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 unusual 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: <http://www.gnu.org/software/diffutils/>
       General help using GNU software: <http://www.gnu.org/gethelp/>

COPYRIGHT

       Copyright © 2011 Free Software Foundation, Inc.  License GPLv3+:  GNU  GPL  version  3  or
       later <http://gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html>.
       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 installed at your site, the command

              info diff3

       should give you access to the complete manual.