HOW CONFLICTS ARE PRESENTED

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During a merge, the working tree files are updated to reflect the result

of the merge. Among the changes made to the common ancestor's version,

non-overlapping ones (that is, you changed an area of the file while the

other side left that area intact, or vice versa) are incorporated in the

final result verbatim. When both sides made changes to the same area,

however, git cannot randomly pick one side over the other, and asks you to

resolve it by leaving what both sides did to that area.

By default, git uses the same style as that is used by "merge" program

from the RCS suite to present such a conflicted hunk, like this:

------------

Here are lines that are either unchanged from the common

ancestor, or cleanly resolved because only one side changed.

<<<<<<< yours:sample.txt

Conflict resolution is hard;

let's go shopping.

=======

Git makes conflict resolution easy.

>>>>>>> theirs:sample.txt

And here is another line that is cleanly resolved or unmodified.

------------

The area a pair of conflicting changes happened is marked with markers

"<<<<<<", "=======", and ">>>>>>>". The part before the "=======" is

typically your side, and the part after it is typically their side.

The default format does not show what the original said in the conflicted

area. You cannot tell how many lines are deleted and replaced with the

Barbie's remark by your side. The only thing you can tell is that your

side wants to say it is hard and you'd prefer to go shopping, while the

other side wants to claim it is easy.

An alternative style can be used by setting the "merge.conflictstyle"

configuration variable to "diff3". In "diff3" style, the above conflict

may look like this:

------------

Here are lines that are either unchanged from the common

ancestor, or cleanly resolved because only one side changed.

<<<<<<< yours:sample.txt

Conflict resolution is hard;

let's go shopping.

|||||||

Conflict resolution is hard.

=======

Git makes conflict resolution easy.

>>>>>>> theirs:sample.txt

And here is another line that is cleanly resolved or unmodified.

------------

In addition to the "<<<<<<", "=======", and ">>>>>>>" markers, it uses

another "|||||||" marker that is followed by the original text. You can

tell that the original just stated a fact, and your side simply gave in to

that statement and gave up, while the other side tried to have a more

positive attitude. You can sometimes come up with a better resolution by

viewing the original.

HOW TO RESOLVE CONFLICTS

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