The rcs(1) utility creates new Revision Control System
(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(1) to
work, the caller's login name must be on the access list, unless
the access list is empty, the caller is the owner of the file or
the superuser, or the -i option is present.
Path names 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).
The rcs(1) accepts the following options:
-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.
-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. The comment leader is
printed before every log message line generated by the keyword
$Log$ during checkout (see co(1)). This is useful for
programming languages without multiline comments. An initial
ci(1), or an rcs -i without -c, guesses the
comment leader from the suffix of the working 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.
-i
Create and initialize a new RCS file, but do not deposit 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.
-I
Run interactively, even if the standard input is not a
terminal.
-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(1), rcsdiff(1),
and rcsmerge(1) 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. A lock is removed with ci(1) or rcs
-u (see later in this topic).
-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.
-mrev:msg
Replace revision rev's log message with msg.
-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.
-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 path name cannot begin with a period (.). 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.
-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 solicited
from the breaker. The commentary is terminated by end-of-file or by
a line containing . by itself.
-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 usually strict.
-Vn
Emulate RCS version n. See co(1) for
details.
-xsuffixes
Use suffixes to characterize RCS files. See ci(1)
for details.
The rcs(1) utility 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.
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.