Chapter 8. Creating a Patch Product
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## Chapter 8. Creating a Patch Product

This chapter explains how to create a patch product.

## Creating a Patch Product: The Basic Steps

The following steps show you how to create a patch product. For more information about a patch product, see “Patch Product Requirements and Concepts.”

1. Open the existing product files — both the spec and idb files.

   - From the File menu, select “Open.”

   - From the rollover menu, select “Both.”

2. Create the patch.

   - From the File menu, select “Create Patch...”

   - Provide a product name, or keep the default.

   - In the Tag/Source list, select the files to be included in the patch. Use <Shift>click for continuous selection and <Ctrl>click for random selection.

   - Click OK.

     This step creates both the spec and idb files for the patch product.

3. Keep or edit the follow rule.

   - Click on a subsystem in the Create Product Hierarchy worksheet.

   - Keep or edit the follows rule in the Subsystem Specification sheet (see “Patch Product Requirements and Concepts”)

4. Keep or edit the permissions, destinations, and attributes using the appropriate worksheets.

   | Note: When you create a patch through the “Create Patch...” menu item in the File menu, swpkg automatically copies all of the permissions, destinations, and attributes from the original files into the patch product and eliminates the need to reset these items.

5. Build the patch product (see Chapter 7, “Building the Product”).

6. If you've forgotten to add a subsystem, begin the process again.

   Because all of the settings in the original files are automatically copied when you create a patch through the “Create Patch...” menu item on the File menu, you may find it easiest to start the process over in order to include additional subsystems.

   If you choose to add a subsystem through the Create Product Hierarchy worksheet, you must write a follows rule for the subsystem and set the permissions, destinations, and attributes.

### Patch Product Requirements and Concepts

A patch product involves the following concepts and requirements.

- The patch product is separate from the original product.

- The original product files are not modified.

  - Even though you open the original product files, they are not modified when you create the patch. Just before opening the Create Patch window, swpkg closes the original files.

- The default name for the patch product is the original product name followed by _patch# where # is a number that increments with each patch created for the product.

  | Warning: You can edit this name. However, SGI recommends that you use the provided name which allows swpkg to increment patches appropriately.

- All subsystems in the patch product are automatically assigned a follows rule. This rule is mandatory (only one is allowed) and can be edited in the Create Product Hierarchy worksheet by clicking on a subsystem node. It has the following format:

      follows name lowvers highvers

  where

  name |  | Is the name of the subsystem being replaced.
  lowvers |  | Is the lower boundary range of the product versions to be replaced. Use 0 or higher.
  highvers |  | Is the higher boundary range of the product versions to be replaced. Use one of the following: oldvers, interpreted as the current version minus 1 an actual version number that you supply

  For example:

  If your original product name is finance, and you've written a patch for the base software subsystem, version 2, the follows rule would read something like:

      follows finance.sw.base 2 2

- When you save the patch product, you are provided with the default names of product_patch#.spec and product_patch#.idb

  where

  product |  | Is the name of the original product
  # |  | Is a number that increments with each patch created for the product.

  You can edit this name.

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