GIT-MERGE-FILE(1)						    Git Manual							 GIT-MERGE-FILE(1)

NAME

       git-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
       <current-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 containing <<<<<<< 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
       respectively. 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 from
	   files a, b and c.

       -p
	   Send results to standard output instead of overwriting <current-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[1]>

DOCUMENTATION

       Documentation by Johannes Schindelin and the git-list <git@vger.kernel.org[2]>, with parts copied from the original documentation of RCS
       merge.

GIT

       Part of the git(1) suite

NOTES

	1. johannes.schindelin@gmx.de
	   mailto:johannes.schindelin@gmx.de

	2. git@vger.kernel.org
	   mailto:git@vger.kernel.org

Git 1.7.1							    07/05/2010							 GIT-MERGE-FILE(1)