DOC HOME SITE MAP MAN PAGES GNU INFO SEARCH PRINT BOOK
 

(diff.info.gz) Changing Structure

Info Catalog (diff.info.gz) Internationalization (diff.info.gz) Shortcomings (diff.info.gz) Special Files
 
 Handling Changes to the Directory Structure
 -------------------------------------------
 
    `diff' and `patch' do not handle some changes to directory
 structure.  For example, suppose one directory tree contains a directory
 named `D' with some subsidiary files, and another contains a file with
 the same name `D'.  `diff -r' does not output enough information for
 `patch' to transform the directory subtree into the file.
 
    There should be a way to specify that a file has been removed without
 having to include its entire contents in the patch file.  There should
 also be a way to tell `patch' that a file was renamed, even if there is
 no way for `diff' to generate such information.  There should be a way
 to tell `patch' that a file's time stamp has changed, even if its
 contents have not changed.
 
    These problems can be fixed by extending the `diff' output format to
 represent changes in directory structure, and extending `patch' to
 understand these extensions.
 
Info Catalog (diff.info.gz) Internationalization (diff.info.gz) Shortcomings (diff.info.gz) Special Files
automatically generated byinfo2html