(diff.info) Patching Time Stamps
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Updating Time Stamps on Patched Files
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When `patch' updates a file, it normally sets the file's
last-modified time stamp to the current time of day. If you are using
`patch' to track a software distribution, this can cause `make' to
incorrectly conclude that a patched file is out of date. For example,
if `syntax.c' depends on `syntax.y', and `patch' updates `syntax.c' and
then `syntax.y', then `syntax.c' will normally appear to be out of date
with respect to `syntax.y' even though its contents are actually up to
date.
The `-Z' or `--set-utc' option causes `patch' to set a patched
file's modification and access times to the time stamps given in
context diff headers. If the context diff headers do not specify a
time zone, they are assumed to use Coordinated Universal Time (UTC,
often known as GMT).
The `-T' or `--set-time' option acts like `-Z' or `--set-utc',
except that it assumes that the context diff headers' time stamps use
local time instead of UTC. This option is not recommended, because
patches using local time cannot easily be used by people in other time
zones, and because local time stamps are ambiguous when local clocks
move backwards during daylight-saving time adjustments. If the context
diff headers specify a time zone, this option is equivalent to `-Z' or
`--set-utc'.
`patch' normally refrains from setting a file's time stamps if the
file's original last-modified time stamp does not match the time given
in the diff header, of if the file's contents do not exactly match the
patch. However, if the `-f' or `--force' option is given, the file's
time stamps are set regardless.
Due to the limitations of the current `diff' format, `patch' cannot
update the times of files whose contents have not changed. Also, if
you set file time stamps to values other than the current time of day,
you should also remove (e.g., with `make clean') all files that depend
on the patched files, so that later invocations of `make' do not get
confused by the patched files' times.
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