After edits to a file or group of files are completed, the differences between the local working copy and the version on the FreeBSD repository must be collected into a single file for submission. These diff files are produced by redirecting the output of svn diff into a file:

% cd ~/doc
% svn diff > doc-fix-spelling.diff

Give the file a meaningful name that identifies the contents. The example above is for spelling fixes to the whole documentation tree.

If the diff file is to be submitted with the web “Submit a FreeBSD problem report” interface, add a .txt extension to give the earnest and simple-minded web form a clue that the contents are plain text.

Be careful: svn diff includes all changes made in the current directory and any subdirectories. If there are files in the working copy with edits that are not ready to be submitted yet, provide a list of only the files that are to be included:

% cd ~/doc
% svn diff disks/chapter.xml printers/chapter.xml > disks-printers.diff