# CI - check in RCS revisions - man - [phpMan] > **TLDR:** Check in RCS revisions (store file changes in the Revision Control System). > - Check in a file and keep the working file unlocked: `ci -u {{path/to/file}}` - Check in a file and keep the working file locked: `ci -l {{path/to/file}}` - Check in a file with a specific log message: `ci -m"{{log_message}}" {{path/to/file}}` - Check in a file, unlocking it but leaving the working file read-only: `ci {{path/to/file}}` - Force check-in even if there are no changes: `ci -f -u {{path/to/file}}` *Source: tldr-pages* --- [_CI_(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/CI/1/markdown) General Commands Manual [_CI_(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/CI/1/markdown) ## NAME ci - check in RCS revisions ## SYNOPSIS **ci **[_options_] _file_ ... ## DESCRIPTION **ci **stores new revisions into RCS files. Each file name matching an RCS suffix is taken to be an RCS file. All others are assumed to be working files containing new revisions. **ci **de‐ posits 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)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/rcs/1/markdown)). A lock held by someone else can 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 **re‐ moves 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 stan‐ dard 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. In‐ stead of the log message, **ci **requests descriptive text (see **-t **below). The number _rev_ of the deposited revision can be given by any of the options **-f**, **-i**, **-I**, **-j**, ### -k -l -M -q -r -u must already be defined; see the **-n **and **-N **options for assigning names during checkin. If _rev_ is **$**, **ci **determines the revision number from keyword values in the working file. If _rev_ begins with a period, then the default branch (normally the trunk) is prepended to it. If _rev_ is a branch number followed by a period, then the latest revision on that branch is used. 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 num‐ bered _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)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/rcs/1/markdown)). Exception: On the trunk, revisions can be appended to the end, but not inserted. ## OPTIONS ### -r_ ### -r -r RCS commands, a bare **-r **option specifies the most recent revision on the default branch, but with **ci**, a bare **-r **option reestablishes the default behavior of releasing a lock and removing the working file, and is used to override any default **-l **or **-u **op‐ tions established by shell aliases or scripts. ### -l 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. ### -u works like **-l**, except that the deposited revision is not locked. This lets one read the working file immediately after checkin. The **-l**, bare **-r**, and **-u **options are mutually exclusive and silently override each other. For example, **ci -u -r **is equivalent to **ci -r **because bare **-r **overrides **-u**. ### -f forces a deposit; the new revision is deposited even it is not different from the pre‐ ceding one. ### -k searches the working file for keyword values to determine its revision number, cre‐ ation date, state, and author (see [**co**(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/co/1/markdown)), and assigns these values to the deposited revision, rather than computing them locally. It also generates a default login mes‐ sage noting the login of the caller and the actual checkin date. This option is use‐ ful 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 can be overridden with the options **-d**, **-m**, **-s**, **-w**, and any option that carries a revision number. ### -q quiet mode; diagnostic output is not printed. A revision that is not different from the preceding one is not deposited, unless **-f **is given. ### -i initial checkin; report an error if the RCS file already exists. This avoids race conditions in certain applications. ### -j just checkin and do not initialize; report an error if the RCS file does not already exist. ### -I interactive mode; the user is prompted and questioned even if the standard input is not a terminal. ### -d uses _date_ for the checkin date and time. The _date_ is specified in free format as ex‐ plained in [**co**(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/co/1/markdown). 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. ### -M Set the modification time on any new working file to be the date of the retrieved re‐ vision. 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 con‐ fuse [**make**(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/make/1/markdown). ### -m uses the string _msg_ as the log message for all revisions checked in. If _msg_ is omit‐ ted, it defaults to "*** empty log message ***". By convention, log messages that start with **# **are comments and are ignored by programs like GNU Emacs's **vc **package. Also, log messages that start with **{_**clumpname_**} **(followed by white space) are meant to be clumped together if possible, even if they are associated with different files; the **{_**clumpname_**} **label is used only for clumping, and is not considered to be part of the log message itself. ### -n_ error message if _name_ is already assigned to another number. ### -N_ -n ### -s_ sets the state of the checked-in revision to the identifier _state_. The default state is **Exp**. ### -t_ ing the existing text. The _file_ cannot begin with **-**. ### -t-_ 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 in‐ put, 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. ### -T the latter and there is a new revision; preserve the RCS file's modification time oth‐ erwise. If you have locked a revision, **ci **usually updates the RCS file's modification time to the current time, because the lock is stored in the RCS file and removing the lock requires changing the RCS file. This can create an RCS file newer than the work‐ ing file in one of two ways: first, **ci -M **can create a working file with a date before the current time; second, when reverting to the previous revision the RCS file can change while the working file remains unchanged. These two cases can cause excessive recompilation caused by a [**make**(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/make/1/markdown) dependency of the working file on the RCS file. The **-T **option inhibits this recompilation by lying about the RCS file's date. Use this option with care; it can suppress recompilation even when a checkin of one working file should affect another working file associated with the same RCS file. For exam‐ ple, suppose the RCS file's time is 01:00, the (changed) working file's time is 02:00, some other copy of the working file has a time of 03:00, and the current time is 04:00. Then **ci -d -T **sets the RCS file's time to 02:00 instead of the usual 04:00; this causes [**make**(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/make/1/markdown) to think (incorrectly) that the other copy is newer than the RCS file. ### -w_ uses _login_ for the author field of the deposited revision. Useful for lying about the author, and for **-k **if no author is available. ### -V ### -V_ ### -x_ specifies the suffixes for RCS files. A nonempty suffix matches any file name ending in the suffix. An empty suffix matches any file name of the form **RCS/_**frag_ or _frag1_**/RCS/_**frag2._ 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 suf‐ fixes 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. ### -z_ time zone for _date_ in the **-d_**date_ option. The _zone_ should be empty, a numeric UTC off‐ set, or the special string **LT **for local time. The default is an empty _zone_, which uses the traditional RCS format of UTC without any time zone indication and with slashes separating the parts of the date; otherwise, times are output in ISO 8601 for‐ mat with time zone indication. For example, if local time is January 11, 1990, 8pm Pacific Standard Time, eight hours west of UTC, then the time is output as follows: _option_ _time_ _output_ ### -z 1990/01/12 04:00:00 _(default) **-zLT 1990-01-11 20:00:00-08** **-z+05:30 1990-01-12 09:30:00+05:30** The **-z **option does not affect dates stored in RCS files, which are always UTC. ## FILE NAMING Pairs of RCS files and working files can be specified in three ways (see also the example section). 1) Both the RCS file and the working file are given. The RCS file name is of the form _frag1_**/_**workfileX_ and the working file name is of the form _frag2_**/_**workfile_ where _frag1_**/ **and _frag2_**/ **are (possibly different or empty) file names, _workfile_ is a file name, and _X_ is an RCS suffix. If _X_ is empty, _frag1_**/ **must start with **RCS/ **or must contain **/RCS/**. 2) Only the RCS file is given. Then the working file is created in the current directory and its name is derived from the RCS file name by removing _frag1_**/ **and the suffix _X_. 3) Only the working file is given. Then **ci **considers each RCS suffix _X_ in turn, looking for an RCS file of the form _frag2_**/RCS/_**workfileX_ or (if the former is not found and _X_ is nonempty) _frag2_**/_**workfileX._ If the RCS file is specified without a file name in 1) and 2), **ci **looks for the RCS file first in the directory **./RCS **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 name 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. ## EXAMPLES 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;** ## FILE MODES 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. ## FILES Temporary files are 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 char‐ acter could be that of a working file name. With an empty suffix, the semaphore names end with **_ **so working file names should not end in **_**. **ci **never changes an RCS file 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 un‐ links 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 secu‐ rity 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. ## SETUID USE To prevent anybody but their RCS administrator from deleting revisions, a set of users can employ setuid privileges as follows. • Check that the host supports RCS 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 se‐ tuid (the {_POSIX_SAVED_IDS} behavior of Posix 1003.1-1990); this fails only if the real or effective 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_ can 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 file name _B_ to 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 command search 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)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/rcs/1/markdown). 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 **op‐ tion 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! ## ENVIRONMENT **RCSINIT** 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 RCS commands. Useful **RCSINIT **options include **-q**, **-V**, **-x**, and **-z**. **RCS_MEM_LIMIT** Normally, for speed, commands either memory map or copy into memory the RCS file if its size is less than the _memory-limit_, currently defaulting to ``unlimited''. Other‐ wise (or if the initially-tried speedy ways fail), the commands fall back to using standard i/o routines. You can adjust the memory limit by setting **RCS_MEM_LIMIT **to a numeric value _lim_ (measured in kilobytes). An empty value is silently ignored. As a side effect, specifying **RCS_MEM_LIMIT **inhibits fall-back to slower routines. **TMPDIR **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**. ## DIAGNOSTICS For each revision, **ci **prints the RCS file, the working file, and the number of both the de‐ posited and the preceding revision. The exit status is zero if and only if all operations were successful. ## IDENTIFICATION Author: Walter F. Tichy. Manual Page Revision: 5.10.1; Release Date: 2022-02-19. Copyright © 2010-2022 Thien-Thi Nguyen. Copyright © 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995 Paul Eggert. Copyright © 1982, 1988, 1989 Walter F. Tichy. ## SEE ALSO [**co**(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/co/1/markdown), [**emacs**(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/emacs/1/markdown), [**ident**(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/ident/1/markdown), [**make**(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/make/1/markdown), [**rcs**(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/rcs/1/markdown), [**rcsclean**(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/rcsclean/1/markdown), [**rcsdiff**(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/rcsdiff/1/markdown), [**rcsmerge**(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/rcsmerge/1/markdown), [**rlog**(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/rlog/1/markdown), [**setuid**(2)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/setuid/2/markdown), [**rcsfile**(5)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/rcsfile/5/markdown). Walter F. Tichy, RCS--A System for Version Control, _Software--Practice_ _&_ _Experience_ **15**, 7 (July 1985), 637-654. The full documentation for RCS is maintained as a Texinfo manual. If the [**info**(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/info/1/markdown) and RCS programs are properly installed at your site, the command **info rcs** should give you access to the complete manual. Additionally, the RCS homepage: **** has news and links to the latest release, development site, etc. GNU RCS 5.10.1 2022-02-19 [_CI_(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/CI/1/markdown)