# Patches

Diff and Patch are traditional commands in the Unix terminal.

But you can also generate patches from a session of BC **Text Compare**.  Once your two files are open in Text Compare, choose from the menu: `Session->TextCompareReport`

![](/files/-LgipAmD81PtLNB-AwFp)

Beyond Compare can generate the report...er the patch, in three formats, shown below.   Left to right these are Normal-diff, context-diff, and unified-diff:

![](/files/-Lgiq8DyqBoJrJ1u7GCn)

The +++ and --- don't mean add and subtract.  They are just [low-res](https://twitter.com/dfpatchnotesbot) ways to say File One and File Two.

Helpful:

{% embed url="<https://linuxacademy.com/blog/linux/introduction-using-diff-and-patch/>" %}

{% embed url="<http://www.scootersoftware.com/support.php?zz=kb_patch>" %}


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# Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation

If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question.

Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter:

```
GET https://beyondcompare.gitbook.io/project/git/patches.md?ask=<question>
```

The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language.
The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation.

Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.