# IDENT - identify RCS keyword strings in files - man - [phpMan] > **TLDR:** Identify RCS keyword strings in files. > - Display RCS identification strings in a file: `ident {{path/to/file}}` - Display RCS identification strings, suppressing warnings if no patterns are found: `ident -q {{path/to/file1 path/to/file2 ...}}` - Display RCS identification strings from `stdin`: `cat {{path/to/file}} | ident` *Source: tldr-pages* --- [_IDENT_(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/IDENT/1/markdown) General Commands Manual [_IDENT_(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/IDENT/1/markdown) ## NAME ident - identify RCS keyword strings in files ## SYNOPSIS **ident **[ **-q **] [ **-V **] [ _file_ ... ] ## DESCRIPTION **ident **searches for all instances of the pattern **$_**keyword_**: _**text_ **$ **in the named files or, if no files are named, the standard input. These patterns are normally inserted automatically by the RCS command [**co**(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/co/1/markdown), but can also be inserted manually. The option **-q **suppresses the warning given if there are no patterns in a file. The option **-V **prints RCS's version number. **ident **works on text files as well as object files and dumps. For example, if the C program in **f.c **contains **#include ** **static char const rcsid[] =** **"$Id: f.c,v 5.4 1993/11/09 17:40:15 eggert Exp $";** **int main() { return printf("%s\n", rcsid) == EOF; }** and **f.c **is compiled into **f.o**, then the command **ident f.c f.o** will output **f.c:** **$Id: f.c,v 5.4 1993/11/09 17:40:15 eggert Exp $** **f.o:** **$Id: f.c,v 5.4 1993/11/09 17:40:15 eggert Exp $** If a C program defines a string like **rcsid **above but does not use it, [**lint**(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/lint/1/markdown) may complain, and some C compilers will optimize away the string. The most reliable solution is to have the program use the **rcsid **string, as shown in the example above. **ident **finds all instances of the **$_**keyword_**: _**text_ **$ **pattern, even if _keyword_ is not actually an RCS-supported keyword. This gives you information about nonstandard keywords like **$XConsor‐** **tium$**. The pattern normally requires a colon and a space immediately after the keyword and a space immediately before the terminating **$**, but for Subversion 1.2 (and later) compatibility, **ident** will also recognize the pattern **$_**keyword_**:: _**text_ **$ **(i.e., two colons and a space) and the pat‐ tern **$_**keyword_**:: _**text_ _#_**$ **(likewise, with a hash before the terminating **$**). These are the fixed-width keyword syntax. To summarize, the three recognized patterns are: **$_**keyword_**: _**text_ **$** **$_**keyword_**:: _**text_ **$** **$_**keyword_**:: _**text_ _#_**$** ## KEYWORDS Here is the list of keywords currently maintained by [**co**(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/co/1/markdown). All times are given in Coordi‐ nated Universal Time (UTC, sometimes called GMT) by default, but if the files were checked out with **co**'s **-z_**zone_ option, times are given with a numeric time zone indication appended. ### $Author$ The login name of the user who checked in the revision. **$Date$ **The date and time the revision was checked in. ### $Header$ A standard header containing the full RCS file name, the revision number, the date and time, the author, the state, and the locker (if locked). **$Id$ **Same as **$Header$**, except that the RCS file name is without directory components. ### $Locker$ The login name of the user who locked the revision (empty if not locked). **$Log$ **The log message supplied during checkin. For **ident**'s purposes, this is equivalent to **$RCSfile$**. **$Name$ **The symbolic name used to check out the revision, if any. ### $RCSfile$ The RCS file name without directory components. ### $Revision$ The revision number assigned to the revision. ### $Source$ The full RCS file name. ### $State$ The state assigned to the revision with the **-s **option of [**rcs**(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/rcs/1/markdown) or [**ci**(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/ci/1/markdown). [**co**(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/co/1/markdown) represents the following characters in keyword values by escape sequences to keep key‐ word strings well-formed. _char_ _escape_ _sequence_ tab **\t** newline **\n** space **\040** **$ \044** **\ \\** ## IDENTIFICATION Author: Walter F. Tichy. Manual Page Revision: 5.10.1; Release Date: 2022-02-19. Copyright © 2010-2022 Thien-Thi Nguyen. Copyright © 1990, 1992, 1993 Paul Eggert. Copyright © 1982, 1988, 1989 Walter F. Tichy. ## SEE ALSO [**ci**(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/ci/1/markdown), [**co**(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/co/1/markdown), [**rcs**(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/rcs/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), [**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 [_IDENT_(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/IDENT/1/markdown)