Version control systems are packages that can record multiple versions of a source file, usually storing the unchanged parts of the file just once. Version control systems also record history information such as the creation time of each version, who created it, and a description of what was changed in that version.
The GNU project recommends the version control system known as RCS, which is free software and available from the Free Software Foundation. Emacs supports use of either RCS or SCCS (a proprietary, but widely used, version control system that is not quite as powerful as RCS) through a facility called VC. The same Emacs commands work with either RCS or SCCS, so you hardly have to know which one of them you are using.
| • Concepts of VC: | Basic version control information; checking files in and out. | |
| • Editing with VC: | Commands for editing a file maintained with version control. | |
| • Variables for Check-in/out: | Variables that affect the commands used to check files in or out. | |
| • Log Entries: | Logging your changes. | |
| • Change Logs and VC: | Generating a change log file from log entries. | |
| • Old Versions: | Examining and comparing old versions. | |
| • VC Status: | Commands to view the VC status of files and look at log entries. | |
| • Renaming and VC: | A command to rename both the source and master file correctly. | |
| • Snapshots: | How to make and use snapshots, a set of file versions that can be treated as a unit. | |
| • Version Headers: | Inserting version control headers into working files. |