Re: [PATCH] builtin-apply: check for empty files when detecting creation patch

Linus Torvalds [off-list ref] writes:

On Tue, 13 May 2008, Junio C Hamano wrote:

quoted

With the change to remove the whole block, all tests still passes, and a
limited test with this:

        --- empty	2008-05-13 16:56:57.000000000 -0700
        +++ empty.1	2008-05-13 16:57:07.000000000 -0700
        @@ -0,0 +1 @@
        +foo

to update an originally empty file "empty" also seems to work.

However, with this change, it no longer allows you to accept such a patch
and treat it as a creation of "empty".  Instead we barf with "error:
empty: No such file or directory", if you do not have an empty "empty"
file in the work tree when you run "git apply" on the above patch.

Ok, that's a bug. It should *not* require that existing empty file, since 
"is_new" is -1. That's what -1 means: we don't know if it is new or not.

So I think your patch is correct, but we need to fix the thing that barfs 
to not barf if we don't know the status of "is_new"

Sorry for taking some time to follow this through (I've been busy with day
job).  Two patches follow this message to address this issue.