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  differ‐
       ences  between  the  two.   Using  gendiff eliminates 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 file‐
       name.  I.e. if you were going to edit somefile.cpp and have chosen  the  extension  "fix",
       copy it to somefile.cpp.fix before editing 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 <marc AT redhat.com>



4th Berkeley Distribution                Mon Jan 10 2000                               GENDIFF(1)