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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
       superuser, 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
       numbers 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
              message.

       -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
              omitted, 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
              preceding  $Log$  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
              overlapping 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
              administrator, 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
              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.

       -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
              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.

       -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
       discarding 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
       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.

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
       diagnostic output.  The  exit  status  is  zero  if  and  only  if  all
       operations were successful.

IDENTIFICATION

       Author: Walter F. Tichy.
       Manual Page Revision: 5.13; 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),   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
       semaphore 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.