1 .TH RCS 1L "" "Purdue University"
3 rcs \- change RCS file attributes
10 creates new RCS files or changes attributes of existing ones.
11 An RCS file contains multiple revisions of text,
12 an access list, a change log,
14 and some control attributes.
15 For \fIrcs\fR to work, the caller's login name must be on the access list,
16 except if the access list is empty, the caller is the owner of the file
18 the \fB\-i\fR option is present.
20 Files ending in `,v' are RCS files, all others are working files. If
21 a working file is given, \fIrcs\fR tries to find the corresponding
22 RCS file first in directory ./RCS and then in the current directory,
27 creates and initializes a new RCS file, but does not deposit any revision.
28 If the RCS file has no path prefix, \fIrcs\fR tries to place it
29 first into the subdirectory ./RCS, and then into the current directory.
31 already exists, an error message is printed.
34 appends the login names appearing in the comma-separated list \fIlogins\fR
35 to the access list of the RCS file.
38 appends the access list of \fIoldfile\fR to the access list of the RCS file.
40 .BR \-e [\fIlogins\fR]
41 erases the login names appearing in the comma-separated list \fIlogins\fR
42 from the access list of the RCS file.
43 If \fIlogins\fR is omitted, the entire access list is erased.
46 sets the default branch to \fIrev\fR. If \fIrev\fR is omitted, the default
47 branch is reset to the (dynamically) highest branch on the trunk.
50 sets the comment leader to \fIstring\fR. The comment leader
51 is printed before every log message line generated by the keyword
52 $\&Log$ during checkout (see
54 This is useful for programming
55 languages without multi-line comments. During \fBrcs -i\fR or initial
56 \fBci\fR, the comment leader is guessed from the suffix of the working file.
59 locks the revision with number \fIrev\fR.
60 If a branch is given, the latest revision on that branch is locked.
61 If \fIrev\fR is omitted, the latest revision on the default branch is locked.
62 Locking prevents overlapping changes.
63 A lock is removed with \fBci\fR or \fBrcs -u\fR (see below).
66 unlocks the revision with number \fIrev\fR.
67 If a branch is given, the latest revision on that branch is unlocked.
68 If \fIrev\fR is omitted, the latest lock held by the caller is removed.
69 Normally, only the locker of a revision may unlock it.
70 Somebody else unlocking a revision breaks the lock.
71 This causes a mail message to be sent to the original locker.
72 The message contains a commentary solicited from the breaker.
73 The commentary is terminated with a line containing a single `.' or
77 sets locking to \fIstrict\fR. Strict locking means that the owner
78 of an RCS file is not exempt from locking for checkin.
79 This option should be used for files that are shared.
82 sets locking to non-strict. Non-strict locking means that the owner of
83 a file need not lock a revision for checkin.
84 This option should NOT be used for files that are shared.
85 The default (\fB\-L\fR or \fB\-U\fR) is determined by your system administrator.
87 .B \-n\fIname\fR[:\fIrev\fR]
88 associates the symbolic name \fIname\fR with the branch or
90 \fIRcs\fR prints an error message if \fIname\fR is already associated with
92 If \fIrev\fR is omitted, the symbolic name is deleted.
94 .B \-N\fIname\fR[:\fIrev\fR]
95 same as \fB\-n\fR, except that it overrides a previous assignment of
99 deletes ("outdates") the revisions given by \fIrange\fR.
100 A range consisting of a single revision number means that revision.
101 A range consisting of a branch number means the latest revision on that
103 A range of the form \fIrev1-rev2\fR means
104 revisions \fIrev1\fR to \fIrev2\fR on the same branch,
105 \fI-rev\fR means from the beginning of the branch containing
106 \fIrev\fR up to and including \fIrev\fR, and \fIrev-\fR means
107 from revision \fIrev\fR to the end of the branch containing \fIrev\fR.
108 None of the outdated revisions may have branches or locks.
111 quiet mode; diagnostics are not printed.
113 .B \-s\fIstate\fR[:\fIrev\fR]
114 sets the state attribute of the revision \fIrev\fR to \fIstate\fR.
115 If \fIrev\fR is a branch number, the latest revision on that branch is
117 If \fIrev\fR is omitted, the latest revision on the default branch is assumed.
118 Any identifier is acceptable for \fIstate\fR.
119 A useful set of states
120 is \fIExp\fR (for experimental), \fIStab\fR (for stable), and \fIRel\fR (for
124 sets the state of a revision to \fIExp\fR.
126 .BR \-t [\fItxtfile\fR]
127 writes descriptive text into the RCS file (deletes the existing text).
128 If \fItxtfile\fR is omitted,
129 \fIrcs\fR prompts the user for text supplied from the standard input,
130 terminated with a line containing a single `.' or control-D.
131 Otherwise, the descriptive text is copied from the file \fItxtfile\fR.
132 If the \fB\-i\fR option is present, descriptive text is requested
133 even if \fB\-t\fR is not given.
134 The prompt is suppressed if the standard input is not a terminal.
136 The RCS file name and the revisions outdated are written to
137 the diagnostic output.
138 The exit status always refers to the last RCS file operated upon,
139 and is 0 if the operation was successful, 1 otherwise.
141 The caller of the command
142 must have read/write permission for the directory containing
143 the RCS file and read permission for the RCS file itself.
145 creates a semaphore file in the same directory as the RCS
146 file to prevent simultaneous update.
147 For changes, \fIrcs\fR always creates a new file. On successful completion,
148 \fIrcs\fR deletes the old one and renames the new one.
149 This strategy makes links to RCS files useless.
154 Author: Walter F. Tichy,
155 Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, 47907.
160 .VL $Date: 1993/03/21 09:58:04 $
163 Copyright \(co 1982, 1988, 1989 by Walter F. Tichy.
165 co(1L), ci(1L), ident(1L), rcsdiff(1L), rcsintro(1L), rcsmerge(1L), rlog(1L),
168 Walter F. Tichy, "Design, Implementation, and Evaluation of a Revision Control
169 System," in \fIProceedings of the 6th International Conference on Software
170 Engineering\fR, IEEE, Tokyo, Sept. 1982.