CI(1) | General Commands Manual | CI(1)

# NAME

`ci` — check in RCS revisions

# SYNOPSIS

`ci` | [`-qV`] [`-d`[date]] [`-f`[rev]] [`-I`[rev]] [`-i`[rev]] [`-j`[rev]] [`-k`[rev]] [`-l`[rev]] [`-M`[rev]] [`-m` msg] [`-N` symbol] [`-n` symbol] [`-r`[rev]] [`-s` state] [`-t`[str]] [`-u`[rev]] [`-w` username] [`-x` suffixes] [`-z` tz] file ...

# DESCRIPTION

The `ci` program is used to check in new revisions to RCS files.

When a file is checked in, it is stored in the RCS directory with a specific revision number, and the original file itself is deleted. The RCS file is stored with the same name, but with ‘,v’ appended. `ci` will prompt for a check-in message, to be stored with the file, which can be displayed using rlog(1).

Revision numbering starts at 1.1 and increases logically. Numbering can be altered using the `-k` option, however. The ‘,v’ suffix can also be altered, using the `-x` option.

`ci` also supports keyword substitution – see the rcs(1) man page for more information.

The following options are supported:

`-d`[date]
  Uses date for check-in date and time. If date is not specified, use the working file's last modification time.
`-f`[rev]
  Force check-in – even if no changes have been made to the working file.
`-I`[rev]
  Interactive mode.
`-i`[rev]
  Only do initial check-in. Print error and refuse to do check-in if the RCS file already exists.
`-j`[rev]
  Only do update check-in. Print error and refuse to do check-in if the RCS file does not already exist.
`-k`[rev]
  Search the working file for keywords and set the revision number, creation date, state and author to the values found in these keywords instead of computing them.
`-l`[rev]
  The same as `-r`, but also immediately checks out the deposited revision and locks it. This is useful if you wish to continue to edit the working file after check-in.
`-M`[rev]
  Set the modification time of the file to the date of the retrieved revision.
`-m` msg
  Specify a log message. A line beginning with a hash character (‘#’) is considered a comment and ignored.
`-N` symbol
  Assign the symbolic name symbol to the checked in revision, overwriting any previous assignment of symbol.
`-n` symbol
  The same as `-N` except it does not overwrite previous symbols.
`-q`
  Be quiet about reporting.
`-r`[rev]
  Check in revision rev. However, if rev is not specified the meaning is completely different – override any `-l` or `-u` options, ensuring the default behaviour of releasing a lock and removing the working file.
`-s` state
  Sets the state of the deposited revision to the identifier state. The specified value may not contain a space character.
`-t`[str]
  Change the descriptive text. The argument str is interpreted as the name of a file containing the descriptive text or, if prefixed with a ‘-’, the actual descriptive text itself. If no argument is given, this option is ignored (for compatibility reasons).
`-u`[rev]
  The same as `-r`, but also immediately checks out the deposited revision read-only. Useful if you wish to read the working file after check-in.
`-V`
  Print RCS's version number.
`-w` username
  Uses username as the author field of the deposited revision.
`-x` suffixes
  Specifies the suffixes for RCS files. Suffixes should be separated by the ‘/’ character.
`-z` tz
  Specify the date output format in keyword substitution, and the default time zone for date used in the `-d` option.

# ENVIRONMENT

`RCSINIT`
  If set, this variable should contain a list of space-delimited options that are prepended to the argument list.
`TMPDIR`
  When set, this variable specifies the directory where temporary files are to be created. The default is set to /tmp.

# EXIT STATUS

The `ci` utility exits 0 on success, and >0 if an error occurs.

# SEE ALSO

co(1), ident(1), rcs(1), rcsclean(1), rcsdiff(1), rcsmerge(1), rlog(1)

August 12, 2013 | Debian