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BSDIFF(1) FreeBSD General Commands Manual BSDIFF(1)
NAME
bsdiff - generate a patch between two binary files
SYNOPSIS
bsdiff oldfile newfile patchfile
DESCRIPTION
The bsdiff utility compares oldfile to newfile and writes to patchfile a
binary patch suitable for use by bspatch(1). When oldfile and newfile
are two versions of an executable program, the patches produced are on
average a factor of five smaller than those produced by any other binary
patch tool known to the author.
The bsdiff utility uses memory equal to 17 times the size of oldfile, and
requires an absolute minimum working set size of 8 times the size of
oldfile.
SEE ALSO
bspatch(1)
AUTHORS
Colin Percival <cperciva@FreeBSD.org>
BUGS
The bsdiff utility does not store the hashes of oldfile or newfile in
patchfile. As a result, it is possible to apply a patch to the wrong
file; this will usually produce garbage. It is recommended that users of
bsdiff store the hashes of oldfile and newfile and compare against them
before and after applying patchfile.
FreeBSD 14.2-RELEASE May 18, 2003 FreeBSD 14.2-RELEASE