.\" -*- nroff -*- .rn '' }` '\" $Header: /home/ncvs/src/gnu/usr.bin/patch/patch.1,v 1.4 1994/02/25 21:45:59 phk Exp $ '\" '\" $Log: patch.1,v $ '\" Revision 1.4 1994/02/25 21:45:59 phk '\" added the -C/-check again. '\" .\" Revision 1.3 1994/02/17 22:20:33 jkh .\" Put this back - I was somehow under the erroneous impression that patch was in .\" ports, until I saw the the commit messages, that is! :-) All changed backed out. .\" .\" Revision 1.2 1994/02/17 22:16:02 jkh .\" From Poul-Henning Kamp - Implement a -C option to verify the integrity of .\" a patch before actually applying it. .\" .\" Revision 1.1.1.1 1993/06/19 14:21:51 paul .\" b-maked patch-2.10 .\" '\" Revision 2.0.1.2 88/06/22 20:47:18 lwall '\" patch12: now avoids Bell System Logo '\" '\" Revision 2.0.1.1 88/06/03 15:12:51 lwall '\" patch10: -B switch was contributed. '\" '\" Revision 2.0 86/09/17 15:39:09 lwall '\" Baseline for netwide release. '\" '\" Revision 1.4 86/08/01 19:23:22 lwall '\" Documented -v, -p, -F. '\" Added notes to patch senders. '\" '\" Revision 1.3 85/03/26 15:11:06 lwall '\" Frozen. '\" '\" Revision 1.2.1.4 85/03/12 16:14:27 lwall '\" Documented -p. '\" '\" Revision 1.2.1.3 85/03/12 16:09:41 lwall '\" Documented -D. '\" '\" Revision 1.2.1.2 84/12/05 11:06:55 lwall '\" Added -l switch, and noted bistability bug. '\" '\" Revision 1.2.1.1 84/12/04 17:23:39 lwall '\" Branch for sdcrdcf changes. '\" '\" Revision 1.2 84/12/04 17:22:02 lwall '\" Baseline version. '\" .de Sh .br .ne 5 .PP \fB\\$1\fR .PP .. .de Sp .if t .sp .5v .if n .sp .. '\" '\" Set up \*(-- to give an unbreakable dash; '\" string Tr holds user defined translation string. '\" Bell System Logo is used as a dummy character. '\" .ie n \{\ .tr \(*W-\*(Tr .ds -- \(*W- .if (\n(.H=4u)&(1m=24u) .ds -- \(*W\h'-12u'\(*W\h'-12u'-\" diablo 10 pitch .if (\n(.H=4u)&(1m=20u) .ds -- \(*W\h'-12u'\(*W\h'-8u'-\" diablo 12 pitch .ds L" "" .ds R" "" .ds L' ' .ds R' ' 'br \} .el \{\ .ds -- \(em\| .tr \*(Tr .ds L" `` .ds R" '' .ds L' ` .ds R' ' 'br\} .TH PATCH 1 LOCAL .SH NAME patch - apply a diff file to an original .SH SYNOPSIS .B patch [options] [origfile [patchfile]] [+ [options] [origfile]]... .sp but usually just .sp .B patch .br with many other contributors. .SH ENVIRONMENT .TP .B TMPDIR Directory to put temporary files in; default is /tmp. .TP .B SIMPLE_BACKUP_SUFFIX Extension to use for backup file names instead of \*(L".orig\*(R" or \*(L"~\*(R". .TP .B VERSION_CONTROL Selects when numbered backup files are made. .SH FILES $TMPDIR/patch* .SH SEE ALSO diff(1) .SH NOTES FOR PATCH SENDERS There are several things you should bear in mind if you are going to be sending out patches. First, you can save people a lot of grief by keeping a patchlevel.h file which is patched to increment the patch level as the first diff in the patch file you send out. If you put a Prereq: line in with the patch, it won't let them apply patches out of order without some warning. Second, make sure you've specified the file names right, either in a context diff header, or with an Index: line. If you are patching something in a subdirectory, be sure to tell the patch user to specify a .B \-p option as needed. Third, you can create a file by sending out a diff that compares a null file to the file you want to create. This will only work if the file you want to create doesn't exist already in the target directory. Fourth, take care not to send out reversed patches, since it makes people wonder whether they already applied the patch. Fifth, while you may be able to get away with putting 582 diff listings into one file, it is probably wiser to group related patches into separate files in case something goes haywire. .SH DIAGNOSTICS Too many to list here, but generally indicative that .I patch couldn't parse your patch file. .PP The message \*(L"Hmm...\*(R" indicates that there is unprocessed text in the patch file and that .I patch is attempting to intuit whether there is a patch in that text and, if so, what kind of patch it is. .PP .I Patch will exit with a non-zero status if any reject files were created. When applying a set of patches in a loop it behooves you to check this exit status so you don't apply a later patch to a partially patched file. .SH CAVEATS .I Patch cannot tell if the line numbers are off in an .I ed script, and can only detect bad line numbers in a normal diff when it finds a \*(L"change\*(R" or a \*(L"delete\*(R" command. A context diff using fuzz factor 3 may have the same problem. Until a suitable interactive interface is added, you should probably do a context diff in these cases to see if the changes made sense. Of course, compiling without errors is a pretty good indication that the patch worked, but not always. .PP .I Patch usually produces the correct results, even when it has to do a lot of guessing. However, the results are guaranteed to be correct only when the patch is applied to exactly the same version of the file that the patch was generated from. .SH BUGS Could be smarter about partial matches, excessively \&deviant offsets and swapped code, but that would take an extra pass. .PP If code has been duplicated (for instance with #ifdef OLDCODE ... #else ... #endif), .I patch is incapable of patching both versions, and, if it works at all, will likely patch the wrong one, and tell you that it succeeded to boot. .PP If you apply a patch you've already applied, .I patch will think it is a reversed patch, and offer to un-apply the patch. This could be construed as a feature. .rn }` ''