Use patch.patch() when checking for patch availability.
The test is closer to what we want to know. It also makes sense when you deal with patched versions of patch() as most people do under win32.
#!/bin/sh
hg --debug init
echo this is a1 > a
hg add a
hg commit -m0 -d "1000000 0"
echo this is b1 > b
hg add b
hg commit -m1 -d "1000000 0"
hg manifest --debug 1
echo this is c1 > c
hg rawcommit -p 1 -d "1000000 0" -m2 c
hg manifest --debug 2
hg -v parents
rm b
hg rawcommit -p 2 -d "1000000 0" -m3 b
hg manifest --debug 3
hg -v parents
echo this is a22 > a
hg rawcommit -p 3 -d "1000000 0" -m4 a
hg manifest --debug 4
hg -v parents
echo this is c22 > c
hg rawcommit -p 1 -d "1000000 0" -m5 c
hg manifest --debug 5
hg -v parents
# merge, but no files changed
hg rawcommit -p 4 -p 5 -d "1000000 0" -m6
hg manifest --debug 6
hg -v parents
# no changes what-so-ever
hg rawcommit -p 6 -d "1000000 0" -m7
hg manifest --debug 7
hg -v parents