Differences

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--- docs:git:creating_and_applying_patch_files [2010/04/16 22:39] – billh
+++ docs:git:creating_and_applying_patch_files [2014/09/29 17:09] (current) – [applying a patch file (method 2)] billh
@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
 ===== creating a patch file =====
 If you are not the maintainer for a project, but still want to contribute, you can clone the repo and modify files.  You might fix a bug or add a feature.  Then you can email a "patch" file containing your changes to the actual maintainer of the project.  You might try to work on a specific bug or feature ticket.
+Make sure your working copy is at the point you want as your final state.  Create a new branch if this point is somewhere behind where your current HEAD is.  Then create a patch file with the following, where "master" can be any branch name or sha-1 hash as a starting point.
 <code>
 git format-patch master --stdout > your-patch-file.diff
 </code>
-===== applying a patch file =====
+===== applying a patch file (method 1) =====
-First create a new branch:
+Make sure you are on a clean working copy, then apply the patch to the working copy (no commits are added, only working copy files are updated):
+<code>
+git apply their-patch-file.diff
+</code>
+Now you can review the changes as necessary.
+Note that the above method is a git patch file, suitable for using git am.  This is not the same as a standard patch file created with diff.  Git patch files contain author's, commit messages and metadata, etc...
+===== applying a patch file (method 2) =====
+This will add consecutive commits to your current branch, including the commit messages.  At the end of the patch, your working copy should be clean with a history of all applied commits.  First create a new branch:
 <code>
 git checkout -b new-branch-name
@@ Line 15: / Line 27: @@
 git am < their-patch-file.diff
 </code>
+Note that the above method is a git patch file, suitable for using git am.  This is not the same as a standard patch file created with diff.  Git patch files contain author's, commit messages and metadata, etc...
 ===== manually rewriting data for a project =====