admin(1) General Commands Manual admin(1)
NAME
admin - Creates and initializes or changes (administers) Source Code Control System (SCCS) files
SYNOPSIS
The admin command creates and initializes new Source Code Control System (SCCS) files or changes specified parameters in existing SCCS
files.
Creating and Initializing SCCS Files
admin [-a user] [-i[file]] | [-n] [-f header_flag[value]] [-m MRlist] [-r number[.number]] [-t[file]] [-y[comment]] sccs_file | -
Changing Existing SCCS Files
admin [-a user] [-e user] [-d header_flag] [-f header_flag[value]] [-h] [-t[file]] [-z] sccs_file | -
STANDARDS
Interfaces documented on this reference page conform to industry standards as follows:
admin: XCU5.0
Refer to the standards(5) reference page for more information about industry standards and associated tags.
OPTIONS
Adds the specified user to the list of users who can make sets of changes (deltas) to the SCCS file. The user argument can be either a
user name, a group name, or a group ID. Specifying a group name or number is the same as specifying the names of all users in that group.
You can specify more than one -a option on a single admin command line. If an SCCS file contains an empty user list, anyone can add
deltas.
If you precede user by an ! (exclamation point), the users specified are denied permission to make deltas.
[Tru64 UNIX] If a file has a user list, the creator of the file must be included in the list in order for the creator to make
deltas to the file. Removes the specified header flag from the SCCS file. You can specify this option only with existing SCCS
files. You can also specify more than one -d option in a single admin command. Removes the specified user from the list of users
allowed to make deltas to the SCCS file. Specifying a group ID is equivalent to specifying all user names common to that group.
You can specify several -e options on a single admin command line. You can specify this option only with existing SCCS files. See
also the -a option. Places the specified header flag and value in the SCCS file. You can specify more than one header flag in a
single admin command. Checks the structure of the SCCS file and compares a newly computed checksum with the checksum that is stored
in the first line of the SCCS file. When the checksum value is not correct, the file was improperly modified or damaged. This
option helps you detect damage caused by the improper use of non-SCCS commands to modify SCCS files, as well as accidental damage.
The -h option prevents writing to the file, so it cancels the effect of any other options supplied. If an error message is returned
indicating the file is damaged, use the -z option to recompute the checksum. Then test to see if the file has been corrected by
using the -h option again. Gets the text for a new SCCS file from file. This text is the first delta of the file. If you specify
the -i option but you omit the file argument, admin reads the text from standard input until it reaches End-of-File(Ctrl-D). If you
do not specify the -i option, but you do specify the -n option, admin creates an empty SCCS file. The admin command can create only
one file containing text at a time. If you are creating two or more SCCS files with one call to admin, you must use the -n option,
and the SCCS files created are empty. Specifies a list of Modification Request (MR) numbers to be inserted into the SCCS file as
the reason for creating the initial delta. The v flag must be set. The MR numbers are validated if the v flag has a value (the
name of an MR number validation program). The admin command reports an error if the v flag is not set or if the MR validation
fails. Creates a new, empty SCCS file.
[Tru64 UNIX] Do not specify this option when you use the -i option. See the description of the -i option for details. Inserts the
initial delta into number.number, the release and version, respectively. You can specify -r only if you also specify the -i or -n
option. If you do not specify this option, the initial delta becomes release 1, version 1. Use this option only when creating an
SCCS file. If the version number is omitted, the version is set to 1 by default. Takes descriptive text for the SCCS file from
file. If you use -t when creating a new SCCS file, you must supply a file name. In the case of an existing SCCS file without a
file name, -t causes removal of the descriptive text (if any) currently in the SCCS file. In the case of an existing SCCS file with
a file name, -t causes text in the named file to replace the descriptive text (if any) currently in the SCCS file. Inserts comment
text into the initial delta in a manner identical to that of the delta command. Use the -y option only when you create an SCCS
file. If you do not specify a comment, admin inserts a line of the following form: date and time created YY/MM/DD HH:MM:SS by login
[Tru64 UNIX] If YY is 69 to 99, the year is interpreted as being in the twentieth century, i.e. 19YY. Otherwise, the year is inter-
preted as being in the twenty-first century, i.e. 20YY. Recomputes the SCCS file checksum and stores it in the first line of the
SCCS file. (See the -h option description.)
Using admin with this option on a damaged file can prevent future detection of the damage. Use this option only if the SCCS file is
changed using non-SCCS commands because of a previous serious error.
OPERANDS
The name of an SCCS file to be created or modified.
If the named file exists, admin modifies its parameters as specified by the flags. If it does not exist and you supply the -i
option or the -n option, admin creates the new file and provides default values for unspecified options.
If you specify a directory name for file, admin performs the requested actions on all SCCS files in that directory (all files with
the s. prefix).
If you specify a - (hyphen) as a file name, admin reads standard input and interprets each line as the name of an SCCS file. An
End-of-File character ends input.
DESCRIPTION
The parameters that can be modified by admin control how the get command builds the files that you can edit. The parameters also provide
information about who can access the file, who can make changes, and when changes were made.
[Tru64 UNIX] The admin command is most often used to create new SCCS files without setting parameters.
[Tru64 UNIX] If you are not familiar with the delta numbering system, see the get(1), sccs(1) reference pages, and the Programming Support
Tools book.
Creating an SCCS File
All SCCS file names must have the form s.file. New SCCS files are created with read-only permission. You must have write permission in the
directory to create a file. (See the chmod(1) reference page for an explanation of file permissions). The admin command writes to a tempo-
rary x-file, which it calls x.file. The x-file has the same permissions as the original SCCS file if it already exists, and it is read-
only if admin creates a new file. After successful completion of admin, the x-file is moved to the name of the SCCS file. This action
ensures that changes are made to the SCCS file only if admin does not detect any errors while it is running.
You should create directories containing SCCS files with permission code 755 (read, write, and execute permissions for owner, read and exe-
cute permissions for group members and others). You should create SCCS files themselves as read-only files (444). With these permissions,
only the owner can use non-SCCS commands to modify SCCS files. If a group can access and modify the SCCS files, make sure the directories
include group write permission.
The admin command also uses a temporary lock file (called z.file) to prevent simultaneous updates to the SCCS file by different users. See
the get(1) reference page for additional information on the z.file file.
Header Flags
The following table contains the header flags that can be set with the -f option and unset with the -d option. The header flags control
the format of the g-file created with the get command. (See the get(1) reference page for details on the g-file.) Lets you use the -b
option of a get command to create branch deltas. Makes number the highest release number that a get -e command can use. The value of num-
ber must be less than or equal to 9999. Its default value is 9999. Makes SID (SCCS ID) the default delta supplied to a get command.
Makes number the lowest release number that a get -e command can retrieve. The number argument must be greater than 0 and less than 9999.
Its default value is 1. Treats the message "There are no SCCS identification keywords in the file. (cm7)" (issued by the get or delta com-
mand) as an error instead of a warning.
You may use keyword to specify that a particular keyword, or set of keywords, separated by blanks and tab characters, must be found
in the file. Permits concurrent get commands for editing the same SID of an SCCS file. This flag allows multiple concurrent
updates to the same version of the SCCS file. This flag is sometimes called the "joint edit" flag. Locks the releases specified by
number... against editing, so that a get -e command against one of these releases fails. If you specify number as a, this is
equivalent to specifying all releases in the file.
[Tru64 UNIX] You can lock all releases against editing by specifying -fla and unlock specific releases with the -d option. Substi-
tutes module for all occurrences of the %M% keyword in an SCCS text file retrieved by a get command. The default module is the name
of the SCCS file without the s. prefix. Causes delta to create a null delta in any releases that are skipped when a delta is made
in a new release. For example, if you make delta 5.1 after delta 2.7, releases 3 and 4 will be null. The resulting null deltas can
serve as points from which to build branch deltas. Without this flag, skipped releases do not appear in the SCCS file. Substitutes
text for all occurrences of the %Q% keyword in an SCCS text file retrieved by a get command. Substitutes type for all occurrences
of the %Y% keyword in a g-file retrieved by get. Makes delta prompt for Modification Request (MR) numbers as the reason for creat-
ing a delta. The program argument specifies the name of an MR number validity checking program. (See the delta(1) reference page.)
If v is set in the SCCS file, the admin -m option must also be used, even if its value is null.
EXIT STATUS
The following exit values are returned: Successful completion. An error occurred.
EXAMPLES
To create an empty SCCS file named s.test.c, enter: admin -n s.test.c To convert an existing text file into an SCCS file, enter: admin
-itest.c s.test.c
The admin command responds with the message: There are no SCCS identification keywords in the file. (cm7)
This message does not indicate an error. To rename the original text file, enter: mv oldname.c newname.c Identification keywords
are variables that can be placed in an SCCS file. The values of these variables provide information, such as date, time, SID, or
file name. See the get(1) reference page for an explanation of identification keywords.
Whether creating new files or converting an existing file, you can name the SCCS file anything you like, as long as it begins with
the s. prefix. In this example, the original file and the SCCS file have the same name, but that is not required.
When you do not specify a release number, as in both of the preceding examples, admin gives the SCCS file an SID of 1.1. SCCS does
not use the number 0 to identify deltas. Therefore, a file cannot have an SID of 1.0 or 2.1.1.0. All new releases start with level
1. To start the s.test.c file with a release number of 3, use the -r option with the admin command, and enter: admin -itest.c -r3
s.test.c To restrict permission to change SCCS files to a specific set of user IDs, list the user ID or group ID numbers in the user
list of the SCCS file with the -a option. These IDs then appear in the SCCS file header. Without the -a option to restrict access,
all user IDs can change the SCCS files. To restrict permissions to the user ID julie, enter: admin -ajulie s.test.c Although SCCS
provides some error protection, you might need to recover a file that was accidentally damaged. This damage can result from a sys-
tem malfunction, operator error, or changing an SCCS file without using SCCS commands.
SCCS commands use the checksum to determine whether a file was changed since it was last used. The only SCCS command that processes
a damaged file is the admin command when used with the -h or -z option. The -h option tells admin to compare the checksum stored in
the SCCS file header against the computed checksum. The -z option tells admin to recompute the checksum and store it in the file
header.
Check the SCCS files for possible damage on a regular basis. For example, enter: admin -h s.file1 s.file2 ... admin -h directory1
directory2 ...
If admin finds a file where the computed checksum is not equal to the checksum listed in the SCCS file header, it displays the mes-
sage of the form: [s.file]: The file is damaged. (co6) If a file is damaged, try to edit the file again, or read a backup copy.
After fixing the file, run the admin command with the -z option and the repaired file name by entering: admin -z s.file
This operation replaces the old checksum in the SCCS file header with a new checksum based on the repaired file contents. Other
SCCS commands can now process the file.
ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES
The following environment variables affect the execution of admin: Provides a default value for the internationalization variables that are
unset or null. If LANG is unset or null, the corresponding value from the default locale is used. If any of the internationalization vari-
ables contain an invalid setting, the utility behaves as if none of the variables had been defined. If set to a non-empty string value,
overrides the values of all the other internationalization variables. Determines the locale for the interpretation of sequences of bytes
of text data as characters (for example, single-byte as opposed to multibyte characters in arguments and input files). Determines the
locale for the format and contents of diagnostic messages written to standard error. Determines the location of message catalogues for the
processing of LC_MESSAGES.
SEE ALSO
Commands: cdc(1), comb(1), delta(1), ed(1), get(1), prs(1), rmdel(1), sact(1), sccs(1), sccsdiff(1), sccshelp(1), unget(1), val(1),
what(1)
Files: sccsfile(4)
Standards: standards(5)
Programming Support Tools
admin(1)