The RCS MINI-HOWTO

• Index
• Overview of RCS.
• System requirements.
• Compiling RCS from Source.
• Creating and maintaining archives.
• ci(1) and co(1).
• Revision histories.
• Including RCS data in working files.
• RCS and emacs(1) Version Control.

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5. ci(1) and co(1).

ci(1) and co(1) are the commands used to check files in and out of their RCS archives. The ci(1) command may also be used to a check a file both in and out of an archive. In their simplest forms, ci(1) and co(1) take only the name of the working file.

ci name_of_work_file

and

co name_of_work_file

The command form

ci -l name_of_work_file

checks in the file with locking enabled, and

co -l name_of_work_file

is performed automatically. That is, ci -l checks the file out again with locking enabled.

ci -u name_of_work_file

checks the file into the archive, and checks it out again with locking disabled. In all cases, the user is prompted for a log message.

ci(1) will also create a RCS archive if one does not exist already.

If you don't specify a revision, ci(1) increments the version number of the last revision locked in the archive, and appends the revised working file to it. If you specify a revision on an existing branch, it must be higher than the existing revision numbers. ci(1) will also create a new branch if you specify the revision of a branch which does not exist. See the ci(1) and co(1) man pages for details.

ci(1) and co(1) have various options for interactive and non-interactive use. Again, see the ci(1) and co(1) man pages for details.

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