Provided by: rcs_5.10.1-1_amd64 bug

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.

       Filenames 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  name  has no directory component, 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 file name.

              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.  If RCS was  configured  --with-mailer,  then
              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.  If msg is  omitted,  it  defaults  to
              "*** empty log message ***".

       -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  name  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 file name.

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.  A backslash escapes
              spaces within an option.  The RCSINIT options are prepended to the  argument  lists
              of most RCS commands.  Useful RCSINIT options include -q, -V, -x, and -z.

       RCS_MEM_LIMIT
              Normally, for speed, commands either memory map or copy into memory the RCS file if
              its size is less than the  memory-limit,  currently  defaulting  to  ``unlimited''.
              Otherwise  (or  if the initially-tried speedy ways fail), the commands fall back to
              using  standard  i/o  routines.   You  can  adjust  the  memory  limit  by  setting
              RCS_MEM_LIMIT  to  a  numeric value lim (measured in kilobytes).  An empty value is
              silently ignored.  As a side effect, specifying RCS_MEM_LIMIT inhibits fall-back to
              slower routines.

       TMPDIR Name  of  the  temporary  directory.  If not set, the environment variables TMP and
              TEMP are inspected instead and the first value found is taken; if none of them  are
              set, a host-dependent default is used, typically /tmp.

DIAGNOSTICS

       The  RCS  file  name 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: 5.10.1; Release Date: 2022-02-19.
       Copyright © 2010-2022 Thien-Thi Nguyen.
       Copyright © 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995 Paul Eggert.
       Copyright © 1982, 1988, 1989 Walter F. Tichy.

SEE ALSO

       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.

       The  full documentation for RCS is maintained as a Texinfo manual.  If the info(1) and RCS
       programs are properly installed at your site, the command

              info rcs

       should give you access to the complete manual.  Additionally, the RCS homepage:

              http://www.gnu.org/software/rcs/

       has news and links to the latest release, development site, etc.

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.