Ignore space difference in context line when applying git patch

Question

I'm trying to apply patch generated from some git repository. Patch context line looks like this

else if ( o is Item )

and in my code it looks like this

else if (o is Item)

When I apply patch

$ git apply -v --check --directory=myroot --ignore-space-change --ignore-whitespace ../patches/0003-some-name.patch

it says that

error: while searching for:

and provides the context block which has differences only in spaces mentioned above. When I fix the issue with the spaces the problem goes away. Is there a way to specify that spaces inside of context line can be ignored?

Answer 1

As long as we're just talking about whitespace: git apply has the --ignore-whitespace option:

When applying a patch, ignore changes in whitespace in context lines if necessary

This should help you. Reads like someone had the same issues like you before :-)

If it's not just a whitespace problem in context lines, I usually use git apply with the --reject option: hunks that could be applied will be applied, those with problems are stored in a .rej file parallel to the patched file.