delta(1)

delta -- make a delta (change) to an SCCS file

Synopsis

delta [-rSID] [-s] [-n] [-glist] [-m[mrlist]] [-y[comment]] [-p] file . . .

Description

delta is used to introduce changes into the named SCCS file; file must have been retrieved previously by using get -e (called the g.file or generated file). The file name specified must be in the form s.file or be the name of a directory. If a directory is named, delta behaves as though each file in the directory were specified as a named file, except that non-SCCS files (last component of the path name does not begin with s.) and unreadable files are silently ignored. If a name of - is given, the standard input is read (see the ``Notices'' section); each line of the standard input is taken to be the name of an SCCS file to be processed.

delta may issue prompts on the standard output depending on certain keyletters specified and flags (see admin(1)) that may be present in the SCCS file (see -m and -y keyletters below).

Keyletter arguments apply independently to each named file.

-r SID: Uniquely identifies which delta is to be made to the SCCS file. The use of this keyletter is necessary only if two or more outstanding gets for editing (get -e) on the same SCCS file were done by the same person (login name). The SID value specified with the -r keyletter can be either the SID specified on the get command line or the SID to be made as reported by the get command (see get(1)). A diagnostic results if the specified SID is ambiguous, or, if necessary and omitted on the command line.
-s: Suppresses the issue, on the standard output, of the created delta's SID, as well as the number of lines inserted, deleted and unchanged in the SCCS file.
-n: Specifies retention of the edited g.file (normally removed at completion of delta processing).
-g list: Specify a list (see get(1) for the definition of list) of deltas that are to be ignored when the file is accessed at the change level (SID) created by this delta.
-m[mrlist]: If the SCCS file has the v flag set (see admin(1)) then a Modification Request (MR) number must be supplied as the reason for creating the new delta. If -m is not used and the standard input is a terminal, the prompt MRs? is issued on the standard output before the standard input is read; if the standard input is not a terminal, no prompt is issued. The MRs? prompt always precedes the comments? prompt (see -y keyletter). MRs in a list are separated by blanks and/or tab characters. An unescaped new-line character terminates the MR list. Note that if the v flag has a value (see admin(1)) then a Modification Request (MR) number must be it is taken to be the name of a program (or shell procedure) that will validate the correctness of the MR numbers. If a non-zero exit status is returned from the MR number validation program, delta terminates. (It is assumed that the MR numbers were not all valid.)
-y[comment]: Arbitrary text used to describe the reason for making the delta. A null string is considered a valid comment. If -y is not specified and the standard input is a terminal, the prompt comments? is issued on the standard output before the standard input is read; if the standard input is not a terminal, no prompt is issued. An unescaped new-line character terminates the comment text. Supplementary code set characters may be used in comment.
-p: Causes delta to print (on the standard output) the SCCS file differences before and after the delta is applied in a format.

Files

g.file: Existed before the execution of delta; removed after completion of delta.
p.file: Existed before the execution of delta; may exist after completion of delta.
q.file: Created during the execution of delta; removed after completion of delta.
x.file: Created during the execution of delta; renamed to SCCS file after completion of delta.
z.file: Created during the execution of delta; removed during the execution of delta.
d.file: Created during the execution of delta; removed after completion of delta.
bdiff: Program to compute differences between the ``gotten'' file and the g.file.
/usr/lib/locale/locale/LC_MESSAGES/uxepu: language-specific message file (See LANG on environ.)

Errors

Use help for explanations.

References

admin(1), bdiff(1) cdc(1), get(1), help(1), prs(1), rmdel(1), sccsfile(4)

Notices

A get of many SCCS files, followed by a delta of those files, should be avoided when the get generates a large amount of data. Instead, multiple get/delta sequences should be used.

If the standard input (-) is specified on the delta command line, the -m (if necessary) and -y keyletters must also be present. Omission of these keyletters causes an error.

Comments are limited to text strings of at most 1024 bytes. Line lengths greater than 1000 bytes cause undefined results.