Can I get a patch-compatible output from git-diff?

Question

I am doing something very simple wrong. I\'m trying to prepare an ordinary patch file, so I can reapply some changes:

$ git diff > before
$ git diff some         


        

Answer 1

If you want to use patch you need to remove the a/ b/ prefixes that git uses by default. You can do this with the --no-prefix option (you can also do this with patch's -p option):

git diff --no-prefix []

Usually though, it is easier to use straight git diff and then use the output to feed to git apply.

Most of the time I try to avoid using textual patches. Usually one or more of temporary commits combined with rebase, git stash and bundles are easier to manage.

For your use case I think that stash is most appropriate.

# save uncommitted changes
git stash

# do a merge or some other operation
git merge some-branch

# re-apply changes, removing stash if successful
# (you may be asked to resolve conflicts).
git stash pop