Meld and pacnew files

[anon_private]

Ref: Manjaro OS

Hello,

I recently undertook an update and now have a number of pacnew files.

Evidently, I need to merge the pacnew file into the original file. Automattion seems like a good idea,

Can someone tell me how involved is the process, and how to begin? I have the programme in my repo.

Thanks.

Ps. If I don't meld what are the consequences?

[1fallen]

Ps. If I don't meld what are the consequences?

Nothing right away but in time though could get very messy.
Time consuming way and not pretty.

find /etc -type f -name "*.pacnew"

and just go through them one at a time then:

kdesu meld /etc/config /etc/config.pacnew

Gosh they make things complicated...just plain Arch and I don't see such things
Maybe this>>> fits into my knowledge of bash. Credit to Alan from Arch Forums.

#!/bin/bash
# etc-update - merge *.pacnew files with original configurations with meld

pacnew=$(find /etc -type f -name "*.pacnew")

for i in $pacnew
do
  kdesu meld $(basename $i .pacmew) $i &
  wait
done

Call it automeld or something like that so remember.
Also In yaourt-git, you can find a new feature for automerging of .pacnew files. Just add "AutoSaveBackupFile yes" in /etc/yaourtrc to use it later with yaourt -C.
Note: auto-merge will only work next time. When a new .pacnew arrives.

[anon_private]

Ref. OS is manjaro

Thanks for responding.

Are you saying that I may as well meld each pair manually? That is, meld the new into the old, then delete the new.?

Or, is it better to let meld do the job, on a pair basis, and one pair at a time?

[Xian]

Are you saying that I may as well meld each pair manually? That is, meld the new into the old, then delete the new.?

Or, is it better to let meld do the job, on a pair basis, and one pair at a time?

Do them in pairs -- use Meld and manually edit the new into old.

Only way to be sure. Then delete the new.

If you never previously changed the file then you can probably just use the new one as is.

I use dotpac to identify the .pac files and meld to edit (if necessary).

https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/dotpac/dotpac/dotpac

[anon_private]

Do them in pairs -- use Meld and manually edit the new into old.

Only way to be sure. Then delete the new.

If you never previously changed the file then you can probably just use the new one as is.

I use dotpac to identify the .pac files and meld to edit (if necessary).

https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/dotpac/dotpac/dotpac

I see meld in my repo. I also see python2-meld3.

Do I need both to use meld?

Out of interest, is it too complex to attempt the editing manually, that is, without the help of meld

[Xian]

I see meld in my repo. I also see python2-meld3.

Do I need both to use meld?

Just install Meld:

https://www.archlinux.org/packages/extra/any/meld/

Out of interest, is it too complex to attempt the editing manually, that is, without the help of meld

It's definitely not too complex. Meld (or similar program) just makes it easy to see the diffs.

[anon_private]

I have installed meld from the manjaro repo. There are no help pages with the application.

I can see how to input one file for comparison, but how do I input the second file?

How can I ensure that the meld process proceeds in the right direction, that is, from the pacnew file to the initial file.

What then happens to the pacnew file?

UPDATE: Please see later post

[anon_private]

I am having problems with permission.

I am looking at files in the /etc folder.

The programme meld is owned by root.

how an I run meld as root, or, is there a better way of using meld?

[Dennis N]

Could you not just use cp command?

cp -n directory1/* directory2/

should merge files from directory1 into directory2 but will not replace any existing files.

[anon_private]

I would like to try meld. But I am having problems with the file permissions