DELTA(1) INTERACTIVE UNIX System DELTA(1)
NAME
delta - make a delta (change) to an SCCS file
SYNOPSIS
delta [-rSID] [-s] [-n] [-glist] [-m[mrlist]] [-y[comment]]
[-p] files
DESCRIPTION
The delta command is used to permanently introduce into the
named SCCS file changes that were made to the file retrieved
by get(1) (called the g-file, or generated file).
The delta command makes a delta to each named SCCS file. If
a directory is named, delta behaves as though each file in
the directory were specified as a named file, except that
non-SCCS files (last component of the path name does not
begin with s.) and unreadable files are silently ignored.
If a name of - is given, the standard input is read (see
WARNINGS); each line of the standard input is taken to be
the name of an SCCS file to be processed.
The delta command may issue prompts on the standard output
depending upon certain keyletters specified and flags [see
admin(1)] that may be present in the SCCS file (see -m and
-y keyletters below).
Keyletter arguments apply independently to each named file.
-rSID Uniquely identifies which delta is to be
made to the SCCS file. The use of this
keyletter is necessary only if two or
more outstanding gets for editing (get
-e) on the same SCCS file were done by
the same person (login name). The SID
value specified with the -r keyletter
can be either the SID specified on the
get command line or the SID to be made
as reported by the get command [see
get(1)]. A diagnostic results if the
specified SID is ambiguous or if a
required SID is omitted on the command
line.
-s Suppresses the issue, on the standard
output, of the created delta's SID, as
well as the number of lines inserted,
deleted, and unchanged in the SCCS file.
-n Specifies retention of the edited g-file
(normally removed at completion of delta
processing).
-glist a list [see get(1) for the definition of
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DELTA(1) INTERACTIVE UNIX System DELTA(1)
list] of deltas which are to be ignored
when the file is accessed at the change
level (SID) created by this delta.
-m[mrlist] If the SCCS file has the v flag set [see
admin(1)], then a Modification Request
(MR) number must be supplied as the rea-
son for creating the new delta.
If -m is not used and the standard input
is a terminal, the prompt MRs? is issued
on the standard output before the stan-
dard input is read; if the standard
input is not a terminal, no prompt is
issued. The MRs? prompt always precedes
the comments? prompt (see -y keyletter).
MRs in a list are separated by blanks
and/or tab characters. An unescaped
new-line character terminates the MR
list.
Note that if the v flag has a value [see
admin(1)], it is taken to be the name of
a program (or shell procedure) which
will validate the correctness of the MR
numbers. If a non-zero exit status is
returned from the MR number validation
program, delta terminates. (It is
assumed that the MR numbers were not all
valid.)
-y[comment] Arbitrary text used to describe the rea-
son for making the delta. A null string
is considered a valid comment.
If -y is not specified and the standard
input is a terminal, the prompt com-
ments? is issued on the standard output
before the standard input is read; if
the standard input is not a terminal, no
prompt is issued. An unescaped new-line
character terminates the comment text.
-p Causes delta to print (on the standard
output) the SCCS file differences before
and after the delta is applied in a
diff(1) format.
FILES
g-file Existed before the execution of delta;
removed after completion of delta.
p-file Existed before the execution of delta; may
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DELTA(1) INTERACTIVE UNIX System DELTA(1)
exist after completion of delta.
q-file Created during the execution of delta;
removed after completion of delta.
x-file Created during the execution of delta;
renamed to SCCS file after completion of
delta.
z-file Created during the execution of delta;
removed during the execution of delta.
d-file Created during the execution of delta;
removed after completion of delta.
/usr/bin/bdiff Program to compute differences between the
``gotten'' file and the g-file.
SEE ALSO
admin(1), cdc(1), get(1), prs(1), rmdel(1), sccsfile(4).
bdiff(1) in the INTERACTIVE UNIX System User's/System
Administrator's Reference Manual.
WARNINGS
Lines beginning with an SOH ASCII character (binary 001)
cannot be placed in the SCCS file unless the SOH is escaped.
This character has special meaning to SCCS [see sccsfile(4)]
and will cause an error.
A get of many SCCS files, followed by a delta of those
files, should be avoided when the get generates a large
amount of data. Instead, multiple get/delta sequences
should be used.
If the standard input (-) is specified on the delta command
line, the -m (if necessary) and -y keyletters must also be
present. Omission of these keyletters causes an error to
occur.
Comments are limited to text strings of at most 512 charac-
ters.
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