merge(1)

NAME

   merge - three-way file merge

SYNOPSIS

   merge [ options ] file1 file2 file3

DESCRIPTION

   merge  incorporates  all  changes  that  lead  from file2 to file3 into
   file1.  The result ordinarily goes into file1.   merge  is  useful  for
   combining  separate  changes  to  an  original.   Suppose  file2 is the
   original, and both file1 and file3 are modifications  of  file2.   Then
   merge combines both changes.

   A  conflict  occurs  if  both  file1 and file3 have changes in a common
   segment of lines.  If a conflict is found,  merge  normally  outputs  a
   warning  and  brackets  the conflict with <<<<<<< and >>>>>>> lines.  A
   typical conflict will look like this:

          <<<<<<< file A
          lines in file A
          =======
          lines in file B
          >>>>>>> file B

   If there are conflicts, the user should edit the result and delete  one
   of the alternatives.

OPTIONS

   -A     Output conflicts using the -A style of diff3(1), if supported by
          diff3.  This merges all changes leading from file2 to file3 into
          file1, and generates the most verbose output.

   -E, -e These   options  specify  conflict  styles  that  generate  less
          information than -A.  See diff3(1) for details.  The default  is
          -E.  With -e, merge does not warn about conflicts.

   -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, merge -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 file1.

   -q     Quiet; do not warn about conflicts.

   -V     Print RCS's version number.

DIAGNOSTICS

   Exit status is 0 for no conflicts, 1 for some conflicts, 2 for trouble.

IDENTIFICATION

   Author: Walter F. Tichy.
   Manual Page Revision: 5.9.4; Release Date: 2015-06-21.
   Copyright  2010-2015 Thien-Thi Nguyen.
   Copyright  1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995 Paul Eggert.
   Copyright  1982, 1988, 1989 Walter F. Tichy.

SEE ALSO

   diff3(1), diff(1), rcsmerge(1), co(1).

   The  full  documentation for RCS is maintained as a Texinfo manual.  If
   the info(1) and RCS programs are properly installed at your  site,  the
   command

          info rcs

   should  give  you access to the complete manual.  Additionally, the RCS
   homepage:

          http://www.gnu.org/software/rcs/

   has news and links to the latest release, development site, etc.

BUGS

   It normally does not make sense to merge binary files as if  they  were
   text, but merge tries to do it anyway.

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Free and Open Source Software