GENDIFF(1) General Commands Manual GENDIFF(1)
NAME
gendiff - utility to aid in error-free diff file generation
SYNOPSIS
gendiff <directory> <diff-extension>
DESCRIPTION
gendiff is a rather simple script which aids in generating a diff file from a single directory. It takes a
directory name and a "diff-extension" as its only arguments. The diff extension should be a unique sequence
of characters added to the end of all original, unmodified files. The output of the program is a diff file
which may be applied with the patch program to recreate the changes.
The usual sequence of events for creating a diff is to create two identical directories, make changes in one
directory, and then use the diff utility to create a list of differences between the two. Using gendiff elim‐
inates the need for the extra, original and unmodified directory copy. Instead, only the individual files
that are modified need to be saved.
Before editing a file, copy the file, appending the extension you have chosen to the filename. I.e. if you
were going to edit somefile.cpp and have chosen the extension "fix", copy it to somefile.cpp.fix before edit‐
ing it. Then edit the first copy (somefile.cpp).
After editing all the files you need to edit in this fashion, enter the directory one level above where your
source code resides, and then type
$ gendiff somedirectory .fix > mydiff-fix.patch
You should redirect the output to a file (as illustrated) unless you want to see the results on stdout.
SEE ALSO
diff(1), patch(1)
AUTHOR
Marc Ewing <[email protected]>
4th Berkeley Distribution Mon Jan 10 2000 GENDIFF(1)
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