Interactive Merging with @command{sdiff}

With @command{sdiff}, you can merge two files interactively based on a side-by-side @option{-y} format comparison (see section Showing Differences Side by Side). Use @option{-o file} or @option{--output=file} to specify where to put the merged text. See section Invoking @command{sdiff}, for more details on the options to @command{sdiff}.

Another way to merge files interactively is to use the Emacs Lisp package @command{emerge}. See section `emerge' in @cite{The GNU Emacs Manual}, for more information.

Specifying @command{diff} Options to @command{sdiff}

The following @command{sdiff} options have the same meaning as for @command{diff}. See section Options to @command{diff}, for the use of these options.

-a -b -d -i -t -v
-B -E -I regexp

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

For historical reasons, @command{sdiff} has alternate names for some options. The @option{-l} option is equivalent to the @option{--left-column} option, and similarly @option{-s} is equivalent to @option{--suppress-common-lines}. The meaning of the @command{sdiff} @option{-w} and @option{-W} options is interchanged from that of @command{diff}: with @command{sdiff}, @option{-w columns} is equivalent to @option{--width=columns}, and @option{-W} is equivalent to @option{--ignore-all-space}. @command{sdiff} without the @option{-o} option is equivalent to @command{diff} with the @option{-y} or @option{--side-by-side} option (see section Showing Differences Side by Side).

Merge Commands

Groups of common lines, with a blank gutter, are copied from the first file to the output. After each group of differing lines, @command{sdiff} prompts with `%' and pauses, waiting for one of the following commands. Follow each command with RET.

`e'

Discard both versions. Invoke a text editor on an empty temporary file, then copy the resulting file to the output.

`eb'

Concatenate the two versions, edit the result in a temporary file, then copy the edited result to the output.

`ed'

Like `eb', except precede each version with a header that shows what file and lines the version came from.

`el'

Edit a copy of the left version, then copy the result to the output.

`er'

Edit a copy of the right version, then copy the result to the output.

`l'

Copy the left version to the output.

`q'

Quit.

`r'

Copy the right version to the output.

`s'

Silently copy common lines.

`v'

Verbosely copy common lines. This is the default.

The text editor invoked is specified by the @env{EDITOR} environment variable if it is set. The default is system-dependent.

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