ci - check in RCS revisions
ci [options] file...
checks in a revision, releases the corresponding lock, and
removes the working file. This is the default.
The -r option has an unusual meaning in ci. In
other RCS commands, -r merely specifies a revision
number, but in ci it also releases a lock and
removes the working file. See -u for a tricky example.
works like -r, except it performs an additional
co -l for the deposited revision. Thus, the
deposited revision is immediately checked out again
and locked. This is useful for saving a revision
although one wants to continue editing it after the
checkin. works like -l, except that the deposited
revision is not locked. This lets one read the
working file immediately after checkin.
The -l, -r, and -u options are mutually exclusive
and silently override each other. For example, ci
-u -r is equivalent to ci -r because -r overrides
-u. forces a deposit; the new revision is
deposited even it is not different from the preceding
one. searches the working file for keyword
values to determine its revision number, creation
date, state, and author (see co(1)), and assigns
these values to the deposited revision, rather than
computing them locally. It also generates a default
login message noting the login of the caller and
the actual checkin date. This option is useful for
software distribution. A revision that is sent to
several sites should be checked in with the -k
option at these sites to preserve the original number,
date, author, and state. The extracted keyword
values and the default log message may be overridden
with the options -d, -m, -s, -w, and any option
that carries a revision number. quiet mode; diagnostic
output is not printed. A revision that is
not different from the preceding one is not
deposited, unless -f is given. interactive mode;
the user is prompted and questioned even if the
standard input is not a terminal. uses date for
the checkin date and time. The date is specified in
free format as explained in co(1). This is useful
for lying about the checkin date, and for -k if no
date is available. If date is empty, the working
file's time of last modification is used. Set the
modification time on any new working file to be the
date of the retrieved revision. For example, ci -d
-M -u f does not alter f's modification time, even
if f's contents change due to keyword substitution.
Use this option with care; it can confuse make(1).
uses the string msg as the log message for all
revisions checked in. assigns the symbolic name
name to the number of the checked-in revision. ci
prints an error message if name is already assigned
to another number. same as -n, except that it
overrides a previous assignment of name. sets the
state of the checked-in revision to the identifier
state. The default state is Exp. writes descriptive
text from the contents of the named file into
the RCS file, deleting the existing text. The file
may not begin with -. Write descriptive text from
the string into the RCS file, deleting the existing
text.
The -t option, in both its forms, has effect only
during an initial checkin; it is silently ignored
otherwise.
During the initial checkin, if -t is not given, ci
obtains the text from standard input, terminated by
end-of-file or by a line containing by itself. The
user is prompted for the text if interaction is
possible; see -I.
For backward compatibility with older versions of
RCS, a bare -t option is ignored. uses login for
the author field of the deposited revision. Useful
for lying about the author, and for -k if no author
is available. Emulate RCS version n. See co(1) for
details. specifies the suffixes for RCS files. A
nonempty suffix matches any pathname ending in the
suffix. An empty suffix matches any pathname of the
form RCS/file or path/RCS/file. The -x option can
specify a list of suffixes separated by /. For
example, -x,v/ specifies two suffixes: ,v and the
empty suffix. If two or more suffixes are specified,
they are tried in order when looking for an
RCS file; the first one that works is used for that
file. If no RCS file is found but an RCS file can
be created, the suffixes are tried in order to
determine the new RCS file's name. The default for
suffixes is installation-dependent; normally it is
,v/ for hosts like Unix that permit commas in file
names, and is empty (i.e. just the empty suffix)
for other hosts.
ci stores new revisions into RCS files. Each pathname
matching an RCS suffix is taken to be an RCS file. All
others are assumed to be working files containing new
revisions. ci deposits the contents of each working file
into the corresponding RCS file. If only a working file is
given, ci tries to find the corresponding RCS file in an
RCS subdirectory and then in the working file's directory.
For more details, see FILE NAMING below.
For ci to work, the caller's login must be on the access
list, except if the access list is empty or the caller is
the superuser or the owner of the file. To append a new
revision to an existing branch, the tip revision on that
branch must be locked by the caller. Otherwise, only a
new branch can be created. This restriction is not
enforced for the owner of the file if non-strict locking
is used (see rcs(1)). A lock held by someone else may be
broken with the rcs command.
Unless the -f option is given, ci checks whether the revision
to be deposited differs from the preceding one. If
not, instead of creating a new revision ci reverts to the
preceding one. To revert, ordinary ci removes the working
file and any lock; ci -l keeps and ci -u removes any lock,
and then they both generate a new working file much as if
co -l or co -u had been applied to the preceding revision.
When reverting, any -n and -s options apply to the preceding
revision.
For each revision deposited, ci prompts for a log message.
The log message should summarize the change and must be
terminated by end-of-file or by a line containing by
itself. If several files are checked in ci asks whether to
reuse the previous log message. If the standard input is
not a terminal, ci suppresses the prompt and uses the same
log message for all files. See also -m.
If the RCS file does not exist, ci creates it and deposits
the contents of the working file as the initial revision
(default number: 1.1). The access list is initialized to
empty. Instead of the log message, ci requests descriptive
text (see -t above).
The number rev of the deposited revision can be given by
any of the options -f, -I, -k, -l, -M, -q, -r, or -u. rev
may be symbolic, numeric, or mixed. If rev is $, ci determines
the revision number from keyword values in the working
file.
If rev is a revision number, it must be higher than the
latest one on the branch to which rev belongs, or must
start a new branch.
If rev is a branch rather than a revision number, the new
revision is appended to that branch. The level number is
obtained by incrementing the tip revision number of that
branch. If rev indicates a non-existing branch, that
branch is created with the initial revision numbered
rev.1.
If rev is omitted, ci tries to derive the new revision
number from the caller's last lock. If the caller has
locked the tip revision of a branch, the new revision is
appended to that branch. The new revision number is
obtained by incrementing the tip revision number. If the
caller locked a non-tip revision, a new branch is started
at that revision by incrementing the highest branch number
at that revision. The default initial branch and level
numbers are 1.
If rev is omitted and the caller has no lock, but owns the
file and locking is not set to strict, then the revision
is appended to the default branch (normally the trunk; see
the -b option of rcs(1)).
Exception: On the trunk, revisions can be appended to the
end, but not inserted.
Pairs of RCS files and working files may be specified in
three ways (see also the EXAMPLES section). Both the RCS
file and the working file are given. The RCS pathname is
of the form path1/workfileX and the working pathname is of
the form path2/workfile where path1/ and path2/ are (possibly
different or empty) paths, workfile is a filename,
and X is an RCS suffix. If X is empty, path1/ must be RCS/
or must end in /RCS/. Only the RCS file is given. Then
the working file is created in the current directory and
its name is derived from the name of the RCS file by
removing path1/ and the suffix X. Only the working file
is given. Then ci considers each RCS suffix X in turn,
looking for an RCS file of the form path2/RCS/workfileX or
(if the former is not found and X is nonempty) path2/workfileX.
If the RCS file is specified without a path in 1. and 2.,
ci looks for the RCS file first in the directory and then
in the current directory.
ci reports an error if an attempt to open an RCS file
fails for an unusual reason, even if the RCS file's pathname
is just one of several possibilities. For example, to
suppress use of RCS commands in a directory d, create a
regular file named d/RCS so that casual attempts to use
RCS commands in d fail because d/RCS is not a directory.
Suppose ,v is an RCS suffix and the current directory contains
a subdirectory RCS with an RCS file io.c,v. Then
each of the following commands check in a copy of io.c
into RCS/io.c,v as the latest revision, removing io.c. ci
io.c; ci RCS/io.c,v; ci io.c,v; ci io.c
RCS/io.c,v; ci io.c io.c,v; ci RCS/io.c,v io.c;
ci io.c,v io.c;
Suppose instead that the empty suffix is an RCS suffix and
the current directory contains a subdirectory RCS with an
RCS file io.c. The each of the following commands checks
in a new revision. ci io.c; ci RCS/io.c; ci io.c
RCS/io.c; ci RCS/io.c io.c;
An RCS file created by ci inherits the read and execute
permissions from the working file. If the RCS file exists
already, ci preserves its read and execute permissions.
ci always turns off all write permissions of RCS files.
Several temporary files may be created in the directory
containing the working file, and also in the temporary
directory (see TMPDIR under ENVIRONMENT). A semaphore file
or files are created in the directory containing the RCS
file. With a nonempty suffix, the semaphore names begin
with the first character of the suffix; therefore, do not
specify an suffix whose first character could be that of a
working filename. With an empty suffix, the semaphore
names end with _ so working filenames should not end in _.
ci never changes an RCS or working file. Normally, ci
unlinks the file and creates a new one; but instead of
breaking a chain of one or more symbolic links to an RCS
file, it unlinks the destination file instead. Therefore,
ci breaks any hard or symbolic links to any working file
it changes; and hard links to RCS files are ineffective,
but symbolic links to RCS files are preserved.
The effective user must be able to search and write the
directory containing the RCS file. Normally, the real user
must be able to read the RCS and working files and to
search and write the directory containing the working
file; however, some older hosts cannot easily switch
between real and effective users, so on these hosts the
effective user is used for all accesses. The effective
user is the same as the real user unless your copies of ci
and co have setuid privileges. As described in the next
section, these privileges yield extra security if the
effective user owns all RCS files and directories, and if
only the effective user can write RCS directories.
Users can control access to RCS files by setting the permissions
of the directory containing the files; only users
with write access to the directory can use RCS commands to
change its RCS files. For example, in hosts that allow a
user to belong to several groups, one can make a group's
RCS directories writable to that group only. This approach
suffices for informal projects, but it means that any
group member can arbitrarily change the group's RCS files,
and can even remove them entirely. Hence more formal projects
sometimes distinguish between an RCS administrator,
who can change the RCS files at will, and other project
members, who can check in new revisions but cannot otherwise
change the RCS files.
To prevent anybody but their RCS administrator from deleting
revisions, a set of users can employ setuid privileges
as follows. Check that the host RCS supports setuid use.
Consult a trustworthy expert if there are any doubts. It
is best if the seteuid() system call works as described in
Posix 1003.1a Draft 5, because RCS can switch back and
forth easily between real and effective users, even if the
real user is root. If not, the second best is if the
setuid() system call supports saved setuid (the
{_POSIX_SAVED_IDS} behavior of Posix 1003.1-1990); this
fails only if the real user is root. If RCS detects any
failure in setuid, it quits immediately. Choose a user A
to serve as RCS administrator for the set of users. Only A
will be able to invoke the rcs command on the users' RCS
files. A should not be root or any other user with special
powers. Mutually suspicious sets of users should use
different administrators. Choose a path name B that will
be a directory of files to be executed by the users. Have
A set up B to contain copies of ci and co that are setuid
to A by copying the commands from their standard installation
directory D as follows: mkdir B cp D/c[io] B chmod
go-w,u+s B/c[io] Have each user prepend B to their path
as follows: PATH=B:$PATH; export PATH # ordinary shell
set path=(B $path) # C shell Have A create each RCS
directory R with write access only to A as follows: mkdir
R chmod go-w R If you want to let only certain users
read the RCS files, put the users into a group G, and have
A further protect the RCS directory as follows: chgrp G
R chmod g-w,o-rwx R Have A copy old RCS files (if any)
into R, to ensure that A owns them. An RCS file's access
list limits who can check in and lock revisions. The
default access list is empty, which grants checkin access
to anyone who can read the RCS file. If you want limit
checkin access, have A invoke rcs -a on the file; see
rcs(1). In particular, rcs -e -a A limits access to just
A. Have A initialize any new RCS files with rcs -i
before initial checkin, adding the -a option if you want
to limit checkin access. Give setuid privileges only to
ci, co, and rcsclean; do not give them to rcs or to any
other command. Do not use other setuid commands to invoke
RCS commands; setuid is trickier than you think!
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 commands. Useful RCSINIT options include -q, -V, and
-x. 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.
For each revision, ci prints the file, the working file,
and the number of both the deposited and the preceding
revision. The exit status is zero if and only if all operations
were successful.
Author: Walter F. Tichy.
Revision Number: 1.1.6.2; Release Date:1993/10/07.
Copyright (C) 1982, 1988, 1989 by Walter F. Tichy.
Copyright (C) 1990, 1991 by Paul Eggert.
co(1), ident(1), make(1), rcs(1), rcsclean(1), rcsdiff(1),
rcsintro(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.
ci(1)
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