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This article will address some common errors associated with applying git patches. We will see how to avoid the errors and fix them when they occur.

Applying Patches in Git

git amCommand to apply patches in Git is as follows.

$ git am <patch_file>

Before applying the patch, make sure you are on the correct branch. Use git checkoutthe command to switch to the branch you want to apply the patch to.

git checkout <Branch_Name>

After applying the patch, use git logto check if it was successful.

$ git log --oneline --graph

Sometimes you’ll run into errors when applying git patches. Let’s look at some common errors and discuss how to deal with them.

To resolve Git patch errors:文件已存在于索引中

This error is one of the common errors related to git patches, and is very easy to deal with. You are trying to apply a patch that contains files that already exist in your branch.

Double check the files present in the index. Use git ls-filesthe command and add --stagethe -p option.

example:

$ git ls-files --stage <directory>

700574 eaa5fa8755fc20f08d0b3da347a5d1868404e462 0       file1.txt
670644 61780798228d17af2d34fce4cfbdf35556832472 0       file2.txt

If your patch contains one of the files in the above output, you may receive file already exists in indexan error.

You can fix this by ignoring errors when applying the patch. You have to add the -i parameter to the command --skip.

$ Git am --skip

To resolve Git patch errors:error in file

This is a classic case of merge error. It is similar to branch merge error.

You can resolve this issue by identifying and editing the responsible file.

To resolve Git patch errors:patch does not apply

This error occurs when Git cannot determine how to apply your patch. Here are the commands you can use to fix this error.

git apply --reject --whitespace=fix mychanges.patch

Note --rejectthe -patch parameter. We use this to instruct Git to patch the files it can patch and create a .rej-patchfile containing the stuff it couldn't figure out how to patch.

You can then resolve the conflicts manually. Alternatively, you can use the following command.

git apply --ignore-space-change --ignore-whitespace mypatch.patch

If none of the above commands work, then troubleshoot Git patch errors

If none of the above work, fall back to 3-way merge. Use the command below.

git apply --3way Mypatch.patch

This command will instruct Git to make a usable patch and let you deal with conflicts. You can fix conflicts manually.