== Patch file ==

A patch file is a single file annotating the changes between two versions of one or more text files.  By "applying" a patch, you can update a set of text files from an older version to a newer version.  Developers often use patch files to make their changes available to other developers.

These files are also called diffs, as they were traditionally generated by the '`diff`' program.  While there are many different formats for patch files, the most common is the [[UnifiedDiff|unified diff]] format.

Mercurial can generate patch files in the unified diff format with the [[Cmd:diff | hg diff]] command.

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CategoryGlossary