[EMBOSS] Updating EMBOSS: patch files

[ajb at ebi.ac.uk]

As the start of an experimental service, discussed at an EMBOSS
developers' meeting, I've created a 'patches' directory on the anonymous
ftp server:

  ftp://emboss.open-bio.org/pub/EMBOSS/fixes/patches/

The purpose of this directory is to provide UNIX 'patch' (context diff)
files. These should make EMBOSS easier to update between releases as
you only need to apply one patch rather than all the individual
fixes from the directory above. This depends on your system having
the 'patch' command installed.

As it is an experimental service there may be the odd dragon lurking. Let
us know if you find one. I append the README.patch file from the above
directory which explains how to use the patch files.

Alan


The file(s) in this directory are standard UNIX 'patch' files and can be used
to update the base EMBOSS release with all the fixes given in:

ftp://emboss.open-bio.org/pub/EMBOSS/fixes/README.fixes

The filenames are of the format 'patch-1-X.gz' where 'X' represents
the last fix incorporated: so a file called patch-1-10.gz will incorporate
fixes from Fix 1 to Fix 10 as given in the README.fixes file.

To update the base EMBOSS installation (where x.y.z is the version):

1. Download a fresh EMBOSS-x.y.z.tar.gz and unpack it with gunzip and tar.
2. Download the required patch file.
3. cd EMBOSS-x.y.z
4. gunzip -c /somewhere/patch-1-X.gz | patch -p1

or

1-3 as above
4. gunzip /somewhere/patch-1-X.gz
   patch -p1 < /somewhere/patch-1-X


Then configure EMBOSS as normal.


N.B. (27th Aug 2006): This is a new method for providing updates and
     therefore not tested in anger by the community. Please let us
     know of any problems.