13 Building patch files

The command

buildpatch [options] configfile [version]

constructs a patch file, which consists of a shell script which will apply a patch to a Molpro distribution directory. options can contain zero or more of the following.

-compress

the resulting patch file is compressed using gzip. (default)

-nocompress

the resulting patch file is not compressed.

-headers

file patch history headers are updated to include this patch. (default)

-noheaders

file patch history headers are not updated.

version, if present, gives a version number that overrides that contained in the patch definition file. The file configfile defines what should go in the patch. It consists of a number of stanzas (order immaterial) of the form

type
contents (may be more than one line)
<blank line>

The stanzas which must be presented together with their definitions are:

TYPE

CONTENTS

name

Unique name by which the patch will be known.

author

Name of author

readme

A paragraph describing the function of the patch

status

A single word describing the status of the patch (possible values: recommended provisional developer; default: recommended)

version

Molpro version number

files

files which are to be added in this patch. Each line defines a file, and consists of a pair of file names: the first is the local file name specifying where the patched file is now (relative or absolute path), and the second is the path name relative to the top level (eg 2000.1) where the file is to be placed in the Molpro distribution. If the last character of the latter is /, it will be assumed to be a directory name, and the file name will be taken from the first field.

delobj

list of object files which should be deleted from the library lib/libmolpro.a. This list does not need to include any of the source files included in the patch, since the corresponding objects will be rebuilt automatically. Thus this stanza will usually be empty.

delete

list of files which are to be deleted by this patch. They should be specified as pathnames relative to the top level directory.

command

arbitrary shell commands which will be executed at the end of the patch installation in the top level Molpro directory. This facility should be used with care, since inappropriate irreversible commands may render the patch reversion mechanism unusable.

prereq

names of any patches which are prerequisites to this one. Once the patch has been installed, reversion of all the prerequisites is disabled. Prerequisite patches will be applied automatically if necessary, and if they can be found in the same directory as the patch being applied.

supercede

names of any patches which this one supercedes. At installation, these patches, if present, will be unapplied.

conflict

names of any patches which conflict with this one. Normally it will not be necessary to specify this, since at patch installation time, any files which are in common between this patch and any previously applied will generate an error.

require

names of any files or directories which must be present for this patch to be applied. If any of the files is not present, the patch will be ignored.

Any stanzas which are missing will be assumed to be empty. The resulting patch file will be named version.name, and can be applied to any Molpro distribution at the correct version level by changing to the top-level Molpro directory, and passing the patch file to /bin/sh.

The source for the patch can be recreated by giving a directory name as parameter to the patch file when it is run; there is then no need to be in a Molpro directory, but rather the files making up the patch will simply be stored flat in the directory specified. This provides a mechanism for unwrapping the contents of a patch without applying the patch to a live version. At present, unfortunately, this mechanism will fall down if there are two files with the same name in different directories; furthermore, if the list specified in the files stanza is anything other than a simple mapping of directory names from . to the correct place in the distribution, then the patch definition file will also need editing before reuse.

A skeleton configuration file can be generated using the makepatchdef interactive script, which prompts for the essential information. In the MOLPRO environment, those who are authorised can safely deposit the completed patch file on the central server by using the depositpatch script. Note that the action of this script is irreversible; to prevent inappropriate and chaotic changes of mind, if a patch which has been committed to the server is found to contain errors, a new superceding patch should be prepared. depositpatch automatically removes from view all patches which have been superceded by the one being deposited.