How to Compare and Merge Files Using diff3 Command on Linux
May 11, 2025 am 09:49 AMLinux diff3
command: a powerful tool for comparing and merging three files
The diff3
command is a powerful tool in Linux that compares three files and shows their differences. This is very useful for programmers and system administrators who often deal with multiple versions of the same file, needing to merge these versions or identify changes between different versions.
This article will introduce the basic usage of the diff3
command, common options, and some examples to help you understand how it works in Linux.
What is diff3
command?
diff3
is a tool for comparing three files line by line, which recognizes differences and displays them in an easy to understand format.
It can be used for:
- Find the difference between the three files.
- Automatically merge content from different files.
- A conflict that occurs when merging file versions.
The diff3
command is similar to the diff
command or the sdiff
command, but it handles three files instead of two, which is especially useful when multiple contributors process the same file and need to merge their changes into a single version.
Basic syntax of diff3
command
The basic syntax of the diff3
command is as follows:
diff3 [Options] File 1 File 2 File 3
Command explanation:
-
文件1
: The first version of the file. -
文件2
: The second version of the file. -
文件3
: The third version of the file.
Common options
Here are some common options for diff3
command:
-
-e
: Create an ed script that can be used to apply changes to files. -
-m
: Automatically merge files. -
-A
: Contains all changes to all files. -
-E
: Try to merge files even if conflicts are found. -
-3
: Show only changes with differences between the three files.
Find differences between files in Linux
Suppose you have three files: file1.txt
, file2.txt
and file3.txt
. Each file contains slightly different versions of the same content, and you want to compare them to see where the difference lies.
To compare these three files, you can use the following command:
diff3 file1.txt file2.txt file3.txt
Output result meaning:
-
1:2c
: This means that infile1.txt
, the change occurs on line 2, and the content of line 2 is This is line 2. -
2:2c
: This means that infile2.txt
, the change also occurs on line 2, but the content of that line has been modified to This is modified line 2. -
3:2,3c
: This means that infile3.txt
, there are changes in line 2 and line 3. Line 2 remains unchanged (This is line 2.), but line 3 is a new line with the content: This is an added line.
Merge files using diff3
in Linux
If you want to merge these three files and create a new file with all changes, you can use the -m
option:
diff3 -m file1.txt file2.txt file3.txt
This outputs the merged content and uses a conflict marker to show where there are conflicting changes.
Output result meaning:
-
: This marks the beginning of the conflict and displays the version from <code>file1.txt
. -
||||||| file2.txt
: This line displays the content fromfile2.txt
(intermediate file in comparison). -
=======
: This separates the conflicting lines. -
>>>>>>> file3.txt
: This tag comes from the version offile3.txt
and the end of the conflict block.
You can edit this content manually to preserve the changes you want.
Use diff3
to apply changes to multiple files to one file
You can also create an ed
script using diff3
that applies changes in file2.txt
and file3.txt
to file1.txt
. This can be done using the -e
option:
diff3 -e file1.txt file2.txt file3.txt > scriptfile
This command creates a file named scriptfile
that contains the generated ed script, which you can use ed
command to apply from scriptfile
file1.txt
.
ed file1.txt <p><img src="/static/imghw/default1.png" data-src="https://img.php.cn/upload/article/000/000/000/174692815950045.jpg" class="lazy" alt="How to Compare and Merge Files Using diff3 Command on Linux"></p><p> This is very useful when you want to use scripts to automatically merge files.</p><p></p><h2> Resolve conflicts in <code>diff3</code> merge</h2><p> When merging with <code>diff3</code> , conflicts may occur when there are differences in the three files in the same location. These conflicts will be marked in the output and you need to resolve them manually.</p><p> To resolve a conflict, open a file containing the conflict tag. Edit the file to delete unwanted lines and preserve the required changes. After resolving the conflict, save the file.</p><h5> in conclusion</h5><p> The <code>diff3</code> command is a powerful tool for comparing and merging three files in Linux, which is especially useful for handling multiple versions of the same file and resolving conflicts when merging changes. By understanding its basic usage and options, you can effectively manage file versions and collaborate with others in your project.</p>
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