Beyond compare as a diff and merge tool with GIT

One of the first real points of frustration a developer encounters with git is the initial unresolved merge conflict.
Beyond compare is an excellent file Comparison Utility and can be configured with git as a merge and diff tool. to Setup diff on Linux, create a short wrapper script to pass the parameters in the correct order:

vi ~/git-diff-wrapper

?

1234	#!/bin/sh# diff is called by git with 7 parameters:# path old-file old-hex old-mode new-file new-hex new-mode"/usr/bin/bcompare" "$2" "$5" | cat

Windows users can configure this by entering the commands:

git config --global diff.tool bc3git config --global difftool.bc3.path "C:\Program Files (x86)\Beyond Compare 3\BComp.exe"

Now edit your git config using the sample below to configure merging and use of the script above: Linux

vi ~/.gitconfig

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12345678910111213141516171819

[user]    name = First Last    email = <a href="mailto:email@address.com">email@address.com</a>[color]    ui = true[core]    editor = nano[diff]    external = ~/git-diff-wrapper[merge]    tool = bc3[mergetool "bc3"]    cmd = bcompare \    "$PWD/$LOCAL" \    "$PWD/$REMOTE" \    "$PWD/$BASE" \    "$PWD/$MERGED"     keepBackup = false    trustExitCode = false

This can be configured on a Windows machine similarly: Windows

notepad C:\Program Files\git\etc\config

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1234567891011121314151617

[user]    name = First Last    email = <a href="mailto:email@address.com">email@address.com</a>[color]    ui = true[core]    editor = nano[merge]    tool = bc3[mergetool "bc3"]    cmd = 'C:\Program Files (x86)\Beyond Compare 3\BComp.exe' \    "$PWD/$LOCAL" \    "$PWD/$REMOTE" \    "$PWD/$BASE" \    "$PWD/$MERGED"     keepBackup = false    trustExitCode = false

Beyond compare is not available for Mac OS X, checkout
Diffmerge for a similar solution. Here's a sample configuration: OSX w/diffmerge

vi ~/.gitconfig

?

123456789101112

[user]    name = First Last    email = <a href="mailto:email@address.com">email@address.com</a>[color]    ui = true[core]    editor = vi[merge]    tool = diffmerge[mergetool "diffmerge"]    cmd = diffmerge --merge --result=$MERGED $LOCAL $BASE $REMOTE        trustExitCode = false

Note the command line accepts 4 parameters:

• Local-current branch version
• Remote-version to be merged
• Base-common ancestor
• Merged-file where results will be written

Now you can use beyond compare for diff (GIT diff) and to handle conflicts. The sequence of commands for a merge using mergetool wocould be:

1. Git merge
2. Git mergetool-T [Tool]
3. Git add.
4. Git commit

For example: Pull changes on a file that has been modified by another user:

git fetch origingit pull origin masterFrom github.com:domain/project* branch            master     -> FETCH_HEADUpdating c44e43e..b3813c5error: Entry 'filename.php' not uptodate. Cannot merge.

Attempt to update your changes with automatic merging:

git add filename.phpgit commit -m "made x changes"     From github.com:domain/project * branch            master     -> FETCH_HEADAuto-merging filename.phpCONFLICT (content): Merge conflict in filename.phpAutomatic merge failed; fix conflicts and then commit the result.

Now merge using beyond compare:

git mergetool

If you complete the merge and save it, mergetool will accept the result. If not, you can accept changes, or use another version Wholesale:

git checkout --ours filename.phpgit checkout --theirs filename.php

Commit the changes:

git add filename.phpgit commit -m "made x changes"

Verify:

git pull origin masterFrom github.com:domain/project * branch            master     -> FETCH_HEADAlready up-to-date.

Git mergetool also includes preconfigured support for a number of open source merge tools: kdiff3, tkdiff, meld, xxdiff, emerge, vimdiff, gvimdiff, ecmerge, and opendiff. these can be used with the-T flag:

git mergetool -t kdiff3