SCCS keyword question (bug?)

[rcj at burl.UUCP]

Curtis Jackson here, on burl, running Unix (USG 5.0 on Vax 11/780).

Our CM manager just noticed something strange in a shell used to admin
SCCS files.  He came across a command that did an admin like this:

admin -fzemsp $file

This was accepted with no problem, but there is no 'z' flag in the SCCS
documentation (admin(1)).  I tried it, and SCCS took the undocumented
'z' flag with no problems; even inserted it in the proper place in the
SCCS file just like any other keyword.  I tried a 'y' in place of the
'z' next, and SCCS barfed on that one immediately.  The session follows:

rcj$ cat junk
This is a sample SCCS file.
rcj$ admin -ijunk -fq"My user-defined keyword" -fzemsp s.junk
No id keywords (cm7)
rcj$ cat s.junk | seeit
h12970
s 00001/00000/00000
d D 1.1 83/10/13 15:00:48 rcj 1 0
c date and time created 83/10/13 15:00:48 by rcj
e
u
100
U
f q My user-defined keyword
f z emsp
t
T
I 1
This is a sample SCCS file.
E 1
rcj$ admin -fyemsp s.junk
ERROR: unknown flag (ad3)
rcj$ help ad3

ad3:
"unknown flag"
You supplied a flag (on 'd' or 'f' keyletter)
which admin does not recognize.
rcj$ 

Any ideas?  Please don't send me any letters telling me that '-z' IS a
valid switch to SCCS; I know that it revalidates the file checksum,
but this is a '-fz', NOT a '-z'.

Thanks for your time,
-- 

The MAD Programmer -- 919-228-3814 (Cornet 291)
alias: Curtis Jackson	...![ floyd clyde ihnp4 mhuxv ]!burl!rcj