Re: [BUG] git-am silently applying patches incorrectly

Alexander Miseler [off-list ref] writes:

.... On a side note: if this problem is tackled it might be
sensible to add a heuristic to git format-patch that increases the
context size for hunks that are likely to be ambiguous.

In general that approach would not help.  Imagine a case where the
problematic patch from David Henningsson were only about moving the
calling site of check_required() within the element_probe() function.
IOW, imagine that the hunk starting at line 1018 to modify
check_required() itself weren't involved in his change.

Before or after such a change, there would be only one location that
closes two blocks followed by a blank line and return 0 at the end of the
function, which is the necessary context of the "moved after" hunk of the
patch, so when producing the patch, there is no way for format-patch to
notice that it is likely to become ambiguous.

But if the change to check_required() were applied as a separate patch
before the change to move the call site was applied, at the application
time, the patch becomes ambiguous.