Current Supported Releases: Sablime® v6.0 & v5.2
NAME
ndelta - return a new version to its SBCS file
SYNOPSIS
ndelta [-nsEGNRY] [-m mr-list] [-r sid] [-v name] [-y com-
ment] [-F force] s-file ...
DESCRIPTION
ndelta returns edited versions to the corresponding SBCS
file, or s-file. The versions returned must have been pre-
viously retrieved for edit with nget -e.
An ndelta command line begins with option arguments and ends
with s-file arguments (see nadmin(1)). The s-file arguments
can be any mix of s-files, directories and a single - char-
acter.
For each valid s-file, ndelta looks for a matching g-file
(gotten file) in the current directory and a matching p-file
(with a p. prefix) in the s-file directory. The g-file is
the working file and has no prefix. Its name is that of the
s-file with the s. prefix removed. ndelta first verifies
that the g-file is writable and that there is a record in
the p-file of it being retrieved for edit. ndelta then
retrieves the predecessor version (frequently, but not
always the initially gotten version), calculates the differ-
ence between that version and the new one, and installs the
difference as a delta in the s-file. Depending on where the
predecessor and new versions are on the version tree, ndelta
may have to build the predecessor version by applying del-
tas, or may have to replace and recompress an s-file base
version.
The s-file contains at least one complete base version and a
number of deltas or differences between versions. These
deltas are used to recreate at run time any version needed
by ndelta or nget.
If the ndelta command succeeds it displays the new SID of
the version installed.
OPTIONS
-n Do not remove the g-file. Normally the g-file is
removed after a successful ndelta, and a new g-file
requires another nget call. With -n, the g-file is
left behind, untouched. This is a specialized option
since the g-file, its permissions and keywords in the
wrong state, will eventually have to be removed (see
also -G, -E).
-s Run silently. Suppress information normally written to
standard output, as well as diagnostic warnings.
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Actual errors are still reported to standard error. If
MRs? or comments? prompts are needed, the command will
fail. When -s is used, MRs and comments, if needed,
should be provided by the -m and -y options.
-E Return a copy of the g-file but keep the g-file and
reserve the next SID for editing. The effect is the
same as if ndelta had been followed immediately by an
nget -e, but is faster since the nget is not done. The
next SID is always the next release (for trunk ver-
sions) or sequence (for branch versions). The new SID
is displayed prefixed with new delta This option is
useful in single user projects when files are con-
stantly editable, but periodically archived with
ndelta.
-G Keep a read-only g-file, as if nget had immediately
followed the ndelta. This option is similar to -n but
leaves the g-file in a consistent and usable state. The
g-file write permissions are removed and the keywords
are expanded to reflect the new version. If no new
delta was created (see -F0 below), the keywords are
expanded to reflect the initial gotten version. If, in
addition, keep_delta_time = yes, the modification time
of the original gotten version is restored. -G is
always implicitly invoked if is the file pointed to by
SBCSENV. In most cases, -G should be preferred over
-n.
-N No execution. Print the g-file s-file pairs that ndelta
would process, but do not carry out the delta.
-R Recursive. If the an s-file argument is a directory,
descend recursively into all its subdirectories search-
ing for s-files that will part of this delta. For each
s-file, ndelta will attempt to locate a g-file in a
matching subdirectory of the present directory. The
full effect of -R can be previewed safely by using -N.
-Y Suppress any y/n prompt that may arise by preemptively
providing the answer y. The only such prompt expected
is the one asking to restore backed up s-files (see Y/N
PROMPTS in nadmin(1)).
-m mr-list
If the s-file has its v flag set (see nadmin) then the
MR (modification request) IDs authorizing the new ver-
sion must be provided. mr-list can be (1) a comma or
blank separated list of MR IDs or (2) a single - char-
acter. If blank separators are used, the list must be
quoted. The -m- option means a null MR ID is recorded.
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If MRs are needed but -m was not provided, ndelta will
prompt with MRs? and read its standard input. If the
standard input is not a terminal, the last prompt char-
acter is changed from a ' ' (blank) to a \n (new-line).
When needed, the MRs? prompt always precedes the com-
ments? prompt (see -y option). The sbcsenv variable
mrs_comment_mode [= 0] controls how interactive input
is terminated. In the default mode (= 0), a new-line
character terminates input, and if more than one line
is needed, the new-line must be escaped with a \
(backslash) character. While in input mode, a visual
editor can be called by typing a leading ~e or ~v on a
single line. When it is needed, the prompt is issued
only once per command and the same MR numbers are
applied to all versions updated by the command.
If the s-file v flag also specifies a validation pro-
gram (see nadmin(1)), ndelta will use it to validate
the MR list. The validation program is called once for
each s-file. The arguments passed to this program are
(1) the g-file name, (2) the s-file type and (3) the
list of MR numbers as arguments 3 and above. If the
validation program returns a nonzero exit code, ndelta
fails for that s-file and continues with the next one.
-r sid
Return version sid to the s-file. sid can be version
SID or a version name. This option is only needed if
the user has retrieved more than one editable g-file
from this s-file. If a SID is specified it must be a
complete SID (R.L or R.L.B.S) It can be any one of the
(1) gotten SID or (2) new SID reserved (see nget), but
only (2) is never ambiguous. Similarly, if a version
name is specified, it can be any of (1) the gotten ver-
sion name, or (2) the new version name. Note: a ver-
sion cannot be named at the time of the delta, but must
be named when it is gotten out (nget -ev name), or
before it is deltaed back (ncdc -v name). This is
because once named, a version can only be renamed by
the administrator (nadmin -r~e), and if several files
are being returned the new name may be acceptable for
some but not others, creating a difficult situation.
-v name
Requires the -E option: give the new version retrieved
by -E the new name name. This option implies -F1, i.e.
forces a new delta.
-y comment
Use the text comment as the version (delta) comment.
If comment is a single -, as in -y-, no comment is
recorded.
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If -y is not used, the prompt comments? is issued on
standard output and the standard input is read. If the
standard input is not a terminal, the last prompt char-
acter is changed from a ' ' (blank) to a \n (new-line).
The sbcsenv variable mrs_comment_mode [= 0] controls
how interactive input is terminated. In the default
mode (= 0), a new-line character terminates input, and
if more than one line is needed, the new-line must be
escaped with a \ (backslash) character. While in input
mode, a visual editor can be called by typing a leading
~e or ~v on a single line. Once entered, a comment
cannot be changed, only comment amendments added (see
ncdc(1)). The SBCS administrator can use nadmin -y~e to
edit the comments, should that be needed.
If -y was not provided, the prompt is issued once per
command, and the same comment applies to all the ver-
sions updated by the command.
-F force
Force a delta to be created. force can be 0 or 1. If
force is 1, a delta is created whether the new version
differs from the gotten version or not. If force is 0
and there is no difference between the initial gotten
version and the new one returned, no new delta is
created, and the message no new delta is displayed.
The default, -F1, is controlled by the sbcsenv(1) vari-
able force_delta [= y]. A command line -F [01] would
overrule sbcsenv.
FILES
g-file
Must exist in the current directory before command exe-
cution, it is removed after completion (except with -n,
-N and -E).
p-file
Must exist in the s-file directory before command exe-
cution, it may remain after completion if there are
more versions outstanding.
q-file
Temporary p-file created in the s-file directory, it is
removed when the command terminates.
z-file
Temporary lock created in the s-file directory, it is
removed when the command terminates.
Z-file
Backup file created in the s-file directory before s-
file modification, it may exist after completion if the
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command terminated abnormally. Subsequent commands
will use it to restore the s-file (see nadmin).
build.xNNNNN, delta.xNNNNN, base.xNNNNN
Temporary files created in the directory specified by
one of the env variables TMPDIR, TEMP or TMP, or the
sbcsenv variable tmpdir [= "/tmp"]. These files are
removed when the command terminates.
NOTES
Multiple files
ndelta can be effectively applied to multiple s-files
and to whole directories because the version to be
returned is usually unambiguously defined in the p-file
and need not be given on the command line.
Multi-user
ndelta modifies both s-files and p-files. When used in
a multi-user project, ndelta must have the SBCS
administrator permissions and must be run from a set-
UID interface (see nadmin(1) - MULTI USER ACCESS and
sbcsproj(1)).
Y/N Prompt
An unexpected prompt to restore the s-file is always
possible. Specifying -Y provides a default y answer.
Because the user must already have permissions to
modify s-file, any restore is expected to succeed.
Warning
If s-file names are read through standard input (- file
option), it will not be possible to also prompt for MRs
and comments. In this case the comment must be pro-
vided through the -y option, and if MRs are needed,
they must be specified through the -m option.
COMPARISON WITH SCCS
SCCS only:
Options -gsid-list for the list of deltas to omit, and
-p for a line by line difference.
SBCS only:
Options -v, -E, -G, -NRY and -Fforce. For most users
the -G option will prove more useful than -n. There
are no built-in limits on the length of comments and
other user supplied text. MRs and comments can be
entered through a full screen editor.
Differences:
The selection of the predecessor delta follows a dif-
ferent algorithm in this version of SBCS. Instead of
automatically differencing the new version with the
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gotten version, SBCS now differences with one of its
immediate neighbors in the SID tree, according to the
delta scheme in effect on the new version's branch or
trunk. In most cases the predecessor will be the same
as before; differences appear when branches are derived
from branches.
DIAGNOSTICS
Warning and error messages have error codes that can be used
with nhelp for a more detailed explanation.
SEE ALSO
nadmin(1), ncdc(1), ndelta(1), nedges(1), nget(1), nhelp(1),
nprs(1), nrmdel(1), nsact(1), nunget(1), sbcsdiff(1),
sbcsenv(1).
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