working file. If the RCS file exists already, ci preserves its read
and execute permissions. ci always turns off all write permissions of
RCS files.
FILES
Several temporary files may be created. A semaphore file is created in
the directory containing the RCS file. The effective user+group must be
able to read the RCS file and to search and write the directory contain-
ing the RCS file. Normally, the real user+group must be able to read
the working file and to search and write the directory containing the
working file; however, some older hosts that do not conform to Posix
1003.1-1990 cannot easily switch between real and effective ids, so on
these hosts the effective user+group is used for all accesses. The
effective user+group is the same as the real user+group unless your copy
of RCS has setuid or setgid privileges. These privileges yield extra
security if RCS files are protected so that only the effective
user+group can write RCS directories. Further protection can be
achieved by granting access only to the effective user+group.
ci never changes an RCS or working file; instead, it unlinks the file
and creates a new one. This strategy breaks hard links to such files,
but does not affect symbolic links.
DIAGNOSTICS
For each revision, ci prints the RCS file, the working file, and the
number of both the deposited and the preceding revision. The exit sta-
tus is zero if and only if all operations were successful.
IDENTIFICATION
Author: Walter F. Tichy.
Revision Number: 5.4; Release Date: 1990/12/04.
Copyright (C) 1982, 1988, 1989 by Walter F. Tichy.
Copyright (C) 1990 by Paul Eggert.
SEE ALSOco(1), ident(1), rcs(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.
GNU 1990/12/04 5
