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NAME

       rcsfile - format of RCS file

DESCRIPTION

       An RCS file’s contents are described by the grammar below.

       The  text is free format: space, backspace, tab, newline, vertical tab,
       form feed, and carriage return  (collectively,  white  space)  have  no
       significance  except  in  strings.   However, white space cannot appear
       within an id, num, or sym, and an RCS file must end with a newline.

       Strings are enclosed by @.  If a  string  contains  a  @,  it  must  be
       doubled; otherwise, strings can contain arbitrary binary data.

       The  meta  syntax  uses  the following conventions: ‘|’ (bar) separates
       alternatives; ‘{’ and  ‘}’  enclose  optional  phrases;  ‘{’  and  ‘}*’
       enclose  phrases  that can be repeated zero or more times; ‘{’ and ’}+’
       enclose phrases that must appear at least once  and  can  be  repeated;
       Terminal symbols are in boldface; nonterminal symbols are in italics.

       rcstext   ::=  admin {delta}* desc {deltatext}*

       admin     ::=  head       {num};
                      { branch   {num}; }
                      access     {id}*;
                      symbols    {sym : num}*;
                      locks      {id : num}*;  {strict  ;}
                      { comment  {string}; }
                      { expand   {string}; }
                      { newphrase }*

       delta     ::=  num
                      date       num;
                      author     id;
                      state      {id};
                      branches   {num}*;
                      next       {num};
                      { commitid id; }
                      { newphrase }*

       desc      ::=  desc       string

       deltatext ::=  num
                      log        string
                      { newphrase }*
                      text       string

       num       ::=  {digit | .}+

       digit     ::=  0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9

       id        ::=  {num} idchar {idchar | num}*

       sym       ::=  {digit}* idchar {idchar | digit}*

       idchar    ::=  any visible graphic character except special

       special   ::=  $ | , | . | : | ; | @

       string    ::=  @{any character, with @ doubled}*@

       newphrase ::=  id word* ;

       word      ::=  id | num | string | :

       Identifiers  are case sensitive.  Keywords are in lower case only.  The
       sets of keywords and identifiers can overlap.  In most environments RCS
       uses  the  ISO  8859/1  encoding:  visible graphic characters are codes
       041-176 and 240-377, and white space characters are codes  010-015  and
       040.

       Dates,   which   appear  after  the  date  keyword,  are  of  the  form
       Y.mm.dd.hh.mm.ss, where Y is the year, mm the month (01-12), dd the day
       (01-31),  hh the hour (00-23), mm the minute (00-59), and ss the second
       (00-60).  Y contains just the last two digits of  the  year  for  years
       from  1900 through 1999, and all the digits of years thereafter.  Dates
       use the Gregorian calendar; times use UTC.

       The commitid is followed by an id token. This token is intended  to  be
       unique across multiple files and is used to help group files as being a
       part of the same logical commit.  This token must uniquely identify the
       commit  operation  that  was  applied  to  a  set  of  RCS  files.   In
       particular, it must be unique among all the commitids in this file.

       The newphrase productions  in  the  grammar  are  reserved  for  future
       extensions  to  the  format of RCS files.  No newphrase will begin with
       any keyword already in use.

       The delta nodes form a tree.  All nodes  whose  numbers  consist  of  a
       single  pair  (e.g.,  2.3,  2.1,  1.3, etc.)  are on the trunk, and are
       linked through the next field in order of decreasing numbers.  The head
       field  in  the  admin  node  points to the head of that sequence (i.e.,
       contains the  highest  pair).   The  branch  node  in  the  admin  node
       indicates the default branch (or revision) for most RCS operations.  If
       empty, the default branch is the highest branch on the trunk.

       All delta nodes  whose  numbers  consist  of  2n  fields  (n≥2)  (e.g.,
       3.1.1.1,  2.1.2.2, etc.)  are linked as follows.  All nodes whose first
       2n-1 number fields are identical are linked through the next  field  in
       order  of  increasing  numbers.  For each such sequence, the delta node
       whose number is identical to the first 2n-2 number fields of the deltas
       on  that  sequence  is called the branchpoint.  The branches field of a
       node contains a list of the numbers of the first nodes of all sequences
       for  which  it  is  a  branchpoint.  This list is ordered in increasing
       numbers.

       The following diagram shows an example of an RCS file’s organization.

                                  Head
                                    |
                                    |
                                    v                        / \
                                ---------                   /   \
          / \          / \      |       |      / \         /     \
         /   \        /   \     |  2.1  |     /   \       /       \
        /     \      /     \    |       |    /     \     /         \
       /1.2.1.3\    /1.3.1.1\   |       |   /1.2.2.2\   /1.2.2.1.1.1\
       ---------    ---------   ---------   ---------   -------------
           ^            ^           |           ^             ^
           |            |           |           |             |
           |            |           v           |             |
          / \           |       ---------      / \            |
         /   \          |       \  1.3  /     /   \           |
        /     \         ---------\     /     /     \-----------
       /1.2.1.1\                  \   /     /1.2.2.1\
       ---------                   \ /      ---------
           ^                        |           ^
           |                        |           |
           |                        v           |
           |                    ---------       |
           |                    \  1.2  /       |
           ----------------------\     /---------
                                  \   /
                                   \ /
                                    |
                                    |
                                    v
                                ---------
                                \  1.1  /
                                 \     /
                                  \   /
                                   \ /

IDENTIFICATION

       Author: Walter F. Tichy, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN,  47907.
       Manual Page Revision: 5.6; Release Date: 1995/06/05.
       Copyright © 1982, 1988, 1989 Walter F. Tichy.
       Copyright © 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995 Paul Eggert.

SEE ALSO

       rcsintro(1),  ci(1),  co(1), ident(1), rcs(1), rcsclean(1), rcsdiff(1),
       rcsmerge(1), rlog(1)
       Walter F. Tichy, RCS--A System for Version Control,  Software--Practice
       & Experience 15, 7 (July 1985), 637-654.