Name
diff3
Synopsis
diff3 [options
]file1 file2 file3
Compares three files and reports the differences. No more than one of the files may be given as - (indicating that it is to be read from standard input). The output is displayed with the following codes:
- = = = =
All three files differ.
- = = = =1
file1 is different.
- = = = =2
file2 is different.
- = = = =3
file3 is different.
diff3
is also designed to merge changes in two
differing files based on a common ancestor file (i.e., when two
people have made their own set of changes to the same file).
diff3
can find changes between the ancestor and
one of the newer files and generate output that adds those
differences to the other new file. Unmerged changes are places where
both of the newer files differ from each other and at least one of
them is from the ancestor. Changes from the ancestor that are the
same in both of the newer files are called
merged
changes. If all
three files differ in the same place, it is called an
overlapping
change.
This scheme is used on the command line with the ancestor being file2, the second filename. Comparison is made between file2 and file3, with those differences then applied to file1.
Options
-
-3
,--easy-only
Create an
ed
script to incorporate into file1 unmerged, nonoverlapping differences between file1 and file3.-
-a
,--text
Treat files as text.
-
-A
,--show-all
Create an
ed
script to incorporate all changes, showing conflicts in bracketed format.-
-e
,--ed
Create an
ed
script to incorporate into file1 all unmerged ...
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