RCS(1) UNIX Programmer's Manual RCS(1)NAMErcs - change RCS file attributes
SYNOPSISrcs options file ...
DESCRIPTIONrcs 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 con-
trol 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 oth-
ers 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 depo-
sit 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
Set the comment leader to string. An initial ci, or an
rcs-i without -c, guesses the comment leader from the
suffix of the working filename.
This option is obsolescent, since RCS normally uses the
preceding $Log$ line's prefix when inserting log lines
during checkout (see co(1)). However, older versions of
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RCS use the comment leader instead of the $Log$ line's
prefix, so if you plan to access a file with both old
and new versions of RCS, make sure its comment leader
matches its $Log$ line prefix.
-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. If some-
one else already holds the lock, the lock is broken as
with 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 can
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 sol-
icited 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 deter-
mined 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.
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-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 con-
trasts 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 can 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 revi-
sion 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 cannot begin with -. If file is omitted,
obtain the text from standard input, terminated by
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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.
-V Print RCS's version number.
-Vn Emulate RCS version n. See co(1) for details.
-xsuffixes
Use suffixes to characterize RCS files. See ci(1) for
details.
-zzone
Use zone as the default time zone. This option has no
effect; it is present for compatibility with other RCS
commands.
At least one explicit option must be given, to ensure compa-
tibility with future planned extensions to the rcs command.
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.
FILESrcs 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.
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RCS(1) UNIX Programmer's Manual RCS(1)ENVIRONMENT
RCSINIT
options prepended to the argument list, separated by
spaces. See ci(1) for details.
RCSLOCALID
Local keyword to substitute. See co(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.
Manual Page Revision: 5.13; Release Date: 1995/06/05.
Copyright (C) 1982, 1988, 1989 Walter F. Tichy.
Copyright (C) 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995 Paul
Eggert.
SEE ALSOrcsintro(1), co(1), ci(1), ident(1), rcsclean(1),
rcsdiff(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
A catastrophe (e.g. a system crash) can cause RCS to leave
behind a semaphore file that causes later invocations of RCS
to claim that the RCS file is in use. To fix this, remove
the semaphore file. A semaphore file's name typically begins
with , or ends with _.
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 sym-
bolic names for the outdated revisions; you must use -n to
remove the names.
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