A Manual to the GNU Revision Control System (RCS)

A User Guide for Gaining the Benefits of Version Control

Aaron Hawley

Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no Invariant Sections, no Front-Cover Texts, and no Back-Cover Texts.

A copy of the license is included in the section entitled “GNU Free Documentation License”.

Revision History
Revision 1.8 2005/04/05 19:06:10 ashawley
Fixed revision history. Added year 2005 to copyright information. Re-organized COPYING section of manual.
Revision 1.7 2005/03/31 18:35:33 ashawley
Improved tutorial section. Unified convention for "check-in" and "check-out".
Revision 1.6 2005/03/28 17:20:31 ashawley
Spell checked document.
Revision 1.5 2005/03/24 20:28:35 ashawley
Working version of the document (even for docbook2X). Other improvements to the material.
Revision 1.4 2003/06/04 14:08:29 ashawley
Many changes and few new sections
Revision 1.3 2003/05/27 16:23:52 ashawley
Finished concepts chapter. Added tutorial chapter.
Revision 1.2 2003/04/04 14:38:32 ashawley
Here is a semi-annual update of my work so far.
Revision 1.1 2003/01/28 19:15:33 ashawley
Here's the initial work.

Abstract

Keeping versions of files with the Revision Control System


Table of Contents

1. About This Manual
Who This Manual is For
What is in This Manual
2. Preface to Version Control
The File System Design
The Missing Feature of the File System
A Solution for Changing Files
3. Purpose of Version Control
The Problem
Homebrewed Solutions
Enter Version Control Systems
Purpose of Version Control Systems
General Features of Version Control Systems
4. Introduction to Version Control
The Operations of Version Control Systems
Version Control System Features
When to Use Version Control Systems
Uses of Version Control Systems
Skills Needed to Use a Version Control System
5. History of Version Control
Origins of Version Control
Notable Version Control Tools
Source Code Control System (SCCS)
History of RCS
Concurrent Version Control (CVS)
6. When to Still Use RCS
7. Concepts in Version Control
Fundamentals of Version Control
Files in Version Control
Working File
Version File
Version Numbers
Release Numbers
Revision Numbers
Branch Numbers
Tree Numbers
Locking
Locked
Unlocked
Strict Locking
Keywords
8. Quick Introduction to Using RCS
Introduction
RCS Subdirectory
Checking-in a File
Entering File Descriptions
Checking-out a File
Checking-out a File for Editing
Checking-out a Previous Revision
Displaying Differences
Inserting Keywords
Retrieving Files
Viewing the Log
After the Basics
A. Copying This Manual
FDL
0. PREAMBLE
1. APPLICABILITY AND DEFINITIONS
2. VERBATIM COPYING
3. COPYING IN QUANTITY
4. MODIFICATIONS
5. COMBINING DOCUMENTS
6. COLLECTIONS OF DOCUMENTS
7. AGGREGATION WITH INDEPENDENT WORKS
8. TRANSLATION
9. TERMINATION
10. FUTURE REVISIONS OF THIS LICENSE
ADDENDUM. How to use this License for your documents