RCS(1)							      General Commands Manual							    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 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 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 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 lat-
	      est revision on the default branch.  Locking prevents overlapping changes.  If someone else already holds the lock, the lock is bro-
	      ken 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;  other-
	      wise,  print an error message if name is already associated with another number.	If rev is symbolic, it is expanded before associa-
	      tion.  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 recom-
	      pilation 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: ; 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 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  out-
       dated revisions; you must use -n to remove the names.

GNU
																	    RCS(1)