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-exten-
    sion" 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 iden-
    tical directories, make changes in one directory, and then use the diff
    utility to create a list of differences 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 filename. 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@redhat.com>