Date:	Mon, 17 Apr 1995 13:53:44 -0700 (PDT)
From:	"Kent D. Lottis" <kentl AT bdc DOT cirrus DOT com>
To:	Dave New <den AT aisinc DOT com>
Cc:	leisner AT sdsp DOT mc DOT xerox DOT com, djgpp AT sun DOT soe DOT clarkson DOT edu
Subject:	Re: SCCS

On Mon, 17 Apr 1995, Dave New wrote:

> Of course, in a plain DOS environment, there are no symbolic links, so the
> rcs directories are "real", but this is not perceived to be a problem using
> his approach if only a single developer is involved.  For multiple developers,
> symbolic links are needed.
> 

I don't know if RCS readily supports this, but here's what I do around here.
We use a commercial cousin of RCS (I won't name it, but it's initials are 
PVCS). The traditional approach is to place a symbolic link to the RCS 
directory in any directory where one might want access to the RCS files. 
What this does, in essence, is inform the RCS tools where to go look for 
the RCS files. Symbolic links are just a way of getting the file system 
to do the work for you. In lieu of a decent file system, you can use a 
regular file to help your tools find the RCS files.

For PVCS, this hinges on the use of an environment variable that names
a "configuration file". This configuration file in turn tell the tools
where to look for the archives ("logfiles", in PVCS parlance).
What I do is set the VCSCFG variable to .\vcsdir.cfg (any filename will do).
Then create a vcsdir.cfg filename that points at you logfile directory.

I've been thinking of adopting RCS for personal projects, so 
I'm curious: 

a) Does RCS have any mechanism like this (environment variables) to
   help locate the archive files.
b) Does RCS _require_ the ",v" extension, or can another naming convention
   be used (e.g. none - archives & workfiles have same name, just different
   path)?

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
=                                                         =
=  Kent D. Lottis        Internet: kentl AT bdc DOT cirrus DOT com   =
=  Cirrus Logic, Inc.    Bellevue Design Center (BDC)     =
=                                                         =
=  "Make it foolproof and they'll make a better fool"     =
=                                                         =
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