Method and System for Providing a Representation of Merge Conflicts in a Three-Way Merge Operation

Abstract

A method and system provides an improved representation of merge conflicts in a three-way merge operation of three sequences: Original, Version1, and Version2. A merge program first compares the three sequences to identify a list of difference chunks of elements between the Original and Version1, and a list of difference chunks between the Original and Version2. From the two sets of difference chunks, the merge program creates an annotated list of chunks. Each chunk in the annotated list is identified by a conflict flag that indicates whether the chunk is a part of a conflict and if it is, what sequence(s) being merged it belongs to. A merged document is then constructed based on the annotated list of chunks, with the chunks identified in the merged document with conflict markers for viewing by a user.

1 . A system, comprising: 
 a set of documents including at least a first, second, and third documents, each of the documents having common text and at least two of the documents having different text; and    a programmed application configured to generate a merged document that includes the common text and indicators of the different text between any of the at least first, second, and third documents.    
   
   
       2 . A system as recited in  claim 1 , further comprising a user interface configured to display conflicts of the different text between any of the at least first, second, and third documents such that the conflicts can be resolved interactively while the programmed application generates the merged document.  
   
   
       3 . A system as recited in  claim 1 , wherein the programmed application is further configured to automatically resolve conflicts of the different text between any of the at least first, second, and third documents.  
   
   
       4 . A system as recited in  claim 1 , wherein the programmed application is further configured to request a user-provided resolution to a conflict of the different text when the first, second, and third documents each have a different version of the different text.  
   
   
       5 . A system as recited in  claim 1 , wherein the programmed application is further configured to automatically resolve a conflict of the different text when the first document is an original document having the different text and when the second document has the same text as the third document, the conflict being resolved such that the merged document is generated to include the same text from either the second document or the third document.  
   
   
       6 . A system as recited in  claim 1 , wherein the programmed application is further configured to automatically resolve a conflict of the different text when the first document is an original document having the same text as the second document and when the third document has the different text, the conflict being resolved such that the merged document is generated to include the different text from the third document.  
   
   
       7 . A system as recited in  claim 1 , wherein: 
 the first document is an original document;    the second document is a first revision of the original document;    the third document is a second revision of the original document; and    the programmed application is further configured to automatically resolve a conflict of the different text when the original document has the same text as the first revision and when the second revision has the different text, the conflict being resolved such that the merged document is generated to include the different text from the second revision.    
   
   
       8 . A system as recited in  claim 1 , wherein: 
 the first document is an original document;    the second document is a first revision of the original document;    the third document is a second revision of the original document; and    the programmed application is further configured to automatically resolve a conflict of the different text when the original document has the same text as the second revision and when the first revision has the different text, the conflict being resolved such that the merged document is generated to include the different text from the first revision.    
   
   
       9 . A system as recited in  claim 1 , wherein: 
 the first document is an original document;    the second document is a first revision of the original document;    the third document is a second revision of the original document; and    the programmed application is further configured to generate a first list of differences between the original document and the first revision; generate a second list of differences between the original document and the second revision; and determine the different text from the first list of differences and the second list of differences.    
   
   
       10 . A method, comprising: 
 determining common text in a set of documents that include at least a first, second, and third document;    determining different text between at least two of the documents; and    generating a merged document that includes the common text and indicators of the different text between any of the at least first, second, and third documents.    
   
   
       11 . A method as recited in  claim 10 , further comprising displaying conflicts of the different text between any of the at least first, second, and third documents on a user interface such that the conflicts can be resolved interactively while generating the merged document.  
   
   
       12 . A method as recited in  claim 10 , further comprising automatically resolving conflicts of the different text between any of the at least first, second, and third documents.  
   
   
       13 . A method as recited in  claim 10 , further comprising requesting a user-provided resolution to a conflict of the different text when the first, second, and third documents each have a different version of the different text.  
   
   
       14 . A method as recited in  claim 10 , further comprising receiving a user-provided resolution to a conflict of the different text when the first, second, and third documents each have a different version of the different text.  
   
   
       15 . A method as recited in  claim 10 , further comprising automatically resolving a conflict of the different text when the first document is an original document having the different text and when the second document has the same text as the third document the conflict being resolved such that the merged document is generated to include the same text from either the second document or the third document.  
   
   
       16 . A method as recited in  claim 10 , further comprising automatically resolving a conflict of the different text when the first document is an original document having the same text as the second document and when the third document has the different text, the conflict being resolved such that the merged document is generated to include the different text from the third document.  
   
   
       17 . A method as recited in  claim 10 , wherein: 
 the first document is an original document;    the second document is a first revision of the original document;    the third document is a second revision of the original document; and    further comprising automatically resolving a conflict of the different text when the original document has the same text as the first revision and when the second revision has the different text, said resolving the conflict such that the merged document is generated to include the different text from the second revision.    
   
   
       18 . A method as recited in  claim 10 , wherein: 
 the first document is an original document;    the second document is a first revision of the original document;    the third document is a second revision of the original document; and    further comprising automatically resolving a conflict of the different text when the original document has the same text as the second revision and when the first revision has the different text, said resolving the conflict such that the merged document is generated to include the different text from the first revision.    
   
   
       19 . A method as recited in  claim 10 , wherein: 
 the first document is an original document;    the second document is a first revision of the original document;    the third document is a second revision of the original document; and    further comprising generating a first list of differences between the original document and the first revision; generating a second list of differences between the original document and the second revision; and determining the different text from the first list of differences and the second list of differences.    
   
   
       20 . One or more computer readable media comprising computer executable instructions that, when executed, direct a computing-based device to: 
 determine common text in a set of documents that include at least a first, second, and third document;    determine different text between at least two of the documents;    generate a merged document that includes the common text and indicators of the different text between any of the least first, second, and third documents; and    automatically resolve conflicts of the different text between any of the at least first, second, and third documents.