Manual: diff3

DIFF3(1)						User Commands						    DIFF3(1)

NAME
       diff3 - compare three files line by line

SYNOPSIS
       diff3 [OPTION]... MYFILE OLDFILE YOURFILE

DESCRIPTION
       Compare three files line by line.

       Mandatory arguments to long options are mandatory for short options too.

       -A, --show-all
	      output all changes, bracketing conflicts

       -e, --ed
	      output ed script incorporating changes from OLDFILE to YOURFILE into MYFILE

       -E, --show-overlap
	      like -e, but bracket conflicts

       -3, --easy-only
	      like -e, but incorporate only nonoverlapping changes

       -x, --overlap-only
	      like -e, but incorporate only overlapping changes

       -X     like -x, but bracket conflicts

       -i     append 'w' and 'q' commands to ed scripts

       -m, --merge
	      output actual merged file, according to -A if no other options are given

       -a, --text
	      treat all files as text

       --strip-trailing-cr
	      strip trailing carriage return on input

       -T, --initial-tab
	      make tabs line up by prepending a tab

       --diff-program=PROGRAM
	      use PROGRAM to compare files

       -L, --label=LABEL
	      use LABEL instead of file name (can be repeated up to three times)

       --help display this help and exit

       -v, --version
	      output version information and exit

       The default output format is a somewhat human-readable representation of the changes.

       The -e, -E, -x, -X (and corresponding long) options cause an ed script to be output instead of the default.

       Finally,	 the -m (--merge) option causes diff3 to do the merge internally and output the actual merged file.  For un‐
       usual input, this is more robust than using ed.

       If a FILE is '-', read standard input.  Exit status is 0 if successful, 1 if conflicts, 2 if trouble.

AUTHOR
       Written by Randy Smith.

REPORTING BUGS
       Report bugs to: bug-diffutils@gnu.org
       GNU diffutils home page: 
       General help using GNU software: 

COPYRIGHT
       Copyright © 2025 Free Software Foundation, Inc.	License GPLv3+: GNU GPL	 version  3  or	 later	.
       This  is free software: you are free to change and redistribute it.  There is NO WARRANTY, to the extent permitted by
       law.

SEE ALSO
       cmp(1), diff(1), sdiff(1)

       The full documentation for diff3 is maintained as a Texinfo manual.  If the info and diff3 programs are properly	 in‐
       stalled at your site, the command

	      info diff3

       should give you access to the complete manual.

diffutils 3.12						 April 2025						    DIFF3(1)