Re: submitting a patch for a directory

[daxim]

I was having trouble figuring out the correct patch command

Generally, patch -p0 < /tmp/the.patch suffices.

    diff -urd oldDir newDir > /tmp/the.patch

    head -n 1 /tmp/the.patch
    # directory should show as relative path,
    # e.g. oldDir/foo/bar/quux.pl

    cd oldDir/..
    # move above the directory to patch
    # to ensure we are in the correct position

    mv newDir newDir.disabled
    # it must not interfere with the
    # following test application of the patch

    patch -p0 < /tmp/the.patch

    mv newDir.disabled newDir
    # restore

submitting patches for whole distributions

Learn git, this will be the single most useful tool for contributing patches to Perl projects.

Is it normal, rather, to make a patch file for each changed file and submit all of them?

No, that's abnormal. Your usage of diff -urd was customary, i.e. make one patch each containing the all changes for one feature or bugfix across all files.

[nglenn]

The module I contributed to didn't use git. Is CPAN being ported to a git repository?

[daxim]

https://github.com/gitpan

[jgamble]

No, it is up to the individual module owner to decide which, if any, version control system he or she will use. (The gitpan link submitted by daxim is not "official" and should be viewed as something to fork from to start your repository, if you decide to use github).

I submitted a patch last year to a CPAN member whose code resides on sourceforge, and I'm sure there are coders out there who don't use version control systems at all beyond what CPAN/BackPAN provide.

[Anonymous Monk]

Not just git; any DVCS that can quickly be applied to an existing source tree will do. Try Bazaar, Mercurial. I'm personally using Bazaar and find it a joy to use. (Of course, if the project has a git/bzr/hg repository, that tool will be the most convenient.)