NAME

sccs − front end for the Source Code Control System (SCCS)

SYNOPSIS

sccs [ −r ] [ −dprefixpath ] [ −pfinalpath ] command [SCCS-flags ...] [filename ...]

DESCRIPTION

The sccs command is a front end to the utility programs of the Source Code Control System (SCCS). 

sccs normally prefixes each filename, or the last component of each filename, with the string ‘SCCS/s.’, because you normally keep your SCCS database files in a directory called SCCS, and each database file starts with an ‘s.’ prefix.  If the environment variable PROJECTDIR is set, and is an absolute pathname (that is, begins with a slash) sccs will search for SCCS files in the directory given by that variable.  If it is a relative pathname (that is, does not begin with a slash), it is treated as the name of a user, and sccs will search in that user’s home directory for a directory named src or source.  If that directory is found, sccs will search for SCCS files in the directory given by that variable. 

sccs program options must appear before the command argument.  Flags to be passed to the actual SCCS command (utility program) must appear after the command argument.  These flags are specific to the command being used. 

sccs also includes the capability to run “set user ID” to another user to provide additional protection.  Certain commands (such as admin(1)) cannot be run “set user ID” by all users, since this would allow anyone to change the authorizations.  Such commands are always run as the real user. 

OPTIONS

−r Run sccs as the real user rather than as whatever effective user sccs is “set user ID” to. 

−dprefixpath
Define the prefix portion of the pathname for the SCCS database files.  The default prefix portion of the pathname is the current directory.  prefixpath is prefixed to the entire pathname.  See EXAMPLE. 

This flag overrides any directory specified by the PROJECTDIR environment variable. 

−pfinalpath
Define the name of a lower directory in which the SCCS files will be found; SCCS is the default.  finalpath is appended before the final component of the pathname.  See EXAMPLE. 

USAGE

Additional sccs Commands

Several “pseudo-commands” are available in addition to the usual SCCS commands.  These are:

create create is used when creating new s. files.  For example, given a C source language file called ‘obscure.c’, create would perform the following actions: (1) create the ‘s.’ file called ‘s.obscure.c’ in the SCCS directory; (2) rename the original source file to ‘,obscure.c’; (3) do an ‘sccs get’ on ‘obscure.c’.  Compared to the SCCS admin command, create does more of the startup work for you and should be used in preference to admin. 

enter enter is just like create, except that it does not do the final ‘sccs get’.  It is usually used if an ‘sccs edit’ is to be performed immediately after the enter. 

edit Get a file for editing. 

delget Perform a delta on the named files and then get new versions.  The new versions have ID keywords expanded, and so cannot be edited. 

deledit Same as delget, but produces new versions suitable for editing.  deledit is useful for making a “checkpoint” of your current editing phase. 

fix Remove the named delta, but leaves you with a copy of the delta with the changes that were in it.  fix must be followed by a −r flag.  fix is useful for fixing small compiler bugs, etc.  Since fix does not leave audit trails, use it carefully. 

clean Remove everything from the current directory that can be recreated from SCCS files.  clean checks for and does not remove any files being edited.  If ‘clean −b’ is used, branches are not checked to see if they are currently being edited.  Note: −b is dangerous if you are keeping the branches in the same directory. 

unedit “Undo” the last edit or ‘get −e’ and return a file to its previous condition.  If you unedit a file being edited, all changes made since the beginning of the editing session are lost. 

info Display a list of all files being edited.  If the −b flag is given, branches (that is, SID’s with two or fewer components) are ignored.  If the −u flag is given (with an optional argument), only files being edited by you (or the named user) are listed. 

check Check for files currently being edited, like info, but returns an exit code rather than a listing: nothing is printed if nothing is being edited, and a non-zero exit status is returned if anything is being edited.  check may thus be included in an “install” entry in a makefile, to ensure that everything is included in an SCCS file before a version is installed. 

tell Display a list of files being edited on the standard output.  Filenames are separated by NEWLINE characters.  Take the −b and −u flags like info and check. 

diffs Compare (in diff-like format) the current version of the program you have out for editing and the versions in SCCS format.  diffs accepts the same arguments as diff, except that the −c flag must be specified as −C instead, because the −c flag is taken as a flag to get indicating which version is to be compared with the current version. 

print Print verbose information about the named files.  print does an ‘sccs prs −e’ followed by an ‘sccs get −p −m’ on each file. 

EXAMPLE

The command:

sccs  −d/usr/include  get sys/inode.h

converts to:

get  /usr/include/sys/SCCS/s.inode.h

The intent here is to create aliases such as:

alias  syssccs  sccs  −d/usr/src

which will be used as:

syssccs  get  cmd/who.c

The command:

sccs  −pprivate  get  usr/include/stdio.h

converts to:

get  usr/include/private/s.stdio.h

To put a file called myprogram.c into SCCS format for the first time, assuming also that there is no SCCS directory already existing:

$ mkdir SCCS
$ sccs create myprogram.c
$ myprogram.c:
1.1
14 lines
after you have verified that everything is all right
you remove the version of the file that starts with a comma:
$ rm myprogram.c
$

To get a copy of myprogram.c for editing, edit that file, then place it back in the SCCS database:

$ sccs edit myprogram.c
1.1
new delta 1.2
14 lines
$ vi myprogram.c
your editing session
$ sccs delget myprogram.c
comments? Added abusive responses for compatibility
1.2
7 inserted
7 deleted
7 unchanged
1.2
14 lines
$

To get a file from another directory:

sccs −p/usr/src/sccs/  get cc.c

or:

sccs get /usr/src/sccs/cc.c

To make a delta of a large number of files in the current directory:

sccs delta ∗.c

To get a list of files being edited that are not on branches:

sccs info −b

To delta everything that you are editing:

$ sccs delta `sccs tell −u`

In a makefile, to get source files from an SCCS file if it does not already exist:

SRCS = <list of source files>
$(SRCS):
sccs get $(REL) $@

Regular sccs Commands

The “regular” SCCS commands are described very briefly below.  It is unlikely that you ever need to use these commands because the user interface is so complicated, and the sccs front end command does 99.9% of the interesting tasks for you. 

admin Create new SCCS files and changes parameters of existing SCCS files.  You can use ‘sccs create’ to create new SCCS files, or use ‘sccs admin’ to do other things. 

cdc Change the commentary material in an SCCS delta. 

comb Combine SCCS deltas and reconstructs the SCCS files. 

delta Permanently introduces changes that were made to a file previously retrieved using ‘sccs get’.  You can use ‘sccs delget’ as the more useful version of this command since ‘sccs delget’ does all of the useful work and more. 

get Extract a file from the SCCS database, either for compilation, or for editing when the −e option is used.  Use ‘sccs get’ if you really need it, but ‘sccs delget’ will normally have done this job for you.  Use sccs edit instead of get with the −e option. 

help Supposed to help you interpret SCCS error messages. 

prs Display information about what is happening in an SCCS file. 

rmdel Remove a delta from an SCCS file. 

sccsdiff Compare two versions of an SCCS file and generates the differences between the two versions. 

val Determine if a given SCCS file meets specified criteria.  If you use the sccs command, you should not need to use val, because its user interface is unbelievable. 

what Display SCCS identification information. 

FILES

/usr/ccs/∗

SEE ALSO

admin(1), cdc(1), comb(1), delta(1), get(1), help(1), prs(1), rmdel(1), sact(1), sccsdiff(1), unget(1), val(1), what(1). 
sccsfile(4) in the CX/UX Programmer’s Reference Manual. 
Source Code Control System User Guide in the CX/UX Support Tools Guide.

NOTES

The help command usually just parrots SCCS error messages and is generally not considered very helpful. 

CX/UX User’s Reference Manual