.\" $Header: merge.1,v 4.2 86/04/29 10:23:52 bob Exp $
.TH MERGE 1 "" " "
.SH NAME
merge \- three-way file merge
.SH SYNOPSIS
\fBmerge\fR [ \fB-p\fR ] file1 file2 file3
.SH DESCRIPTION
.I Merge
incorporates all changes that lead form \fIfile2\fR to \fIfile3\fR into 
\fIfile1\fR. The result goes to standard output if \fB-p\fR is present, into 
\fIfile1\fR otherwise. \fIMerge\fR is useful for combining separate changes 
to an original. Suppose \fIfile2\fR is the original, and both \fIfile1\fR 
and \fIfile3\fR are modifications of \fIfile2\fR. Then \fImerge\fR 
combines both changes. 
.PP
An overlap occurs if both \fIfile1\fR and \fIfile3\fR
have changes in a common segment of lines.
\fIMerge\fR prints how many overlaps occurred, and includes both alternatives
in the result. The alternatives are delimited as follows:
.sp
.nf
        <<<<<<< file1
        lines in file1
        =======
        lines in file3
        >>>>>>> file3
.fi
.sp
If there are overlaps, the user should edit the result and delete one of the
alternatives.
.SH LIMITATIONS
.PP
\fIMerge\fR uses the system editor \fIed\fR.  Therefore the file size limits
of \fIed\fR apply to \fImerge\fR.  These limits are documented in the
HP-UX reference manual.
.SH SEE ALSO
diff3(1), diff(1), rcsmerge(1), co(1).