Documentation/git-apply.txt

   1 git-apply(1)
   2 ============
   3
   4 NAME
   5 ----
   6 git-apply - Apply a patch to files and/or to the index
   7
   8
   9 SYNOPSIS
  10 --------
  11 [verse]
  12 'git apply' [--stat] [--numstat] [--summary] [--check] [--index] [--3way]
  13           [--apply] [--no-add] [--build-fake-ancestor=<file>] [-R | --reverse]
  14           [--allow-binary-replacement | --binary] [--reject] [-z]
  15           [-p<n>] [-C<n>] [--inaccurate-eof] [--recount] [--cached]
  16           [--ignore-space-change | --ignore-whitespace]
  17           [--whitespace=(nowarn|warn|fix|error|error-all)]
  18           [--exclude=<path>] [--include=<path>] [--directory=<root>]
  19           [--verbose] [--unsafe-paths] [<patch>...]
  20
  21 DESCRIPTION
  22 -----------
  23 Reads the supplied diff output (i.e. "a patch") and applies it to files.
  24 When running from a subdirectory in a repository, patched paths
  25 outside the directory are ignored.
  26 With the `--index` option the patch is also applied to the index, and
  27 with the `--cached` option the patch is only applied to the index.
  28 Without these options, the command applies the patch only to files,
  29 and does not require them to be in a Git repository.
  30
  31 This command applies the patch but does not create a commit.  Use
  32 linkgit:git-am[1] to create commits from patches generated by
  33 linkgit:git-format-patch[1] and/or received by email.
  34
  35 OPTIONS
  36 -------
  37 <patch>...::
  38         The files to read the patch from.  '-' can be used to read
  39         from the standard input.
  40
  41 --stat::
  42         Instead of applying the patch, output diffstat for the
  43         input.  Turns off "apply".
  44
  45 --numstat::
  46         Similar to `--stat`, but shows the number of added and
  47         deleted lines in decimal notation and the pathname without
  48         abbreviation, to make it more machine friendly.  For
  49         binary files, outputs two `-` instead of saying
  50         `0 0`.  Turns off "apply".
  51
  52 --summary::
  53         Instead of applying the patch, output a condensed
  54         summary of information obtained from git diff extended
  55         headers, such as creations, renames and mode changes.
  56         Turns off "apply".
  57
  58 --check::
  59         Instead of applying the patch, see if the patch is
  60         applicable to the current working tree and/or the index
  61         file and detects errors.  Turns off "apply".
  62
  63 --index::
  64         When `--check` is in effect, or when applying the patch
  65         (which is the default when none of the options that
  66         disables it is in effect), make sure the patch is
  67         applicable to what the current index file records.  If
  68         the file to be patched in the working tree is not
  69         up to date, it is flagged as an error.  This flag also
  70         causes the index file to be updated.
  71
  72 --cached::
  73         Apply a patch without touching the working tree. Instead take the
  74         cached data, apply the patch, and store the result in the index
  75         without using the working tree. This implies `--index`.
  76
  77 -3::
  78 --3way::
  79         When the patch does not apply cleanly, fall back on 3-way merge if
  80         the patch records the identity of blobs it is supposed to apply to,
  81         and we have those blobs available locally, possibly leaving the
  82         conflict markers in the files in the working tree for the user to
  83         resolve.  This option implies the `--index` option, and is incompatible
  84         with the `--reject` and the `--cached` options.
  85
  86 --build-fake-ancestor=<file>::
  87         Newer 'git diff' output has embedded 'index information'
  88         for each blob to help identify the original version that
  89         the patch applies to.  When this flag is given, and if
  90         the original versions of the blobs are available locally,
  91         builds a temporary index containing those blobs.
  92 +
  93 When a pure mode change is encountered (which has no index information),
  94 the information is read from the current index instead.
  95
  96 -R::
  97 --reverse::
  98         Apply the patch in reverse.
  99
 100 --reject::
 101         For atomicity, 'git apply' by default fails the whole patch and
 102         does not touch the working tree when some of the hunks
 103         do not apply.  This option makes it apply
 104         the parts of the patch that are applicable, and leave the
 105         rejected hunks in corresponding *.rej files.
 106
 107 -z::
 108         When `--numstat` has been given, do not munge pathnames,
 109         but use a NUL-terminated machine-readable format.
 110 +
 111 Without this option, pathnames with "unusual" characters are quoted as
 112 explained for the configuration variable `core.quotePath` (see
 113 linkgit:git-config[1]).
 114
 115 -p<n>::
 116         Remove <n> leading path components (separated by slashes) from
 117         traditional diff paths. E.g., with `-p2`, a patch against
 118         `a/dir/file` will be applied directly to `file`. The default is
 119         1.
 120
 121 -C<n>::
 122         Ensure at least <n> lines of surrounding context match before
 123         and after each change.  When fewer lines of surrounding
 124         context exist they all must match.  By default no context is
 125         ever ignored.
 126
 127 --unidiff-zero::
 128         By default, 'git apply' expects that the patch being
 129         applied is a unified diff with at least one line of context.
 130         This provides good safety measures, but breaks down when
 131         applying a diff generated with `--unified=0`. To bypass these
 132         checks use `--unidiff-zero`.
 133 +
 134 Note, for the reasons stated above usage of context-free patches is
 135 discouraged.
 136
 137 --apply::
 138         If you use any of the options marked "Turns off
 139         'apply'" above, 'git apply' reads and outputs the
 140         requested information without actually applying the
 141         patch.  Give this flag after those flags to also apply
 142         the patch.
 143
 144 --no-add::
 145         When applying a patch, ignore additions made by the
 146         patch.  This can be used to extract the common part between
 147         two files by first running 'diff' on them and applying
 148         the result with this option, which would apply the
 149         deletion part but not the addition part.
 150
 151 --allow-binary-replacement::
 152 --binary::
 153         Historically we did not allow binary patch applied
 154         without an explicit permission from the user, and this
 155         flag was the way to do so.  Currently we always allow binary
 156         patch application, so this is a no-op.
 157
 158 --exclude=<path-pattern>::
 159         Don't apply changes to files matching the given path pattern. This can
 160         be useful when importing patchsets, where you want to exclude certain
 161         files or directories.
 162
 163 --include=<path-pattern>::
 164         Apply changes to files matching the given path pattern. This can
 165         be useful when importing patchsets, where you want to include certain
 166         files or directories.
 167 +
 168 When `--exclude` and `--include` patterns are used, they are examined in the
 169 order they appear on the command line, and the first match determines if a
 170 patch to each path is used.  A patch to a path that does not match any
 171 include/exclude pattern is used by default if there is no include pattern
 172 on the command line, and ignored if there is any include pattern.
 173
 174 --ignore-space-change::
 175 --ignore-whitespace::
 176         When applying a patch, ignore changes in whitespace in context
 177         lines if necessary.
 178         Context lines will preserve their whitespace, and they will not
 179         undergo whitespace fixing regardless of the value of the
 180         `--whitespace` option. New lines will still be fixed, though.
 181
 182 --whitespace=<action>::
 183         When applying a patch, detect a new or modified line that has
 184         whitespace errors.  What are considered whitespace errors is
 185         controlled by `core.whitespace` configuration.  By default,
 186         trailing whitespaces (including lines that solely consist of
 187         whitespaces) and a space character that is immediately followed
 188         by a tab character inside the initial indent of the line are
 189         considered whitespace errors.
 190 +
 191 By default, the command outputs warning messages but applies the patch.
 192 When `git-apply` is used for statistics and not applying a
 193 patch, it defaults to `nowarn`.
 194 +
 195 You can use different `<action>` values to control this
 196 behavior:
 197 +
 198 * `nowarn` turns off the trailing whitespace warning.
 199 * `warn` outputs warnings for a few such errors, but applies the
 200   patch as-is (default).
 201 * `fix` outputs warnings for a few such errors, and applies the
 202   patch after fixing them (`strip` is a synonym --- the tool
 203   used to consider only trailing whitespace characters as errors, and the
 204   fix involved 'stripping' them, but modern Gits do more).
 205 * `error` outputs warnings for a few such errors, and refuses
 206   to apply the patch.
 207 * `error-all` is similar to `error` but shows all errors.
 208
 209 --inaccurate-eof::
 210         Under certain circumstances, some versions of 'diff' do not correctly
 211         detect a missing new-line at the end of the file. As a result, patches
 212         created by such 'diff' programs do not record incomplete lines
 213         correctly. This option adds support for applying such patches by
 214         working around this bug.
 215
 216 -v::
 217 --verbose::
 218         Report progress to stderr. By default, only a message about the
 219         current patch being applied will be printed. This option will cause
 220         additional information to be reported.
 221
 222 --recount::
 223         Do not trust the line counts in the hunk headers, but infer them
 224         by inspecting the patch (e.g. after editing the patch without
 225         adjusting the hunk headers appropriately).
 226
 227 --directory=<root>::
 228         Prepend <root> to all filenames.  If a "-p" argument was also passed,
 229         it is applied before prepending the new root.
 230 +
 231 For example, a patch that talks about updating `a/git-gui.sh` to `b/git-gui.sh`
 232 can be applied to the file in the working tree `modules/git-gui/git-gui.sh` by
 233 running `git apply --directory=modules/git-gui`.
 234
 235 --unsafe-paths::
 236         By default, a patch that affects outside the working area
 237         (either a Git controlled working tree, or the current working
 238         directory when "git apply" is used as a replacement of GNU
 239         patch) is rejected as a mistake (or a mischief).
 240 +
 241 When `git apply` is used as a "better GNU patch", the user can pass
 242 the `--unsafe-paths` option to override this safety check.  This option
 243 has no effect when `--index` or `--cached` is in use.
 244
 245 CONFIGURATION
 246 -------------
 247
 248 apply.ignoreWhitespace::
 249         Set to 'change' if you want changes in whitespace to be ignored by default.
 250         Set to one of: no, none, never, false if you want changes in
 251         whitespace to be significant.
 252 apply.whitespace::
 253         When no `--whitespace` flag is given from the command
 254         line, this configuration item is used as the default.
 255
 256 SUBMODULES
 257 ----------
 258 If the patch contains any changes to submodules then 'git apply'
 259 treats these changes as follows.
 260
 261 If `--index` is specified (explicitly or implicitly), then the submodule
 262 commits must match the index exactly for the patch to apply.  If any
 263 of the submodules are checked-out, then these check-outs are completely
 264 ignored, i.e., they are not required to be up to date or clean and they
 265 are not updated.
 266
 267 If `--index` is not specified, then the submodule commits in the patch
 268 are ignored and only the absence or presence of the corresponding
 269 subdirectory is checked and (if possible) updated.
 270
 271 SEE ALSO
 272 --------
 273 linkgit:git-am[1].
 274
 275 GIT
 276 ---
 277 Part of the linkgit:git[1] suite