How to delete file in RCS?

Question

Does RCS have something like svn/p4 delete where it keeps the file history but marks it as deleted? Or do I just remove the file and the matching v file in the RCS directory? What's the recommended way of removing and/or moving files with RCS?

Answer 1

RCS has nothing like 'svn delete'; it does not manage directories.

You do not want to remove the RCS file (RCS/filename,v); you need it for access to past work and historical versions. You simply no longer get (co) it from RCS.

You asked about moving files. There are (at least) two options.

1. One is to move the underlying filename,v file from one name to the other - possibly in a different directory. That loses the previous information - you would not be able to regenerate a previous release because of the renaming.
2. The other is to copy the underlying filename,v to newname,v; this preserves the history by leaving the original file in place, and gives the new name of the file a history too.

I generally use option 2, but I'm anal retentive about regenerating old versions of the software.

This technique becomes more difficult if you want to create a new file with the name of the old one. I'd then use the old file and start a new main version (e.g. jump from version 3.15 to 4.1) with the new material. If you decide your new material must have version 1.x numbers, you've hosed yourself - you have to choose between backwards compatibility and forward motion. I'm not so attached to specific version numbers as all that (but would recommend against using 'the year' as a part of the version number; I have a number of files with version 2003.2, etc, and when I edit those, I have to remember to change the version to 2009.1, etc.).