GIT-MERGE-FILE(1)GIT-MERGE-FILE(1)NAMEgit-merge-file - Run a three-way file merge
SYNOPSIS
git merge-file [-L <current-name> [-L <base-name> [-L <other-name>]]]
[--ours|--theirs|--union] [-p|--stdout] [-q|--quiet] [--marker-size=<n>]
<current-file> <base-file> <other-file>
DESCRIPTION
git merge-file incorporates all changes that lead from the <base-file>
to <other-file> into <current-file>. The result ordinarily goes into
<current-file>. git merge-file is useful for combining separate changes
to an original. Suppose <base-file> is the original, and both <cur-
rent-file> and <other-file> are modifications of <base-file>, then git
merge-file combines both changes.
A conflict occurs if both <current-file> and <other-file> have changes
in a common segment of lines. If a conflict is found, git merge-file
normally outputs a warning and brackets the conflict with lines con-
taining <<<<<<< and >>>>>>> markers. A typical conflict will look like
this:
<<<<<<< A
lines in file A
=======
lines in file B
>>>>>>> B
If there are conflicts, the user should edit the result and delete one
of the alternatives. When --ours, --theirs, or --union option is in
effect, however, these conflicts are resolved favouring lines from
<current-file>, lines from <other-file>, or lines from both respec-
tively. The length of the conflict markers can be given with the
--marker-size option.
The exit value of this program is negative on error, and the number of
conflicts otherwise. If the merge was clean, the exit value is 0.
git merge-file is designed to be a minimal clone of RCS merge; that is,
it implements all of RCS merge's functionality which is needed by
git(1).
OPTIONS-L <label>
This option may be given up to three times, and specifies labels
to be used in place of the corresponding file names in conflict
reports. That is, git merge-file -L x -L y -L z a b c generates
output that looks like it came from files x, y and z instead of
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GIT-MERGE-FILE(1)GIT-MERGE-FILE(1)
from files a, b and c.
-p Send results to standard output instead of overwriting <cur-
rent-file>.
-q Quiet; do not warn about conflicts.
--ours, --theirs, --union
Instead of leaving conflicts in the file, resolve conflicts
favouring our (or their or both) side of the lines.
EXAMPLES
git merge-file README.my README README.upstream
combines the changes of README.my and README.upstream since
README, tries to merge them and writes the result into
README.my.
git merge-file -L a -L b -L c tmp/a123 tmp/b234 tmp/c345
merges tmp/a123 and tmp/c345 with the base tmp/b234, but uses
labels a and c instead of tmp/a123 and tmp/c345.
AUTHOR
Written by Johannes Schindelin <johannes.schindelin@gmx.de:
mailto:johannes.schindelin@gmx.de>
DOCUMENTATION
Documentation by Johannes Schindelin and the git-list <git@vger.ker-
nel.org: mailto:git@vger.kernel.org>, with parts copied from the origi-
nal documentation of RCS merge.
GIT
Part of the git(1) suite
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