Alignment in 3 way merge

[smultani]

I am trying to understand how to use manual alignment in 3-way merge. I have a function that has been added to the left pane. The code in the function looks somewhat like the function after it which existed from before and is there in the center and right pane. Due to similarity of the code the compare gets confused. To disumbiguate it I tried to align the first line of the function in each of the three panes with each other. I expected BC to do it usual its normal diffing/comparing after the aligned line. However it now thinks the function after the first aligned line is different in the three panes and working accordingly. Is this is the right way to use manual alignment in the 3 way merge? Or am I confused about how this feature works?

Thanks in advance.

[Aaron]

Hello,

When you aligned the first line, did the remaining lines line up and align side by side, or do they also need to be manually aligned into place? If so, and you continue to align line by line, does that produce the expected results?

A full screen screenshot may help demonstrate your current alignment problem. If you can't post it publically, could you email us at [email protected] ? If you email us, please include a link back to this forum post for reference.

[smultani]

The lines don't line up automatically. I didn't try to align them manually as there were lots of them. I expected it to alignment automatically other wise it looses value in my opinion. I certainly can't post screen shot here. I will see if I can send it over the email.

[Aaron]

Ah, I see.

Altering the Alignment settings may help in the Session Settings dialog. Another tip is to define Important grammar items for the differences you must align/match on, mark everything else as Unimportant, and "Never Align Differences", which only affects Important alignment.

If you can send us some sample files by email, we would be able to help find a good solution for you.

[bshishani]

Please check my question on Stackoverflow at: Controlling manual alignment in 'Beyond Compare's 3-way merge which discusses the same matter.