Smartgit configure tools how to#

SemanticMerge is able to recognise when a new structural element is added to a file, and distinguish the following types changes to the structural elements in a file: A comparison is carried out between these structural elements, rather than text blocks. During the parsing phase, it recognises semantic elements within a file such as methods, properties and classes. SemanticMerge is able to parse C# files and carry out merges with an understanding of their structure. If on the other hand a tool understands the structure of the language involved, it has a better chance of recognising when two changes are compatible. Where the system carrying out the merge treats each file as a set of arbitrary blocks of text, it will have difficulty in determining when the changes within a file can be safely combined, and when human intervention is required. Git merge conflicts are usually triggered by changes to the same text block in a file. Much of the content will also apply to merge conflicts for other source control systems and languages.

Smartgit configure tools how to#

I describe how to integrate SemanticMerge with Git client SmartGit and Visual Studio, and then how to use the tool to resolve merge conflicts. This blog describes using SemanticMerge to resolve Git merge conflicts arising in. It also provides some really nice visualisations of differences between file versions. It seeks to limit the amount of conflicts you have to deal with manually, by understanding how to deal with many changes that would typically cause a conflict.

As the name suggests, SemanticMerge is a 'language aware' merge and diff tool.

However, it's also possible to solve conflicts with specialist third party conflict resolution tools.Ī few months ago, the people at SemanticMerge were kind enough to give me a licence so I could try out the product and cover it in this series. Both Visual Studio and SmartGit offer built in conflict resolution tools. NET deals with merge conflicts, and describes how to resolve them using the command line, Visual Studio and SmartGit. Part 4 of my series of posts about Git for. By Alice Waddicor Software Engineering Apprentice III 20 August 2014