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>]
[--[no-]diff3] [--object-id] <current> <base> <other>

DESCRIPTION

Given three files <current>, <base> and <other>, git merge-file
incorporates all changes that lead from <base> to <other> into
<current>. The result ordinarily goes into <current>. git merge-file
is useful for combining separate changes to an original. Suppose
<base> is the original, and both <current> and <other> are
modifications of <base>, then git merge-file combines both changes.

A conflict occurs if both <current> and <other> 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>, lines from <other>, or lines from both respectively. The
length of the conflict markers can be given with the --marker-size
option.

If --object-id is specified, exactly the same behavior occurs, except
that instead of specifying what to merge as files, it is specified as
a list of object IDs referring to blobs.

The exit value of this program is negative on error, and the number
of conflicts otherwise (truncated to 127 if there are more than that
many conflicts). 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

--object-id
Specify the contents to merge as blobs in the current repository
instead of files. In this case, the operation must take place
within a valid repository.

If the -p option is specified, the merged file (including
conflicts, if any) goes to standard output as normal; otherwise,
the merged file is written to the object store and the object ID
of its blob is written to standard output.

-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>.

-q
Quiet; do not warn about conflicts.

--diff3
Show conflicts in "diff3" style.

--zdiff3
Show conflicts in "zdiff3" style.

--ours, --theirs, --union
Instead of leaving conflicts in the file, resolve conflicts
favouring our (or their or both) side of the lines.

--diff-algorithm={patience|minimal|histogram|myers}
Use a different diff algorithm while merging. The current default
is "myers", but selecting more recent algorithm such as
"histogram" can help avoid mismerges that occur due to
unimportant matching lines (such as braces from distinct
functions). See also git-diff(1) --diff-algorithm.

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.

git merge-file -p --object-id abc1234 def567 890abcd
combines the changes of the blob abc1234 and 890abcd since
def567, tries to merge them and writes the result to standard
output

GIT

Part of the git(1) suite

Git 2.48.1 2025-01-13 GIT-MERGE-FILE(1)