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 2.44.0                        02/23/2024                 GIT-MERGE-FILE(1)