git/Documentation/git-mergetool.txt
David Aguilar d1cc4621ed Documentation: Explain git-mergetool's use of temporary files
'git mergetool' creates '*.orig' backup files in its
default configuration.  Mention this in its documentation.

Signed-off-by: David Aguilar <davvid@gmail.com>
Signed-off-by: Junio C Hamano <gitster@pobox.com>
2010-07-19 09:16:09 -07:00

96 lines
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git-mergetool(1)
================
NAME
----
git-mergetool - Run merge conflict resolution tools to resolve merge conflicts
SYNOPSIS
--------
'git mergetool' [--tool=<tool>] [-y|--no-prompt|--prompt] [<file>]...
DESCRIPTION
-----------
Use `git mergetool` to run one of several merge utilities to resolve
merge conflicts. It is typically run after 'git merge'.
If one or more <file> parameters are given, the merge tool program will
be run to resolve differences on each file. If no <file> names are
specified, 'git mergetool' will run the merge tool program on every file
with merge conflicts.
OPTIONS
-------
-t <tool>::
--tool=<tool>::
Use the merge resolution program specified by <tool>.
Valid merge tools are:
kdiff3, tkdiff, meld, xxdiff, emerge, vimdiff, gvimdiff, ecmerge,
diffuse, tortoisemerge, opendiff, p4merge and araxis.
+
If a merge resolution program is not specified, 'git mergetool'
will use the configuration variable `merge.tool`. If the
configuration variable `merge.tool` is not set, 'git mergetool'
will pick a suitable default.
+
You can explicitly provide a full path to the tool by setting the
configuration variable `mergetool.<tool>.path`. For example, you
can configure the absolute path to kdiff3 by setting
`mergetool.kdiff3.path`. Otherwise, 'git mergetool' assumes the
tool is available in PATH.
+
Instead of running one of the known merge tool programs,
'git mergetool' can be customized to run an alternative program
by specifying the command line to invoke in a configuration
variable `mergetool.<tool>.cmd`.
+
When 'git mergetool' is invoked with this tool (either through the
`-t` or `--tool` option or the `merge.tool` configuration
variable) the configured command line will be invoked with `$BASE`
set to the name of a temporary file containing the common base for
the merge, if available; `$LOCAL` set to the name of a temporary
file containing the contents of the file on the current branch;
`$REMOTE` set to the name of a temporary file containing the
contents of the file to be merged, and `$MERGED` set to the name
of the file to which the merge tool should write the result of the
merge resolution.
+
If the custom merge tool correctly indicates the success of a
merge resolution with its exit code, then the configuration
variable `mergetool.<tool>.trustExitCode` can be set to `true`.
Otherwise, 'git mergetool' will prompt the user to indicate the
success of the resolution after the custom tool has exited.
-y::
--no-prompt::
Don't prompt before each invocation of the merge resolution
program.
--prompt::
Prompt before each invocation of the merge resolution program.
This is the default behaviour; the option is provided to
override any configuration settings.
TEMPORARY FILES
---------------
`git mergetool` creates `*.orig` backup files while resolving merges.
These are safe to remove once a file has been merged and its
`git mergetool` session has completed.
Setting the `mergetool.keepBackup` configuration variable to `false`
causes `git mergetool` to automatically remove the backup as files
are successfully merged.
Author
------
Written by Theodore Y Ts'o <tytso@mit.edu>
Documentation
--------------
Documentation by Theodore Y Ts'o.
GIT
---
Part of the linkgit:git[1] suite