Decent 3 Way Merge Tool?

Baker · Post by **Baker** » Wed Oct 22, 2008 7:59 am

Does anyone know of a decent 3 way folder compare/file merge tool. WinMerge is what I use for 2 way merge, but I've long wanted 3 way merge capabilities.

I'm currently playing around with DiffMerge and Merge (a commercial product), the former offers 3 way file merge but not 3 way folder merge and the latter offers both.

/I'm only talking about something with a GUI; I'm personally not interested in any non-gui methods.

Spirit · Post by **Spirit** » Wed Oct 22, 2008 9:17 am

I never tried 3 way but KDiff3 (Linux) can do that for files and folders.

Baker · Post by **Baker** » Wed Oct 22, 2008 6:32 pm

I ignored that one because it sounded like a Linux-only command line utility

I'll probably have to check that out, since this Araxis Merge utility although nice in some ways, isn't really geared for code. It has a nice 3 way merge, but is more oriented towards documents and maybe HTML/XML stuff.

Wazat · Post by **Wazat** » Wed Oct 22, 2008 8:27 pm

I used to use Eclipse at one of my old jobs. We had something like 4 or 5 different versions of the same software for various clients, and occasionally had to merge changes across branches or into every branch. We also had to do it on a line-by-line basis (or even make microchanges within lines) with great care so that we didn't end up toasting important code on the receiving project. I sometimes merged 3 documents at once this way, and 2 documents was a breeze compared to winmerge etc. It will also compare entire directory trees and allow you to step from file to file in the diff with ease.

Eclipse is a fairly hefty package to be installing for only its merge capabilities though.