---
name: "rlog"
section: "1"
platform: "openbsd"
package: "man"
version: "8.0-current-20261101"
release: "OpenBSD 8.0-current (2026-11-01)"
platforms: ["linux", "openbsd"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/rlog"
---

# rlog(1)

display information about RCS files

## NAME

**rlog** – display information about RCS files

## SYNOPSIS

**rlog** \[**-bhLNRtV**\] \[**-d***dates*\] \[**-E***endsep*\] \[**-l**\[*lockers*\]\] \[**-r**\[*revs*\]\] \[**-S***revsep*\] \[**-s***states*\] \[**-w**\[*logins*\]\] \[**-x***suffixes*\] \[**-z***tz*\] *file ...*

## DESCRIPTION

The **rlog** program displays information about RCS files.

A file's complete RCS history can be displayed (the default if no options are specified) or a subset of its history log can be requested, depending on which options are specified. RCS keywords are displayed using the [ident(1)](/ident/1.md) utility.

The following options are supported:

- **-b**

  Print information about revisions of the default branch only.

- **-d***dates*

  Specify revisions with dates matching the specification. The specification might be as follows:

  - date1\<date2 or date2\>date1

    Select all revisions between *date1* and *date2*.

  - \<date or date\>

    Select all revisions before *date*.

  - \>date or date\<

    Select all revisions after *date*.

  - date

    Select the latest revision before or equal to *date*.

    The ‘’ and ‘’ characters can be followed by the ‘=’ character to imply an inclusive specification. Several specifications can be used by separating them with the ‘;’ character.

    See also the **-z** option, below.

- **-E***endsep*

  Print *endsep* at the end of each RCS file, instead of the default string of 77 equal signs.

- **-h**

  Print the RCS header, describing a file's branch, lock details, symbolic names, etc.

- **-L**

  Ignore RCS files with no locks set.

- **-l**\[*lockers*\]

  Print information about locked revisions only. If a comma-separated list of login names is specified, ignore all locks other than those held in the list.

- **-N**

  Do not print symbolic names.

- **-R**

  Print name of RCS file only.

- **-r**\[*revs*\]

  Specify revision(s) to list:

  - rev1,rev2,...

    A list of revisions is specified by separating names or numbers of revisions by the ‘,’ character.

  - rev1:rev2

    List all revisions between *rev1* and *rev2* (they must be on the same branch).

  - :rev

    List all revisions since the beginning of the branch until *rev* included.

  - rev:

    List all revisions of the branch beginning with *rev*.

  - branch

    List all revisions of a branch.

  - branch.

    List the latest revision of the branch *branch*.

  - branch1:branch2

    List all revisions of branches between *branch1* and *branch2*.

    Without argument, the **-r** option means the latest revision of the default branch.

- **-S***revsep*

  Print *revsep* at the end of each RCS revision, instead of the default string of 28 dash signs.

- **-s***states*

  Print information about revisions whose state matches one of the specified *states*. Multiple states may be specified as a comma-separated list.

- **-t**

  Print header and description only.

- **-V**

  Print RCS's version number.

- **-w**\[*logins*\]

  Print information about revisions checked in by users specified in a comma-separated list. If *logins* is omitted, the user's login is assumed.

- **-x***suffixes*

  Specifies the suffixes for RCS files. Suffixes should be separated by the ‘/’ character.

- **-z***tz*

  Specify the date output format. The *tz* argument should be a numeric UTC offset (e.g. +02:45 would specify an offset of 2 hours 45 minutes). ‘LT’ may instead be used to specify local time. If no argument is given, a default format is used. This option is also used to set the default time zone for dates used in the **-d** option.

## ENVIRONMENT

- RCSINIT

  If set, this variable should contain a list of space-delimited options that are prepended to the argument list.

## EXIT STATUS

The **rlog** utility exits 0 on success, and \>0 if an error occurs.

## EXAMPLES

Print complete information about files:

```
$ rlog RCS/*
```

Print the names of RCS files with locks set:

```
$ rlog -L -R RCS/*
```

## SEE ALSO

[ci(1)](/ci/1.md), [co(1)](/co/1.md), [ident(1)](/ident/1.md), [rcs(1)](/rcs/1.md), [rcsclean(1)](/rcsclean/1.md), [rcsdiff(1)](/rcsdiff/1.md), [rcsmerge(1)](/rcsmerge/1.md)

## STANDARDS

The flags \[**-qT**\] have no effect and are provided for compatibility only.