9.2 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, 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 EDITOR environment variable if it is set. The default is system-dependent.