Shapepatch generates a patch file for updating $(OLDRELEASE) to $(NEWRELEASE). Both releases are
identified by release names associated with the macros OLD-/NEWRELEASE on the command line. Valid release
names are those generated by any of the shape_RMS (pre-)release building procedures (see
shape_releas(1)). Performing 'vl -all' with the release identification file as argument usually gives a
good overview of existing release names. Patch generation happens recursively over all subsystems being
part of the current node. Hence, triggering shapepatch from the top node of the central source
repository creates a patch file for the whole system.
The output of shape patch is stored in a file named <name1>+2+<name2>.pat. When the PATCHFILE macro is
set on the command line, $(PATCHFILE) is taken as output file name instead. Defining PATCHFILE=- on the
command line causes the patch to be written to standard output. Note: For patches invoking multiple
subsystems, $(PATCHFILE) should be set to an absolute pathname. If not, the patch generation procedure
will leave an equally named patch file for each visited subsystem.
The patch is constructed using the vdiff(1) command and can be applied to any installation of
$(OLDRELEASE) by invoking patch(1).