This page includes instructions on generating patch files from your repository, and how to load them into Crucible to be reviewed.

On this page:

Crucible allows you to review a change before it has been committed. To do this, you upload a patch file to the 'Patch' tab (or paste it in as text) when creating a review. You must first generate this patch file from your repository, using either commands built into your IDE, or via the repository command-line tools.

By default, patch files will only show a few lines of code surrounding each change, rather than the entire file and its changes. However, you can create a patch that includes all of the original files' code by using specific parameters (listed on this page) when creating a patch with the command-line tools for your repository.

Crucible can accept a patch file created from any version control system, but instructions on this page cover only Subversion, CVS and Perforce repositories.

Loading a Patch Into Crucible

Once you have generated the patch file, loading patch files into Crucible is easy.

Screenshot: The Crucible Patch tab

If you already have the patch file you want to review, open the Patches View by clicking 'Manage Files' on the review toolbar, then click 'Patches' on the left navigation bar of the Manage Files view. From there, simply click 'Browse' to select the file and click 'Upload' to add it to your review.

Creating a Patch File From Your IDE

Creating a Patch File in IntelliJ IDEA 7.0

To create a Patch File under IntelliJ IDEA, do the following:

Select a parent folder, sub-folder or file that you have altered in the Project tool window. Select 'Version Control' > 'Create Patch'. The following window appears:

Screenshot: The IDEA Create Patch window

Click 'Create Patch'. Choose a location to save the patch file and click 'Ok'.

If You Do Not Have the Create Patch Command Available Under IDEA

If you have not configured version control in IDEA, you may not have the 'Create Patch' option available. If so, use the following steps to create a patch file in IDEA:

1. Select a parent folder, sub-folder or file that you have altered in the Project tool window, right-click it and choose 'Local History' > 'Show History'.

Screenshot: The IDEA Show History dialog

2. In the Local History view, right-click the revision number, and choose 'Create Patch'.

Screenshot: The IDEA Create Patch dialog

3. In the Create Patch dialog, choose a location for the patch file and a file name, then click 'OK'.

Creating a Patch File in Eclipse 3.3.1.1

To create a patch file under Eclipse, do the following:

Find the parent folder, sub-folder or file that you have altered, right-click it and choose 'Team' > 'Create Patch'.

Screenshot: Instigating a Patch in Eclipse

In the Create Patch window, choose a location on your computer and type an appropriate file name (the file format is plain text).

Screenshot: The Eclipse Create Patch dialog

Creating a Basic Patch File From The Repository Command Line

CVS Patch Creation On The Command Line

To create a patch in CVS, use the cvs diff -Nu command from your workspace. For example:

cvs diff -Nu > patch.txt

Note that patch files created with this command will only include around three lines of code, before and after each change.

Subversion Patch Creation Via The Command Line

To create a patch in Subversion, use the svn diff command from your workspace. For example:

svn diff > patch.txt

svn diff does not print any information about files copied in the workspace.

Note that patch files created with this command will only include around three lines of code, before and after each change.

Perforce Patch Creation Via The Command Line

Then use p4 diff -du to generate a patch for changed files. For example:

p4 diff -du > patch.txt

Since Perforce diffs do not include added and deleted files so you should then do a p4 opened to find such files. For added files, append them individually to the patch using GNU diff:

diff -u path_to_added_file /dev/null >>  patch.txt

In the example above, replace path_to_added_file with the actual path of your added file. You can follow a similar procedure with deleted files using p4 print to extract the previous version of the file.

Note that patch files created with this command will only include around three lines of code, before and after each change.

Creating Patches That Include All Lines of Code

To create a patch file that shows all lines of code as well as the changes, use the following commands from your repository command-line tools.

Creating a Patch in CVS With All Lines of code

To create a CVS patch that shows all code (not just the changes and surrounding code), use this command:

cvs diff -N -U 10000 > patch.txt

The '10000' number refers to the number of code lines included in the patch, before and after each change. 'Patch.txt' represents your desired name for the new patch file.

Creating a Patch in Subversion With All Lines of Code

To create a patch in Subversion that shows all code (not just the changes and surrounding code), use this command:

svn diff --diff-cmd diff -x "-U 10000" > patch.txt

• The in-built diff feature in svn diff does not support specifying lines of context, so you must tell Subversion to use an external diff command.
• The second "diff" in the command above needs to be the name of your external diff command. You might need to specify the full path to that command, such as /usr/bin/diff.
• On the Windows platform, you may need a Unix-like emulator such as Cygwin, and install the optional diff command for that.

Creating a Patch in Perforce With All Lines of Code

To create a Perforce patch that shows all code (not just the changes and surrounding code), use this command:

p4 diff -dU10000 > patch.txt

The '10000' number refers to the number of code lines included in the patch, before and after each change. 'Patch.txt' represents your desired name for the new patch file.