MojoPatch

MojoPatch is an application for automatically updating applications. It's meant to be downloaded by an end-user and executed directly. When run, it'll locate the application to be updated and add, remove, or patch files and directories as appropriate. Patching can use the "xdelta" algorithm to reduce the size of the patch download. A README can optionally be displayed and installed with the patch. MojoPatch itself is a tiny program, so as not to bloat the download unnecessarily. The UI is intentionally very minimal, yet accomplishes all it needs to do. This is free software, under the "zlib license". This license basically allows any use of the software, including closed-source and commercial exploitation; it is useful for me, I hope it will be for you, too.

MojoPatch is currently a Mac OS X project, but is designed with portability in mind, so it could be converted into a Linux or Windows application without too much difficulty.

Places MojoPatch is known to be used:

• Unreal Tournament 2003 and 2004 from MacSoft use MojoPatch.
• The Mac OS X version of America's Army: Operations used MojoPatch to ease the ongoing upgrade process for its players.
• The Mac OS X versions of the Neverwinter Nights expansion packs use MojoPatch to both ensure the game is updated to an acceptable version and to install the expansion pack data.
• Close Combat: First to Fight, from Destineer Studios, uses MojoPatch for updates to the Mac OS X version of the game.
• Running with Scissors uses MojoPatch to distribute Postal 2 patches.
• Probably other places. Email me if you want to be listed here.

What works:

• Patching, adding, deleting files and directories.
• Can show a README to end user during patching process.
• Can create and inspect patch files from the command line.
• Carbon UI for Mac OS X.
• Stdio UI for console installs on all platforms.

• Needs porting to lots of important platforms.
• Making a patch isn't terribly user friendly.
• Documentation beyond --help is lacking.
• Contributions are, of course, welcome.

MojoPatch is licensed under the zlib license.

(to be written.)

Prepackaged source code and binaries:

• None yet.

Downloading with Subversion:

MojoPatch's source code may be downloaded using Subversion. "Svn" allows you to get up-to-the-minute fixes and enhancements; as a developer works on a source tree, you can use svn to mirror that source tree instead of waiting for an official release. Please look at the Subversion website for more information on using svn, where you can also download software for Mac OS X, Windows, and Unix systems.

Here is the web interface to MojoPatch's svn repository.

To download MojoPatch via svn:

svn co svn://svn.icculus.org/mojopatch/trunk/ mojopatch

Page maintained by Ryan C. Gordon.