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(diff.info)Unusual File Names

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File Names that Contain Unusual Characters
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   When a file name contains an unusual character like a newline or
white space, `diff -r' generates a patch that `patch' cannot parse.
The problem is with format of `diff' output, not just with `patch',
because with odd enough file names one can cause `diff' to generate a
patch that is syntactically correct but patches the wrong files.  The
format of `diff' output should be extended to handle all possible file
names.