/usr/share/doc/diffutils-doc/Interactive-Merging.html

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<a name="Interactive-Merging"></a>
<div class="header">
<p>
Next: <a href="Merging-with-patch.html#Merging-with-patch" accesskey="n" rel="next">Merging with patch</a>, Previous: <a href="diff3-Merging.html#diff3-Merging" accesskey="p" rel="prev">diff3 Merging</a>, Up: <a href="index.html#Top" accesskey="u" rel="up">Top</a> &nbsp; [<a href="index.html#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="Index.html#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]</p>
</div>
<a name="Interactive-Merging-with-sdiff"></a>
<h2 class="chapter">9 Interactive Merging with <code>sdiff</code></h2>
<a name="index-diff-merging"></a>
<a name="index-interactive-merging"></a>

<p>With <code>sdiff</code>, you can merge two files interactively based on a
side-by-side <samp>-y</samp> format comparison (see <a href="Output-Formats.html#Side-by-Side">Side by Side</a>).  Use
<samp>--output=<var>file</var></samp> (<samp>-o <var>file</var></samp>) to specify where to
put the merged text.  See <a href="Invoking-sdiff.html#Invoking-sdiff">Invoking sdiff</a>, for more details on the
options to <code>sdiff</code>.
</p>
<p>Another way to merge files interactively is to use the Emacs Lisp
package <code>emerge</code>.  See <a href="http://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/manual/html_node/emacs/emerge.html#emerge">emerge</a> in <cite>The
<acronym>GNU</acronym> Emacs Manual</cite>, for more information.
</p>
<table class="menu" border="0" cellspacing="0">
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#sdiff-Option-Summary" accesskey="1">sdiff Option Summary</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">Summary of <code>sdiff</code> options.
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#Merge-Commands" accesskey="2">Merge Commands</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">Merging two files interactively.
</td></tr>
</table>

<hr>
<a name="sdiff-Option-Summary"></a>
<div class="header">
<p>
Next: <a href="#Merge-Commands" accesskey="n" rel="next">Merge Commands</a>, Up: <a href="#Interactive-Merging" accesskey="u" rel="up">Interactive Merging</a> &nbsp; [<a href="index.html#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="Index.html#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]</p>
</div>
<a name="Specifying-diff-Options-to-sdiff"></a>
<h3 class="section">9.1 Specifying <code>diff</code> Options to <code>sdiff</code></h3>
<a name="index-sdiff-output-format"></a>

<p>The following <code>sdiff</code> options have the same meaning as for
<code>diff</code>.  See <a href="Invoking-diff.html#diff-Options">diff Options</a>, for the use of these options.
</p>
<div class="example">
<pre class="example">-a -b -d -i -t -v
-B -E -I <var>regexp</var> -Z

--expand-tabs
--ignore-blank-lines  --ignore-case
--ignore-matching-lines=<var>regexp</var>  --ignore-space-change
--ignore-tab-expansion  --ignore-trailing-space
--left-column  --minimal  --speed-large-files
--strip-trailing-cr  --suppress-common-lines
--tabsize=<var>columns</var>  --text  --version  --width=<var>columns</var>
</pre></div>

<p>For historical reasons, <code>sdiff</code> has alternate names for some
options.  The <samp>-l</samp> option is equivalent to the
<samp>--left-column</samp> option, and similarly <samp>-s</samp> is equivalent
to <samp>--suppress-common-lines</samp>.  The meaning of the <code>sdiff</code>
<samp>-w</samp> and <samp>-W</samp> options is interchanged from that of
<code>diff</code>: with <code>sdiff</code>, <samp>-w <var>columns</var></samp> is
equivalent to <samp>--width=<var>columns</var></samp>, and <samp>-W</samp> is
equivalent to <samp>--ignore-all-space</samp>.  <code>sdiff</code> without the
<samp>-o</samp> option is equivalent to <code>diff</code> with the
<samp>--side-by-side</samp> (<samp>-y</samp>) option (see <a href="Output-Formats.html#Side-by-Side">Side by Side</a>).
</p>
<hr>
<a name="Merge-Commands"></a>
<div class="header">
<p>
Previous: <a href="#sdiff-Option-Summary" accesskey="p" rel="prev">sdiff Option Summary</a>, Up: <a href="#Interactive-Merging" accesskey="u" rel="up">Interactive Merging</a> &nbsp; [<a href="index.html#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="Index.html#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]</p>
</div>
<a name="Merge-Commands-1"></a>
<h3 class="section">9.2 Merge Commands</h3>
<a name="index-merge-commands"></a>
<a name="index-merging-interactively"></a>

<p>Groups of common lines, with a blank gutter, are copied from the first
file to the output.  After each group of differing lines, <code>sdiff</code>
prompts with &lsquo;<samp>%</samp>&rsquo; and pauses, waiting for one of the following
commands.  Follow each command with <tt class="key">RET</tt>.
</p>
<dl compact="compact">
<dt>&lsquo;<samp>e</samp>&rsquo;</dt>
<dd><p>Discard both versions.
Invoke a text editor on an empty temporary file,
then copy the resulting file to the output.
</p>
</dd>
<dt>&lsquo;<samp>eb</samp>&rsquo;</dt>
<dd><p>Concatenate the two versions, edit the result in a temporary file,
then copy the edited result to the output.
</p>
</dd>
<dt>&lsquo;<samp>ed</samp>&rsquo;</dt>
<dd><p>Like &lsquo;<samp>eb</samp>&rsquo;, except precede each version with a header that
shows what file and lines the version came from.
</p>
</dd>
<dt>&lsquo;<samp>el</samp>&rsquo;</dt>
<dt>&lsquo;<samp>e1</samp>&rsquo;</dt>
<dd><p>Edit a copy of the left version, then copy the result to the output.
</p>
</dd>
<dt>&lsquo;<samp>er</samp>&rsquo;</dt>
<dt>&lsquo;<samp>e2</samp>&rsquo;</dt>
<dd><p>Edit a copy of the right version, then copy the result to the output.
</p>
</dd>
<dt>&lsquo;<samp>l</samp>&rsquo;</dt>
<dt>&lsquo;<samp>1</samp>&rsquo;</dt>
<dd><p>Copy the left version to the output.
</p>
</dd>
<dt>&lsquo;<samp>q</samp>&rsquo;</dt>
<dd><p>Quit.
</p>
</dd>
<dt>&lsquo;<samp>r</samp>&rsquo;</dt>
<dt>&lsquo;<samp>2</samp>&rsquo;</dt>
<dd><p>Copy the right version to the output.
</p>
</dd>
<dt>&lsquo;<samp>s</samp>&rsquo;</dt>
<dd><p>Silently copy common lines.
</p>
</dd>
<dt>&lsquo;<samp>v</samp>&rsquo;</dt>
<dd><p>Verbosely copy common lines.  This is the default.
</p></dd>
</dl>

<a name="index-EDITOR"></a>
<p>The text editor invoked is specified by the <code>EDITOR</code> environment
variable if it is set.  The default is system-dependent.
</p>
<hr>
<div class="header">
<p>
Previous: <a href="#sdiff-Option-Summary" accesskey="p" rel="prev">sdiff Option Summary</a>, Up: <a href="#Interactive-Merging" accesskey="u" rel="up">Interactive Merging</a> &nbsp; [<a href="index.html#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="Index.html#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]</p>
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