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Annotation of 43BSDReno/contrib/rcs/doc/rcs_functs.ms, revision 1.1

1.1     ! root        1: .SH
        !             2: Functions of RCS (Revision Control System)
        !             3: .PP
        !             4: RCS manages software libraries. It greatly increases programmer productivity
        !             5: by providing the following functions.
        !             6: .IP 1.
        !             7: RCS stores and retrieves multiple revisions of program and other text.
        !             8: Thus, one can maintain one or more releases while developing the next
        !             9: release, with a minimum of space overhead. Changes no longer destroy the
        !            10: original -- previous revisions remain accessible.
        !            11: .RS
        !            12: .IP a.
        !            13: Maintains each module as a tree of revisions.
        !            14: .IP b.
        !            15: Project libraries can
        !            16: be organized centrally, decentralized, or any way you like.
        !            17: .IP c.
        !            18: RCS works for any type of text: programs, documentation, memos, papers,
        !            19: graphics, VLSI layouts, form letters, etc.
        !            20: .RE
        !            21: .IP 2.
        !            22: RCS maintains a complete history of changes.
        !            23: Thus, one can find out what happened to a module easily
        !            24: and quickly, without having to compare source listings or
        !            25: having to track down colleagues.
        !            26: .RS
        !            27: .IP a.
        !            28: RCS performs automatic record keeping.
        !            29: .IP b.
        !            30: RCS logs all changes automatically.
        !            31: .IP c.
        !            32: RCS guarantees project continuity.
        !            33: .RE
        !            34: .IP 3.
        !            35: RCS manages multiple lines of development.
        !            36: .IP 4.
        !            37: RCS can merge multiple lines of development.
        !            38: Thus, when several parallel lines of development must be consolidated
        !            39: into one line, the merging of changes is automatic.
        !            40: .IP 5.
        !            41: RCS flags coding conflicts.
        !            42: If two or more lines of development modify the same section of code,
        !            43: RCS can alert programmers about overlapping changes.
        !            44: .IP 6.
        !            45: RCS resolves access conflicts.
        !            46: When two or more programmers wish to modify the same revision,
        !            47: RCS alerts the programmers and makes sure that one modification won't wipe
        !            48: out the other one.
        !            49: .IP 7.
        !            50: RCS provides high-level retrieval functions.
        !            51: Revisions can be retrieved according to ranges of revision numbers,
        !            52: symbolic names, dates, authors, and states.
        !            53: .IP 8.
        !            54: RCS provides release and configuration control.
        !            55: Revisions can be marked as released, stable, experimental, etc.
        !            56: Configurations of modules can be described simply and directly.
        !            57: .IP 9.
        !            58: RCS performs automatic identification of modules with name, revision
        !            59: number, creation time, author, etc.
        !            60: Thus, it is always possible to determine which revisions of which
        !            61: modules make up a given configuration.
        !            62: .IP 10.
        !            63: Provides high-level management visibility.
        !            64: Thus, it is easy to track the status of a software project.
        !            65: .RS
        !            66: .IP a.
        !            67: RCS provides a complete change history.
        !            68: .IP b.
        !            69: RCS records who did what when to which revision of which module.
        !            70: .RE
        !            71: .IP 11.
        !            72: RCS is fully compatible with existing software development tools.
        !            73: RCS is unobtrusive -- its interface to the file system is such that
        !            74: all your existing software tools can be used as before.
        !            75: .IP 12.
        !            76: RCS' basic user interface is extremely simple. The novice need to learn
        !            77: only two commands. Its more sophisticated features have been
        !            78: tuned towards advanced software development environments and the
        !            79: experienced software professional.
        !            80: .IP 13.
        !            81: RCS simplifies software distribution if customers
        !            82: maintain sources with RCS also. This technique assures proper
        !            83: identification of versions and configurations, and tracking of customer
        !            84: modifications. Customer modifications can be merged into distributed
        !            85: versions locally or by the development group.
        !            86: .IP 14.
        !            87: RCS needs little extra space for the revisions (only the differences).
        !            88: If intermediate revisions are deleted, the corresponding
        !            89: differences are compressed into the shortest possible form.
        !            90: .IP 15.
        !            91: RCS is implemented with reverse deltas. This means that
        !            92: the latest revision, which is the one that is accessed most often,
        !            93: is stored intact. All others are regenerated from the latest one
        !            94: by applying reverse deltas (backward differences). This
        !            95: results in fast access time for the revision needed most often.

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