Thank you Niklas for explaining that to me. Much appreciated. David Niklas Holsti wrote: > On 19-10-12 03:39 , David Wall wrote: >> I regularly 'build' GnuCOBOL compiler from source code - however it is >> supplied in 'tar' format. >> I use 'tar' to unpack it and then I need to make changes to certain >> files all the time. >> >> Is there any program in Mingw 6.3.0 that I can utilise to do these >> patches for me. > > The "patch" and "diff" tools are designed for this. > >> I installed msys-patch and checked thru the documentation - but it >> processes a 'diff' file and >> that confused me no end. Maybe I'll have to investigate how to produce a >> 'diff' file. > > Yes. > > This is the process: first, > > 1. Make a copy of all the original files from the "tar". > > 2. Edit the copy manually, applying the changes you need (which is what > you have done so far for all "tar" versions, so you could use the last > version of your edited files instead). > > 3. Run "diff" to compare the original file set with the manually edited > file set. Store the resulting diff output as a "diff file". This file a > record of the changes that you made manually; it identifies the files > that were changed, the places in the files that were changed, and the > change (old text => new text). > > When, later, you get a new "tar", you run "patch" on the new files using > the "diff file" that you got from step 3 above. "Patch" then reapplies > the same changes you did on the original "tar" file set and which were > recorded in the "diff file". > > "Patch" tolerates a certain amount of evolution in the "tar" files from > one version to the next, but if there is too much of that -- for > example, if a function that you changed, as shown in the "diff" file, no > longer exists in the new "tar" files or has been moved somewhere far > away -- "patch" reports an error and then you have to consider what to > do and perhaps edit something manually again. If you have to do that, > you can then make, with "diff", a new "diff file" that reflects this > evolution of the "tar" files, and the new "diff file" should work better > when the next new "tar" arrives. > >> What I'd like to do is tell a patch program to: >> >> 1. Find this file 2. Find this text in the file 3. Replace found >> text with new text. > > That is exactly what the patch+diff combination can do. > > HTH, > > Niklas Holsti > > _______________________________________________ > MinGW-Users mailing list > MinGW****@lists***** > > This list observes the Etiquette found at > http://www.mingw.org/Mailing_Lists. > We ask that you be polite and do the same. Disregard for the list > etiquette may cause your account to be moderated. > > _______________________________________________ > You may change your MinGW Account Options or unsubscribe at: > https://lists.osdn.me/mailman/listinfo/mingw-users > Also: mailto:mingw****@lists*****?subject=unsubscribe
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