rcs(1)
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. Filenames 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 name has no directory component, 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 file name.
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 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 someone 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. If RCS was configured --with-mailer,
then 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. If msg is omitted,
it defaults to "*** empty log message ***".
-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 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 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 name cannot
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.
-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 compatibility
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 file name.
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. A
backslash escapes spaces within an option. The RCSINIT options
are prepended to the argument lists of most RCS commands.
Useful RCSINIT options include -q, -V, -x, and -z.
RCS_MEM_LIMIT
Normally, for speed, commands either memory map or copy into
memory the RCS file if its size is less than the memory-limit,
currently defaulting to ``unlimited''. Otherwise (or if the
initially-tried speedy ways fail), the commands fall back to
using standard i/o routines. You can adjust the memory limit by
setting RCS_MEM_LIMIT to a numeric value lim (measured in
kilobytes). An empty value is silently ignored. As a side
effect, specifying RCS_MEM_LIMIT inhibits fall-back to slower
routines.
TMPDIR Name of the temporary directory. If not set, the environment
variables TMP and TEMP are inspected instead and the first value
found is taken; if none of them are set, a host-dependent
default is used, typically /tmp.
DIAGNOSTICS
The RCS file name 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: 5.9.4; Release Date: 2015-06-21. Copyright 2010-2015 Thien-Thi Nguyen. Copyright 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995 Paul Eggert. Copyright 1982, 1988, 1989 Walter F. Tichy.
SEE ALSO
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. The full documentation for RCS is maintained as a Texinfo manual. If the info(1) and RCS programs are properly installed at your site, the command info rcs should give you access to the complete manual. Additionally, the RCS homepage: http://www.gnu.org/software/rcs/ has news and links to the latest release, development site, etc.
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 symbolic names for the outdated revisions; you must use -n to remove the names.
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