13 ci \- check in RCS revisions
16 .RI [ options ] " file " .\|.\|.
19 stores new revisions into \*r files.
20 Each pathname matching an \*r suffix
21 is taken to be an \*r file.
23 are assumed to be working files containing new revisions.
25 deposits the contents of each working file
26 into the corresponding \*r file.
27 If only a working file is given,
29 tries to find the corresponding \*r file in an \*r subdirectory
30 and then in the working file's directory.
37 to work, the caller's login must be on the access list,
38 except if the access list is empty or the caller is the superuser or the
40 To append a new revision to an existing branch, the tip revision on
41 that branch must be locked by the caller. Otherwise, only a
42 new branch can be created. This restriction is not enforced
43 for the owner of the file if non-strict locking is used
46 A lock held by someone else can be broken with the
54 checks whether the revision to be deposited differs from the preceding one.
55 If not, instead of creating a new revision
57 reverts to the preceding one.
60 removes the working file and any lock;
64 removes any lock, and then they both generate a new working file much as if
68 had been applied to the preceding revision.
73 options apply to the preceding revision.
75 For each revision deposited,
77 prompts for a log message.
78 The log message should summarize the change and must be terminated by
79 end-of-file or by a line containing
82 If several files are checked in
84 asks whether to reuse the
86 If the standard input is not a terminal,
89 and uses the same log message for all files.
93 If the \*r file does not exist,
96 deposits the contents of the working file as the initial revision
99 The access list is initialized to empty.
100 Instead of the log message,
102 requests descriptive text (see
108 of the deposited revision can be given by any of the options
121 can be symbolic, numeric, or mixed.
124 must already be defined;
129 options for assigning names during checkin.
135 determines the revision number from keyword values in the working file.
139 begins with a period,
140 then the default branch (normally the trunk) is prepended to it.
143 is a branch number followed by a period,
144 then the latest revision on that branch is used.
148 is a revision number, it must be higher than the latest
149 one on the branch to which
151 belongs, or must start a new branch.
155 is a branch rather than a revision number,
156 the new revision is appended to that branch. The level number is obtained
157 by incrementing the tip revision number of that branch.
160 indicates a non-existing branch,
161 that branch is created with the initial revision numbered
170 tries to derive the new revision number from
171 the caller's last lock. If the caller has locked the tip revision of a branch,
172 the new revision is appended to that branch.
173 The new revision number is obtained
174 by incrementing the tip revision number.
175 If the caller locked a non-tip revision, a new branch is started at
176 that revision by incrementing the highest branch number at that revision.
177 The default initial branch and level numbers are
182 is omitted and the caller has no lock, but owns
186 then the revision is appended to the
187 default branch (normally the trunk; see the
192 Exception: On the trunk, revisions can be appended to the end, but
203 option (without any revision) has an unusual meaning in
205 With other \*r commands, a bare
207 option specifies the most recent revision on the default branch,
212 option reestablishes the default behavior of releasing a lock and
213 removing the working file, and is used to override any default
217 options established by shell aliases or scripts.
222 except it performs an additional
225 deposited revision. Thus, the deposited revision is immediately
226 checked out again and locked.
227 This is useful for saving a revision although one wants to continue
228 editing it after the checkin.
233 except that the deposited revision is not locked.
234 This lets one read the working file
235 immediately after checkin.
244 options are mutually exclusive and silently override each other.
256 forces a deposit; the new revision is deposited even it is not different
257 from the preceding one.
260 searches the working file for keyword values to determine its revision number,
261 creation date, state, and author (see
264 values to the deposited revision, rather than computing them locally.
265 It also generates a default login message noting the login of the caller
266 and the actual checkin date.
267 This option is useful for software distribution. A revision that is sent to
268 several sites should be checked in with the
270 option at these sites to
271 preserve the original number, date, author, and state.
272 The extracted keyword values and the default log message can be overridden
278 and any option that carries a revision number.
281 quiet mode; diagnostic output is not printed.
282 A revision that is not different from the preceding one is not deposited,
288 initial checkin; report an error if the \*r file already exists.
289 This avoids race conditions in certain applications.
292 just checkin and do not initialize;
293 report an error if the \*r file does not already exist.
297 the user is prompted and questioned
298 even if the standard input is not a terminal.
300 .BR \-d "[\f2date\fP]"
303 for the checkin date and time.
306 is specified in free format as explained in
308 This is useful for lying about the checkin date, and for
310 if no date is available.
313 is empty, the working file's time of last modification is used.
316 Set the modification time on any new working file
317 to be the date of the retrieved revision.
319 .BI "ci\ \-d\ \-M\ \-u" "\ f"
322 modification time, even if
324 contents change due to keyword substitution.
325 Use this option with care; it can confuse
331 as the log message for all revisions checked in.
332 By convention, log messages that start with
334 are comments and are ignored by programs like GNU Emacs's
337 Also, log messages that start with
339 (followed by white space) are meant to be clumped together if possible,
340 even if they are associated with different files; the
342 label is used only for clumping,
343 and is not considered to be part of the log message itself.
346 assigns the symbolic name
348 to the number of the checked-in revision.
350 prints an error message if
352 is already assigned to another
358 except that it overrides a previous assignment of
362 sets the state of the checked-in revision to the identifier
368 writes descriptive text from the contents of the named
371 deleting the existing text.
378 Write descriptive text from the
380 into the \*r file, deleting the existing text.
385 option, in both its forms, has effect only during an initial checkin;
386 it is silently ignored otherwise.
388 During the initial checkin, if
392 obtains the text from standard input,
393 terminated by end-of-file or by a line containing
396 The user is prompted for the text if interaction is possible; see
399 For backward compatibility with older versions of \*r, a bare
405 Set the \*r file's modification time to the new revision's time
406 if the former precedes the latter and there is a new revision;
407 preserve the \*r file's modification time otherwise.
408 If you have locked a revision,
410 usually updates the \*r file's modification time to the current time,
411 because the lock is stored in the \*r file
412 and removing the lock requires changing the \*r file.
413 This can create an \*r file newer than the working file in one of two ways:
416 can create a working file with a date before the current time;
417 second, when reverting to the previous revision
418 the \*r file can change while the working file remains unchanged.
419 These two cases can cause excessive recompilation caused by a
421 dependency of the working file on the \*r file.
424 option inhibits this recompilation by lying about the \*r file's date.
425 Use this option with care; it can suppress recompilation even when
426 a checkin of one working file should affect
427 another working file associated with the same \*r file.
428 For example, suppose the \*r file's time is 01:00,
429 the (changed) working file's time is 02:00,
430 some other copy of the working file has a time of 03:00,
431 and the current time is 04:00.
434 sets the \*r file's time to 02:00 instead of the usual 04:00;
437 to think (incorrectly) that the other copy is newer than the \*r file.
442 for the author field of the deposited revision.
443 Useful for lying about the author, and for
445 if no author is available.
448 Print \*r's version number.
458 specifies the suffixes for \*r files.
459 A nonempty suffix matches any pathname ending in the suffix.
460 An empty suffix matches any pathname of the form
463 .IB path1 /RCS/ path2.
466 option can specify a list of suffixes
471 specifies two suffixes:
473 and the empty suffix.
474 If two or more suffixes are specified,
475 they are tried in order when looking for an \*r file;
476 the first one that works is used for that file.
477 If no \*r file is found but an \*r file can be created,
478 the suffixes are tried in order
479 to determine the new \*r file's name.
482 is installation-dependent; normally it is
484 for hosts like Unix that permit commas in filenames,
485 and is empty (i.e. just the empty suffix) for other hosts.
488 specifies the date output format in keyword substitution,
489 and specifies the default time zone for
496 should be empty, a numeric \*u offset, or the special string
499 The default is an empty
501 which uses the traditional \*r format of \*u without any time zone indication
502 and with slashes separating the parts of the date;
503 otherwise, times are output in \*i 8601 format with time zone indication.
504 For example, if local time is January 11, 1990, 8pm Pacific Standard Time,
505 eight hours west of \*u,
506 then the time is output as follows:
511 .ta \w'\f3\-z+05:30\fP 'u +\w'\f31990-01-11 09:30:00+05:30\fP 'u
513 \f2option\fP \f2time output\fP
514 \f3\-z\fP \f31990/01/12 04:00:00\fP \f2(default)\fP
515 \f3\-zLT\fP \f31990-01-11 20:00:00\-08\fP
516 \f3\-z+05:30\fP \f31990-01-12 09:30:00+05:30\fP
523 option does not affect dates stored in \*r files,
524 which are always \*u.
526 Pairs of \*r files and working files can be specified in three ways
530 1) Both the \*r file and the working file are given. The \*r pathname is of
532 .IB path1 / workfileX
533 and the working pathname is of the form
539 are (possibly different or empty) paths,
553 2) Only the \*r file is given. Then the working file is created in the current
554 directory and its name is derived from the name of the \*r file
560 3) Only the working file is given.
563 considers each \*r suffix
565 in turn, looking for an \*r file of the form
566 .IB path2 /RCS/ workfileX
567 or (if the former is not found and
570 .IB path2 / workfileX.
572 If the \*r file is specified without a path in 1) and 2),
574 looks for the \*r file first in the directory
576 and then in the current
580 reports an error if an attempt to open an \*r file fails for an unusual reason,
581 even if the \*r file's pathname is just one of several possibilities.
582 For example, to suppress use of \*r commands in a directory
584 create a regular file named
586 so that casual attempts to use \*r commands in
594 is an \*r suffix and the current directory contains a subdirectory
598 Then each of the following commands check in a copy of
602 as the latest revision, removing
608 ci io.c; ci RCS/io.c,v; ci io.c,v;
609 ci io.c RCS/io.c,v; ci io.c io.c,v;
610 ci RCS/io.c,v io.c; ci io.c,v io.c;
615 Suppose instead that the empty suffix
616 is an \*r suffix and the current directory contains a subdirectory
620 The each of the following commands checks in a new revision.
625 ci io.c; ci RCS/io.c;
632 An \*r file created by
634 inherits the read and execute permissions
635 from the working file. If the \*r file exists already,
637 preserves its read and execute permissions.
639 always turns off all write permissions of \*r files.
641 Temporary files are created in the directory containing
642 the working file, and also in the temporary directory (see
645 .BR \s-1ENVIRONMENT\s0 ).
646 A semaphore file or files are created in the directory containing the \*r file.
647 With a nonempty suffix, the semaphore names begin with
648 the first character of the suffix; therefore, do not specify an suffix
649 whose first character could be that of a working filename.
650 With an empty suffix, the semaphore names end with
652 so working filenames should not end in
656 never changes an \*r or working file.
659 unlinks the file and creates a new one;
660 but instead of breaking a chain of one or more symbolic links to an \*r file,
661 it unlinks the destination file instead.
664 breaks any hard or symbolic links to any working file it changes;
665 and hard links to \*r files are ineffective,
666 but symbolic links to \*r files are preserved.
668 The effective user must be able to
669 search and write the directory containing the \*r file.
670 Normally, the real user must be able to
671 read the \*r and working files
672 and to search and write the directory containing the working file;
673 however, some older hosts
674 cannot easily switch between real and effective users,
675 so on these hosts the effective user is used for all accesses.
676 The effective user is the same as the real user
677 unless your copies of
681 have setuid privileges.
682 As described in the next section,
683 these privileges yield extra security if
684 the effective user owns all \*r files and directories,
685 and if only the effective user can write \*r directories.
687 Users can control access to \*r files by setting the permissions
688 of the directory containing the files; only users with write access
689 to the directory can use \*r commands to change its \*r files.
690 For example, in hosts that allow a user to belong to several groups,
691 one can make a group's \*r directories writable to that group only.
692 This approach suffices for informal projects,
693 but it means that any group member can arbitrarily change the group's \*r files,
694 and can even remove them entirely.
695 Hence more formal projects sometimes distinguish between an \*r administrator,
696 who can change the \*r files at will, and other project members,
697 who can check in new revisions but cannot otherwise change the \*r files.
699 To prevent anybody but their \*r administrator from deleting revisions,
700 a set of users can employ setuid privileges as follows.
701 .nr n \w'\(bu'+2n-1/1n
703 .if \n(.g .if r an-tag-sep .ds n \w'\(bu'u+\n[an-tag-sep]u
705 Check that the host supports \*r setuid use.
706 Consult a trustworthy expert if there are any doubts.
709 system call works as described in Posix 1003.1a Draft 5,
710 because \*r can switch back and forth easily
711 between real and effective users, even if the real user is
713 If not, the second best is if the
715 system call supports saved setuid
716 (the {\s-1_POSIX_SAVED_IDS\s0} behavior of Posix 1003.1-1990);
717 this fails only if the real or effective user is
719 If \*r detects any failure in setuid, it quits immediately.
723 to serve as \*r administrator for the set of users.
728 command on the users' \*r files.
732 or any other user with special powers.
733 Mutually suspicious sets of users should use different administrators.
737 to be a directory of files to be executed by the users.
749 by copying the commands from their standard installation directory
757 \f3cp\fP \f2D\fP\^\f3/c[io]\fP \f2B\fP
758 \f3chmod go\-w,u+s\fP \f2B\fP\f3/c[io]\fP
762 Have each user prepend
764 to their path as follows:
769 \f3PATH=\fP\f2B\fP\f3:$PATH; export PATH\fP # ordinary shell
770 \f3set path=(\fP\f2B\fP \f3$path)\fP # C shell
776 create each \*r directory
778 with write access only to
786 \f3chmod go\-w\fP \f2R\fP
790 If you want to let only certain users read the \*r files,
791 put the users into a group
795 further protect the \*r directory as follows:
800 \f3chgrp\fP \f2G R\fP
801 \f3chmod g\-w,o\-rwx\fP \f2R\fP
807 copy old \*r files (if any) into
813 An \*r file's access list limits who can check in and lock revisions.
814 The default access list is empty,
815 which grants checkin access to anyone who can read the \*r file.
816 If you want limit checkin access,
824 .BI "rcs\ \-e\ \-a" A
825 limits access to just
830 initialize any new \*r files with
832 before initial checkin, adding the
834 option if you want to limit checkin access.
836 Give setuid privileges only to
843 or to any other command.
845 Do not use other setuid commands to invoke \*r commands;
846 setuid is trickier than you think!
850 options prepended to the argument list, separated by spaces.
851 A backslash escapes spaces within an option.
854 options are prepended to the argument lists of most \*r commands.
865 Name of the temporary directory.
866 If not set, the environment variables
870 are inspected instead and the first value found is taken;
871 if none of them are set,
872 a host-dependent default is used, typically
877 prints the \*r file, the working file, and the number
878 of both the deposited and the preceding revision.
879 The exit status is zero if and only if all operations were successful.
881 Author: Walter F. Tichy.
883 Manual Page Revision: \*(Rv; Release Date: \*(Dt.
885 Copyright \(co 1982, 1988, 1989 Walter F. Tichy.
887 Copyright \(co 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995 Paul Eggert.
890 ident(1), make(1), rcs(1), rcsclean(1), rcsdiff(1),
891 rcsintro(1), rcsmerge(1), rlog(1), setuid(2), rcsfile(5)
894 \*r\*-A System for Version Control,
895 .I "Software\*-Practice & Experience"
897 7 (July 1985), 637-654.