Arch Linux

V01D

Member

Registered: 2006-07-18

Posts: 128

Diff between a .pacnew and the package's previous config file: How?

Hi,
when a new /etc/group file is installed (and also in other cases) as a .pacnew, as in the X,Y,Z case listed in: http://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Pac … save_Files I would like to know which changes were performed, but compared to the previous version of that file, as installed by the package being upgraded.
Doing a diff between the currently installed and the .pacnew can be a bit of a pain, since one may have modified the configuration file in non-trivial ways (for example, reordering lines can confuse diff).

So what I'm asking is if pacman could somehow make this possible or not. Maybe by putting a .pacprev in addition to the .pacnew. So it would be just a matter of doing "diff -u file.pacprev .file.pacnew", and applying the differences (manually) to the currently installed "file".

ataraxia

Member

From: Pittsburgh

Registered: 2007-05-06

Posts: 1,553

Re: Diff between a .pacnew and the package's previous config file: How?

I suggest a more sophisticated method of comparing. I use vimdiff, which neatly color-codes the differences so I can see the important parts quickly.

bernarcher

Forum Fellow

From: Germany

Registered: 2009-02-17

Posts: 2,281

Re: Diff between a .pacnew and the package's previous config file: How?

I found vimdiff very useful to compare and edit these files in one step.
Another good solution would be meld.

---

To know or not to know ...
... the questions remain forever.

V01D

Member

Registered: 2006-07-18

Posts: 128

Re: Diff between a .pacnew and the package's previous config file: How?

I know about other diffing programs. I just wanted to know if this could be considered by someone else to be integrated into pacman, or if there could be another way to acomplish it.

ngoonee

Forum Fellow

From: Between Thailand and Singapore

Registered: 2009-03-17

Posts: 7,362

Re: Diff between a .pacnew and the package's previous config file: How?

Considering that other good ways are available, I don't suppose it would be a good idea to include this into Pacman. I can hear some shouting 'bloat', but for me its more of keeping pacman simple (do one thing, do it well) unless otherwise required.

---

Allan-Volunteer on the (topic being discussed) mailn lists. You never get the people who matters attention on the forums.
jasonwryan-Installing Arch is a measure of your literacy. Maintaining Arch is a measure of your diligence. Contributing to Arch is a measure of your competence.
Griemak-Bleeding edge, not bleeding flat. Edge denotes falls will occur from time to time. Bring your own parachute.

tavianator

Member

From: Waterloo, ON, Canada

Registered: 2007-08-21

Posts: 859

Website

Re: Diff between a .pacnew and the package's previous config file: How?

There's no way to include this in pacman, since it doesn't know the contents of the old package (unless it's still in your cache).  The only way I can think to do this reliably is to use the websvn package interface to get the diff.  Personally, I just avoid re-ordering lines in config files, and use diff

ngoonee

Forum Fellow

From: Between Thailand and Singapore

Registered: 2009-03-17

Posts: 7,362

Re: Diff between a .pacnew and the package's previous config file: How?

There's no way to include this in pacman, since it doesn't know the contents of the old package (unless it's still in your cache).  The only way I can think to do this reliably is to use the websvn package interface to get the diff.  Personally, I just avoid re-ordering lines in config files, and use diff

Won't some config files break if you do that, anyway?

---

Allan-Volunteer on the (topic being discussed) mailn lists. You never get the people who matters attention on the forums.
jasonwryan-Installing Arch is a measure of your literacy. Maintaining Arch is a measure of your diligence. Contributing to Arch is a measure of your competence.
Griemak-Bleeding edge, not bleeding flat. Edge denotes falls will occur from time to time. Bring your own parachute.

V01D

Member

Registered: 2006-07-18

Posts: 128

Re: Diff between a .pacnew and the package's previous config file: How?

There's no way to include this in pacman, since it doesn't know the contents of the old package (unless it's still in your cache).  The only way I can think to do this reliably is to use the websvn package interface to get the diff.  Personally, I just avoid re-ordering lines in config files, and use diff

Won't some config files break if you do that, anyway?

Well, the /etc/group is a little mess, and I don't ever edit it by hand. Its just that after some time it looses the structure compared to the original file.

V01D

Member

Registered: 2006-07-18

Posts: 128

Re: Diff between a .pacnew and the package's previous config file: How?

There's no way to include this in pacman, since it doesn't know the contents of the old package (unless it's still in your cache).  The only way I can think to do this reliably is to use the websvn package interface to get the diff.  Personally, I just avoid re-ordering lines in config files, and use diff

But how does pacman know when to create the .pacnew if it doesn't sees the previous file?

tavianator

Member

From: Waterloo, ON, Canada

Registered: 2007-08-21

Posts: 859

Website

Re: Diff between a .pacnew and the package's previous config file: How?

But how does pacman know when to create the .pacnew if it doesn't sees the previous file?

With hashes; see http://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Pac … _Explained.