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RCS - Revision Control System - Tips and Tricks

Written by Wim Stockman - on 05 February 2023.

What is RCS ?

The RCS system is a revision system for 1 file at a time.

it creates a database file, with your "filename,v" it adds ",v" to it

if you want to unclutter your working directory of all the ",v" files create a uppercase RCS directory.

than it automaticly keeps your ",v" files there.

Let's get started

Create one file to keep track of by the command:

> ci filename

this moves the file into the RCS system

RCS will ask for some description of the file

the filename is gone , and the "filename,v" is created

Start making changes to the file

> co filename

fetches the latest revision as read-only file

> co -l filename

fetches the latest revision as locked writable file

now you can make your changes

after your changes are finished and you want to save your file into the RCS

Saving made changes to the RCS

> ci filename

this save the filename into the RCS system but your file is gone.

you can add a commit message

> ci -u file --> keep a read-only unlocked copy

> ci -l file --> keep a writable locked copy

View diff of files

> rcsdiff -u filename

shows the diffs

if you want to colorize you can pipe it through colordiff.

> rcsdiff -u filename | colordiff

View log files of different versions

> rlog filename

gives you on overview of the differents commits

> rlog

Getting a specific version

use the revision number to get the specific version of a file

> co -r1.1 filename