[CentOS] rpm - diff and patch updating

[John Doe]

From: Frank Cox <theatre at sasktel.net>
> ... some of the files that need to be patched have
> had some stuff moved around a bit, just enough 
> to (apparently) cause patch to fail...
> ... By way of experimentation, I manually changed one of the files
> ... is there a way to automate the process...

I am afraid patch is not able to auto-magicaly adapt an old patch to a heavily modified file...
Did your manual experimentation involved any "fuzzy logic", pattern recognition 
or code interpretation...?
Maybe check http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patch_(Unix)#Advanced_diffs

JD