Method for programming language dependent merging of program codes

Abstract

Method executed by a computer for automatically merging changes applied to a first modified program code of a program code and to a second modified program code of the program code, both modified program codes being electronically coded and comprising one or more items, the items being items of a specific programming language; the method comprising the steps of determining from each of the program code, the first modified program code and the second modified program code a respective data structure by programming language dependent parsing of the program code, the first modified program code and the second modified program code, thereby obtaining a syntax information of the program code and the first and second modified program code; determining a first data structure difference between the data structure of the program code and the data structure of the first modified program code by comparing items Xi in the data structure of the program code with items Yj in the data structure of the first modified program code and identifying items Ym′ for which no equivalent in the data structure of the program code can be identified, the first data structure difference comprising the items Ym′; determining a second data structure difference between the data structure of the program code and the data structure of the second modified program code by comparing items Xi in the data structure of the program code with items Zj in the data structure of the second modified program code and identifying items Zk′ for which no equivalent in the data structure of the program code can be identified, the second data structure difference comprising the items Zk′; generating a final program code by including at least one of the items Ym′ and/or Zk′ in the program code.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.