comb(1) General Commands Manual comb(1)
NAME
comb - Combines Source Code Control System (SCCS) deltas
SYNOPSIS
comb [-clist] [-os] [-pSID] file...
The comb command writes to standard output a shell procedure for combining the specified deltas (SIDs) of an SCCS file and creating a new
version of the file with fewer deltas.
OPTIONS
Each option or group of options applies independently to each named file. Specifies a list of deltas (SIDs) that the shell procedure will
preserve (see get -ilist). The procedure will combine all other deltas. Accesses the reconstructed file at the release of the delta to be
created for each get -e generated; otherwise, accesses the reconstructed file at the most recent ancestor. Using the -o option may
decrease the size of the reconstructed SCCS file. It may also alter the shape of the delta tree of the original file. Specifies the SID
of the oldest delta for the resulting procedure to preserve. All older deltas are combined in the reconstructed file. Causes comb to gen-
erate a shell procedure that, instead of combining the deltas, produces a report for each file, which lists the file name, size (in blocks)
after combining, original size (also in blocks), and percentage change computed by the following formula: 100 * (original - combined) /
original
Run comb using this option before actually combining SCCS deltas in order to judge how much space will actually be saved by the com-
bining process.
DESCRIPTION
By piping the output of the comb command to a shell, or redirecting the output to a file and running that file as a shell procedure, you
can reduce the size of your SCCS file. You can first see how much the file will be reduced by running the comb command with the -s option.
If you specify a directory in place of file, the comb command performs the requested actions on all SCCS files (that is, those with file
names with the s. prefix). If you specify a - (dash) in place of file, the comb command reads standard input and interprets each line as
the name of an SCCS file. The comb command continues to take input until it reads End-of-File.
If you do not specify any options, the comb command preserves only leaf deltas and the minimal number of ancestors needed to preserve the
tree (see the delta command).
The comb command may rearrange the shape of the tree deltas.
The comb command may not save any space; in fact, it is possible for the reconstructed file to actually be larger than the original.
EXAMPLES
To generate a report on how much space will be saved by combing all deltas older than SID 1.4 for SCCS file s.test.c, enter: comb -p1.4 -s
s.test.c | sh To actually combine the deltas, enter: comb -p1.4 s.test.c | sh
FILES
Temporary files.
SEE ALSO
Commands: admin(1), cdc(1), delta(1), get(1), prs(1), rmdel(1), sact(1), sccs(1), sccsdiff(1), sccshelp(1), unget(1), val(1), what(1)
Files: sccsfile(4)
Programming Support Tools
comb(1)