Tracking versions with SCCS

get

The get command creates a file that contains a specified version of an SCCS file. The version is retrieved by beginning with the initial version and then applying deltas, in order, until the desired version is obtained. The resulting file, called a g-file (for gotten), is created in the current directory and is owned by the real user. The mode assigned to the g-file depends on how the get command is used.

The most common use of get is

   $ get s.abc

which normally retrieves the latest version of s.abc from the SCCS file tree trunk and produces (for example) on the standard output

   1.3
   67 lines
   No id keywords (cm7)

meaning version 1.3 of s.abc was retrieved (assuming 1.3 is the latest trunk delta), it has 67 lines of text, and no ID keywords were substituted in the file.

The g-file, namely, file abc, is given access permission mode 444 (read-only for owner, group, and other). This particular way of using get is intended to produce g-files only for inspection, compilation, or copying, for example. It is not intended for editing (making deltas).

When several files are specified, the same information is output for each one. For example,

   $ get s.abc s.xyz

produces

   s.abc:
   1.3
   67 lines
   No id keywords (cm7)

   s.xyz:
   1.7
   85 lines
   No id keywords (cm7)