rcs(1) DG/UX 4.30 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.
Files ending in `,v' are RCS files, all others are working
files. If a working file is given, rcs tries to find the
corresponding RCS file first in directory ./RCS and then in
the current directory, as explained in co(1).
-i creates and initializes a new RCS file, but does
not deposit any revision. If the RCS file has no
path prefix, rcs tries to place it first into the
subdirectory ./RCS, and then into the current
directory. If the RCS file already exists, an
error message is printed.
-alogins appends the names appearing in the comma-
separated list logins to the access list of the
RCS file.
-Aoldfile appends the access list of oldfile to the access
list of the RCS file.
-e[logins] erases the login names appearing in the comma-
separated list logins from the access list of the
RCS file. If logins is omitted, the entire
access list is erased.
-cstring sets the comment leader to string. The comment
leader is printed before every log message line
generated by the keyword $Log$ during checkout
(see co). This is useful for programming
languages without multi-line comments. During rcs
-i or initial ci, the comment leader is guessed
from the suffix of the working file.
-l[rev] locks the revision with number rev. If a branch
is given, the latest revision on that branch is
locked. If rev is omitted, the latest revision
on the trunk is locked. Locking prevents
overlapping changes. A lock is removed with ci
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rcs(1) DG/UX 4.30 rcs(1)
or rcs -u (see below).
-u[rev] unlocks the revision with number rev. If a
branch is given, the latest revision on that
branch is unlocked. If rev is omitted, the
latest lock held by the caller is removed.
Normally, only the locker of a revision may
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 solicited from the breaker.
The commentary is terminated with a line
containing a single `.' or control-D.
-L sets 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 sets 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. The default is
-L.
-nname[:rev]
associates the symbolic name name with the branch
or revision rev. Rcs prints an error message if
name is already associated with another number.
If rev is omitted, the symbolic name is deleted.
Names must begin with a letter, and cannot
contain whitespace, period, colon, semicolon, or
@.
-Nname[:rev]
same as -n, except that it overrides a 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 may have
branches or locks.
-q quiet mode; diagnostics are not printed.
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rcs(1) DG/UX 4.30 rcs(1)
-sstate[:rev]
sets the state attribute of the revision rev to
state. If rev is omitted, the latest revision on
the trunk is assumed; If rev is a branch number,
the latest revision on that branch is assumed.
Any string that could be a name (see -n) is
acceptable for state. A useful set of states is
Exp (for experimental), Stab (for stable), and
Rel (for released). By default, ci sets the
state of a revision to Exp.
-t[txtfile]
writes descriptive text into the RCS file
(deletes the existing text). If txtfile is
omitted, rcs prompts the user for text supplied
from the std. input, terminated with a line
containing a single `.' or control-D. Otherwise,
the descriptive text is copied from the file
txtfile. If the -i option is present,
descriptive text is requested even if -t is not
given. The prompt is suppressed if standard
input is not a terminal.
DIAGNOSTICS
The RCS file name and the revisions outdated are written to
the diagnostic output. The exit status always refers to the
last RCS file operated upon, and is 0 if the operation was
successful, 1 otherwise.
FILES
The caller of the command must have read/write permission
for the directory containing the RCS file and read
permission for the RCS file itself. Rcs creates a semaphore
file in the same directory as the RCS file to prevent
simultaneous update. For changes, rcs always creates a new
file. On successful completion, rcs deletes the old one and
renames the new one. This strategy makes links to RCS files
useless.
SEE ALSO
co(1), ci(1), ident(1), rcsdiff(1), rcsintro(1),
rcsmerge(1), rlog(1), sccstorcs(1), rcsfile(4).
Walter F. Tichy, "Design, Implementation, and Evaluation of
a Revision Control System," in Proceedings of the 6th
International Conference on Software Engineering, IEEE,
Tokyo, Sept. 1982.
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