Applying patches

A patch describes code changes that can either be applied or removed from a system containing a version of the source code. All large software projects, including FUDforum, use patches to move from one software version to the next.

To apply a patch manually, remove lines starting with a minus (-) and add lines starting with a plus (+) to get to the new version. The below procedure can be used to install patches automatically.

[edit] Applying patches

Steps to apply a FUDforum patch on your system (handy if you cannot wait for the next release or if you want to test a patch on your system to ensure it will work once the final release is made available):

• Identify the patch you want to install from FUDforum's CVS repository. Click on the "Patchset" link to download it to one of the following directories.
  • Patches against Server_Root should go into your www_root/ directory ($WWW_ROOT_DISK)
  • Patches against Forum_Data_Root should go into your forum_data/ directory ($DATA_DIR)

• Change to the directory where the patch is located:

cd forum_data/

or

cd www_root/

• Use the patch command to apply the patch to your installation:

patch -p2 <FUDforum_patchset_11869.diff

• If you apply changes to files containing SQL definitions, you also need to run them against your database. Note that any occurrences of {SQL_TABLE_PREFIX} needs to be expanded to your forum's setting (look in your GLOBALS.php file). For example, MySQL users may run the SQL from phpMyAdmin or command line:

mysql -ufudforum -pmypassword fuddb
mysql> CREATE INDEX fud28_users_i_jd ON fud28_users (join_date);
Query OK, 2 rows affected (0.05 sec)
Records: 2  Duplicates: 0  Warnings: 0

• Although not always required, it is always wise to rebuild your themes after applying patches: navigate to the Admin Control Panel -> Theme Manager and click Rebuild Theme.

[edit] Removing patches

If a patch breaks your forum, and you want to uninstall it, run the patch command with the -R option:

patch -R -p2 <FUDforum_patchset_11869.diff 

Remember to rebuild your themes when done.

[edit] Also see

• Creating a patch
• CVS access

[edit] External links

• A patch utility for Windows
• Wikipedia article about patching