RCS(1)                                                                  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 supe-
       ruser, or the -i option is present.

       Pathnames matching an RCS suffix denote RCS files;  all  others  denote
       working  files.  Names are paired as explained in ci(1).  Revision num-
       bers 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 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 mes-
              sage.

       -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 omit-
              ted, 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 filename.

              This option is obsolescent, since RCS normally uses the  preced-
              ing $Log$ 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 over-
              lapping 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.  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 adminis-
              trator, but it is normally strict.

       -mrev:msg
              Replace revision rev's log message with msg.

       -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 revi-
              sion  of  all  the  named  RCS  files;   this   contrasts   with
              rcs -nname:$ RCS/*  which associates name with the revision num-
              bers 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 con-
              sisting 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  pathname
              cannot  begin  with -.  If file is omitted, obtain the text from
              standard input, terminated by end-of-file or by a line  contain-
              ing  . by  itself.  Prompt for the text if interaction is possi-
              ble; 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, delet-
              ing 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 discard-
       ing 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 pathname.

FILES
       rcs  accesses  files much as ci(1) does, except that it uses the effec-
       tive 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.
              See ci(1) for details.

DIAGNOSTICS
       The RCS pathname and the revisions outdated are written to the diagnos-
       tic output.  The exit status is zero if and only if all operations were
       successful.

IDENTIFICATION
       Author: Walter F. Tichy.
       Manual Page Revision: ; Release Date: .
       Copyright (C) 1982, 1988, 1989 Walter F. Tichy.
       Copyright (C) 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995 Paul Eggert.

SEE ALSO
       rcsintro(1),   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.

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 sema-
       phore 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.



                                      GNU                               RCS(1)
