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This article will discuss configuring Git to use SourceGear's DiffMergeas the default difftool. difftoolThis tool allows us to easily understand merge conflicts with improved visuals compared to Git's default.

It is an ideal tool for 3-way merges because it supports 3-way file comparisons.

We can view the previous status of the file, the current status and the result of the merge. You have to download and install it from the official website of SourceGear DiffMerge.

Setting up on WindowsDiffMerge

To set Git as the default DiffMergetool to use, add this to your .git/config .gitconfigfile.

 [diff]
     tool = DiffMerge
 [difftool "DiffMerge"]
     cmd = 'C:/Program Files/SourceGear/Common/DiffMerge/sgdm.exe' "$LOCAL" "$REMOTE"
 [merge]
     tool = DiffMerge
 [mergetool "DiffMerge"]
     cmd = 'C:/Program Files/SourceGear/Common/DiffMerge/sgdm.exe' -merge -result="$PWD/$MERGED" "$PWD/$LOCAL" "$PWD/$BASE" "$PWD/$REMOTE"
     trustExitCode = true
 [mergetool]
     keepBackup = false

For the comparison parameter arguments we have:

1. $LOCAL, which is the original file.
2. $REMOTE, that is, the modified file.

git difftoolYou can open it by running the and git mergetoolcommands on Git Bash DiffMerge.

Alternatively, you can run the following command in the command prompt to update .gitconfigthe file.

C:\> git config --global diff.tool diffmerge
C:\> git config --global difftool.diffmerge.cmd
    "C:/Program\ Files/SourceGear/Common/DiffMerge/sgdm.exe
        "$LOCAL" "$REMOTE""

C:\> git config --global merge.tool diffmerge
C:\> git config --global mergetool.diffmerge.trustExitCode true
C:\> git config --global mergetool.diffmerge.cmd
    "C:/Program\ Files/SourceGear/Common/DiffMerge/sgdm.exe
        -merge -result="$MERGED" "$LOCAL" "$BASE" "$REMOTE""

Setting up on Mac OSDiffMerge

The process of configuring Git on Mac OS to use DiffMergeis probably the easiest. Make sure you have the following directories.

/usr/local/bin/diffmerge

Run the following commands to update your .gitconfig./install.sh file and test it.

git config --global merge.tool diffmerge
git config --global mergetool.diffmerge.cmd "/usr/local/bin/diffmerge --merge --result="\$MERGED" "\$LOCAL" "\$BASE" "\$REMOTE""
git config --global mergetool.diffmerge.trustExitCode true
git config --global mergetool.keepBackup false
git config --global diff.tool diffmerge
git config --global difftool.diffmerge.cmd "/usr/local/bin/diffmerge --nosplash "\$LOCAL" "\$REMOTE""

We can run git config --global -ethe command to inspect our .gitconfigfile. It should look something like this:

[diff]
	tool = diffmerge

[merge]
	tool = diffmerge

...

[mergetool "diffmerge"]
	cmd = /usr/local/bin/diffmerge --merge --result=\"$MERGED" "$LOCAL" "$BASE" "$REMOTE"
	trustExitCode = true
[mergetool]
	keepBackup = false
[difftool "diffmerge"]
	cmd = /usr/local/bin/diffmerge --nosplash "$LOCAL" "$REMOTE"

Setting up on UbuntuDiffMerge

Configuration on Ubuntu is very similar to Mac OS. We will use the same commands but change the installation location.

Following are the commands.

git config --global merge.tool diffmerge
git config --global mergetool.diffmerge.cmd "/usr/bin/diffmerge --merge --result="\$MERGED" "\$LOCAL" "\$BASE" "\$REMOTE""
git config --global mergetool.diffmerge.trustExitCode true
git config --global mergetool.keepBackup false
git config --global diff.tool diffmerge
git config --global difftool.diffmerge.cmd "/usr/bin/diffmerge --nosplash "\$LOCAL" "\$REMOTE""

That's pretty much it. We can now test it by running the command below.

$ git mergetool
$ git difftool

In summary, if you want to configure Git to use SourceGear's DiffMergetools, you need to update your .git/builds file using the commands listed for your operating system .gitconfig.